Anti-evolution .. no other choice?

Question

Okay, I'm a Christian, BUT here's my question: Can a person simply not believe the whole THEORY of evolution without being a Creationist? Can't it be in the middle?
Example: A person might not believe the whole creation was done is six days (after all, "day" can be interpreted in a variety of ways -- a thousand years, a generation, etc.), but also not believe we evolved from ape-like creatures?
Could it not be somewhere in the middle? ONLY as an example here, PLEASE don't blow holes in my theory, as it is NOT one -- perhaps humans were always humans, the ape-like creature found was either malformed, changed over the years, or not human (simply similar), and we either haven't found other proof of human existence, since only a few have been found, or maybe we came on the scene later?
My MAIN question is: do you have to be a Christian just to question evolution? When I was a kid, I never bought into evolution, and that's before I was a Christian.

Answer 1

"Can a person simply not believe the whole THEORY of evolution"

Right here is where you are making your mistake. It's not a matter of belief. Either the theory correctly describes the process or not. No belief involved.

Answer 2

No, you don't have to be a Christian to disbelieve. All religions have creation myths and most do not include apes and evolution.However, fossils and genetic DNA studies have indicated and verified that the evolution theory is valid. By the way, if apes can be malformed and change and that's what evolution is all about) why can't humans? Look at relatively recent human history; as various racial groups intermix and produce offspring from different gene pools a new "breed" or race evolves.

Answer 3

Evolution is a fact as much as it is a fact that the Earth is in orbit about the sun. That used to be religious heresy as well. Evolution is change over time, and that has been proven beyond any sane doubt. The particular mechanism of natural selection could be challenged but not scientifically by any other theory out there that I have ever heard.

Muslims challenge evolution even more than some Christians do. Ignoring facts or claiming ignorance of facts doesn't make them not be true. The dating of the fossil record is beyond reasonable argument and it is absolutely backed up by genetic and other data. Like it or not, we are physically related to all other life on the planet. Unless you plan to go to heaven in your current body, I don't see how that challenges religion. The soul is not made of flesh.

Answer 4

Christianity and evolution are BOTH only THEORIES. Neither can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Christians call their belief in this theory "FAITH". We KNOW that certain species have evolved or "adapted" over time, some on their own (the horse) and some with much help from man (dogs), but what we do not know is what the worlds creatures were like before man adapted into a communicative being. There are no record or pictures, only stories and theories.

For me, I'm a Christian. I also believe in evolution. I find it hard to believe that God created the horse as it is today when NO skeletal remains have been found to prove so. I think much was lost in handing down and translating the Biblical stories. After all, humans wrote it, and we know we all fall short right???

Answer 5

Yes. But any amount of detraction from the theory of evolution means you must suspend scientific evidence. The theory of evolution is based 100% on all the evidence we have. If you want to change the theory for your personal belief, then you must suspend some, if not all the scientific evidence.

And to believe that humans didn't evolve from a common acestor to apes, you must reject LOTS of scientific evidence. This inclues the many species and many, many fossils that support this part of the theory.

Answer 6

You can believe in whatever the hell you want. If you want to question evolution for nonreligious reasons, then go ahead and question everything you learn in science class and second guess everything your professor might say or a book might tell you. Otherwise you're a hypocrite.

I also want to clarify one thing for many people who are misinformed. Darwin is not the be all and end all of evolution. It is true that Darwin knew a fraction of the science that is known today. In fact, for fifty years, many of Darwin's ideas were discredited. However, in the 1950's new scientific evidence showed that Darwin was right about so much of his ideas. He was incredibly accurate.

Answer 7

Well, I could not agree with you more.

You see, I am an anti-gravity person. I do not believe in the theory of gravity. It has nothing to do with my religion, as my religion does not teach gravity theory. I just have always been against this theory. Can I simply not believe in the theory of gravity without being a member of this church or that one?

Evolution and Church have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Creationism is not a theory, it is a belief. Evolution is not a belief, it is science. They are two entirely different things.

And just to nit-pick, Evolution is not about the origin of life, but the origin of species. The theory involves taking observed, proven phenomenon and extrapolating back in time.

Answer 8

You can believe anything you want to. However, your statement demonstrates a sever lack of understanding how the scientific process works, how the scientific process was used to come to an understanding that evolution best describes the diversity of life on Earth, and a great lack of knowledge of the preponderance of evidence backing up the idea for the process of evolution.

Every time I have ever gotten into a serious conversation with someone who questions evolution, I find that they have very little education in science, (including college educated individuals) and no idea that there are fossils that clearly document gradual changes and diversification of species. The basements of most universities are full of missing links, when the evidence is shown, most creationist don't even bother to look.

Answer 9

If you want to come at it from a scientific viewpoint, you will need to have evidence to back up your theory. That is why creationism will never be considered scientific theory. There is nothing to back it up. Yours may suffer the same fate in a scientific viewpoint.

However, if that is what you want to believe and as long as you do not ever expect anyone else to believe it then go for it. Just don't try to push it as science unless you can present evidence to back it up.

As for questioning a theory, that is perfect acceptable in science. What you need to do is come up with a new theory and have evidence to support the new theory. You publish your theory for peer review. Other scientists will go over your data and your conclusions and if they agree with you then you will have replaced evolution. I make it sound easier than it is though. Evolution is a mega-theory. It is a theory composed of lots of smaller theories.

Answer 10

Taking the fact of evolution into account, if there were a creator, it would have to be even more "evolved" than us (a being who created the entire universe would have to be an extremely advanced, complex being).

But then who created this entity and how would it have evolved to such complexity? This is taking into account that _evolution is necessary for the creation of a complex being_.

To add, evolution isn't classified as a belief (i.e., it isn't based on faith but observance).

Answer 11

Evolution doesn't care if you, or anybody for that matter, believes in it. It stands on its own merit and challenges all to find errors and make improvements. That's the beauty of the scientific method. Challenges to theories are expected. Each challenge met strengthens the theory. Any challenge that provides a better explanation based on hard, reproducible evidence is eventually accepted.

Evolution has met challanges for centuries and is quite strong. To be sure, there have been refinements, but the basic premise stands.

When you accumulate the evidence necessary to support your theory, you let us know.