....regardless of what "modifications" evolutionist have made or would like to make over the past century, the fact remains that the definition of what constitutes "evolution" has NOT changed! In the context of this thread and our discussion of "evolution" it is necessary that we clarify what we are talking about —the theory that the first living organism developed from nonliving matter.
Actually, that's abiogenesis, and we have no theory for that, because there is not enough evidence to support any particular hypothesis.
Then, as it reproduced, it is said to have changed into different kinds of living things,
Evolution does not posit that one kind of thing becomes another kind of thing.
Or put another way: Organic evolution is the theory that the first living organism developed from lifeless matter.
There would be no "first living thing".
Then, as it reproduced, it is said, it changed into different kinds of living things,
Things don't change when they reproduce.
Of interest in this regard is the following comment and observation: “A century after Darwin’s death, we still have not the slightest demonstrable or even plausible idea of how evolution really took place
That was false even a century after Darwin's death, and it is more false today.
A state of almost open war exists among the evolutionists themselves, with every kind of [evolutionary] sect urging some new modification.”—C. Booker (London Times writer), The Star, (Johannesburg), April*20, 1982, p. 19.
Once there ceases to be "open war" and "sects", that will mean people no longer have anything to study.
The introduction to the centennial edition of Darwin’s Origin of Species (London, 1956) says: “As we know, there is a great divergence of opinion among biologists, not only about the causes of evolution but even about the actual process. This divergence exists because the evidence is unsatisfactory and does not permit any certain conclusion. It is therefore right and proper to draw the attention of the non-scientific public to the disagreements about evolution.”—By W. R. Thompson, then director of the Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control, Ottawa, Canada.
In what way does the dispute between the significance of adaptation versus evolutionary development (as an example) cast doubt on the historical fact of evolution?