Amazing ... that a man who claims to believe in God would doubt what God clearly states in the Bible. I see no need to "debate" evolution. The evidence is clear and God is clear that He created all we see and don't see in seven 24 hour days. So sad ... that a "debate" is needed to convince him.
The Catholic Church has never embraced Protestant creationism. Throughout Catholic Latin America, evolution is taught in church and public schools without any significant opposition or controversy.
I have two question to ask of you..first off, why do you say God created in seven 24 hour days....according to my reading of the Bible, creation occured in six days, not seven...I thought the 7th day was for rest...I have seen some posters on FR, those who follow the teachings of Pastor Arnold Murray, who believe in the 8th of creation, which is the day that they believe Adam was created...they seem to believe that the various human races is what was created on the 6th day...so why do you say 7 days?
Secondly I notice your tagline, where I assume you say that you support intelligent design..I wonder how that can be...considering that the leading proponents of Intelligent Design do not subscribe to literal creationism...they conclude that the earth is millions, perhaps billions of years old...they also accept common descent of man...they also admit, that altho their personal preference for the Intelligent Designer may be the God of the Bible, they admit, that the Intelligent Designer could very well be any other deity, even perhaps some space alien...also they state, that altho they believe that God, or some other deity was the Intelligent Designer, they also concede, that this God or deity, could very well be dead...
I am just curious as to how you seem to be able to meld these two very differing notions together...most strict literal creationists will not admit for the correctness of Intelligent Design, with all its beliefs, nor will those supporting Intelligent Design provide for the correctness of a strict literal creationist interpretation of the Bible...and when one looks at the stand that both creationism and Intelligent Design take, they are at complete opposite ends of the spectrum...they do not agree with each other in most areas...
So I do not understand how you can say something in one post which shows that you believe in a literal creation, while you tagline seems to indicate that you believe something different...
Thanks in advance for any answers...
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.