Science and Creation

A local club that was considering making a donation had one of its members object because we "teach creation rather than science". People who aren't versed in science seem to share this misconception about what science is because they cannot differentiate between scientific knowledge and the stories that scientists tell. They therefore think that evolution is science because a lot of scientists tell evolutionary stories, and therefore creation cannot be scientific.

In reality, science is not a thing, but rather a method of investigation. The scientific method is to make a hypothesis (an idea about how something works) and then arrange tests of the hypothesis to determine if experiments confirm the idea. The hypothesis is adjusted as needed and then retested. There is nothing in the scientific method that dictates what ideas can and cannot be tested. Therefore, ideas about a creator can be tested and evaluated scientifically just as evolutionary ideas can be tested. Politics, religion, comedy, the arts, baseball...all of these subjects can be studied using the scientific method.

Creation and evolution are on similar footing scientifically since neither have been proven. Conisider for example, the foundation of both hypotheses, the origin of life. All of our scientific knowledge indicates that life never comes from non-living material. It's such a well established piece of information that there is a scientific law of biogenesis, that life always comes from life. We never see otherwise. Nevertheless, evolutionists will continue to tell the story of evolution because they believe one day an exception to the law of biogenesis will be found. The key word is "believe". They are violating the scientific method when they continue to promote an idea that has been falsified, but faith is a powerful motivator.

Scientists have a right to believe things and to continue to perform research to identify evidence for their beliefs. They have that right regardless of whether they believe in evolution or creation. Their studies in support of either hypothesis can be completely scientific even though the impetus for studying is based upon faith. As scientific consumers however, we have to be careful not to accept their beliefs as science.