Sorry about that!! Soldier abandoned his post due to life, tiredness, and need to attend to other things.
Before catching up and answering previous posts I have a question for myself: Leaving aside evolution/creation for a minute:-
Do Atheists not need to be experts in theology? Do they need to know everything about the Bible? It would help: But I suppose to debunk the Bible, seeing as it claims to be the Inerrant Word of God, all of it, then they only need to show it is in error in one point. The Inerrancy of the Bible is like a great big bubble inviting us to burst it. The Atheist only needs to bring along a small little pin and burst it in one point. He doesn't need to show knowledge of the whole Bible. The one defending the Bible, he needs to have some ability on all points, but the attacker, he only needs to overcome in one point. So an Atheist only needs to show the Bible is incorrect, say when it is talking about the origin of life: he only needs to show that, for instance, evolution is true and Genesis 1 to 6 is wrong, and the whole bubble of Biblical Infallibilty bursts, the whole edifice comes tumbling down. Of course, the same holds for all ideas: if you can show that an idea is wrong in one essential part then the whole idea is debunked. The same can be said for evolutionary theory: it only needs a small little pin to prick it in one small essential and it bursts. I only need to attack in one small point, I don't need to know everything about evolutionary theory, which is just as well: you defenders and believers in it, you need to have at least some knowledge in a vast complex of knowledge: paleontology, geology, biology, micro-biology, genetics, and maybe also astronomy and the supposed age of the solar system, and all sorts; you need to be able to see a defence in all these areas; to be good defenders of evolutionist you need to know it holds up in all areas.
It would also help if you knew the arguments against evolutionary theory presented by opposers: perhaps to have read "Evolution: A Theory in Crisis" by Michael Denton, not a Christian or Jew or even as far as I know a Theist of any description; or "Bone of Contention" by Sylvia Baker, a clear introduction; or "Darwin's Black Box" by Michael Behe, an argument from the Intelligent Design movement, (there are many systems in organisms which simply couldn't have evolved, they are too complex); or "Darwin on Trial" by Phillip E. Johnson; or "Refuting Evolution" or "The Greatest Hoax on Earth?" both by Jonathan Sarfati; or "What Darwin didn't know" by Geoffrey Simmons, an overview of the complexity of the human body.
Also, to be able to measure the truthfulness or otherwise of evolutionary theory you ideally need to have no invested interest in the outcome of your analysis. You should ideally not have your livelihood built on a preference for one of the answers. You should be entirely free to reach one or the other decision... free from financial motivation, free from peer pressure, free from a fear of losing your job if you reach the "wrong" verdict.
I suppose I could argue that in order to be able to assess the scientific evidence of evolutionary theory you also must be a Christian who has submitted his life to God and believes the Bible in all other respects. Why? Because a Christian is the only one whose life need not change depending on the outcome of his investigations: he could change his view on Genesis 1-6 from a literalist interpretation to a figurative interpretation depending on his decision about evolutionary theory. However, the non Christian, if he decides that evolutionary theory is false, he faces the uncomfortable possibility that there is a God to whom he must one day give an account of his life. There is much to play for, there is a whole life to change if he finds the scientific evidence does not support evolution: the more comfortable option is to go along with evolutionary theory.
Anyone who chooses to believe the Biblical account of creation and reject evolution must also face the possibility of ridicule, insult, attacks on their sanity, intellectual honesty, and a whole host of other attacks: "Your head is in the sand", "Where have you been for the last 150 years?", "What hole have you just crawled out of?", etc, etc.
I must post this, its getting too long.
