Is the Catholic Church Making Another Misstep By Endorsing Evolution?

Well....you've mistaken the official Roman Catholic position on the theory of species evolution.

They have stated ONLY that it is not contrary to Catholic doctrine, and so acceptable for an individual Roman Catholic to believe and teach if they so wish.

They have, in other words, told Roman Catholics, "It's OK to believe that theory if you want to believe it."

They have not endorsed it any more strongly than that. For example: they have not said it is accurate. They have only claimed that it is not contrary to Christian teaching.

- Jim, http://www.bible-reviews.com/

I taught Creationism and Evolution in my science classes - there are many ideas going around. Some people believe that there was a first earth age - that is before the Garden --- we know that we can't deny that there was prehistoric man and animals. The problem is that science facts must be repeatable but we can't do this. The fact is that both these are theories - one is based on The Bible and the other is based on findings. I believe that God does reveal things to us and the more He reveals, the more we "discover." The controversy goes on regardless of what the Catholic Church says. I am also Catholic.

There should really be no conflict between science and faith. Before, the church believe more in miracles because it is the most effective way of controlling the minds to a blind faith. perhaps that was the time when ignorance was common among the many.

The Book of Proverbs had a verse that says, "Though it may be costly, you have to gain wisdom".

The church never want their subjects to be wise for they have been afraid of the consequences over the lies they have created. From the Book of Genesis down to all the Prophets of the Old Testament, humans have been told to go and increase in numbers, fill the earth and "subdue" it. To subdue means you have been told to do is have control over what you are doing. and it needs wisdom to accomplish it not by waiting for miracles of God but searching for the sources and resources abundantly laid out on earth for us to gain control of our lives and the lives of those that are created for our sustenance and learning. In these generation they can no longer lie and so bit by bit they will have to change their stand to stay in power which is not going to take long however.

Hello,

No, there is no mistake on this:

1) The Catholic Church did not dismiss heliocentric theory. Copernicus's' ideas as well as the ancient Greeks on this were around before Galileo and were accepted and taught in Catholic universities in Europe. The Pope initially praised Galileo but he got mouthy saying that the Book of Genesis should be rewritten and interpreted to fit his theory and told the Pope off unfortunately. He had no tolerance for those who disagreed with him and hence this attitude got him in trouble.

2) Evolutionary theory has been around for 160 years and no magic bullet or counter theory has been able to sink it. Also our Christian time might be better spent trying to life our lives according to Christ's teachings. In the end He shall be asking us if we believed in Him, did our best to keep the commandments, fed Him when hungry, clothed Him when naked et al as opposed to quizzing us if Earth is 6400 or 4 billion years old, did we come from a lump of clay and a rib or come up through lower branching species, let alone if man walked with the dinosaurs.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Back to square one for you. You don't know what happened with Galileo.

He did not pose the Heliocentric theory. Copernicus did. Copernicus died before he could edit his manuscript on the theory.

Martin Luther wanted Copernicus burned at the stake.

Galileo got himself in hot water because he had a big mouth and was often abusive when people disagreed with him. He also refused to stop teaching the unedited Copernican manuscript.

He was never condemned, tortured or imprisoned. He did stay in a nice apartment when he got into trouble with the Holy See. And when he got sick he was sent home.

Look it up.

belief cannot chage reality

a theory is the best available guess supported by evidience and internal logic. every theory can change BUT evolution is well established.

you can not see macro-evolutionin 100 years but we CAN see evolution in fast reproducing species.

DNA was only discoved in teh 1950s, and only understood in the last few decades. the mechanisms of DNA to final organism development are NOT understood yet

Life is VERY COMPLEX

saying " I don't know is NOT the same as "god did it"

such lists carefully exclude most recognized biologists and life scientists

I think it's hilarious how people split evolution into micro and macro. 'We'll raise

the white flag for micro evolution so we don't look like idiots, but macro- God did it'

It's the same theory morons.

I think its smart, the pope understands evolution makes more sense than the literal reading of the bible.

Check out this list of scientists named Steve who accept random mutation and natural selection accounting for the complexity of life - It's Huge!

http://ncse.com/taking-action/list-steves

LOLUMAD?

Not at all.

+ Galileo +

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), a Catholic clergyman and scientist theorized a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology, which placed the Sun at the fixed center of the universe instead of the Earth (which, by the way, was wrong). This theory was widely accepted as a legitimate theory in the scientific world of the time. Tools like telescopes had not yet been invented to help prove the theory.

Galileo (1564–1642) improved the telescope and was able to record astronomical observations that supported but did not prove Copernicus. In 1611, he made a triumphant visit to Rome, where Pope Paul V assured him of his support and good will.

Galileo felt that he had to convince the world that heliocentricism was true without further evidence. If he had just stated that Copernicanism was a hypothesis, one superior to the Ptolemiaic (geocentric) system, until further proof could be found (as the scientific method requires) then he would not have gotten into trouble.

Instead Galileo said that the scientific community and the Church either had to accept Copernicanism as a fact (even though it had not been proved) and reinterpret Scripture accordingly; or they had to condemn it. He allowed no middle room. It was Galileo's pride and arrogance that got him into trouble, not his science.

The Church quickly got over Galileo's excesses. Pope Benedict XIV granted an imprimatur (an official approval) to the first edition of the Complete Works of Galileo in 1741.

“[Galileo] declared explicitly that the two truths, of faith and of science, can never contradict each other, 'Sacred Scripture and the natural world proceeding equally from the divine Word, the first as dictated by the Holy Spirit, the second as a very faithful executor of the commands of God', as he wrote in his letter to Father Benedetto Castelli on 21 December 1613. The Second Vatican Council says the same thing, even adopting similar language in its teaching: 'Methodical research, in all realms of knowledge, if it respects... moral norms, will never be genuinely opposed to faith: the reality of the world and of faith have their origin in the same God' (Gaudium et Spes, 36). Galileo sensed in his scientific research the presence of the Creator who, stirring in the depths of his spirit, stimulated him, anticipating and assisting his intuitions”: John Paul II, Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (10 November 1979): Insegnamenti, II, 2 (1979), 1111-1112. From the Vatican website: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/enc...

For more information, see:

+ http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Issues/Gal...

+ http://www.catholic.com/library/Galileo_Controvers...

+ Galileo, Science, and the Church (1992) by Jerome J. Langford

+ Seven Lies About Catholic History (2010) by Diane Moczar

+ Evolution +

Truth cannot contradict Truth. -- Pope Leo XIII

Most Jews and Christians do not take the stories of creation in the Bible literally. We believe the stories included in first 11 chapters of Genesis tell religious truth but not necessarily historical fact.

One of the religious truths is that God created everything and declared all was good.

On August 12, 1950 Pope Pius XII said in his encyclical Humani generis:

The Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter - for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.

Here is the complete encyclical: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encycli...

And here is the Address of Pope John Paul II to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on October 22, 1996 speaking of the Theory of Evolution: http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_jp02tc.htm

Here is an interesting article about Pope John Paul II's opinion in the matter: http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm...

The Church supports science in the discovery of God's creation. At this time, the big bang and evolution are the most logical scientific explanations.

As long as we believe that God started the whole thing, both the Bible and responsible modern science can live in harmony.

The Clergy Letter Project an open letter endorsing the Theory of Evolution signed by over 12,000 clergy from many different Christian denominations: http://www.butler.edu/clergyproject/rel_evol_sun.h...

I suggest you read "New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy" by Robert J. Spitzer

http://www.magisreasonfaith.org/

With love in Christ.