Why do so many christians doubt evolution?

Question

I have consistently read posts from Christians saying evolution is a fraud. Often they sight “scientific” sounding information that has been debunked years ago such as “Halos” or carbon-14 not being and accurate way to age fossils, or that the fossil record is incomplete. Or they say its just a theory, but clearly don’t really know what a theory is.
The facts are that the fossil record is very complete, in fact amazingly so. The dating methods used for aging fossils is very accurate, and does not rely on c-14 as that radioisotope is only accurate to about 50,000 years. And finally even without a fossil record, DNA analysis from the past decade offers more than enough evidence to fully support evolution.

Answer 1

Reading a couple of the answers to this question has made me a bit ill. First of all, I'm a hardcore evolutionist. My major in college is Biological Anthropology, and there is an EXCELLENT chance I will be getting a PhD in it as well.

This must be said: EVOLUTION DOES NOT QUESTION THE ORIGIN OF LIFE. I can't stress that enough. Alot of "creationists" think that Evolution replaces the "Genesis" event; it does not. Regarding the Genesis event: (I shouldn't even waste time typing this) there is significant geological evidence, along with the extensive fossil record to show that the Earth formed over several billion years and not in 7 days (I think estimates rest at 4.5BYA as for the age of the Earth).

Do you find that structures are soooo complex that they could not have formed via Natural Selection? The eye is an example used by creationists in an attempt to debunk evolution. Their argument does not hold up. Had a "creator" designed the eye, the eye would not contain flaws such as a blind spot, and predisposition for a detatched cornea in later life. The human body is a TERRIBLE design to survive in the wilderness. Being bipedal: we are slow, we are NOT strong compared to most other animals.The body plan of humans though was done IMPERFECTLY, and can be interpretted therefore as not something a "perfect creator" would design. I can literally go ON and ON about evidence for evolution. It's just staggering to me how many people do not believe in evolution---EVEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DOES. The Catholic Church believes that God works THROUGH evolution to create change (to a different species and within a different species). Of course, any self-respecting evolutionary biologist will tell you that the mechanisms for change include DNA mutations,genetics drift, and natural selection. It's sad. 30% of people in American believe in the Theory of Evolution. Unbelievable. We are at the BOTTOM of the world's pile as far as the acceptance of evolution goes. The only country, and I mean literally, the ONLY country behind us is Turkey. If you're interested in that, check Jeff Hecht's article in The New Scientist entitled "Why America Doesn't Believe in Evolution." Short, and worth the read. A good book is "Denying Evolution" by M. Pigluccui (spelled that WAY wrong), but check it out on Amazon--it talks about the current state of the evolution debate in America. This has been thoroughly depressing to type, and even trudging through the ignorance on a daily basis is taxing. Creationists such as the foolish Kent Hovind make matters worse by promoting his OWN agenda (as most prominent creationists do) instead of the "idea"--he obviously doesn't have an original one. If there's only thing you can do: please be educated on the subject, and THEN make an informed decision. If more people did that, our country would be a better place.

*One last thing: if there's one thing that just really burns me it's gotta be: just because we can't explain something, doesn't mean we should attribute it to God or other supernatural forces. Plenty of things we attributed to God in the past can now be explained by scientific phenomena (earthquakes---"oh, it's the wrath of God!"....No thank you, it's those pesky techtonic plates moving again).

Answer 2

It`s because these people need to believe that there is a powerful being out there that will sort out their problems and give them eternal life. They don`t worry that it is not fact, they just think that if they believe hard enough that it will happen. Evolution stands in the way of their dogmatic beliefs, as they think that animals literally came into existence fully formed. They refuse to believe the literal mountains of biological, genetic, geological, geographical, embryological, taxonomic, anatomical, mathematical, and dating evidence, amongst others, that make up the case for evolution. This stands in the way of their childish belief systems as they believe in, tattered, old creation.

Answer 3

Plain and simple: It violates their biblical view of the world. The bible, which for the most part they believe is historical fact, states that God created everything in 6 days.

Some of the more fanatical fundie or evangelical branches say that because God says to him a day is like 1000 years and 1000 years is like a day, that the 6 days God took to create everything translates to 6000 years, so the earth can't be any older than 6000 years. (I tried asking "so that's 6000 years ago from when, exactly?" but I got no answer.)

The facts of our earth's evolution are so fascinating, it's sad that they feel the need to discount it and call a huge portion of the world liars. Very sad.

Answer 4

A literal interpretation of Genesis is not possible if the theory of Evolution is true. This is the sole reason why Christians attack the theory.

Answer 5

It becomes a matter of terminology. As a Christian I believe that Creationism is how we got our start and that there are processes of evolution with in that creation that go on all the time. However, most people find themselves to either have to be in one of two camps, hardcore "creationist" or "evolutionist" and it's sad because they've missed the overpowering joy of seeing what God can truly do.

Answer 6

The reason evolution is doubted by Christians is because it goes against everything that has been taught from the Bible. God created Man and Woman. When it comes to human life being created it's hard to believe in both since they contradict each other.

Personally I believe in God and I believe He created man. I also believe in evolution because all livings things adapt to their environment. If they do not adapt they become extinct. I just don't believe human life is a product of evolution.

Answer 7

Yes, Evolution is rock solid. Even the Catholic Church and Buddhists go along with it. It's the Christians that are in denial of the truth.

Answer 8

I am a Christian. I believe that our earth is very old. I just don't believe that we all came from nothing. How does something become nothing? I do think that a species changes over time... but not that they change into some new species. I don't believe that humans came from apes. But that is just my opinion.

Answer 9

I am christian, and i think the Lord has made everything with logic.
The Bibble is a simbol, and the sience, trys to give answers.Its everything allright.If the science says something is truth i accept.I love science.How as i said, everything is made with logic.

Answer 10

They aren't open to discoveries as they are not willing to change their way of thinking even though there are ample evidence to proof something wrong. It is just too bad.