Christians who ask evolution questions: were you taken out of science class when evolution was discussed?

Question

I'm sorry for the broad generalization, but it just seems like some of you just have no idea what the theory of evolution is. Who was it that told you that the theory of evolution says we evolved from monkeys?

Oh yes Rachel, I know. Living in NC, we had 5 kids taken out of both my Biology 1 and 2 classes in high school

You're still welcome Mel! You can be like Rachel and answer my questions anyway, I don't mind :P

Answer 1

I'm a Christian and I'm embarrassed by the lack of information some of these guys show.

The problem is that even if they did pay attention in science class, they'd rather listen to Brother Bud down to the Babtiss church, who barely made it out of high school himself, but who is making pronouncements about creationism like they were on the same par with science.

He's the one who's been spreading that "we evolved from monkeys" stuff.

Answer 2

Actually, the confusion about modern monkeys, apes, and common ancestors is the least of the problems, in my opinion. Creationists throw much bigger wrenches than that into the gears of their thinking.
Some of the biggest fallacies I've heard and tried to correct are:
Evolution a process of one species giving birth to a different species (thus new species start off as one or two members with no peers). Or that if evolution takes place, we should be able to sit down with someone and look at them long enough and watch them change into a different species. Or that evolution encompasses the origin of the first living thing (and usually that it claims a fully modern living cell formed from inorganic compounds). Or that anything that might remotely be useful to an organism should pop into existence whether or not an adaptable structure existed in its place.
These major misconceptions make it impossible to even approach the subject, and it is no coincidence that they are programmed into believers.

DH - I've never heard anyone working in the science fields describe themselves as having a "science degree", so forgive me if I'm a bit skeptical. Is that terminology a smokescreen for a Bachelor of Science in Business and Management or some such?

Answer 3

I think for the most part the problem is that evolution is defined many different ways by different scientists i.e some will say evolution covers origins others say it does not. The theory is also very different when concerning macro and micro biology as well. Also, unless you take anatomy, botany or zoology as science in college it really is not touched on as a scientific foundation for other classes. So unless you are astute and read different literature then one may not know the full understanding of evolution hence the questions.

Answer 4

Are you suggesting that the theory of evolution (as taught in public schools at least) doesn't say that man evolved from apes? I took half a dozen science classes in high school and more in college and in every one I heard the theory that man evolved from apes discussed as part of the theory of evolution (as part of the broader theory of the evolution of life in general).

I do understand that the theory encompasses much more than that and in fact, I had one enlightened teacher that even made the distinction between the theory of evolution and the theory of the "origin of the species", but the rest didn't bother to make that distinction!

The way I recall it, the whole man came from monkeys thing was a part of the way the theory was taught...furthermore, the theory of evolution contained a discussion of the origins of life (primordial soup and all that stuff)...but I can also recall being told that I had to accept all of it as truth...therein lies my problem with the theory...not the theory itself, but they way it is taught and the way that some people try to hide philosophy in it!

Random mutations, genetic drift, adaptation to the enviornment, and survival of the fittest...no problem with any of that...these are all testable hypotheses and the evidence supports the basics of these contentions. However, the idea that all life evolved naturally from a single cell as a result of random mutations...that is an untestable hypothesis because there is no way to eliminate other possible explanations. If you remove the speculation from the theory of evolution, I don't have a problem with it...unfortunately, I've never taken a science class from a professor that could do that nor have I ever read a scientific paper or textbook that was able to do that! As such, I've never heard one piece of evidence to support the theory of evolution of life that couldn't also be explained by the story of creation.

Answer 5

Darwin was all about survival of the fittest and evolving to fit your enviorment. Since prehistoric hominids such as the Australopithecus Ramidus have more apelike features it is theorized that we evolved from these creatures. This is a valid theory in my opinion though cannot technically be 100% proven because there is not enough preserved fossil evidence to show the small adaptations that over time lead to evolution of a new species all the way up to Homo Sapiens Sapiens (humans) However, no religious models can be proven either. Unless we can invent time travel (which is a theoretical impossibility with our current understandings of physics) or some God appears to us all one day we will probably never know for sure exactly what happened and how.

Answer 6

There are some wonderful answers being give on this question both about who and why some people might or might not have received a decent educational background in science and also about the issues of evolutionary theory itself. Not surprisingly, oodles of the opinions expressed are quite entrenched: and so, it's the entrenchment that I'd like to address since the original question appears to have been well covered on both sides.

We are sharply divided on both sides of this issue for only one reason, that we are each being told what to think rather than making up our minds to read everything and think for ourselves. We are entrenched on what we think for one reason only, and that is our unwillingness to decide the truth of this question anew, based only on our own opinion of what we find out after completing a reasonable amount of searching.

If you were mine to instruct as a class, I would ask each of you to make as good a case as you could for the view you oppose, i.e., evolutionists would research and support creation and creationists would research and support evolution and each would present their findings and conclusions. Believe me, the exercise would do you all some good and in the end I think there might be better open discussion on this issue and perhaps some cases of real enlightenment.

For what it's worth... it's what my creative mind has evolved to think.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb62/Randall_Fleck/Valery_quote_GIF2.gif

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Answer 7

It's been about 20 years for me, but it was taken for granted that evolution is the primary basis for biological science. And I went to a Kansas school.

I would like to clear up the issue regarding the teaching of evolution is Kansas schools since my state has taken quite a (deserved) beating. It was *recommended* by the board of education that evolution doesn't have to be taught as fact and that intelligent design *could* be mentioned as well. Science teachers were in no way bound by the decision, and it's safe to assume that any of them of any value at all would have disregarded this recommendation.

Answer 8

If Evolution doesn't say we come from monkeys what does it say? I'm not long out of school, but when I was in school whether college or otherwise I was told mankind emerged out of Africa after slowly evolving and adapting to the environment over millions of years. I was always taught Evolution was a slow painful process, that life emerged from the seas, and that we are primates, more closely related to monkeys than we are to anything else on the planet. I guess this is why many Evolutionists say we come from monkeys. I was also told we were still looking for the Missing Link. I have read Dawin's "Origin", and I try to keep up with the latest information of the subject. I believe in natural selection and that creatures do adapt to their surroundings, however, I'm losing my trust and faith in science because it seems that a lot of scientists are putting out assumptions or a hypothesis and passing these things off as facts. Actually, I find that these days scientists put out a lot of bogus information about everything from why people gain weight to what causes autism. So this isn't just about Evolution.

Sorry about being slow to edit, just trying to clean it up a bit.

Answer 9

Granted, it's been almost 25 years since I was in science class, but I don't recall evolution being discussed much at all - and it was said that the theory of evolution is that man evolved from monkeys. Apparently that's what was (is?) being taught in public school?

Answer 10

"I've yet to see a single Christian make a false claim about the subject."

Now, THAT'S willful ignorance.

Contrary evidence from THIS question's thread:

"the theory of evolution is that man evolved from monkeys"

"many Evolutionists say we come from monkeys"

"everything around you is from dirt"

"whole man came from monkeys thing was a part of the way the theory was taught"