Quote:
Originally Posted by Thumping
From Dictionary.com --
Theory: a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.
hypotheses: a proposition, or set of propositions, set forth as an explanation for the occurrence of some specified group of phenomena, either asserted merely as a provisional conjecture to guide investigation (working hypothesis) or accepted as highly probable in the light of established facts.
Fact: something known to exist or to have happened.
To know something as fact and not theory as you propose, you would have to have seen it with your own eyes or have some crediable witness to the event in question. If the event is not observable, not testable, and you cannot replicate it, then is it still a fact.
To claim that all creationist have are hypotheses and no facts or theories assumes that you know all creationists and know all data that creationist talk about. Your assuming that you have infinite knowledge. There is still a lot of evidence that shows the Big Bang might have happened, but there is no proof. You cannot prove it. Just because you cannot prove it doens't mean that it didn't happen, but it does mean it that it cannot be classified as a fact.
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Bolt mine
Usually I don't get involved into this type of discussion. But this is not the definition we use for a scientific theory.
In science, theories explain facts.
Moreover I do not agree with what you say about facts. Go to a high bridge with a stone in your hand. Stretch out the hand behind your back over the rim of the bridge. Open your hand so that the inside of the hand shows downwards. You will feel the stone suddenly vanish.
You were alone on that bridge, no witness. You did not see what has happened to the stone. As the stone is gone you can't repeat the experiment (maybe the mysterious thing that happened to your stone happens only to that special type of stones).
Do we agree that what has happened to the stone was: It fell. According to your definition this would not be a fact.