When Religion and Science Conflict?

Question

This isn't a question about creation and evolution, exactly. It is a sort of a test, to see if anyone can read a whole paragraph and answer the question asked, instead of reacting to a word.

99% of all biologists believe the theory of evolution.
99% of fundamentalist Christians believe in creation, and those biologists are wrong.

99% of all geologists believe the earth is billions of years old.
99% of fundamentalist Christians believe it is 6,000 years old and those geologists are wrong.

Here’s the question. Note (again) it isn’t about creation or evolution:

What do fundamentalist Christians believe made all those biologists and geologists mistaken?
Are the scientists evil, or stupid, or pawns of Satan, or what?

I tend to use specific words and hope the gentle reader will realize they are general. "99%" is more specific than "Most". I did not mean I had counted them all. I apologize to those of you who misunderstood.

When Harold Ross said the New Yorker magazine would not be for "the little old lady from Dubuque", no one thought he meant it would be for grandmothers in Des Moines.

Thomas and Morning, you don't get very far in a discussion if you dismiss those who do not agree with you.

YDoncha, clever point. I was hoping to hear from the fundamentalists, though.

rlrose, thoughtful point.

Huey and the_end, I was hoping to hear from the fundamentalists.

Lawnmower, you missed the point.

Creatrix, you missed the point too.

LabGrrl, see the first additional details. You got the point, too. Thanks.

Jim McCr, you missed the point.

jason h, you missed the point. You might want to investigate the shift key, too. Most people capitalize their name.

quilt mo, you missed the point.

Ryan H, you missed the point but found the shift key, so you are doing better than jason h.

Schneb, you missed the point and I apologize for misleading you by using "99%" instead of "most".

Fuzzy, the 6,000 comes from extreme fundamentalists - the ones who say the Grand Canyon was created by the same flood that Noah rode out.

rbarc, long and thoughtful answer, but not to the question I asked, which is what do fundamentalist Christians think about why most biologists believe the theory of evolution.

CMW, you didn't understand the question. I’m sorry, because you seem like my best hope for a reasonable answer. I wasn't calling people of faith stupid. I was asking what do fundamentalist Christians think about why most biologists believe the theory of evolution. Note too I wasn't lumping all people of faith into one group. I was asking about fundamentalist Christians. What Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Armenian Orthodox, Presbyterians and Lutherans believe about evolution didn't interest me this morning. (I left out some faiths. Don’t complain.)

Thomas E., I agree with you but that wasn't my question.

I was really, really hoping for an answer that started "I am a fundamentalist Christian. We belive scientists have been misled because . . . "

I'm going to close this and let the voters decide. No one really answered the question I asked.

Answer 1

I believe the fundamentalist Christians believe that Satan has blinded the biologists and geologists to the truth.

Then there are those who feel that God planted all of the evidence that science is finding just to test us.

Me, I agree with Thomas.

Answer 2

Fundamentalists take the Bible as absolute. But they fail to keep into account the fact that God could actually use evolution as his tool for creation.
So it seems fundamentalists attempt to see thing from purely a biblical perspective and give little leeway.
However, we do not know how many biologists and geologists are themselves Christian. It is likely that a good many of these scientists are fellow believers and simply wish to understand the world which God created.

Answer 3

I will let your questions stand for someone else.

However, I am a very staunch believer in the Bible.

Maybe you're using the word 'fundamental' to refer to a specific group of Christians, but though I perceive myself to be fundamental in the extreme, I take great exception to your statement quoted below, - is it really true?

Can none of these Christians and Bible critics read?

The Bible says that God created the Heavens and the Earth in the beginning in some unknown past 'eternally' removed. So, where does this 6000 number come from?


"99% of fundamentalist Christians believe it is 6,000 years old and those geologists are wrong."

Answer 4

"Are the scientists evil, or stupid, or pawns of Satan, or what?"

None of the above. They just pick and choose their evidence based on their world view. This is clearly illustrated by the following quote by scientist George Wald.

When it comes to the origins of life there are only two possibilities: Creation or spontaneous generation. There is no third way. Spontaneous generation was disproved hundreds of years ago, but that leads us to only one other conclusion, that of supernatural creation. We cannot accept that on philosophical grounds; therefore, we choose to believe the impossible. That life arose from spontaneous chance. - George Wald, "The Origin of Life", Scientific American May 1954
_____________________________

I cannot agree with your 99% assumption. There is very little evidence to confirm this. Although it is slanted in the direction you say, I hardly see it as THAT slanted.

Remember, scientists of old, based on the evidence at hand, believed many things against the Bible, only to change their minds as their tools for exploration were developed. Scientists said the universe was infinite, the BIble said it had a beginning and will have an end. Scientist now believe the same. Ancient thinkers believed the world to be flat on on the backs of turtles, elephants or Atlas. The Bible's earliest book said it was a sphere and hung on nothing. Science came to an early agreement. Science used to think that there were only 6,000 stars. The Bible said the stars were as numerous as the sands of the sea. With the telescope, science is not in agreement.
There is really more to what the Bible says than you think. Science is limited to the physical. Your soul is eternal. The Bible deals with what is eternal where science cannot venture. The physical realm will pass away, and science will pass away with it. What you want to do is latch onto that which will last forever, and that is the Word of God.

Science deals with understanding and comprehending creation. Religion deals with the understanding and comprehension of the Creator.

Answer 5

I don't know if you can really say the a whole 99% of Christians really believe that the earth is only 6000 years old. I think that number is really a whole lot lower.

Having said that, the problem is in the way some Christians interpret the Bible. For some reason, which I cannot figure out, some Christians have gotten it into their minds that the Bible is the ONLY source of truth. Clearly it is not. While the Bible is full of religious truths, it does not contain all truth. No person can reach God unless they are humble enough to be willing to accept truth no matter where it manifests itself.

While it is true that no one reaches God except through faith in Jesus Christ. People have to start realizing that truth manifests itself in many different ways, not just in a religious way. There are scientific truths, there are historic truths, there are language truths, there are mathematical truths, there are cultural truths. We don't seek these truths out in the Bible but we should seek to reconcile all truth that we might truly come to an understanding of the true nature of God.

Answer 6

The fundamental flaw of your question is in the numbers. The only way you can get to 99% of those fundamentalists is defining fundamentalism as opposition to evolution and geology.

Even many of the world's freakiest Christians believe in some form of evolution. It's really just a vocal minority that think otherwise.

That vocal minority tends to believe that scientists are part of a grand conspiracy, and actually agree with them but if they speak out they will be fired.

In the science facility I work at, there is a lab tech who is anti-evolution. While her work is based on evolution, she thinks it isn't, and says really dumb things about evolution, but she does her job like her PI says and does not get fired.

Answer 7

First, I challenge your percentages. The studies usually lump scientists, without your biology/geology breakdown. Most show that while up to 95% of scientists believe in evolution, a full 40% of those believe in "theistic evolution," not "natural evolution."

Your final sentence is not a rational question, but rather an undisguised attempt to call people of faith stupid. If you had any intellectual honest at all, you would read the work of some of the scientists who disagree with you, such as Dr. John Baumgardner. He is a geophysicist at Los Alamost National Laboratory, with degrees from Texas Tech, Princeton and UCLA. I guess he must be pretty stupid, too.

Most of the religious people with whom I am acquainted have college degrees and are not the ignorant hillbillies people at R&S would like to believe. Most of them have studied evolution, as has every member of my family. I wonder if you open-minded non-believers will read the work of men like Dr. Baumgardner. I doubt it.

Answer 8

What do I get for reading the entire paragraph? Lol*

I'm not a fundamentalist, so I believe that the bible is metaphorical. Maybe God just wanted humanity to understand the importance of taking a break. Work six days, get a day off. I don't know.

Oh, but here's a real thought - what if God inspired the Bible, as a lesson to humanity, not to believe everything you read? Huh. :)

Answer 9

i think those numbers are wrong but anyway some scientist are christian not all scientist believe the theory of evolution by the way its just a theory just a guess ive studied all the theorys and they dont even make sense ive accepted god in my life before that i had the worst life ever i had no job no friends no nothing for 2 and a half years i found jesus and that same week my life changed i had friends not just god people on earth 2 people can believe what they want to believe but i believe that god changes your life

Answer 10

A typical fundamentalists will believe that all those scientists are in the clutches of Satan. But fundamentalists are not the only ones with a problem.