Both Evolution and Creation “theories” are based on facts. The foundation to each historical theory on how the universe came into existence is base on their research and explanation of the exact same set of facts.
Here is the problem: They both start with prior beliefs. {and religious bias}
Creationist start from the position that life was designed and created by a supernatural Creator: God.
Evolutionist start from the position that there is a naturalistic explanation for how all living things began and evolved over millions of years: Self made Big Bang with NO God.
So, in asking, “is evolution a theory?” or “is evolution based on facts?” we have to ask whether we are interested in science or not. You see, there are scientific theories and there are other theories. Other theories, such as religious theories or historic theories, can not be proven scientifically. Those doing research on their theories may be scientist looking for facts.
Examples of Historical or Religious questions where science is used to gather facts:
- Where did a treasure ship sink?
- Did Jesus really exist?
- Who really wrote the Shakespeare plays?
- Where is the King’s tomb?
- How did the architects build the pyramids?
- A final example… How did the universe begin?
The above questions have bias starting points. Usually someone does not like another “theory” and has another idea or “theory”. The scientific method attempts to remove bias from an investigation. The prefect example of this is the historical question, of how our universe came into existence.
While there are many comological or “first cause” theories, historical theories are NOT scientific theories, it all seems to boil down into two explanations;
- The universe created itself by a big bang.
- The universe created itself by a creator.
Both of these are Historical Theories, and NOT Scientific Theories, trying to explain a historical event. But because one of the explanations or “theory” uses God, it seems to be a Religious Theory. Not true; both “theories” have religious bias. One does not want God, the other wants God. Both “theories” use scientific facts as evidence for their theory; but make no mistake, neither theory is scientific nor can they be proven. See my article on why not here.
So, these questions will not be answered as long as there is man wanting to promote his religion of God creation or NO God creation:
- Is evolution a theory?
- Is creation a theory?
Both camps agree that there is a “First Cause“. But what or who “moved” the universe into its present state? This inquiry is not about fact, and who knows about fiction. The First Cause argument should be more accurately defined as a Cosmological Argument.
The question remains, “Is evolution based on Facts? Absolutely, just like the Creation Theory is based on facts. But what you need to know is that evolution contains a lot of FICTION!
A rabbit can NOT just appear out of a hat any more than a universe can appear out of nothing. But evolution goes even further. It basically says that the hat appeared out of nothing and the rabbit came out and there was NO Magician (ie. creator).
If you believe that energy and matter just appeared then forget the Law of Conservation of Energy, science and all of the other laws of science.
For me as an engineer, I cannot ignore the Laws of Science. And you don’t want me ignoring them either. Not when I design the school building that your children go to each day. Then why should I ignore these same Laws to support a historical theory?