New Evolution Finds!

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A bunch of nonsense.

I thought in order to be catholic one had to embrace evolution.
I know you were responding to different things, but it’s funny that you also answered your 2nd comment with your first. 😉

Comment - “I thought in order to be Catholic one had to embrace evolution.”
Answer - “A bunch of nonsense.”

Catholics aren’t required to have an opinion on evolution at all.
 
Evolution does not imply polygenism. You don’t understand what polygenism means. Pope JPII taught that the creation of Adam and Eve in scripture represents “an actual ontological event”. Ontological has to do with “the state of being”. Adam and Eve were the first humans, the first beings made in the image and likeness of God. Their “state of being” was radically different than any being before them. How their physical bodies came to be is irrelevant to the fact that their immortal souls were created immediately by God in His image and likeness.

Catholics are under no obligation to believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis. The popes certainly don’t believe in a literal interpretation, The catechism says that Genesis is a poetic representation of the origins of the earth and of human beings.

Every human being is descended from Adam and Eve (monogenism). How Adam and Eve’s bodies came to be is (currently) known only to God. We are free to theorize about it all we like and still be faithful Catholics, so long as we believe that:
  1. God created all things, visible and invisible, out of nothing.
  2. The soul of man did not evolve, but is created individually and immediately at the moment of conception.
Your disagreement is not with me, but with the Church.

Paul
The items I listed are dogma and are the constant understanding of the Church, This is not some new literal solo interpretation. It is all documented.

So we agree all humans are descended from a single pair we know as Adam and Eve.
I have no disagreement with the Church. I quote and reference Magisterial church documents. Why would you say that how they came to be is irrelevant?
 
Similarity in the skeleton doesn’t prove definitively that something is related. As another poster said (trying to disprove evolution) you have to look at the big picture.
Scientists for more than a hundred years were saying that all primates are closely related and that the chimp and humans were most closely related. They came to that conclusion by looking at fossils and modern examples, taking into account modes of movement, behavior, etc. As it turns out, DNA research has proved that the scientists were right. Humans are more closely related to other primates than they are to other animals, and humans are most closely related to the chimps.

It’s that big picture that gets in the anti-evolutionist’s way. They say the scientists don’t look at the big picture, but only the fossils. In reality, it’s the anti-evolutionists who focus solely on the fossils. This is probably because they have knee-jerk reactions to short articles in newspapers that report on the find. They don’t know what the big picture is or that the scientists are most definitely looking at it.

The Church doesn’t read Genesis literaly. What are you trying to say with that quote?

I would say that following non-Catholic Christians’ literal interpretation of Genesis is easier (lazy, even), but it’s not more logical. I think it defies logic. It defies logic, not because one thinks science disproves creation, but because insisting on a literal interpretation doesn’t allow us to know the truth of creation.

It’s much more logical to accept the fact that God created the world and to accept the reality of the world around us than it is to insist that God created the world in 7 days and ignore the reality of the world around us.
Even including the DNA data (and any other data you can muster up), there still exists the problem that similarity does not equal relation. The fact that apes and humans have similar skeletons and DNA does not prove anything at all except that they have similar skeletons and DNA. Evolution will not be proven until it has been observed, and with modern recording techniques, that prospect becomes more and more possible. But until it is proven, it is unscientific to look at the entire world with the assumption that evolution is true. Scientists, in their work, are only supposed to take for granted proven facts, which evolution is not; to do otherwise is biased and unconductive to real progress. On that much I hope we can agree.

What I’m trying to say with that quote is that the Magisterium should interpret the Bible, not scientists. The human sciences can err, while the Church cannot, which is why it is She we should look to for the definitive answer on any question of origins. There has been no formal judgement from Her yet on the matter of evolution, so for now a legitimate pluralism can be said to exist, which is why I’m not telling you that you’re going to hell. 😛

Why, I ask, do you refer to Creationism as if it were the exclusive property of Protestants? Is it un-Catholic to believe it? I would think that odd seeing as Catholicism is not defined by how much of modern science its members accept.

I hardly think a literal interpretation of Genesis is illogical, and much less do I think it lazy. What’s illogical is the fact that you think that a literal interpretation does not allow us to know the truth of creation. How on earth does that work? If Genesis is literal, then we’ve already arrived at the truth of creation, i.e., God made it all out of nothing just the way that it is today. What does this obscure? If you have an issue with literal interpretation, why not just call into question the Incarnation or the Resurrection? Accepting things plainly and at face value the way they are described in Divine Revelation is in no way illogical, and Genesis is not an exception to this.

In response to your last paragraph, I simply ask this: What reality? Evolution? Since when was that a reality? I think it odd that you seem to believe that the world is less worthy of admiration if evolution is not true. Creation is beautiful, no matter how it came into existence, and that, I think, is a point we should all agree on.
 
Nope. As Catholics we are free to believe in any interpretation Genesis from strictly literal to completely figurative, so long as we accept that:
  1. God created all things, visible and invisible, out of nothing.
  2. The soul of man did not evolve, but is created individually and immediately at the moment of conception.
Catholicism is a thinking person’s religion. We don’t need to check our brains at the door.
Really
We are not free to believe any intrepretation of the Scriptures; there are two sesnes a Cathoilic must believe in: the literal and the spiritual. To intrepret the Scripture outside of these senses is to interpret the Scriptures incorrectly. Moreover, the interpretation of the Scriptures is bound up with - so to speak - the teaching of the Catholic Church, since the Bible came from the Church.

Reason is also something to keep in mind when interpreting the Bible. For example, we know that the Universe was created over billions of years, not seven days. Science purges religion of superstition. According to Genesis, as you correctly stated, God created all good things and the soul is created at conception. Religion purges science of superstition.
Well Paul, there you go check your brain at the door. For instances Paul this one assumes that the universe was created over billions of years in his fairy tale, yet Scriptures don’t give that clue.
Well, I’m sure I don’t know where you would get that idea. :rolleyes: But no, you don’t have to embrace any godless myths in the Catholic Church. You can the have Faith of our Fathers, and Doctors, and Saints and the whole Catholic Church for most of Her existence, and still be a Catholic today. And there’s nothing the modernist wolves can do about it, except howl. So let the howling proceed!
Mainly from here in this forum is where I got that idea. I like your signature 🙂
 
I know you were responding to different things, but it’s funny that you also answered your 2nd comment with your first. 😉

Comment - “I thought in order to be Catholic one had to embrace evolution.”
Answer - “A bunch of nonsense.”

Catholics aren’t required to have an opinion on evolution at all.
🙂

Thank you, I myself am a confirmed Creationist, I didn’t use to give it a lot of thought but I was involved in a debate long ago and I came out of it on the side of Creation.
 
🙂

Thank you, I myself am a confirmed Creationist, I didn’t use to give it a lot of thought but I was involved in a debate long ago and I came out of it on the side of Creation.
I’m a creationist, too. I believe that God created everything out of nothing, by means of the laws of physics, chemistry and biology which He also created, starting with the Big Bang. I believe God created living beings through evolution.

If you disagree and think another theory better explains the observed phenomena, that’s fine with me. The exact mechanism God used to create the universe doesn’t affect our salvation, it’s just interesting speculation and we can ask Him when we get there. I don’t really understand why some people get so exercised over it.
 
Reason is also something to keep in mind when interpreting the Bible. For example, we know that the Universe was created over billions of years, not seven days. Science purges religion of superstition. According to Genesis, as you correctly stated, God created all good things and the soul is created at conception. Religion purges science of superstition.
Very well said, sir. 👍
 
I want to take a moment here to praise everyone on this thread for keeping it civil. Evolution threads usually get pretty nasty, but this one has remained charitable. We are all to be congratulated.:tiphat:
 
I want to take a moment here to praise everyone on this thread for keeping it civil. Evolution threads usually get pretty nasty, but this one has remained charitable. We are all to be congratulated.:tiphat:
Even though the OP pokes the stick at creationists, right out the gate.
 
Well Paul, there you go check your brain at the door. For instances Paul this one assumes that the universe was created over billions of years in his fairy tale, yet Scriptures don’t give that clue.
There is a difference between checking your brain at the door - what some non-Catholic Christans do when they insist the Bible must be read literally - and stopping your brains from falling out - what most Catholic Christians do when they read the Bible just as I described to Paul.
 
We are not free to believe any intrepretation of the Scriptures; there are two sesnes a Cathoilic must believe in: the literal and the spiritual. To intrepret the Scripture outside of these senses is to interpret the Scriptures incorrectly. Moreover, the interpretation of the Scriptures is bound up with - so to speak - the teaching of the Catholic Church, since the Bible came from the Church.

Reason is also something to keep in mind when interpreting the Bible. For example, we know that the Universe was created over billions of years, not seven days. Science purges religion of superstition. According to Genesis, as you correctly stated, God created all good things and the soul is created at conception. Religion purges science of superstition.
Sure, OK.

But the way you are interpreting the bible, you might as well state that the shepards at the birth of Jesus did not have to go see him, because they knew science proves a virgin birth wrong.

But Christians do believe Mary was a virgin when she gave birth. It was a miracle how God created the first man, Adam from dust. And it is a miracle how Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin woman. Praise the Lord!
 
What Jesus said-
John 5:45-47
"But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"


What Moses wrote about-
Exodus 20:11
"…For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. …"


Seven day creation written by God Himself-
**Deuteronomy 9:10
The LORD gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the LORD proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. **
 
Even though the OP pokes the stick at creationists, right out the gate.
Even more praiseworthy then are the measured and thoughtful responses to the OP.

Other evolution threads have gotten very nasty. At least no one on this thread has damned anyone to hell…yet. 🙂
 
Seven day creation written by God Himself-
**Deuteronomy 9:10
The LORD gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the LORD proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. **
The stone tablets contained the Ten Commandments, not the creation account.
 
Even including the DNA data (and any other data you can muster up), there still exists the problem that similarity does not equal relation. The fact that apes and humans have similar skeletons and DNA does not prove anything at all except that they have similar skeletons and DNA. Evolution will not be proven until it has been observed, and with modern recording techniques, that prospect becomes more and more possible. But until it is proven, it is unscientific to look at the entire world with the assumption that evolution is true. Scientists, in their work, are only supposed to take for granted proven facts, which evolution is not; to do otherwise is biased and unconductive to real progress. On that much I hope we can agree.

What I’m trying to say with that quote is that the Magisterium should interpret the Bible, not scientists. The human sciences can err, while the Church cannot, which is why it is She we should look to for the definitive answer on any question of origins. There has been no formal judgement from Her yet on the matter of evolution, so for now a legitimate pluralism can be said to exist, which is why I’m not telling you that you’re going to hell. 😛

Why, I ask, do you refer to Creationism as if it were the exclusive property of Protestants? Is it un-Catholic to believe it? I would think that odd seeing as Catholicism is not defined by how much of modern science its members accept.

I hardly think a literal interpretation of Genesis is illogical, and much less do I think it lazy. What’s illogical is the fact that you think that a literal interpretation does not allow us to know the truth of creation. How on earth does that work? If Genesis is literal, then we’ve already arrived at the truth of creation, i.e., God made it all out of nothing just the way that it is today. What does this obscure? If you have an issue with literal interpretation, why not just call into question the Incarnation or the Resurrection? Accepting things plainly and at face value the way they are described in Divine Revelation is in no way illogical, and Genesis is not an exception to this.

In response to your last paragraph, I simply ask this: What reality? Evolution? Since when was that a reality? I think it odd that you seem to believe that the world is less worthy of admiration if evolution is not true. Creation is beautiful, no matter how it came into existence, and that, I think, is a point we should all agree on.
I didn’t read past your 2nd sentence. You’re ignoring reality.

You say that DNA has nothing to do with relatedness. You know nothing about DNA.

If you want to believe that Genesis is meant to be read literally, that’s your choice. But a literal interpretation is illogical. The evidence around you is telling you that the world wasn’t created in 6 days (and a day of rest), so you ignore reality.

Whatever floats your boat.
 
I’m a creationist, too. I believe that God created everything out of nothing, by means of the laws of physics, chemistry and biology which He also created, starting with the Big Bang. I believe God created living beings through evolution.

If you disagree and think another theory better explains the observed phenomena, that’s fine with me. The exact mechanism God used to create the universe doesn’t affect our salvation, it’s just interesting speculation and we can ask Him when we get there. I don’t really understand why some people get so exercised over it.
You’re not a creationist, Silly. Creationists believe that all of that evil science stuff (physics, chemistry, biology) came after everything was fully formed.

I have no idea why they feel that it’s up to them to determine how God could have created the world, but there you have it. Talk about intellectual arrogance. :rolleyes:

They’re all in a knot over it, because, imo, their faith has shallow roots. If they have to admit that God created the humans in some way that they don’t approve of (having a common ancestor with the chimps, for example), they’re lost. Everything falls apart if they admit that Gensis wasn’t written to be read literally.

I think there is a little bit of racism involved, too. The “out of Africa” theory really bugs some non-Africans. It’s OK if the Africans are descendants of Adam and Eve, along with all the Asian and European people, so long as Adam and Eve weren’t, heavens forbid, (whisper) Black.
 
I didn’t read past your 2nd sentence. You’re ignoring reality.

You say that DNA has nothing to do with relatedness. You know nothing about DNA.

If you want to believe that Genesis is meant to be read literally, that’s your choice. But a literal interpretation is illogical. The evidence around you is telling you that the world wasn’t created in 6 days (and a day of rest), so you ignore reality.

Whatever floats your boat.
“You’re ignoring reality” is not a valid argument. And I think it would have been prudent to read more than two sentences of my post; you would have noticed that I basically defended your right to believe in evolution.

I did not say that DNA has nothing to do with relatedness. I did say that it cannot prove evolution, even if by itself it seems to be valid evidence.

You say I’m being illogical but you don’t really back up your claim. How am I being illogical? I look at the world and I for one don’t see any reason at all to think evolution explains how we came into being, and I don’t think that the fact that most scientists believe otherwise is a good enough reason to change my view on the matter. I betray no Church teachings in my belief and I respect everyone’s right to disagree with me until the Magisterium rules against one side or the other. Where do I err? Where does all logic depart from me in my observations?
 
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kalt:
I think there is a little bit of racism involved, too. The “out of Africa” theory really bugs some non-Africans. It’s OK if the Africans are descendants of Adam and Eve, along with all the Asian and European people, so long as Adam and Eve weren’t, heavens forbid, (whisper) Black.
I doubt that in most cases there is any malice involved. I do think, though, that creationists labor under some misconceptions. They believe that in order to be faithful Christians, they must interpret the bible literally in every case, not allowing for the many different forms of prose and poetry in the bible. They also do not understand what the theory of evolution teaches. Just because some evolutionists are “godless” does not mean that evolution per se is a “godless” theory. Evolution does not teach, for instance, that man evolved from monkeys, nor does it claim that God did not create all things.

Science can inform religion and religion can inform science, but in the final analysis they are two separate disciplines each with its sphere of knowledge and influence.
 
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