Ape to man?

[love4mary]

This post is more of a “Frustration Vent” then anything, but my son came home from school yesterday CONVINCED that man started out as an ape.

My son is new to the Christian Faith having been raised in an Atheist home, so he is shakey at best when it comes to the “invisible”. He told me he would believe in God ONLY if he could see Him with his own eyes. But because we “share” so many DNA traits with primates, it makes logical sense to him that we evolved from them. mad: thank you schools for teaching human evolution).

Yes, I know that when a child is 13 they doubt many things and are searching for their place in the world,but this has upset me and left me frustrated and not just a little angry at the public school system.

 

[StratusRose]

The church has no official position on evolution.

 

[Karin]

This post is more of a “Frustration Vent” then anything, but my son came home from school yesterday CONVINCED that man started out as an ape.

My son is new to the Christian Faith having been raised in an Atheist home, so he is shakey at best when it comes to the “invisible”. He told me he would believe in God ONLY if he could see Him with his own eyes. But because we “share” so many DNA traits with primates, it makes logical sense to him that we evolved from them. mad: thank you schools for teaching human evolution).

Yes, I know that when a child is 13 they doubt many things and are searching for their place in the world,but this has upset me and left me frustrated and not just a little angry at the public school system.

Oh dear…I can understand you fustration/anger!
May I suggest that you tell your son…he sees God everyday…jsut look at everything in the world (plants, animals, people etc.) they are all a reflection of God

 

[MichaelTDoyle]

Let him know that evolution and Christianity are not necessarily at odds.

Ask him if he can “see” love? If he knows he loves you, what is “love”? Remind him that the most important things in life, more important than physical life, are invisible–love, courage, friendship.

hope that helps

Mike

 

[puzzleannie]

This post is more of a “Frustration Vent” then anything, but my son came home from school yesterday CONVINCED that man started out as an ape.

.

then you also need to find out how science is taught in your school district, because if this is what the teacher and book really said, they are not teaching what science has determined about human evolution. even the theory of evolution and the evidence anthropologists claim to support it does not teach this, it teaches modern apes and modern man evolved from common ancestors but diverged in their development millions of years ago, before evolving into recognizable apes or men.

it is one thing that the public schools don’t teach religion, we don’t expect it, but when they cannot even teach the science properly, they are probably not teaching any of the other subjects like history and math properly either, so I would be very worried.

 

[apricot_yogurt]

Evolution is just a theory. That is why it is called The THEORY of evolution. What annoys me is that it is taught as fact.

 

[Orogeny]

Evolution is just a theory. That is why it is called The THEORY of evolution. What annoys me is that it is taught as fact.

A theory is as stong a position science can take on anything. It does not mean that it is a guess or an idea. It means that it is the best explanation for the evidence.

Evolution is a fact. The question is is how does it work.

Peace

Tim

 

[JoeSchmeau]

Evolution is a fact. The question is is how does it work.

But the fact is, the fossil record does not support the theory that men evolved from apes.

 

[Orogeny]

But the fact is, the fossil record does not support the theory that men evolved from apes.

You are correct. The fossil record supports the fact that men and apes have a common ancestor.

Peace

Tim

 

[Em_in_FL]

This is why I LOVE being Catholic!

Our faith is NOT at odds with science!.. no way no how!

IF we truely believe that God created everything we see… then He also created the laws of science that we, as humans, can calculate and slowly begin to unfold thanks to His revelation!

The theory of evolution is yet to be disproven!.. by both science and the church… neither is stepping up to disprove it…

It IS possible that God dictated and used evolution in His creation, right? Adam and Eve very well could have been the very first HUMANS (homo sapien sapien) through evolution… the first ones given a soul.

It truely doesn’t matter if they decended from apes, does it?

I LOVE being Catholic!

 

[1ke]

This post is more of a “Frustration Vent” then anything, but my son came home from school yesterday CONVINCED that man started out as an ape.

My son is new to the Christian Faith having been raised in an Atheist home, so he is shakey at best when it comes to the “invisible”. He told me he would believe in God ONLY if he could see Him with his own eyes. But because we “share” so many DNA traits with primates, it makes logical sense to him that we evolved from them. mad: thank you schools for teaching human evolution).

Yes, I know that when a child is 13 they doubt many things and are searching for their place in the world,but this has upset me and left me frustrated and not just a little angry at the public school system.

We as Catholics are not taught that evoluation and faith are completely incompatible. We must believe in creation from nothing (ex nihilo) and in the special creation of the soul of each person and monogenesis of the human race. At whatever point God gave Adam and Eve a soul (whether he specially created them, or at some point put a soul in a being that evolved) they became the first parents and all humans descsend from them.

However, it’s important to knock that “certainty” surrounding evolution down because he is being taught atheistic evolution, and not God-guided evolution. Macro evolution has never been proven, nor has anyone even gotten close, it’s become an ideology, not a science. Micro evolution is much more plausible.

I suggest you get the book Icons of Evolution and read it with your son. It’s a very eye opening book into just how much of what is taught in high school science books is flat WRONG or,worse FRAUD. It’s an excellent book, and certainly not above the skill level of an inquisitive 13 yo.

I also recomment you visit this website, a website created by people concerned about what is being taught in schools (in Texas) regarding evolution. It’s got a lot of good info on it, and links to other sites as well.

 

[fernaco]

I’ve always wondered… if we came from apes, how come there are still apes around. I mean, why didn’t the whole species evolve???
As a side note, I’m currently reading a book by Lee Strobel, called “The Case for a Creator”. He addresses the “man comes from ape” debate better than anyone I’ve ever read. I highly recommend it.

 

[StratusRose]

I’ve always wondered… if we came from apes, how come there are still apes around. I mean, why didn’t the whole species evolve???
As a side note, I’m currently reading a book by Lee Strobel, called “The Case for a Creator”. He addresses the “man comes from ape” debate better than anyone I’ve ever read. I highly recommend it.

Apes and men have a common ape-like ancestor in which we evolved. We didn’t evolve from apes as we know them now. They went one way, we went another.

 

[Orogeny]

I’ve always wondered… if we came from apes, how come there are still apes around. I mean, why didn’t the whole species evolve???
As a side note, I’m currently reading a book by Lee Strobel, called “The Case for a Creator”. He addresses the “man comes from ape” debate better than anyone I’ve ever read. I highly recommend it.

See, the problem here is that science doesn’t say man came from apes. That is a bad argument.

If you want the science side of this debate, try “Finding Darwin’s God” by Ken Miller, a Catholic biologist. His book is very easy to read for the non-scientist.

Peace

Tim

 

[Orogeny]

However, it’s important to knock that “certainty” surrounding evolution down because he is being taught atheistic evolution, and not God-guided evolution. Macro evolution has never been proven, nor has anyone even gotten close, it’s become an ideology, not a science. Micro evolution is much more plausible.

I suggest you get the book Icons of Evolution and read it with your son. It’s a very eye opening book into just how much of what is taught in high school science books is flat WRONG or,worse FRAUD. It’s an excellent book, and certainly not above the skill level of an inquisitive 13 yo.

I also recomment you visit this website, a website created by people concerned about what is being taught in schools (in Texas) regarding evolution. It’s got a lot of good info on it, and links to other sites as well.

I would also recommend to you “Finding Darwin’s God” by Ken Miller. As I noted to fernaco, it is written for the non-scientist so it is easy to read.

Peace

Tim

 

[FightingFat]

This post is more of a “Frustration Vent” then anything, but my son came home from school yesterday CONVINCED that man started out as an ape.

My son is new to the Christian Faith having been raised in an Atheist home, so he is shakey at best when it comes to the “invisible”. He told me he would believe in God ONLY if he could see Him with his own eyes. But because we “share” so many DNA traits with primates, it makes logical sense to him that we evolved from them. mad: thank you schools for teaching human evolution).

Yes, I know that when a child is 13 they doubt many things and are searching for their place in the world,but this has upset me and left me frustrated and not just a little angry at the public school system.

Sounds like one cool kid! You should be proud! You have raised an intelligent thinker!

 

[estesbob]

A theory is as stong a position science can take on anything. It does not mean that it is a guess or an idea. It means that it is the best explanation for the evidence.

Evolution is a fact. The question is is how does it work.

Peace

Tim

Just a slight correction. It is the best explanation if one eliminates God from the equation. I know that in science that is the way it is supposed to be but it does leave them having to fill a lot of holes in the theory based on “faith” that the answers will some day be found.

PersonallyI am not as concerend as much about the “how” as I am about the “who”

 

[Suat]

This post is more of a “Frustration Vent” then anything, but my son came home from school yesterday CONVINCED that man started out as an ape.

The Catholic church has no official position on the validity of evolution. Even if it did, the validity of a particular branch of science is surprisingly independent to a given religion’s claims.

Evolution is just a theory. That is why it is called The THEORY of evolution. What annoys me is that it is taught as fact.

Please, if you insist on throwing around scientific terms, try to get their actual scientific meaning correct. Theory is a very powerful word in science, regardless of creationists attempts to convolute and weaken it. In your post, it appears that you have fallen prey to this specific creationist misrepresentation. I am always amused by religions and religious people simultaneously claiming the moral high ground while going out of their way to propagate lies or blatantly misrepresent the truth in order to support their particular myths.

 

[didymus]

Just a slight correction. It is the best explanation if one eliminates God from the equation. I know that in science that is the way it is supposed to be but it does leave them having to fill a lot of holes in the theory based on “faith” that the answers will some day be found.

PersonallyI am not as concerend as much about the “how” as I am about the “who”

The “Who” is not science’s province. My high school chemistry teacher started us out by explaining that “how?” is the scientist’s question and “why?” is the philosopher’s (or theologian’s) question.

He demonstrated by dropping a piece of chalk on the floor and asking why it fell – gravitons, Einsteinian curved space, &c? He said all those things were about how, not why.

 

[Orogeny]

Just a slight correction. It is the best explanation if one eliminates God from the equation. I know that in science that is the way it is supposed to be but it does leave them having to fill a lot of holes in the theory based on “faith” that the answers will some day be found.

Not really. The explanation is for the evidence we currently have, not that which we are missing. “Holes” are just areas that are lacking evidence. If, in the future, evidence is found in those “holes” that isn’t explained by the theory, the theory will be revised to explain the new evidence or it will be replaced by another theory that explaines all the evidence, including the new evidence.

Peace

Tim