I have two questions about evolution that I need answered, and my future in the Church depends on how they are answered…
Hello. Its good to ask questions. Don’t abbandon your faith just becuase you are finding it differcult to reconcile it with Science. I have been in same place as you, and what it really come down to is faith. Not blind faith, but faith that there are qeustions to your answers. Ask God to help you before you leave the Church. To make a reasonable and responsible decision to leave God, You must at least read every book you can possibly find on the issue. Some people are far too quick on the draw, not realising there is a wealth of information out there that has answers. You just need to find them. God likes people who hunt for the truth, becuase that means that they really want the truth. As someone else has suggested “Finding Darwins God” is a Good Start.
- If we accept evolution as many Catholics do, then how is it possible for God to create through evolution when evolution is a “random” process? .
Your first assumption is that these things can happen in the first place with out Gods existence. What nature produces, is dependent on the ultimate reality of existence; because that is what defines the powers and pontetiality of nature. Whether things arise through system of evolution or not, is not really relevent. The qeustion is, why should these things arise at all. Why should any given random variation of complexity, based on atomic structures, give rise to animated beings that seek survival. Why should any random mutation give rise to any meaningfull behavior that would eventually result in selfawarness. You see; the process by which certain states come to exist may very well be random, but the states in themselves our not accidental or random at all. It has always been a fact of nature since the beginning of time space and energy, that given a specific variation of complexity, an organism will arise with the ability to know, desire, love, understand right and wrong, have sex, have children, to see and comprend the beauty, rational structure, and order of the universe. The universe, whether random or designed, works towards rational comprehendable ends which make absolute sense. Why not something completly irrational poping into existence; lets say, an armadillo rather then a universe? What is it that defines that a universe like ours should come to exist? It cannot be Nature since nature began to exist! Its the propaganda of naturalism that makes it seem as if there are contradictions between the universe and Gods existence.
What one needs to ask is, what lies at the root of that nature? Is it Aboslutly nothing but time energy and space? Or is it God? I think it is aboslutly reasonable to think that it is God, becuase if there is no God; then why should reality begin to exist and produce all these meaningfull things including ourselves in the firstplace? That cannot be a matter of Chance, since the things of this world can only arise by chance once the universe has inherited a nature of being by which things can arise. Plus things are not entirely random; they are shaped by the enviroment, the other objects around it, and the hidden potentails of nature that arise as a result.
- If we accept that humans evolved through lower animals from the ultimate source of pond scum, then that means God simply waited for 14 billion years for us to arrive on the scene…
God doesn’t wait; God is timeless.
This raises some interesting questions the main one I have is what does God intend to evolve from human beings?.
That depends on whether or not God intends that human beings should evolve; and if they do evolve into something else, that would simply mean the end of the human race as we know it. I can imagine a senario where human beings become barren in their reproductivity before they ever have a chance to evolve into a muti-dimensional creature of some sort.
Once evolution is accepted it cannot remain a past event…what next? A secondary question as to the reality of original sin enters here as well. How can there be separation from God; i.e. original sin, if we are evolved animals? .
Original sin can happen whether or not evolution happened. Human brain is so complex, that it makes sense that an organsim that is “worthy of a soul”, would have been a small event. Possibly two twins; a male and a female. The first two creatures, endowed with a eternal soul by God, simply chose not to do Gods will. Hence, everybody who was born from then on was effected.
Yes, I think you are right, the Church did say Science cannot prove nature is random. We all have our little limitations, don’t we?:yup:
, the pneuma or atmos is the morphos of the soma–not to be confused with sarx, which is what the body becomes when the soul leaves it. See, “form” is formal cause: that which makes a thing what it is. When the body dies, it ceases to be what it is and becomes something else.
Thanks James. Peace.
. Also no branch of science has the answers yet on most things. They have their thoughts that this is the way things are and this may be the reasons. Just look at cosmetology. Where and what is this dark energy and dark matter that make up of 70% of the universe? It has to be there to make my mathematics work but a lot of people think there is another reason. Who is right? Look at physics and quantum theory. The best mind some people think there ever was said he just didn’t think it was right because God does not play dice with the universe. Man always thinks he has all of the answers but every day God shows him just how wrong he was.