SUNSTONE said:
When God created everything, He could have made it as old as He wanted to. When He created man, he didn't create "man child", which is exactly how they discribed caan. No He created a full grown man, and woman, both fully grown. Can you imagine God creating Eve, as a baby, and telling Adam. Ok Adam you can't touch her untill shes 18.
That's the old "appearence of age" argument. Yes, God could have made the Earth and universe look billions of years old. He could have made it look like life on Earth diversified from primitive organisms into the present forms today. But so what? All scientists can do is look at the Earth and tell you what it looks like. And that's all they are doing. So, if God made the Earth look 4.5 billion years old, then that's how it will look. No amount of special pleading will change that.
But the "appearence of age" argument has a pretty big theological flaw. Why would God do such a thing? Why would He do one thing, then tell people something else? Did He not think we'd eventually figure it out?
Furthermore, the "appearence of age" requires one to reject what their senses tell them. After all, how would I know the when the world
was created? It could have been made last Thursday with everyone's memory intact. Maybe it's not even real. Maybe it's all a big computer simulation or dream.
You have to set an objective baseline somewhere. Science sets it on the physical universe and assumes that universe is not deceiving us. If it is, then you've got a whole other set of issues on your hand.
Ok your not making since, on one hand there is no leap of faith, but on the other hand you say "and choosing the most likely explanation", which is a theory. So if it isn't proven, it must take faith, to believe it. Other wise you must say, "well we don't know, but we are chasing evidence in this direction". And that is the simple truth of evolution, and how we came about.
I'd draw the line at religious faith and faith in scientific theories. Attempting to equivocate them puts religion on shaky ground.
Yes, in a general sense, I have "faith" in evolution. Of course, I also have "faith" that France exists, that WW2 occurred, and that this message will get posted when I click the "Submit" button. In that sense, I have faith in pretty much everything.
But, I've watered down the definition of "faith" in the process. Suddenly a "leap of faith" doesn't seem like such a great thing anymore.