I recall a time where my grandfather, who is over 70 years old, and I, along with others, went on a hiking trip to Reeves Ranch. We could talk about all sorts of different topics. He was naturally a scientist, also a theist, and loved talking about concepts about biology that I could not understand. In high school, I was taught about the theory of evolution as well. I had no problem jiving my religion with this scientific fact. However, my grandfather, who was not only an intelligent man, but also an engineer, did not believe in evolution. He had obviously thought about it before.
He had a whole list of arguments of why evolution simply is not possible. I was a bit timid, which is unlike my character, normally I pronounce my beliefs in both science and religion with conviction. This being a close relative of mine though, I sort of hesitated. I mean, after all, he was an old man-retired-he would have no influence on anyone on the theory of evolution other than my intermediate family. So I just listened.
I found it odd how often some go through such strong argumentative exertions to disprove something that they perceive to be a contradiction to their beliefs. I mean, is evolution really a bad thing? I don’t think so. I don’t see any contradictory claims at all made in the Holy Bible what so ever. And there is even an orthodox Jew who’ve come up with some astounding theory’s building on Darwin’s idea of Evolution. However, that’s a whole other conversation.
Evolution, as I perceive it, is a beautiful scientific natural pattern of something that will always exist. Sure, I don’t understand every little idea behind it. But it seems to be that if Evolution wasn’t true, then God has gone way out of His way to provide evidence, very strong evidence I might add, to support evolution.
Perhaps it is time for Christians to stop being so afraid of this theory. Perhaps it’s time for us creationist to come out of the evolution closet and accept scientific fact.
My Mind's Eye 
First, evolution is not a scientific fact (e.g. the fossil record does not support it). Steven Jay Gould, a well-known evolutionary biologist, has described this situation as “the trade secret of paleontology.” Another famous scientist that did not agree with the theory of evolution was none other than molecular biologist, and Nobel Prize winner, Francis Crick. While I personally don’t support biblical Creationism either, evolutionary theory is more ideology than science.
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Hey, thanks for your reply. Well there are many many theories as to how evolution came about. For instance, you have “punctuated equilibrium” which seems to be an apt description on why there seems to be a ‘missing link’ in the fossil record. However, if you believe in Darwinian “gradualism”, like I do, then you would have to explain away the fossil records, something that I personally cannot do. How does one sort these things out though? How do we come to a consensus on this issue?
Furthermore, evolution certainly is a fact. I think we can agree on this once we define what evolution is. If evolution is the general sense of change over time, then I think we can both agree that it’s a fact. However, once we get a little bit deeper into what different kinds of theories there are, such as you pointed out, we come to contradictory ideas. Such as the difference between “punctuated equilibrium” and “gradualism”. I don’t think I would go as far as to say that either of these theories are ‘fact’, but I do think that evolution itself is fact.
As Keith Thomson remarks: “Change over time is a fact, and descent from common ancestors is based on such unassailable logic that we act as though it is a fact. Natural selection provides the outline of an explanatory theory.”
So, it really depends of the context of your definition of evolution to determine whether or not evolution is or is not fact.
Also, there are many biologist, both theist and atheist, who would agree with my position on this scientific fact. For instance, biologist Richard Lenski says, “Scientific understanding requires both facts and theories that can explain those facts in a coherent manner. Evolution, in this context, is both a fact and a theory. It is an incontrovertible fact that organisms have changed, or evolved, during the history of life on Earth. And biologists have identified and investigated mechanisms that can explain the major patterns of change.”
I hope that helps explain my position a little bit more clearly.
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Evolution is a fact. Evolutionary theory is just that, a theory which is largely unsupported by the scientific record.
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