One bishop's view on evolution

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From Bishop DiMarzio of Brooklyn:

For the last several weeks, as you come over the ManhattanBridge into Brooklyn, a large billboard message above Tillary St. asks: “Has evolution made a monkey out of you?” It is an advertisement for a History Channel program that explores the theory of evolution. The point being made is that at some time in history an ape became a man. More interesting is the picture on the billboard. It is a caricature of Michelangelo’s famous portrayal of creation in the Sistine Chapel, where the hand of God touches the hand of man. On this billboard, however, it is the hand of a man touching the hand of an ape.

This more-than-a-century-old controversy regarding humanity’s evolution from a lower genus of primate will not be settled anytime soon by those who have no faith. Further, the theory of evolution is opposed by the teaching of creationism that affirms that God is the direct Creator of the human race. This controversy between evolution and creationism is being fought throughout our country, especially in the Bible Belt, where it seems that religion has more influence over what is taught in public schools than elsewhere. More recently, the theory of intelligent design has tried to bridge the gap between evolution and creationism. It notes that the complexity of human life could not have arisen as the result of random development but was possible only because a purposeful and intelligent designer was guiding the process. Many people of various faiths believe that this “guide” is God.

In July of this year, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna, wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times claiming that Christians cannot believe that life’s origins are found in Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection because it states that random events have led to the evolution of man. Some have interpreted his op-ed article to be an endorsement of the theory of intelligent design. The cardinal’s purpose, however, was to clarify a statement of Pope John Paul II, of happy memory, which has been taken out of context. The Holy Father in an address said that evolution is not a mere theory. The fact is that non-Darwinian theories of evolution have given some evidence that lower forms of life have evolved and changed over time; however, no demonstration of the theory of evolution has ever concluded that a human being evolved from another primate.

Modern paleontology has discovered that various human forms can be found in all parts of the world. For example, Neanderthal man is considered by most scientists not to be “homo sapiens.” It is hard to prove, however, whether these hominids, or human-like ancestors of modern man, possessed a consciousness similar to ours. The science of paleontology tries to piece together clues regarding the origins of humanity. Yet the scientific method has yet to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt the origins of humans.

As Catholic Christians each Sunday we recite the Creed. In the first lines we affirm our belief in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. Yes, we do believe in creation. Our belief is not something that we can explain in detail. Genesis has given us the words of revelation regarding God’s mystery of creation, which prepares us to understand the mystery of redemption. The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us that we believe that God created the world according to His wisdom.

It is not the product of any necessity whatsoever or of blind fate or chance. We believe that it proceeds from God’s free will. In other words, God freely wanted to make His creatures share in His being, wisdom and goodness: “For you have created all things and by your will they have existed and were created,” as we read in the Revelation 4:11. Since the debate on evolution and other theories on the origin of man will not be ended soon, it is good that we understand where we as Catholics weigh in on this debate. When all is said and done, we believe in God as the creator of heaven and earth, although it is a mystery that we cannot explain.

As with this and all mysteries of faith, we are called to put out into the deep where proofs are not available. We must use modern science to explain what it can and recognize that it does not have a complete explanation for many things, especially the origins of humanity.

I find this to be a reasonable and refreshing statement.

Gene
 
Can evolution fit the Bible?

Sure it can.

According to the Bible, men come from dust (Gn. 2,7)

According to evolution, men come from dust (the dust became a protein and so on).
 
Humans come from dust.

We don’t exactly know if the dust “evolved through the ages” or if God made us in one day.

One million years or one minute,* the truth is the same*: humans come from dust, and when our body was finished, God gave us a soul and here we are.
 
For me who has, for most of my life, not accepted the belief that every verse of the Bible must be taken literally, I have never found that my Catholic Faith and belief in the Theories or Laws of Evolution naturally conflict with one another.

My understanding comes from this. My faith has brought me to the belief that God is the Creator God created us (Homo Sapiens) in His likeness and image that is He created us with Intellect and Free Will - that is with a Human Soul. He also gave us Reason the ability to come to know His creations and its works.

So, for me, acknowledging that God is the Creator, we have been given the ability to come to know How He created and this as I see it is the work of science.

So there is no conflict for me, Faith allows me to know Who Created all things and Science allows me to come to an understanding How things were physically created.

I think and hope my opinions reflect the teachings of the Church especially as taught by Pope John Paul II.
 
I too liked the Bishop’s statement. Sounds pretty darn consistent with The Church’s teachings:

**282 Catechesis on creation is of major importance. It concerns the very foundations of human and Christian life: for it makes explicit the response of the Christian faith to the basic question that men of all times have asked themselves: 120 “Where do we come from?” “Where are we going?” “What is our origin?” “What is our end?” “Where does everything that exists come from and where is it going?” The two questions, the first about the origin and the second about the end, are inseparable. They are decisive for the meaning and orientation of our life and actions.
283 The question about the origins of the world and of man has been the object of many scientific studies which have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers. With Solomon they can say: “It is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements. . . for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.” 121

284 The great interest accorded to these studies is strongly stimulated by a question of another order, which goes beyond the proper domain of the natural sciences. It is not only a question of knowing when and how the universe arose physically, or when man appeared, but rather of discovering the meaning of such an origin: is the universe governed by chance, blind fate, anonymous necessity, or by a transcendent, intelligent and good Being called “God”? And if the world does come from God’s wisdom and goodness, why is there evil? Where does it come from? Who is responsible for it? Is there any liberation from it?

285 Since the beginning the Christian faith has been challenged by responses to the question of origins that differ from its own. Ancient religions and cultures produced many myths concerning origins. Some philosophers have said that everything is God, that the world is God, or that the development of the world is the development of God (Pantheism). Others have said that the world is a necessary emanation arising from God and returning to him. Still others have affirmed the existence of two eternal principles, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness, locked, in permanent conflict (Dualism, Manichaeism). According to some of these conceptions, the world (at least the physical world) is evil, the product of a fall, and is thus to be rejected or left behind (Gnosticism). Some admit that the world was made by God, but as by a watch-maker who, once he has made a watch, abandons it to itself (Deism). Finally, others reject any transcendent origin for the world, but see it as merely the interplay of matter that has always existed (Materialism). All these attempts bear witness to the permanence and universality of the question of origins. This inquiry is distinctively human.

286 Human intelligence is surely already capable of finding a response to the question of origins. The existence of God the Creator can be known with certainty through his works, by the light of human reason, 122 even if this knowledge is often obscured and disfigured by error. This is why faith comes to confirm and enlighten reason in the correct understanding of this truth: “By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.” 123

Continued on next thread…**
 
Continued from earlier…

287 The truth about creation is so important for all of human life that God in his tenderness wanted to reveal to his People everything that is salutary to know on the subject. Beyond the natural knowledge that every man can have of the Creator, 124 God progressively revealed to Israel the mystery of creation. He who chose the patriarchs, who brought Israel out of Egypt, and who by choosing Israel created and formed it, this same God reveals himself as the One to whom belong all the peoples of the earth, and the whole earth itself; he is the One who alone “made heaven and earth”. 125

288 Thus the revelation of creation is inseparable from the revelation and forging of the covenant of the one God with his People. Creation is revealed as the first step towards this covenant, the first and universal witness to God’s all- powerful love. 126 And so, the truth of creation is also expressed with growing vigour in the message of the prophets, the prayer of the psalms and the liturgy, and in the wisdom sayings of the Chosen People. 127

289 Among all the Scriptural texts about creation, the first three chapters of Genesis occupy a unique place. From a literary standpoint these texts may have had diverse sources. The inspired authors have placed them at the beginning of Scripture to express in their solemn language the truths of creation - its origin and its end in God, its order and goodness, the vocation of man, and finally the drama of sin and the hope of salvation. Read in the light of Christ, within the unity of Sacred Scripture and in the living Tradition of the Church, these texts remain the principal source for catechesis on the mysteries of the “beginning”: creation, fall, and promise of salvation.

Now that’s refreshing!!!
 
I always saw the current view of evolution by many secularists to be similar to the following:

A society of ants has been living in a house for as long as any of them can remember. The majority think that the house was put together by a “magic” carpenter, because they don’t understand how it was built.

Then an ant discovers a nail.

Now the society knows how the house was put together. Many then claim that the nail is responsible for the creation of the house, not an “imaginary, magical” carpenter.

To summarize, God is a God of laws. He set up the perfect motion of the planets according to laws that he created and we discovered. It makes sense that he did not do “magic” to create us, but instead had a process. Trying to understand that process doesn’t mean that people should think the process replaces God any more than a nail and hammer replace a carpenter.

Personally, I find many aspects of the current theory of evolution to be laughable; however, science is merely doing what science does: offer the best explanation that it has at the time. That holds true since the time when scientists thought the world was flat and rested on the back of a turtle.

As with all science, evolution can only try to answer the “how,” but never the “why.” That is why any child can eventually befuddle the most brilliant scientist by asking one simple word: “Why?”
 
Hi all,

I was hoping someone would react to this sentence:

“The fact is that non-Darwinian theories of evolution have given some evidence that lower forms of life have evolved and changed over time; however, no demonstration of the theory of evolution has ever concluded that a human being evolved from another primate.”

I do not believe that humans evolved from primates and, apparently, neither does my Bishop.

God bless him!

Peace,
Gene
 
Gene C.:
Hi all,

I was hoping someone would react to this sentence:

“The fact is that non-Darwinian theories of evolution have given some evidence that lower forms of life have evolved and changed over time; however, no demonstration of the theory of evolution has ever concluded that a human being evolved from another primate.”

I do not believe that humans evolved from primates and, apparently, neither does my Bishop.

God bless him!

Peace,
Gene
Click to expand...
Macroevolution: NO
Microevolution (otherwise known as adaptation): YES
 
Gene C.:
Hi all,

I was hoping someone would react to this sentence:

“The fact is that non-Darwinian theories of evolution have given some evidence that lower forms of life have evolved and changed over time; however, no demonstration of the theory of evolution has ever concluded that a human being evolved from another primate.”

I do not believe that humans evolved from primates and, apparently, neither does my Bishop.

God bless him!

Peace,
Gene
Click to expand...

That’s fair enough - it’s not as though evolution were a revealed truth :); there is no obligation to believe it, other than that one is convinced by the arguments and evidence for it.​

 
Hi Gottle and anawim,

Your words have given me some comfort, especially Gottle. You put it in its proper perspective.

Peace,
Gene
 
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