Vatican acknowledges evolution theory

by skinnyboy 19 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • Shining One
    Shining One

    >Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the Genesis description of how God created the universe and Darwin's theory of evolution were "perfectly compatible" if the Bible were read correctly.

    The two theories are a direct contrast. Methinks the Cardinal is reading things into scripture that are not there. He is not exegeting scripture, rather, he is 'correcting' the Bible to portray a view tht he accepts rather than deal honestly with either one.

    >His statement was a clear attack on creationist campaigners in the US, who see evolution and the Genesis account as mutually exclusive.

    Could be...

    >"The fundamentalists want to give a scientific meaning to words that had no scientific aim," he said at a Vatican press conference. He said the real message in Genesis was that "the universe didn't make itself and had a creator".

    No duh. A fundamentalist accepts scripture over the protests of a naturalist theory that is full of holes. Genesis also has more than one message.

    >This idea was part of theology, Cardinal Poupard emphasised, while the precise details of how creation and the development of the species came about belonged to a different realm - science.

    He's simply accepted a notion advanced by the atheist core of naturalism, not made any statement of worth but rather, rhetoric.

    >Cardinal Poupard said that it was important for Catholic believers to know how science saw things so as to "understand things better".

    He should probably talk to his pope before he shoots his mouth off.

    >His statements were interpreted in Italy as a rejection of the "intelligent design" view, which says the universe is so complex that some higher being must have designed every detail

    Exactly, that is the where the evidence falls. Evolution will be laughed at in twenty years.
    Rex

  • Shining One
    Shining One

    Hey Nate,
    Why is there a need of God if we evolved from priordial ooze? If evolution is true, God is not relevant and He is out of a job. You are smiling at a contradiction.
    Rex

  • Big Dog
    Big Dog

    Rex,

    I don't think God and evolution are incompatable, isn't it possible that God used evolution as his means of creation, rather than just presto, everything popped into existence as is?

  • tetrapod.sapien
    tetrapod.sapien
    Why is there a need of God if we evolved from priordial ooze? If evolution is true, God is not relevant and He is out of a job. You are smiling at a contradiction.

    and so the true motive comes out at last.

    for god to be the ultimate programmer, simply clicking on the execute button of evolution, relegates him to the deist's god. this is not the xian god, as it makes him small and rather meaningless. think in terms of omnipotence and omniscinence. sure he could have done that, but what does it make him? some alien scientist. not worth worshiping...

    TS

  • Big Dog
    Big Dog

    Tetra,

    But if that was the case, you'd have to admit God was a hell of a programmer.

  • tetrapod.sapien
    tetrapod.sapien

    he he, indeed, the best, BD!

    actually the field of evolutionary computation is a burgeoning one. scientists are using evolutionary models all over the place these days, to solve complex problems.

    actually, i think the talkorigins.org archive has an article on it in the "evolution" section of the site. i love this stuff.

    i was running AVIDA on my linux cluster when i was a witness, just for fun. it's an evolutionary computation program that allows you to set parameters, and digital organisms in a digital landscape, feeding on numbers, grows into a little ecosystem right on your computer. really cool. because of the algorithms, you could set the same parameters over and over again, and not get the same results. this is actually what got me thinking about evolution and everything else in the first place. computer science as a witness because i was starved to have anything to do with science, without stepping on jehovahs toes. but it led to evolutionary computation, and then to researching evolution, and then to leaving da troof.

    but i like that there is a corespondence between this field and biology, and just plain old reality. everywhere we look in nature and the universe, we see computation taking place. even in black holes. stephen hawkin admitted he was wrong. black holes actually have input and output. computation.

    computo ergo sum (i compute, therefore i am)

    TS

    ps: and please rex, no comments about "who the programmer must represent", because that basically boils down to the argument from ignorance regarding the specifics of mutation rates and the algorithms involved.

  • Shining One
    Shining One

    Hi Big Dog,
    >I don't think God and evolution are incompatable, isn't it possible that God used evolution as his means of creation, rather than just presto, everything popped into existence as is?
    What's the point of it all if evolution is true? Think about it. When it was said that 'evolution put God out of a job', that is correct. Does it reduces Him to a level of just another alien who seeded a planet? Let me share something else: Genesis is absolutely correct if not literally true.

    "Let there be light."
    When the Big Bang happened that was the light. Now if you take each step of Genesis you can see the creation from a scientific standpoint. I forget the name of the writer who put it together but I will see if I can find the book and the author.
    What later happened with the Cambrian explosion of life forms and how does the gradual flow of evolution account for it? It can't! Macro-evolution does not happen and even the famous mutated fruit flies that developed four wings are useless and prove nothing. They have to be kept in a carefully engineered and monitored habitat. They die in the open.
    The original atmosphere that was touted as producing amino acids is totally wrong according to the researh done but not brought to light outside of scientific circles till the creationists exposed it. Evolution has so many holes it makes the WBTS look reasonable. LOL
    Rex

  • Shining One
    Shining One

    Tetly,
    Don't you realize that you are playing a computer game that has been designed to accept evolutionary hogwash?
    Rex

  • stevenyc
    stevenyc

    Rex, you said: Tetly, Don't you realize that you are playing a computer game that has been designed to accept evolutionary hogwash?

    What do you mean by this?

    steve

  • Navigator
    Navigator

    Remember, we are talking about the instituion that condemed the writings of Copernicus when he suggested that the earth was rotating on its axis and revolved around the sun We are talking about the institution that burned several scientists at the stake for refusing to recant their belief in the findings of Copernicus. This is the outfit that placed Gallio under house arrest for similar teachings even though he did recant them on pain of death.

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