Posted on 02/07/2005 7:30:07 AM PST by mike182d
NEW YORK (CNS) -- Catholic educators need better teaching programs about evolution "to correct the anti-evolution biases that Catholics pick up" from the general society, according to a U.S. bishops' official involved in dialogue with scientists for 20 years.
Without a church view of human creation that is consistent with currently accepted scientific knowledge, "Catholicism may begin to seem less and less 'realistic' to more and more thoughtful people," said David Byers, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Science and Human Values from 1984 to 2003.
"That dynamic is a far greater obstacle to religious assent than evolution," he said in a bylined article in the Feb. 7 issue of America, a weekly magazine published in New York by the Jesuits. The article discussed the value of the dialogues with scientists organized by the bishops' committee.
"Denying that humans evolved seems by this point a waste of time," he said without mentioning specific controversies in the United States.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnews.com ...
"Creationism in the way the term is normally defined, posits a belief in God. Thusly, creationism is not a scientific theory."
The term Creationism refers to the way God created the world. Many evolutionists believe that God created the world using evolution. Under your theory, these would be Creationists. That's a little broad a brush to paint with.
I think we can all agree that the battle between Creationists and Evolutionists does not lie in whether or not they believe in intelligent design. The battle lies strictly in how it happened.
Evolution does not address the origin of the universe.
Under your theory, these would be Creationists. That's a little broad a brush to paint with.
Nope. How do you test creationism? What if I told you elves created the universe? Can you disprove it?
I think we can all agree that the battle between Creationists and Evolutionists does not lie in whether or not they believe in intelligent design. The battle lies strictly in how it happened.
Nope. ID is also a belief system. Sorry.
I know this, just as I know he reveled his truth through his son, Jesus Christ.
It has long been the argument of scientists, egyptologists, archeologists, that the Bible is nothing more than mythos.. quaint musings... childrens fables. However once Science got over its own self absorbtion and started to truly investigate the Bible as a historical document... low and behold, more and more of what was once Mythos is found to be true. Yes, TROY existed, exactly where the Bible said it did... A land Bridge to this day exists in the Red Sea, very close to the surface, only broken now by dredging in two spots for the modern fishing channels... The Nation of Elom (sp) did indeed exist as a nation state, at the time the Bible says it did...(Science had said nation states didn't exist anywhere on the planet until 200 years later) The exodus did happen, the battles did happen... Massive floods did occur in the ancient world.
The notion that the faithful are dullards and unable to reason is a construct of the atheists and the communists.. the fact is the strongest haters of religion while more than willing to mock it, admitted openly they could and would not challenge it on the basis of reason. Voltair and Lenin both came to this conclusion.. while its existance did not help their cause, they both knew they could not win the debate of reason to undermine religion.
The tribes of Israel have flourished, the principles of Biblical both new and old testament have allowed the nations and peoples that have followed them to flourish beyond all others. Will you debate that the Judeo/Christian western Civilizations have not enjoyed more graces of abundance and liberty than those who primarily follow other faiths?
Would you argue the principles and foundations of the Judeo/Christian culture do not lead to more fullfillment and more enriching life?
The evidence is all around, to live as best as one can toward the teachings of Christ and His father, as revealed in the Bible produces a better world for mankind.
You do not reject or ignore reason, simply because one is faithful.. in fact the truly faithful understand that reason is one of God's greatest gifts to man. No, not merely being able to solve a problem, that's not reason... even a crow or a mouse can figure out a problem. We have the capacity to introspective, empathetic, and all the other things that make us unique and special from teh animals. Only the less than faithful, the aithiests and the like think that to follow faith is to abandon reason. Far more intelligent people than either you or I have examined faith through reason... if faith and reason were truly diametrically opposed principles the Church could and would not exist. Critical and intellectual thought only existed for the most part within the church and its efforts for hundreds of years... If reason leads defacto to atheism the church would have self destruced long ago.
You don't have to agree with me, there are many who can see absolute truth and still reject it.. whether it be ego or apathy that leads them to this, it does not matter. Science does not, now, nor at any time in the future dismiss God.. it cannot and will not... no more than science could conclusively ever prove God exists to those who do not wish to listen.
However, absolute truth is absolute truth... whether ones ego allows them to accept it or not, is irrellevant.
"Rephrased is God every wrong? Does God ever lie?
NO He is never wrong and He never lies.
Believe it or not!"
Fine, now prove that every word of the Bible is God's, and meant to be taken literally.
Former executive director. No need to panic --yet.
The tide is turning decisively against evolution. Now's not the time to jump in on the wrong side of history, even if this would be the judgement of a fallible bishop's committee.
> your childish mocking of Christians believing in a flat earth
Grow up, son. Learn what an "Analogy" is.
"How is this necessary for the creationists argument? I can be made independent of the Bible."
It's not. It IS necessary for the creationists who argue that the the bible is inerrant and the literal word of God, and base their view of creation on that.
Other than that, the number of creationists whose views are not shaped by a religious creation story, whether taken literally or more figuratively, are pretty few and far between.
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