Operational Science vs. Origins Science – Definition and Distinction
If for anything, both creation and evolution have one thing in common: both cannot be proven through observation and repeat experimentation because the formation or creation of the universe was a one-time event. Does this mean that both theories of origins are NOT science? Not exactly.
Both parties are conflicting due to a number of reasons, and among these reasons is the general but faulty assumption of having a singular definition of science. Science is an ever-evolving concept, but one eternally focused on finding the truth through systematic techniques. Taking the neutral and widely accepted definition of science, both theories (creation and evolution) are categorically scientific in that both use scientific methodologies to verify their hypotheses.
No matter how much evolutionist discredit creation for being scientific, it is imperative to recognize both theories of origins as forms of historical science, or simply origins science. To understand this more, it is important to define the two general kinds of science: operational science and origins science.
Operational Science Origins Historical Science
Based on: The senses Assumptions about the past
Uses: Experiments Extrapolation
Deals with: The Present The Past
Results in: Repeatable conclusions, technology Unrepeatable stories of the past
Operational science describes how something works by using traditional tools of observation and experimentation such as chemistry and physics. On the other hand, origins science puts together past occurrences to explain history such as archeology and forensics.
The reason for confusions over the scientific-ness of either evolution or creation is that neither are operational science. Neither creation nor evolution cannot be thoroughly tested to prove whether each theory is true or not. Since creation and evolution are both historical science, they are never free from assumptions and doubts simply because no historical account or record is complete and definitive. As time passes, historical records tend to become more obscure and puzzling. Even with the discovery of additional archeological artifacts and fossils, which supposedly fill in the gaps and offer answers, more questions arise.
Nevertheless, historical science is still a form of science because it employs scientific methods in its search for the truth about past events, which is in the case of both creation and evolution – the search for the truth about the origins of the universe and humans. If historical science were not scientific, then we simply have to scrap all forms of historical sciences and debunk them as pseudo-sciences.
Consequently, both creation and evolution are forms of faith simply because both fundamentally make assumptions about how life, humans, the Earth (and the perhaps the entire universe) came into being. So basically, evolutionists believe or have faith that everything came from nothing and evolved into what it is now, while creationists believe or have faith that everything came from God.
So then, there is no way of telling which theory of origins is the truth and which is not, if we are to depend on pure scientific experimentation to arrive at definitive conclusions. It is a matter of faith. It is possible that only one of these forms of historical sciences is true. It is also possible that both are true, in that, God may have created everything from nothing, and allowed life to evolve over thousands to billions of years. Anyway, we are limited to assumptions, which are the easier to accept. Whichever is more acceptable and believable, it should offer us some peace of mind in the end. If we (or others) question what we believe in, it is natural because historical sciences are never free from doubts anyway.
To summarize, it is fair to categorize both creation and evolution theories as forms of sciences, specifically historical science or origins science. Historical science is distinct from operational science in that the former is not repeatable and observable. Rather, historical science is based on assumptions about the past and does not present any definite conclusion owed to the imperfections in historical records.