Do You Believe in Darwin's Theory of Evolution?

Question

Or the Bible story? or the Big Bang? or some other theory which explains how we got here? Which one and why?

Answer 1

I believe in the scientific theory of evolution (Darwins own theory is way outdated in some ways) as I am a paleontologist and I see evolution of fossil morphotypes through geological time, from studying the fossil themselves, and in the scientific literature. Plus all the genetic evidence which shows branching trees of life. Plus everything else. There is just overwhelming evidence.

Unfortunately the more science advances, the harder it is for lay people to be very familiar with each field - there is just too much information, unless you really apply yourself. I don't understand the whole field of advanced physics and haven't spent a lot of time on it. But I trust enough in the scientific process to believe that the Big Bang is the most likely explanation we have so far for the origin of the universe.

Answer 2

The big bang and Evolution are not mutually incompatible!
The bible story does not explain how we got here, it is not a theory of anything, just a myth with no underpinning mechanism or supporting evidence.
Evolution is an observed fact, evidenced beyond possible doubt by comparative anatomy and genetics, as well as the fossil record. In fact, people had worked out that evolution was happening long before Darwin.
Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection is the best explanation we have for the observed fact of evolution. It has been modified and refined over the years, and along with quantum electrodynamics has to rank as one of the most successful scientific theories of all time.

Answer 3

Darwin's theory of evolution is not against the teaching of the Bible. The story of creation is just that, a story to explain that God created everything, it is not a literal account. The Big Bang theory could also be true too. Who knows? How can we? It is beyond human understanding.

Answer 4

I believe that Evolution is pointing us in the right direction, I also believe that we still have much to learn, and we should not simply say "evolution is absolute" we should always say the theory of evolution is incomplete and must continue to evolve to greater levels of understanding. Look how much the theory has been improved upon since Darwin's time, he pointed us in the right direction and we must continue down the path of discovery. I don't simply believe in one theory or another I accept the scientific truths we have uncovered as part of a greater whole that we do not yet understand. Evolution does occur, and has been proven therefore I do not believe in it, I accept it as truth. However as I said before, you cannot say with certainty that all facets of the theory of evolution or the big bang are true, I tentatively explore them but I do not absolutely give myself over to unquestioning belief... we must retain an open mind and always question that which is unproven only then can we learn and grow. The only reason I lean more towards evolution/big bang as the explanation for our existence, is because religion has offered me no proof of its veracity, at the same time I keep an open mind on that subject too because one day we may find proof of God... until that time we should question all beliefs and all sciences and all discoverys because questioning always leads to greater understanding. Why do I hold these convictions? because I was raised with neutrality and given my own choice to learn what I wanted to learn. I studied both theorys of our origins and I compared them to all I had learned and questioned all parts of both creation and evolution, creation did not stand up to my questioning and it did not ring true with all I had learned... evolution did and it still does...

Answer 5

I think you'll find that the "Big Bang" theory explains how the Universe was created and Darwins "Theory of evolution" explains life on Earth, neither contradicts each other as they are independent theories on different subjects.
As for the Bible, places can be found and events can be archaeologically proved but individual people are a bit harder.
As for God, each to their own on that one if you believe you believe and visa versa.

Answer 6

There does seem to be a constant change in all the living beings around us, changing to survive. We see it in everything, but is it really evolution, i.e. becoming better, or is it just random change that just works for some and not for others? When you say evolution, it sounds so orderly, so well-planned, but studies have shown it is anything but. It is a mad scramble to adapt, in micro- and macrocosm.
I do not think we have the necessary tools to explain the deeper realities of life yet, but there will hopefully come a time when we can.
There are two wonderful books by Brian Greene, expecially The Fabric of Cosmos that you may want to check out. It doesn't read VERY easily but it offers a much more digestible version than many other scientific books. Another wonderful book to read is Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. At that, anything he wrote is a must read :)

Answer 7

If you do not take everything literally from the bible because you and I know someone or some group of people sat down to decide how to present the facts to the masses so they could understand how the universe was born in understandable terms of the time by essentially saying God said "POOF!!!" and the heavens and earth were created and everything else came in the following five days and then God rested on the seventh day. Was God really tired?

Why not say God created the BIG BANG causing the heavens and earth to form, created all of the creatures and nurtured them and formed them and designed them to be able to adapt to changes and evolve for survival. That way everything fits and is covered with a little bit of "story telling" in the bible since they did not know of evolution, geology, the shape of the earth or the universe( as if we really do) or other sciences when writing their story.

Answer 8

There are vast volumes of evidence to support the theory of evolution. You can see excellent examples (and lots of) in places like the natural history museum. Conversely creationism is a legacy concept that was thought up a couple of thousand years ago before people knew any better. Sadly millions of people still hang on to that concept regardless of the vast volume of evidence supporting evolution and zero evidence supporting creationism. Additionally there are many devious websites and people trying obfuscate the evidence for evolution because evolution has dealt such a crushing blow to the biblical account of how humans came to be. A classic example of this is the website mentioned early by another answerer www.evolutiondeceit.com. As if this isn't shockingly appalling and ignorant enough, there are people with a similar mentality to the creationists that still believe that the earth is flat. They have a number of websites built trying to promote this 'world view'. It is very sad, though frankly not much different from creationism in its ignorance.

Answer 9

The Big Bang theory is the best explanation we have which fits the observable facts.

Darwin's Theory of Evolution equally, is the best explanation of variety in species, fitting current observations.

The reason both have the status 'only a theory', is that they can / will be modified if new observations offer contradictory evidence.

Those believing in Creationism aren't prepared to modify their explanation in the light of new evidence, they just reject any new evidence.

Answer 10

I absolutely believe that evolution is fact. As well as the Big Bang. The big bang explains where the universe, as we know it, came from. Evolution explains where life, as we know it on earth, came from (along with Abiogenesis).

Evolution is a well known fact, with archeaological, anthropological, biological, and genetic evidence to back it up. Most "missing links" between major species changes have been found.

And to top it off, it makes a whole lot more sense than just one woman and one man in a garden.