You won’t find that quote. It’s an idol.
What one does find is centuries of evidence for human nature which is composed of a decomposing anatomy and a non-material rational soul. This evidence is found in Catholic teachings since the beginning of human history.
One truth cannot contradict another truth.
That is in the category of urban myths. Please refer to post 56 above.
It is a true statement with as much certainty as we can make about anything in nature that the earth is 4.8 billion years old
The age of the earth is not a Catholic dcotrine. The existence of a real Adam and Eve is a Catholic doctrine.
and that the oldest fossils span a range from 3.3-3.5 billion years old.
The younger of those fossils are stromatolites, which are photosynthesizing bacteria that required numerous evolutionary steps to exist. The older fossil is from sulfur-metabolizing bacteria similar to those found at undersea vents. The cellular machinery of these fossils is identical to that in our cells. In particular, they include ribosomes, the DNA for which is conserved in all life on earth.
Current excavations of fossil finds have been able to retrieve some portions of DNA. However, DNA, animal or human, does not present evidence of our spiritual soul.
Genesis 2 says – figuratively – that God created Adam from the dust and breathed life into him. That’s as true a statement as the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Pardon me, I think that is some sort of logical fallacy or maybe it is a
non sequitur. Help somebody.
When it comes to the first three chapters of Genesis we are dealing with Divine Revelation which has been stated in Catholic doctrines. To put the Prodigal Son and the first human Adam in the same category, you would have to name the Catholic doctrine flowing from this parable.
If there are theological reasons that some people feel make it impossible for them to embrace the consensus view of evolutionary biology, geology, astronomy, and physics,
This would be more understandable if you named the consensus view. Otherwise, listing a number of science disciplines has been used as one of the means of intimidating Catholics who honor human nature and its origin as taught by Catholicism.
I’ll suggest that they are holding to unnecessary elements of faith.
Please be specific. What unnecessary elements of faith (Catholic) are in the first three chapters of Genesis or which flow from the basic truths in those chapters?
If those elements of faith are used to deny science, it seems to me that those beliefs are idols created by people.
Pardon me. The Catholic Church does not deny science. It considers science as a gift from God.
God does not require us to suspend reason to hold faith.
Examples, please.
Science is not a way to tempt The Lord.
I realize I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but where did that idea originate?
It is a way to discover truth about his creation.
Science discovers truth when it is conducted properly. Please refer to post 56 above.
We have souls. How God put souls into us, I cannot say.
Catholicism offers this explanation. God immediately and individually creates our spiritual soul at conception. The unity of spiritual and material at conception is so profound that one considers the soul to be the “form” of the body. It is because of this spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living human person, like you and me.
(Source: CCC 362-366)
But a soul cannot be measured. It is therefore outside the scope of scientific investigation.
Correct.
When it comes down to it, all our physical, emotional, and intellectual capacities are best explainable by materialist science.
Not exactly. Our rational intellectual capacity, different from sentience, is due to our spiritual soul – which as you just pointed out is outside the scope of scientific investigation.
To deny that is to deny God’s reality (thou shalt not covet thy God’s means of creation).
Catholicism accepts the reality of God which is why it can accept the reality of Adam and Eve.
Parapalegic people can now control cybernetic limbs with electrodes implanted into their brains. If that’s not a sign of the material nature of our consciousness, I don’t know what is.
I have an interesting research paper which examined the consequences of using electrodes as a mapping device during awake brain surgery. But so far, I am unaware of implanting electrodes. Do you have a citation available? Or is this from a media report?
I can see why the example of a paraplegic person being able to move cybernetic limbs (a new term for me) would be a sign of the wonders of our material brain or a sign of material consciousness. However, that does not deny the presence of our spiritual soul. Recall that you said that the spiritual soul is outside the scope of scientific investigation.
