Is Evolution Science or Religion?

Why Evolution is Religion, NOT Science

Most people believe in evolution because our educational system and the media have been teaching it as scientific fact their entire lives. If you are like most people, you probably believe in evolution because our parents, teachers, the media, and even many preachers believe it and teach it as common knowledge. But have you ever seen any hard evidence that proves that everything came from nothing by time and chance through “natural” processes? This post examines whether Evolution is proven scientific fact as it is proclaimed to be. Or is Evolution really a form of religion?

Introduction

Despite going to church as a child, I was indoctrinated into the evolutionary faith through my secular education. I became an agnostic, adopting an evolutionary world view, even though I was never fully convinced that there was no God. But once I trusted Jesus as my savior at the age of 23, I recognized that evolution and faith in the Word of God were incompatible. Since then, I’ve been studying the scientific evidence for both creation and evolution for over 40-years to determine whether evolution has any proof that contradicts creation by God as taught in the Bible.

This post will answer the questions of, “What is science?” and “What is religion?” The lack of evidence (much less proof) for Evolution demonstrates that believing in Evolution is religious faith rather than science.

Science vs Religion

The high priests of evolution dogmatically declare that evolution is a “proven fact,” but I have never seen the proof. Have you? They claim evolution is science and creation is religion, but is that really true? What are Science and Religion? What is the difference between them? This section will explain the requirements for something to be genuine science and describe what religion is.

What is Science?

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines “science” as:

“Any system of knowledge that is concerned with the physical world and its phenomena and that entails unbiased observations and systematic experimentation. In general, a science involves a pursuit of knowledge covering general truths or the operations of fundamental laws.”

https://www.britannica.com/science/science

Genuine science employs the scientific method, seeking to explain natural phenomena in the physical realm.

The scientific method includes:

  1. Formulate a problem statement / clear question stating that which you seek to answer.
  2. Create a hypothesis (educated guess) stating your explanation of the problem (observable phenomenon). To be valid, the hypothesis must be testable and falsifiable (capable of being demonstrated false if not true).
  3. Develop and perform experiments to test the hypothesis, collect data, and document your observations. The experiments must be clearly described so they can be repeated by others. If others cannot successfully repeat an experiment, it must be considered invalid.
  4. Analyze the data and interpret the results.
  5. Draw conclusions and publish your results. Did your experiments support your hypothesis or contradict it? Could your experiments be improved? Can your hypothesis be refined?
  6. When different people working independently successfully confirm a hypothesis by multiple experiments, then it may attain “theory” status. Theories provide models for understanding physical phenomena and predicting future results.
  7. Note: any negative results prove a hypothesis or theory false, but no amount of positive results can prove that a theory is true.

Genuine science deals with what can be observed, tested, and replicated in the present. But the origin of the universe, time, and life occurred in the unobserved past. It cannot be tested or repeated. Evolution and Biblical Creation are therefore both outside the realm of true science.

“Genuine science deals with what can be observed in the present, what can be tested, and what can be replicated.”

What is Religion?

Heb 11:1 - Faith is Being Sure of what we Hope for

While science deals with ideas about the physical realm that can be observed and tested, religion is based on faith about things that cannot be seen or proven.

Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as assurance of what we confidently hope for; the proof of what cannot be seen (Hebrews 11:1). By faith, that which cannot be seen or proved becomes the reality of those who believe it.

Religion is traditionally described as a system of beliefs and practices related to faith in one or more supernatural god(s). Atheists claim they are not religious because they do not believe in a supernatural god. However, it is impossible to prove that there is no god. Their belief that there is no god is therefore based on faith.

Since Evolutionists do not believe in God, they believe that the universe created itself and that life evolved from non-living matter by chance over vast ages of time through “natural” means. There is no proof for these beliefs, therefore they are based on faith.

There are more definitions of “religion” than there are dictionaries. By way of example, Dictionary.com defines “religion” as:

  1. A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
  2. A specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects . . .
  3. The body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices . . .
  4. The life or state of a monk, nun, etc. . . .
  5. The practice of religious beliefs; ritual observance of faith.
  6. Something one believes in and follows devotedly; a point or matter of ethics or conscience . . .

Please note that definitions 1, 2, 3 and 6 can all be applied to Atheism and Atheists. They may not believe in a supernatural creator god, but they believe the agencies of time, chance, natural selection, and death created the universe out of nothing and evolved life as we know it. There is no scientific proof of this. It is what they must believe since they reject the existence of a creator God.

Therefore, Evolution is just as religious a theory as creation because both belief systems are accepted by faith without actual proof.  Rather than being genuine science, Evolution is a pseudoscience (false science) grounded on the false belief that there is no God.

Summary

Genuine science follows the scientific method, which is based on observation, and requires theories to be tested and the results independently repeated to verify their validity. The existence or non-existence of God cannot be tested, and the origin of the universe and life happened long ago before there were any people to observe it.

By faith, Bible believing Christians understand that the physical realm, including life and time, was created from nothing by an all-powerful, eternal God (Hebrews 11:3).

Hebrews 11:3 - By Faith we Understand the Universe was Created

Equally by faith, Evolutions believe there is no God and that everything that exists came about through “natural” physical forces, by chance over long ages of time. The gods of evolution are time, chance and naturalism.

Both the theory of evolution and Biblical creation by an all-powerful God are outside the realm of true science. Evolution is just as religious as Biblical Creation because both belief systems are based on faith, not observation.


How Evolution is Like a Fairytale

The next post in this three article series compares the theory of evolution to the “Emperor’s New Clothes” fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen. Continue reading to see what these famous fairytales have in common.

God's Answer to Atheists and "False Knowledge"

Or you might like to read the final article in this series, God’s Answer to Atheists and “False Knowledge”


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