I said, “They’ve found T-rex bones with blood cells still in them.”
You said in reply, “That is not true. They found fossilized remains of their structure and remnants of their soft tissue structure and protein remnants.”
I thank you, Freeper allmendream, because you forced me to dig up what I had read originally. Here’s the link from 2005 ...
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2005/03/28/ostrichosaurus-discovery
... with a follow-up from 2006 ...
http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2006/0306AAAS.asp
... where a creationist scientist Dr. Menton talks about what *appear* to be red-blood cells under a microscope. Dr. Schweitzer the old-earth scientist, made the same observation.
There is also a follow-up from 2007 ...
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2007/04/13/t-rex-big-chicken#fnList_1_1
The money quote here is the report that the non-creationist, “Dr. Schweitzer has reported that the protein collagen has been recovered from her T. rex soft tissue specimen.”
I am not a scientist. If you have more recent information than this regarding the latest on this find, I would love to see it. I don’t stay on the cutting edge of what’s going on in paleontology.
To answer your questions:
A) Pope, if trusting Jesus, and knows Jesus, and the outgrowth of this faith and relationships are the good works prepared for him, is a Christian. I don’t know the man’s heart. I can cite scripture to back up everything if you need me to.
B) No. So long as the scientific theory does not contradict what the Bible teaches, no, acceptance of that scientific theory does not preclude one from being a Christian. But the Bible does teach to be wary of oppositions of science that are not science.
C) If the Pope teaches or believes things that oppose the Bible, then no, he does not believe the Bible is the Word of God.
D) I don’t interpret the Bible perfectly, so no, I am not the standard for measuring the Bible.
E) “Do you think the are of the Earth is a salvational issue?” I don’t understand this. Try again Sir please.
F) I do not think it is OK, even if I made the comment in good faith. But, please Sir, tell me of the observations made since I read the aforementioned links, that show that the latest consensus understanding since 2
G) Regarding the Pope quote: There are plenty of Bible verses I could list for a literal 6 days of creation. The evolutionary narrative for the origin of the earth contradicts the narrative of Genesis in many ways. If the Pope is speaking of micro evolution, then that is true, in that Chihuahuas are the same species as St. Bernards, and you could selectively breed them into each other. If he is speaking macro evolution where species A turns into species B lizard—>duck, then no, I dis-agree. God made them all as narrated in Genesis.
Three more questions for you, adding to the four you have not yet answered ...
5) What would you do with evidence for a young world? Would you admit error?
6) The evidence at http://www.direct.ca/trinity/y3nf.html compels me to believe the Bible is the word of God. I have not yet seen a response that did not consist of anything better than “Handwaving” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handwaving) after an admission that the math works. What’s your take?
7) Since you are human, you have lied, hated, lusted, stolen just like every man, and are thus guilty on judgment day before a God that will send you to eternal hellfire for your crimes, or to heaven because you believed in and followed Christ. Are you prepared for this day?
The scientists (Schweitzer) who is doing this is not a young Earth creationist and thinks the fossilization, while amazingly well preserved in microstructure of soft tissue, is consistent with it being millions of years old.
As I stated, they found remains of the STRUCTURE of blood cells; pretty amazing; but they did not find “T-rex bones with blood cells still in them”; they found a fossilized remains of a T-rex bone (a fossil is made up of mineral not bone) that had the STRUCTURE of blood cells preserved within it (as well as some protein sequences (collagen)still intact).
If the evidence from independent lines of investigation all derived young ages for the Earth I would be accepting of it. But it does not. Geology, Paleontology, Archeology, Astronomy, and Biology (among many other scientific disciplines) all give evidence of a VERY OLD Earth and Universe.
I believe the Bible is the word of God. As does the Pope. We both accept the evidence for the theory of evolution through natural selection of genetic variation. If you are handing out blanket condemnations to Hell based upon acceptance of evolution, then I am in good company.
I ask forgiveness for my sins in the name of Jesus the Christ, THAT is the criteria for salvation given in the Bible; nothing about how long you think it took and what processes were used when God created the Universe.