Right. I've been quoting the Pope's 1996 statement, as I think it's clear he's accepted evolution (but not with regard to man's spiritual nature). And I've quoted Hitler -- who is clearly a creationist. The quotes are accurate.
G3k doesn't like -- or understand -- these quotes, so he alleges that I'm claiming the Pope isn't catholic, etc. We are accustomed to such distortions.
To clarify these things again: Hitler's creationism doesn't discredit creationism. The Pope's stand on evolution doesn't prove evolution. Evolution must stand on its scientific merit, not on the authority of its proponents (or the ignominy of its detractors). Ditto for creationism.
But maybe not so clear after you read this: Clarification of the Pope's statements regarding evolution
I encourage all those interested in the Pope's stand on evolution to give this referenced article a good read.
MM
My posting of the link was not to enter the debate but to "source" what I suspect was the origin of the gore3000's remark. It's what I do (LOL!)
OJ Simpson was great football player so he is innocent of murdering Nicole Smith and Ron Goldman?
Is that how evolution works?
Lying as usual. I guess that you, an inveterate atheist, understand the Christian religion better than Christians? The Pope's encyclical specifically says that any theory which states that man was created by material means is false.
If the human body take its origin from pre-existent living matter, the spiritual soul is immediately created by God. Consequently, theories of evolution which, in accordance with the philosophies inspiring them, consider the SPIRIT as emerging from the forces of living matter or as a mere epiphenomenon of this matter, are incompatible with the truth about man. Nor are they able to ground the dignity of the person."
To properly understand the above we need to understand what epephenomenon means.
epiphenomenon, n, a secondary phenomenon accompanying another and caused by it.
Reading the above paragraph after understanding what epiphenomenon means one sees that he is saying, very clearly that man did not descend from lower species - the central theme of Darwinian evolution. In the next paragraph he says:
"With man, then, we find ourselves in the presence of an ontological difference, an ontological leap, ".
ontology, n, 1. a branch of metaphysics relating to the nature and relations of being. 2. a particular theory about the nature of being or the kinds of existence.
He is saying that man is beyond the realm of the physical, that man exists in the realm of the divine, not the material. He clearly states further that the Bible is the guide to man and the meaning of life. Further he had made prior to this the assertion that materialistic views are not acceptable and the following is to the point:
" In other terms, the human individual cannot be subordinated as a pure means or a pure instrument, either to the species or to society; he has value per se. He is a person. With his intellect and his will, he is capable of forming a relationship of communion, solidarity and self-giving with his peers. St. Thomas observes that man's likeness to God resides especially in his speculative intellect, for his relationship with the object of his knowledge resembles God's relationship with what he has created."