On the matters of faiths, beliefs, sciences and worldviews.

You might not be overly surprised that I read Ray Comfort’s blog daily – purely for laughs. His overall incompetence in grasping even the very basics of evolutionary science is comedical in the extreme. So what could possibly top that? His commenters, of course!

Consider the following statement by user ‘Its ALL about JESUS !!!‘:

Atheists,
We have gone over this so many times and you still fail to see the basic understanding of a “THEORY”.

[...]

Here is Webster’s definition:
“a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation b: an unproved assumption : conjecture “

A conjecture would be something like this:
I see the sun rise and the sun sets, I also see the moon rise and the moon setting. Therefore the earth is the center of the universe! WRONG !!!

Just as wrong as evolution.

Remember that we’re discussing whether the theory of evolution is to be considered scientific or not. You would expect, then, that it would be judged against what is unarguably science. Let’s see what the scientific definition of the word ‘theory’ tells us:

Main Entry: the·o·ry
Etymology: Late Latin theoria, from Greek theōria, from theōrein
Date: 1592

1. the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another
2. abstract thought : speculation
3. the general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art <music theory>
4. a) a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action <her method is based on the theory that all children want to learn>
   b) an ideal or hypothetical set of facts, principles, or circumstances —often used in the phrase in theory<in theory, we have always advocated freedom for all>
5. a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena <the wave theory of light>
6. a) a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation
   b) an unproved assumption : conjecture
   c) a body of theorems presenting a concise systematic view of a subject <theory of equations>

What we gather from this host of explanations is that ‘Its ALL about JESUS !!!’ has ignored points 1-5 and jumped directly to 6.a and 6.b (mysteriously omitting the immediately following 6.c). In fact, points 1, 3, 5 and 6.c directly support evolution as being a scientific theory.

Regardless of what ‘Its ALL about JESUS !!!’ thinks about the actual scientific evidence behind the classification of evolution as a scientific theory (after all, if he can’t even read a dictionary right, would you trust him as a scientist?), those who actually are scientists almost unanimously agree that evolution does indeed fit the definition of a scientific theory.

The added beauty of the scientific method, and theories, is that they are not required to be absolute truth. They’re both allowed doubt, in that they can be immediately discarded as untrue should another theory arise that does a better job at explaining something. Science is not about truths, but only about the search for understanding. In this sense, the theory of evolution is the most valid explanation in existence, to date, of how life on earth evolved from beginning to present day.