Pope to debate evolution with former students

Reuters ^

[Grendel9]

PARIS (Reuters) - Pope Benedict gathers some of his former theology students on Friday for a private weekend debate on evolution and religion, an issue conservative Christians have turned into a political cause in the United States.

Benedict, who taught theology at four German universities before rising in the Catholic Church hierarchy, has pondered weighty ideas with his former Ph.D students at annual meetings since the late 1970s without any media fuss.

But his election as pope last year and controversies over teaching evolution in the United States have aroused lively interest in this year's reunion on September 1-3 at the papal summer residence of Castel Gondolfo outside Rome.

Religion and science blogs are buzzing about whether it means the Vatican will take a more critical view of evolution and possibly embrace "Intelligent Design," which claims to have scientific proof that human life could not have simply evolved. *** At his inaugural mass after his election last year, Benedict declared: "We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God."

[thomaswest]

Re 26: The rationality that is to be seen in the structure of the world is understood as the reflection of the Creative Wisdom that has produced it. ...the Holy Faith....a consciousness whose intention these world express

I appreciate your post. Really.

Indeed, it is a wet bird that flies by night.

Baptists, Catholics, atheists can agree on that.

[thomaswest]

Re 36: Dozens more versions appeared in the decades after.

You are entirely correct. In fact, just in English it is hard to count the number of translations and versions. Some sites show how these different versions differ:

http://www.av1611.org/biblecom.html http://www.cob-net.org/compare.htm http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/scriptures/ http://www.geocities.com/bible_translation/compare.htm

Because of these differences and contradictions, any claim as to being "the Word of God" rather silly.

[RobbyS]

Luther can claim to be the genius of the modern German language. His form of middle German became the standard. In the absence of political unity, it was he who may have kept platt Deutch and hoch Deutsch from becoming separate languages.

[RobbyS]

Is it "imagination" or a clearer perception of the nature of things. Sicnetists start by claiming authority over the interpretation of certain facts, for instance, over the biology of ducks, and end up claimsing knowledge over man. But while the biology of ducks is like the biology of man, anthropology is quite another thing. It does not even deal with the same kinds of facts. A man can look at a duck with some objectivity; indeed he cannot look at it subjectivity, that is from the point of view of the duck. Can a man look at another man as an obkect. Yes, when he deals with biological questions. No, when he looks at man "in the round." He always has to consider the one he sees in the mirror as well, and ask not only what is "he" , but WHo is he? and What and who am I? That's philosphy, buddy. Furthermore, he has to consider himself in relation to the nature he can see, and the nature of what he can see, and be aware that there are many things he cannot see.

[RobbyS]

BS&W. The men who invented the guillotine and modern totalitarianism were "humanists. The Terror was far more destructive of life than the Inquisition. Nor were they always "humane" in their methods of murder. St. Just executed Catholics in the Vendee by crowding them onto a boat and sinking it in the river.

[gcruse]

" there are many things he cannot see."

Without a doubt. It's when he begins sacrificing and praying to, all the while talking to these things that some sort of proof is required, else there be no distinction between charlatans and schizophrenics. You attention is directed to the foundation of Mormonism and Joseph Smith's chicanery.

[deputac]

Thanks for the link. I have seen a lot of talk about this quote from the Pope and, this translation, taken in full context with what he was saying and advocating, puts it into a much clearer light.

Not to mention the fact that, every time you come across something that John Paul II or Benedict XIV, for that matter, wrote or said, you can see that these men are a lot more than just "right wing ideologues." It is just a shame that those on the Left will often criticize these men for their beliefs and dismiss them just because they do not conform with present day values (if you can even call them values at this point in time).

[Grendel9]

His Holiness certainly is NOT in need of
being convinced of God's participation in
The Beginning. I think the idea is to
determine a common ground between the
evolutionary evidence of scientitsts and
the inspired Word of the Old Testament.
Joseph Ratzinger is a very learned
theologian/scholar. As Cardinal, he
conducted these same kinds of "debates"
under the auspices of Pope John Paul II.
Men of the Church and people of Faith do
not need these debates to "prove" their
belief in the Word. But, as we know,
there are many gnostics, atheists, and
those simply unsure of what to believe.
These debates with other scholars and
scientists may well benefit those people.

Besides, most scientists will admit there are
some rather inexplicable "holes in their
evolutionary theory" and many more admit to
having experienced a Divine Presence or
miraculous intervention in their work.