Pope defends Theistic Evolution
| April 11, 2007 | Posted by leebowman under Evolution, Intelligent Design, Philosophy, Religion |
“Paris – Pope Benedict, elaborating his views on evolution for the first time as Pontiff, says science has narrowed the way life’s origins are understood and Christians should take a broader approach to the question.
The Pope also says the Darwinist theory of evolution is not completely provable because mutations over hundreds of thousands of years cannot be reproduced in a laboratory… ” (go to article)
You may recall that shortly after Pope Benedict’s inauguration, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna touched off a fire storm (July 2005) with an op-ed piece in the New York Times questioning Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and appearing to endorse the concept of intelligent design. This brought a quick response from Prof. Kenneth Miller, Prof. Francisco Ayala, and Prof. Lawrence Krauss by way of a published letter to the Pope, reminding him of Pope Paul II’s prior statements that Biological Evolution had progressed beyond the hypothetical stage, and was a “guiding principle” in the understanding of life forms. They requested that the Pope “clarify once again the Church’s position on Evolution and Science, that you reaffirm the remarkable statements of Pope John Paul II and the International Theological Commission, so that it will be clear that Cardinal Schönborn’s remarks do not reflect the views of the Holy See.”
According to an AP report, the Pope addressed the issue to a general audience in Rome on 11/9/05. He stated that the universe was made as an “intelligent project”, and criticized those who say that it is without direction or order.
Today’s report by Tom Heneghan (Independent Online, 4/11/07) reflects an update of the Pope’s position, and it will be interesting to read his complete remarks, when available.
35 Responses to Pope defends Theistic Evolution
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Many people, when they can’t provide evidence for their theory, adopt the strategy of falsehood. Such is the case with many of those who have fallen victim to the propaganda of renowned evolutionists.
If evolutionists want to end the arguments all they have to do is, get their brilliant heads together and assemble a ‘simple’ living cell. This should be possible, since they certainly have a very great amount of knowledge about what is inside the ‘simple’ cell.
After all, shouldn’t all the combined Intelligence of all the worlds scientist be able the do what chance encounters with random chemicals, without a set of instructions, accomplished about 4 billion years ago,according to the evolutionists, having no intelligence at all available to help them along in their quest to become a living entity. Surely then the evolutionists scientists today should be able to make us a ‘simple’ cell.
If it weren’t so pitiful it would be humorous, that intelligent people have swallowed the evolution mythology.
Beyond doubt, the main reason people believe in evolution is that sources they admire, say it is so. It would pay for these people to do a thorough examination of all the evidence CONTRARY to evolution that is readily available: Try answersingenesis.org. The evolutionists should honestly examine the SUPPOSED evidence ‘FOR’ evolution for THEMSELVES.
Build us a cell, from scratch, with the required raw material, that is with NO cell material, just the ‘raw’ stuff, and the argument is over. But if the scientists are unsuccessful, perhaps they should try Mother Earth’s recipe, you know, the one they claim worked the first time about 4 billion years ago, so they say. All they need to do is to gather all the chemicals that we know are essential for life, pour them into a large clay pot and stir vigorously for a few billion years, and Walla, LIFE!
Oh, you don’t believe the ‘original’ Mother Earth recipe will work? You are NOT alone, Neither do I, and MILLIONS of others!
What does Dembski believe about the origin of Homo sapiens?
Gil
view on Adam. That he was an actual person who existed in history and that God had taken a Ape like creature and re-engineered him into a man.
I take it this is some allegorical approache as interpreted as “from the Dust of the Earth?
In principle and in any other context I’d say no problem with this, except that it still begs the question of why God would use such an oddball and lenthy lead in process to reach the ape stage and in one fell swoop give such a creature a soul and a Search, whereas rather than blood and horror and the implied of such against predators which is the requisite issue of evolution on the African savannah? We are told there was no death–animal or human–before Adam at least no among what the Hebrew calls the Nashash beings, translated as soul creatures (mammals and higher order vertibrates. Maybe beatles got steeped on or bugs eaten and fish etaen by bigger fish and maybe frogs ate juicey flies, but humans certainly ate no meant and lions ate no gazelles, if I have my Genesis translation intact.
–SWT
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