I
ISABUS
Guest
Part VII of **In ****Quarterly Review of Biology Dec 1997 v72 n4, ‘****Theology and evolution in dialogue’, **Edmund D. Pellegrino wrote the following:
“The Pope’s attitude is consistent with a genuinely scientific
view that any theory must ultimately square with observed
fact or experience. The Pope iterated in his statement that
Catholics are free to examine the evidence within the
theological conception of human nature. He makes it clear
that it is more proper to speak of "several theories of
evolution" because different philosophical positions
underlie these different explanations of the mechanisms of
evolution (John Paul II 1996, this issue p 382). John Paul’s
reservations center on the need for careful scrutiny of the
philosophical anthropology, that is, on the philosophic
notion of human nature and the human person associated
with any theory of evolution. These concepts are crucial to
the Church’s interpretation of scriptural accounts of man
as a creature created in the image and likeness of God
(Genesis 1:1, 27-29). While the Church can accept the
physical origin of the human body, it must reject any theory
that has spirit emerging from matter or being a "mere
epiphenomenon of this matter" (John Paul II 1996, this
issue p 383).
(continued…)
“The Pope’s attitude is consistent with a genuinely scientific
view that any theory must ultimately square with observed
fact or experience. The Pope iterated in his statement that
Catholics are free to examine the evidence within the
theological conception of human nature. He makes it clear
that it is more proper to speak of "several theories of
evolution" because different philosophical positions
underlie these different explanations of the mechanisms of
evolution (John Paul II 1996, this issue p 382). John Paul’s
reservations center on the need for careful scrutiny of the
philosophical anthropology, that is, on the philosophic
notion of human nature and the human person associated
with any theory of evolution. These concepts are crucial to
the Church’s interpretation of scriptural accounts of man
as a creature created in the image and likeness of God
(Genesis 1:1, 27-29). While the Church can accept the
physical origin of the human body, it must reject any theory
that has spirit emerging from matter or being a "mere
epiphenomenon of this matter" (John Paul II 1996, this
issue p 383).
(continued…)