Posted on 05/28/2008 10:38:31 AM PDT by Keli Kilohana
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While apes evolved naturally into pre-human creatures, it was the will and desire of God that turned them into humans, an article in the Vatican newspaper said.
"The formation of human beings necessitated a particular contribution by God, though it remains that their emergence was brought about by natural causes" of evolution, it said.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnews.com ...
I guess. If you believe God only reveales Himself through the pages of the book of Genesis and never through the discovery of His creation that is known as "science."
Even if you want to believe the scientists are trying to do good work, then the premise has to be looked at closer. There has been no observed species evolution EVER! People will throw fruit flies and other insects at you and expect you to believe they can turn into butterflies or birds because they have different colored wings or eye color. The coup de gras for me though is the mathematics of evolution show it to be statistically impossible. There hasn't been enough time using the most liberal time frame for even one so called deformity to change into something alive. One must always keep in mind that most changes are BAD and can even cause death. For something to evolve into a living thing, it would have to have several deformities at one time to remain alive. Even if a life form formed a stomach, what use is it if you don't have enzymes, proteins, and a waste system as it gains the stomach. Ask a mathematician what the odds are of that. What in the universe would be able to change non organic material into organic material. It just isn't possible to do without a Creator. That is why Romans 1 tells us "We are without excuse." Any reasonable person would have to know there is a Creator. You can decide for yourself who that might be, but it is undeniable that God exists.
Like I was saying, flames will be coming from all directions, but it's up to you to make your own mind up. I started as an evolutionist, but through my life I have seen enough to see a conspiracy to prove there is no God. Without a Creator, we get slavery, murder, Nazism, Communism, debauchery, and every animalistic behavior thinkable. This is more important than ape men. There is where my passion lies. A Christian shouldn't fall for this blarney and I try to point it out. If you read Morris's "What is Creation Science" he tackles most of the issues point blank with irrefutable evidence that the evo's are at least brainwashed and at most liars. As we homeschooled our daughter, the Abeka curriculum covered both the evo and Creation model and it was clear the evo's have problems that can't be answered. They taught what children will have to know about in a secular school system, but went further to show the weakness in the theory. My daughter has used their arguments in college and it causes quite a stir, but she has the studies and facts to back her up so it's hard to refute. Most of her peers have never even had the other story told to them to even compare.
The only reason I posted on this thread was the title inferred the Vatican was going to embrace evolution. My purpose was not to talk about Catholics, but to show how evolution is incompatible with Christ no matter what your denomination. To try to square evolution with Christ is impossible. Most Christians today seem to believe they can go a long to get along. If that were true, God is a liar. I can't see the middle ground. I don't feel the least bit threatened that someone will "prove" evolution and therefore God lied. The Bible is too perfect, too complete, and proven true to fail me now.
The key word here is science. Do you agree that "science" can be faulty? The Nazi's called it propaganda. It can be and has in the past been "proven" that black people and Jews are inferior to whites. Do you agree with that "science"? At one time "science" said the earth was the center of the universe. Are leeches a cure all for certain diseases? Science can change from day to day, but you still have to see if there is an alternative agenda to the so called "science". We aren't even sure today if cholesterol is the cause of arterial plaque. One group says it is because they need to sell the most widely distributed drug in history, Lipitor, and another can't explain why people with low cholesterol have the same amount of heart attacks as the other group. Ask a patient that is chelated what they think of it, but doctors pooh pooh it almost universally. Ask the doctor if they have ever tried it and it will invariably be "NO".
The point is scientists almost always have an agenda. That's not pure science.
It’s sorta like saying, “If bread is made from wheat, why do we still have wheat?” or “If cars are made from steal, why do we still have steal?” Not that it’s very Christian to dismiss your question as “stupid,” but the illogic is somewhat breath-taking.
Excuse me, but I think the proper syntax would be: "If cars are made to steal, then why do we still steal them?", or something like that.
Turning proto-humans into humans is indeed a miracle of creation.
500 years ago, would you would have denied that the Earth rotated around the Sun because someone did a literal interpretation of Scripture that said the opposite? When people were burning witcfhes for causing the plague, would you have also burned the guy who blamed infected flees?
If some distant ancestor had some slightly different DNA code were not a human, does that make me not human and a child of God? Trust me, I am not insulted if you were to tell me I came from a monkey. That, if a fact, has nothing to do with me or who I am.
His greatest gift (and challenge) to us is our ability to think and by doing so, we have done both great good and great evil. He allows us to do either... it's up to each of us to choose. But those who turn their brain off and decide there is nothing worth searching for because it was all written in Bronze Age texts or some science text book, I think are denying His gift --- the ability to think.
The Bible contains great wisdom. But it is not the end of Revelation... it's only the beginning. Science today is also only a beginning --- just a peek at what really is. Neither is the entire story.
I agree that people who use science to deny God are arrogant fools. But they are no more foolish than those who would use God to deny science. IMHO, science is simply the physical evidence of God. To deny one is too deny the other.
First off, rejecting seven-day creationism isn’t the same as denying the miracle of creation. Ever hear of Intelligent Design? All the scientist is really saying is that the substance from which mankind was created took intermediate forms.
Could a day mean more than 24 hours, but rather epochs? Since the Sun wasn’t created after the first day, it had to mean something besides a rotation of the Earth on its axis. That may not be the most obvious way of reading Genesis 1, but since our rockets haven’t bounced off the firmament (”firmament” implies that above all, the sky is firm). How is it that the sun is said to be “Set in the firmament” when we know, in fact, that it is in the opposite of a firmament, a near vacuum? And how is that evening and morning came before the creation of the sun?
The bible is said to be “revelation,” but to whom were the first 11 chapters of Genesis revealed to? Some creationists fear a slippery slope: that if religion yields to scientific opinion as to what is probable, then the whole bible will be lost. But not all portions of the bibles are written in the same tone: the authors of the New Testament appeal that they have seen with their own eyes the events they describe, and if the Resurrection did not happen, then they are liars. Likewise, the miracles of Exodus and of the Prophets are cited as proof of God’s intervention to the people whom he had liberated.
Contrarily, nowhere does the bible assert a literal interpretation of Genesis 1-11 is necessary. And, in fact, certain passages suggest the passage of much vaster periods of time. Likewise, the Church Fathers defend a literal reading of Genesis, but several also seem aware of greater passages of time. How many Church Fathers believed that the Earth had four corners? Or that the Heavens were set in the firmament?
It’s ironic that the same people who chortle at the Catholic Church for supposedly abusing Galileo are the ones who shout heretic at those who try to make sense of how Genesis 1 could be compatible with scientific knowledge. I’ll tell you this: I certainly won’t tell you that God didn’t create the Earth in 144 hours, but if he didn’t, he sure wanted scientists to think he did.
People who imagine paleontology is some grand conspiracy in the manner of global warming are just plain ignorant.
Chuckles, your post is anything but amusing! I cheer your every word. Thank you! Succinct, beautiful!
As someone who respects the RC Church, I am profoundly disappointed that this truly intellectual Pope lacks the courage to risk the ridicule that come from declaring what is simple common sense: The universe has been majestically created by our awesome Lord. God Bless, Bob
The same way, scientifically speaking, that atomic precursors became human beings with multiple feedback loops for homeostasis and thousands of regulatory proteins and genetic combinations that we have discovered and the ones we will discover for every cell in the human body.
So why are there still people in Europe? Well?
You should let a fourth grader tell you about capitalization.
Each time the Scientific world makes an assertion, Vatican nuances its belifs and ideas to make it more aligned with the existing majority views of the scientific community. Vatican has long surrendered to the Scientific cabal.
I was getting drunk at a German bar when I had to go to the bathroom. One door said “Dahmen” and the other said “Herin”.
I was just about to decide that “dahmen” ended in “men” while “Herrin” started with “her” when I actually thought about the German language and remembered that Herr means Sir. Saved me some embarrassment.
______________________________________________
In Korea it wouldn't matter, bathrooms in bars are unisex.
ME: actually, i prefer using all lower case for casual typing as it is quicker and still gets the point across.
you, on the other hand, need to concern yourself more with what is typed rather than how it looks.
YOU:
You should let a fourth grader tell you about capitalization.
Do you ever get tired of believing the lies that Creationists tell you?
Over 40% of Lucy's skeleton was recovered over a small area and there were no duplicate bones indicating that it was all from a single skeleton.
“One must always keep in mind that most (genetic)changes are BAD and can even cause death.”
Wrong again. Most changes are neutral.
“evolution is incompatible with Christ no matter what your denomination.”
The majority of Christians teach it is perfectly OK to believe in evolution so long as you accept that God put a soul into man. The majority of Scientists in the USA are people of faith. Both the Jews and early Christians acknowledged that Genesis was parable.
“The truth of our faith becomes a matter of ridicule among the infidels if any Christian, not gifted with the necessary scientific learning, presents as dogma what scientific scrutiny shows to be false.”
Saint Thomas Aquinas
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