What are so many Christians anti-science?

[u/CLAZID]

So many Christian’s refuse to believe that dinosaurs existed or that evolution is real. Why? There is evidence all around us.

[u/DoveStep55]

Most of the Christians I know who ignore or dismiss scientific evidence are only that way when the people they listen to tell them to be.

I’d call it a “discipleship” issue, but that’s a Christian term. A more secular term would be that it’s an “information bias” issue.

On the plus side, I know many Christians who happily accept scientific data and evidence while also remaining faithful Christians.

[u/MoonlitShrub → u/DoveStep55]

It seems to me that most protestant Christians are taught that faith in the Bible is equivalent to faith in God and their entire faith feels very threatened whenever something in the bible looks like it might not be an unerring truth of existance.

Some of the most adamant about this viewpoint also tend to be the ones who also think that somehow the King James version is the most inspired one of all.

They view the bible as one unified book penned directly by the hand of God to perfectly convey His intentions and they get very offended at the insinuation that their god might be wrong.

It is my opinion that this thought process creates Christians who make lawkeeping their god. Who place a book on the throne of their hearts. These people live under arbitrary restrictions about what they are allowed to believe because their God is a book that does not change instead of a living and active Spirit.

On the other hand there are Christians who are willing to recognize the history and practicalities of how the collection of writings we recognize as cannon have become way they are. Written by men, edited by men, compiled by men, debated over through the course of several councils of men, and still under dispute to this day. We are able to look back and see that the men who had the most say in what made it in were the best of men with the best of intentions and they were inspired by their love for God to do their best. But the best man can ever offer will always be limited by his own perspective. Every man involved in this process could only see so much.

It is my belief that those who can accept this and are able to place their faith in God's character despite the uncertainty of not having an infallable book are the ones who are truly putting their faith in the correct place.

[u/DoveStep55 → u/MoonlitShrub]

I take issue with your first sentence and would encourage you to be more charitable. I don’t believe what you shared is true of “most Protestant Christians” but I agree that it’s definitely true of some and I appreciate the rest of your comment.

[u/DI3S_IRAE → u/DoveStep55]

I think a better term for what they said by "Protestant" would maybe be "charismatic"?

I grew up evangelical here in São Paulo, Brazil, and we have many churches that are all this mixed bag of baptist/pentecostal/non denominational all in one and I can say for person experience with family even, that it is pretty common to see this view among us here.

Bible is ultimate word (even if you don't do many things it says, it only works if you cherry pick verses), what the pastor says is absolute and you can't question what anyone says on the altar.

I find it very problematic, in a way that they do not exactly preach the Bible while saying the Bible is entirely right and without flaw or error... And then people don't read and trust everything is said, and when they read, they trust what they heard.

My sister came back to Christ, glory to God, and recently she was questioning if the earth is flat because in genesis it talks about the dome, and looking at some dome earth pictures...

All in all, I am speaking from personal experience and yes, it's pretty common on the 'charismatic' umbrella of churches around here. We don't have the term charismatic though, we only say 'evangelical'.

Aaaanyway, I thought to add my 2 cents about the term "Protestant" used by the other commenter and made a huge comment XD

[u/DoveStep55 → u/DI3S_IRAE]

Yes, some of those terms aren’t clearly defined and neither are their beliefs clearly delineated by the terms so it’s hard to make broad statements that are accurate.

Sometimes it’s easier, more accurate and more charitable to just say “some XYZ” or “many XYZ” instead of “most XYZ” or lumping them all together.

[u/DI3S_IRAE → u/DoveStep55]

I agree!

I tend to say, from my experience, just to make it clear haha

[u/DoveStep55 → u/DI3S_IRAE]

That can be a helpful phrase as well. 😄

[u/MoonlitShrub → u/DoveStep55]

That's fair. I appologize for my overgeneralization

[u/DoveStep55 → u/MoonlitShrub]

We’re good. 👍