Why do so many christians deny scientific proof?

Question

There's is physical proof of dinosaurs in the fossil record. Some people (mostly christian) say dinosaurs never existed. There's proof for evolution in experiments with fruit flies and species of dogs, yet these people deny the existence evolution. They focus on the semantics of science, citing that it's only a "theory", completely unaware that most everything in science is just a theory. Even gravity is only a theory, but they don't deny that. (They used to however). How about the age of the earth being a few thousand years, even though the geological record goes back for eons?

How can seemingly well-adjusted and intelligent people deny things that have such solid proof? I believe that such things as atoms, gravity and evolution are the mechanics of God's work and proof that intelligence is behind all creation.

Flaccid..whatever, I'm not typing that. Love the name though, shows alot of class. As for the proof, I'm sure anyone could look up the information online. There's lots of dinosaur bones and geological records and exhibits explaining carbon dating at museums. Any college with a respectable biology department could show evidence of evolution. All one has to do is get out of their trailer park once in a while to find proof.

To add a bit to the discussion: 2 Pet 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

This illustrates that time is meaningless to God.

Answer 1

The answer is simple, it's what psychologists call "Cognitive Dissonance."

http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/cognitive_dissonance/

Here is an excerpt from that article:

"If someone is presented with information that is dissonant from what they already know, the easiest way to deal with this new information is to ignore it, refuse to accept it, or simply avoid that type of information in general."

Essentially religious people do this all the time with science, they distort it in their mind, only remember certain (weaker) things (and strawmans), they avoid learning about (instead looking to BS apologetic sites), and genuinely refuse to accept it.

Why do they do this with something as important as science? Because religious belief is at the top of the priority list for cognitive dissonance. Religious belief is overwhelming and powerfully dependent on being right about everything, and it's one of those most deeply held beliefs so any contrary information (no matter how indisputable to a rational mind) will be ignored or distorted in such a way.

Answer 2

Have you ever had an atheist or Christian answer your questions with a simply stated "I don't know?" Man, no matter what their belief, does not have all the answers to everything. No one knows for sure, not science, not religion, not anyone. Science is not infallible, neither is religion or man. You can deny scientific theories, new ones take the place of old ones. You can claim the Bible is fiction, with no proof. But where are you after all of that? The same place you started. It just seems to be a pointless argument. Accept the fact that people believe differently. Show love and respect to your fellow man no matter what they believe. Save hope for the end that you are right.

Answer 3

I don't know how many atheists assume that Christians deny scientific proof, but I would imagine that most atheists are aware that most of the major Christian churches have accepted that evolution is a fact. It is the (largely) American fundamentalists who claim to speak for all Christians who are creating the association between Christianity and ignorance. I notice that the people who choose to debate with them tend to be atheists, not Christians. I would have though that lack of evidence is a good enough reason not to believe anything.

Answer 4

I don't know a lot about science or have studied the Bible very well. But I am a guy who has faith in God and I am a reluctant to say I'm a Christain. Why? I ask myself that question many times. I just do. It's weird. But I think that science doesn't always disprove faith. I feel a lot of time two can work together if that's possibel. All the Christains who say science is all false just have very strong convictions. As narrow mined as they may be. Same could be said for peopel of science. I think we need to do a better job at trying to come an concious understanding about each others belifes. I don't think were all as divided as it seem's. PEACE!!!

Answer 5

I tend to see several major groups when it comes to the topics that you discuss above:
1) People who believe that the bible is the literal word of God. This people believe that the bible is exactly the way it happened, and that the bible is the literal word of God. When it says it happened in 7 days, then it happened in 7 days, or 168 hours, or 10,080 minutes exactly. Since much of the scientific evidence clearly refutes this, a person has a choice to make. The people who believe that the bible is the literal word of God choose to believe the bible over science. This type of people believes in creationism, e.g. there is no evolution, god just created the world as we see it.

2) People who believe that the bible is a guide, but not literal in this sense. People like this believe that just because the bible says that the world was created in 7 days doesn't necessarily mean it was created in 7 human days, or more that it is a general guide on how the universe was created than a strict guideline. People who choose to believe this generally accept the scientific principals, theories, and laws, and believe that they show that god is an ordered and logical god rather than a magician. To apply these people to ID would mean that they believe in evolution, but that the mutations that took place were directed / influenced by God rather than happening by chance.

As to how people who are "well adjusted and intelligent" deny what we observe in nature, that is a human choice. We choose to deny many things that we observe, that process is called cognitive dissonance. Simply put, they choose to believe what the bible says over observations of the world.

Answer 6

I am aware of the "dinosaur fossils were placed here by God" argument. I don't accept it and I'm a Christian. I'm not sure how many do accept it.

As for evolution...it certainly exists. The question is, does macroevolution exist? Did we all evolve from some single-celled organism? I think that the evidence points toward creationism rather than evolution as to why we exist.

Evolution is taken as fact. It has taken the place of "blind religion" for many. They accept it because they are taught it as if its fact, and because it seems to make sense rationally. But evidence doesn't necessarily support it - unfortunately, we are not taught this in schools.

Answer 7

For the same reason that people who have decided to believe in (supply whatever religious or scientific idea you want) refuse to examine any evidence against their belief. Called "human nature".

As a Christian, I see the evidence in favor of God, the Bible, Jesus, etc. is overwhelming. It appears wherever I look, especially in those time when I am talking to God and he is pointing them out.

Then I read an article like one that appeared on Yahoo News a couple weeks back. The author stated that creationism had been dealt a death blow. A missing link between two kinds of whales had been found. It then proceeded to spend the rest of the 800 word article belittling Christian beliefs and scripture. It gave no additional details about the find. It is very easy for Christians (or anyone who has a strong faith in anything) to dismiss the "evidence" when it is presented in a manner like that.

Christians do not object to science. But we do object everytime so kind of a new "discovery" is made, that it is presented as the death knell for God and religion. And then six months later the theory is retracted or amended or abandoned. but religion still goes on unchanged. After enough times of them "calling wolf", we stop listening - and rightly so.

If you want to study the world, learn facts, and present them - go for it. I at least will be glad to listen. (I mean I know about the article mentioned earlier because I read those things regularly). But leave the interpretation of the discoveries on religion up to the individuals.

Remember that science can only deal in facts. While religion deals in truth.

Answer 8

Through countless conversations and questioning I've found that a couple things seems to be true:

- Not all Christians deny evolution, science, etc.

- The ones that do often don't understand how evolution works, what the fossil record shows, how dating is done, etc.

They have heard that carbon dating doesn't date old things (but we don't use carbon dating for old things). They've heard that the fossil record is incomplete (but its still very clear!). They've heard that their story is the word of God (but it was told by, written by, edited by, chosen by, and translated by man!)

Less than 1/10th of 1% of the worlds geologists, biologists, anthropologists, paleantologists, and other scientists in fields relating to our origins believe that Genesis creation is even an OPTION! Who knows more about the facts behind our origins; Them, or the Christian who has very little education about any of these fields?

Answer 9

So, Ur a "Prooooover" Eh??? U want to point to mans superior inteligence over God, is that what I'm hearing??? I must agree! Yup, well just the other day at the Zoo, I was watching the monkeys when right before my eyes I saw one evolve into a Man!!! Then at the Aquarium I was looking at the Fish, when one began to start drowning so he grew legs & just crawled out onto the rocks & turned into a Lizzard!!! If,(and it DIDN"T ) evolution is how we got here, why aren't we seeing it continue??? I'm sure U use the light switch in Ur house at night, but I KNOW U can't positively "Prove" how it works! Does it keep U from using it??? I personally have never met a "Christian" who has denied the existance of dinosaures, but if I had, I would disagree with them. Man is only an "Observer" and NEVER a Creator, only God! Why is it then that some men (generic for both sexes) who are willing to accept the "Theories of Man" are unwilling to believe in God??? Because it takes Faith??? No. Because it CONVICTS them of Sin!!! Why should they believe in a God that says they are a Sinner! Maybee if they got to know God a little better, they could see that He has a Plan to deal with Mankinds Sin issue, a Plan for their Lives!!! NOPE!!! No body is going to tell me how I should act!!! Hum, like Ur doing so well on Ur own??? NOT!!! ARROGANCE is Satans & Mans downfall & is actually perpetuated by "Religion", another of mans institutions spawned by Satan!!! OBTW, mankind is NOT "well adjusted & intelligent" or in the name of "Religion" we wouldn't kill our fellow man!!! U do at the end come into reality by declaring that GOD IS THE INTELLIGENT CREATOR of ALL THINGS!!! John

Answer 10

It is due to ignorance.

I believe in the existence of God. I also know that dinosaurs existed.

I also believe that to God, time is not relavent in the same way it is for us. To Him, thousands of years is but the blink of an eye.

The Bible says God created the earth in 6 days and on the 7th He rested. Because of the times those passages were written I doubt that people could comprehend the concept of millions of years. Who do we not know that to God a million years wasn't one day?

I look at at an organism seeing the complexity of it, cannot imagine that God did not have a hand in it's creation and evovling into some marvelous.