THE CATHOLIC CHURCH EMBRACES EVOLUTION!!!!

MuscleHead Revolution ^ | 11.14.2005 | Kevin McCullough

[jodiluvshoes]

In a remarkably odd statement this past week, the Vatican has issued a stout defence of Charles Darwin!

In fact Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture said that "if the Bible were read correctly" that the Genesis description of how God created the universe and Darwin's theory of evolution were "perfectly compatible."

"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".

He went on to advocate that the idea of creation is a theological one, while the substance of origins is a scientific one and that Catholics should "know" how science sees such things so as to "understand better."

[Uri’el-2012]

Please: NO profanity, NO personal attacks, NO racism or violence in posts.

[Ditto]

One Cardinal's personal opinion is not an official teaching of the Catholic Church, any more than my personal opinion is.

It is pretty much the Church's position, and has been for a long time. Catholics have never had a problem with Darwin and long before Darwin (about 1000 years) professed what is today called "Intelligent Design". Intelligent Design is nothing new or controversial for Catholics.

[DoctorMichael]

Take off the tinfoil hat.......

Better save that for yourself! I recommend an extra heavy application.

........and put the kool aid mix back in the cabinet.

Just remember, if you repeat a lie enough, like the ID/Creationist crap, there are enough gullible people that are incapable of reconciling their Faith with Fact, that will believe it.

[JamesP81]

That information is documented, and is plainly described in the book, "The Rise and Fall of Adolph Hitler." It is in other books that document his life, but that is the one I remember the title of.

So, what you're trying to say is that the Catholic church is evil because Hitler once tried to join?

[Petronski]

If any of that has happened, please point it out.

[jscd3]

I honestly don't have one. It would appear you have far more interest in Luther's opinion than I do

Curious, in that you accused me of hating Protestants based upon my comments on Luther. Then you seem to admit that you don't know much about Luther.

I repeat again, I didn't say anything that could be described as hating Protestants. I specifically criticized Luther as part of a specific post concerning Luther. Before you accuse me of hating anyone based on my observations of Luther (who you seem to use as a stand in for all Protestants, even though you seem to admit to not knowing much about him)I would suggest that you read about his Doctrine of the enslavement of the will and consider the impact that dening the existance of free will has had on western civilization.

It is curious that I would take the opinions of Luther more seriously than a Lutheran would. But then again, I know why I'm NOT a Lutheran - do you know why you ARE (or WERE) one?

[jscd3]

NO profanity, NO personal attacks, NO racism or violence in posts.

Since I have engaged in NONE of the above, I'm curious as to why you are posting this?

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

I give you credit for being consistent. You doubt it all. Some have decided to pick and choose what they want to believe

Thanx, though I'm no atheist. The fact that we have 200 different denominations shows that we all like to pick and choose. It would have better for God to beam a copy of his exact scripture to each an every home, rather than giving it to some poor bloke in the desert. That's why people get into such disputes over which bloke got the real message. Oh well.

[Ditto]

Perhaps the Catholic Church should go back to persecuting scientists who believe the world is round and that the earth is the center of the universe and that heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects.

Well you sure have bought into the secularist propaganda.

[HamiltonJay]

The Catholic Church NEVER disavowed evolution!!! Or stated that it is in conflict with the faith.... there are a lot of folks who are very very ignorant of the Catholic Church if they find this a shock. Since at least the 1950s if not before they have stated that it is NOT in conflict with the faith, and that it deserved further study.

The Catholic Church is not evangelical.. it does not teach that the bible is 100% literal, and never has. In fact, Saint Thomas Aquinas, in Summa Theologica published way way back in the 1200's, stated that evolution (change) in all things is one of the observable ways we can know God exists, because for any change to happen, something else must have changed first....... and for that previous thing to change, must have been acted on by something else... etc etc... which takes you back to the original creator which is God.

Change in all things, has been accepted as part of evidence of God's existence in Catholic Faith, since at least the 1200's. The notion that evolution conflicts with Catholicism is nonsense, and not accurate to the church's stand at all. Only ignorant Catholics, or evangelicals who aren't familiar with Catholicism are "shocked" to find out that the Church does not find evolution at conflict with the faith.

[Rokke]

"Curious, in that you accused me of hating Protestants based upon my comments on Luther."

I was paraphrasing an earlier post. I should have just said "Your hate is showing". It is.

"But then again, I know why I'm NOT a Lutheran - do you know why you ARE (or WERE) one?"

I am a Christian. Any division beyond that is irrelevent. I follow Christ. Not a man.

[Michael81Dus]

So well-put that you´ve earned many regards from the homeland of the reformation, good old Germany! ;-)

[jscd3]

I follow Christ. Not a man.

As do I

Peace

[HamiltonJay]

See post 110. There are a lot of Catholics, and even more evangelicals, who are absolutely ignorant of the Church's stance on evolution. The church, from the 1950s on has stated that evolution deserves more study and is not in conflict with the faith.... and may be even before that, but I know for fact it was written in the 1950s.

Catholicism is not evangelicalism. Catholicism does not believe that every word of the old testament is absolute literal fact and never has. Anyone who believes such is ignorant of Catholicism.

[Tax-chick]

The Church's position is that the question is open, that is true. Open to "theistic evolution" and open to literal Creationism.

[HamiltonJay]

Evolution does not debunk God... Evolution explains the HOW.. that's all it can do... It does not explain the WHY. The Catholic Church at least from the 1950s on (possibly even before) has stated that evolution is not in conflict with the faith. Anyone shocked to find this out, is completely ignorant of Catholicism.

[Blessed]

>One of the main flaws of sola scriptura is many don't seem to have an understanding of what underlying idea the Author was getting at, only the literal actual words they said.<

Based on this statement I would say Catholics have a hard time understanding who is the Author of scripture.

[JamesP81]

So which length of day did God use to create the universe? Hmmm?

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. --Genesis 1:3-5

And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. --Genesis 1:6-8

The rest of the sections of the creation account in genesis end with basically 'and there was evening, and there was morning'. You may read the rest of it at your leisure. He created the Earth before the cosmos; Earth's day is defined as one rotation about its axis. I think it's pretty clear what He meant.

Putting the little sneering hmmm's at the ends of your questions are unnecessary and make you look like a sulking five year old trying to win a game of gotch'ya. It's not becoming of an FR poster.

[moog]

The fact that we have 200 different denominations shows that we all like to pick and choose. It would have better for God to beam a copy of his exact scripture to each an every home, rather than giving it to some poor bloke in the desert. That's why people get into such disputes over which bloke got the real message. Oh well.

Only 200???? It seems there are thousands actually. Don't forget all the different translations of the Bible either--the worst I ever saw was some gender neutral one--ewwww! But what I do is try to follow the Savior the best that I know how.

[JamesP81]

Sorry, you lose your case---the Bible in MANY cases uses "figurative language". The literalist idea is simply ridiculous. Both Judasism and Christianity have ALWAYS used figurative language in many places.

Jesus was clear that what he was talking about was a parable. The Hebrew is also easily distinguishable from poetic and literal form. Sorry, but YOU lose YOUR case. Try studying (not reading, studying) the Bible before pronouncing judgment on it.