You are correct to presume that I have faith in science. My faith in science is much closer to my faith in god than most people would admit.
Almost everything I know about science is something I have read about and do not have any first hand knowledge about. Same goes for god.
I do have first hand knowledge about many things that I observe, like where a ball goes when I throw it. But that is not science. I take it on faith that a field called gravity exists and that it affects the ball in accordance with f=ma. I have no direct experience of the field. In general relativity, there is no gravity- rather it is the distortion of space by the earth that controls the flight of the ball (with no spin) once it leaves my hand. Space distortion requires more faith than I care to exercise- really.
So I readily admit that I have faith in science, especially its experiments.
However, it is incorrect of you to presume that it is faith in the theory of evolution that influences me. It is all of the experimental science that is consistent with evolution that mostly influences my thinking, plus the astronomical proof that the stars in the universe that we see are up to billions of yaers old.
There is actually no mathematical theory of evolution. So it is even incorrect of you to talk of a theory of evolution. The question is the age of the planet earth. That has nothing to do with evolution. I am not expert in geology and so I take the dating of several materials by radioactive decay on faith. I also take the fossil record on faith that what I read about it is correct.
The fossile record and the radioactive dating both put the earth orders of magnitude older than the Hebrew calendar. That has nothing to do with evolution. You are making assumptions about my thinking that are incorrect. Nowadays god reveals himself through science. Actually the creation 6 day story was just the science of that time. Now we know better. If you wish to put your faith in 3,000 year old science, be my guest. I will put my faith in modern science and in the god it reveals.
Sincerely,
Richard |