Posted on 11/07/2005 12:05:04 PM PST by Mikey_1962
THE Vatican has issued a stout defence of Charles Darwin, voicing strong criticism of Christian fundamentalists who reject his theory of evolution and interpret the biblical account of creation literally.
Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the Genesis description of how God created the universe and Darwin's theory of evolution were "perfectly compatible" if the Bible were read correctly. His statement was a clear attack on creationist campaigners in the US, who see evolution and the Genesis account as mutually exclusive.
"The fundamentalists want to give a scientific meaning to words that had no scientific aim," he said at a Vatican press conference. He said the real message in Genesis was that "the universe didn't make itself and had a creator".
This idea was part of theology, Cardinal Poupard emphasised, while the precise details of how creation and the development of the species came about belonged to a different realm - science. Cardinal Poupard said that it was important for Catholic believers to know how science saw things so as to "understand things better".
His statements were interpreted in Italy as a rejection of the "intelligent design" view, which says the universe is so complex that some higher being must have designed every detail.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
What's the advantage exactly? Belonging to,and being in Christ, is the only thing that matters.
Out of curiosity, isn't your tagline a little redundant?
Oops!! Down the slope a go!
Christianity: 2.1 billion
(Catholics: 1.07 billion)
Islam: 1.3 billion
Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
Hinduism: 900 million
Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
Buddhism: 376 million
primal-indigenous: 300 million
African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million
Sikhism: 23 million
Juche: 19 million
Spiritism: 15 million
Judaism: 14 million
Catholics are the majority of Christians in the world. There are about 2.1 billion Christians, and of that about 1.2 billion are Catholic.
You do not have to be a scientist to know that evening and morning equals one literal day. If Chapter one of book one is not true, then none of it is true.
Unless you pretend that the word "day" can be translated to mean any amount of time you want.
In many respects, Howard Dean does defy the laws of nature.
First of all, I don't begin to see that in the above article, and secondly, where in ID theory or in RC theology does it require a belief that God (or the Designer) is always tinkering with Creation?
IMHO, God can do anything any way he pleases, and He occasionally and gradually allows us to understand how He accomplished some of his work. He could have set it in motion at the start and walked away, or he could be tinkering all the time. It does not matter one way or another in accepting the idea of a Creator.
For any but the most arrogant, the deeper the understanding of the sciences, the deeper the appreciation of His creations.
The belief in initial human immortality does square with the account. God in essence had promised to stop the clock on human aging, AS LONG AS man would obey the single rule. It didn't take long for man's end of the bargain to fall through, and of course God knew it was going to happen all along.
Post away.....
...Should you be in Jail?
I really don't know why you are trying to pick a fight about an issue about which we probably agree.
The Catholic position is that each human child is conceived by its mother and father, has its genes from both parents, and is ensouled directly by God.
Also, by no means do I believe that "natural law" is some sort of materialist billiard table.
You very well understood what I wanted to express. :-)
Given a day didn't even exist as a unit of measure yet in the beginning of creation(the sun and Earth not existing yet), I don't see why not.
"And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my BACK PARTS: but my face shall not be seen.
"
So it reads in Exodus, King James Version. Looks to me like God showed Moses his butt. And you're right, the Hebrew still means that.
If the Bible, in translation, is to be taken literally, then God mooned Moses. You see the problem, eh? This is why sensible people do not interpret the Bible literally, but see it for what it is: allegorical tales told to a bunch of nomadic shepherds. Treating the Old Testament as a factual science book is silly. It should not be done.
Your argument is with the Author of Genesis. Perhaps you should ask Him if God looks like an amoeba.
God placed life and man into a very dynamic environment. In doing so he gave life the ability to adapt to the changes. Are you contending that this process of adaption does not exist or that it was not created by God?
"Out of curiosity, isn't your tagline a little redundant?"
Indeed it is. I adopted that tagline after some "Christian" wag wrote a message calling me a "godless atheist." It sort of rang a bell, you see.
And thus is history made.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.