Evolution is compatible with Christianity

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RND
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Evolution is compatible with Christianity

Post by RND » Sun Feb 22, 2009 4:38 pm

The Vatican claims Darwin's theory of evolution is compatible with Christianity

The Vatican has admitted that Charles Darwin's theory of evolution should not have been dismissed and claimed it is compatible with the Christian view of Creation.

Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said while the Church had been hostile to Darwin's theory in the past, the idea of evolution could be traced to St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas.

Father Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Santa Croce University in Rome, added that 4th century theologian St Augustine had "never heard the term evolution, but knew that big fish eat smaller fish" and forms of life had been transformed "slowly over time". Aquinas made similar observations in the Middle Ages.

Ahead of a papal-backed conference next month marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, the Vatican is also set to play down the idea of Intelligent Design, which argues a "higher power" must be responsible for the complexities of life.

The conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University will discuss Intelligent Design to an extent, but only as a "cultural phenomenon" rather than a scientific or theological issue.

Monsignor Ravasi said Darwin's theories had never been formally condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, pointing to comments more than 50 years ago, when Pope Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans.

Marc Leclerc, who teaches natural philosophy at the Gregorian University, said the "time has come for a rigorous and objective valuation" of Darwin by the Church as the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth approaches.

Professor Leclerc argues that too many of Darwin's opponents, primarily Creationists, mistakenly claim his theories are "totally incompatible with a religious vision of reality".

Earlier this week, prominent scientists and leading religious figures wrote to The Daily Telegraph to call for an end to the fighting over Darwin's legacy.

They argued that militant atheists are turning people away from evolution by using it to attack religion while they also urge believers in creationism to acknowledge the overwhelming body of evidence that now exists to support Darwin's theory.

The Church of England is seeking to bring Darwin back into the fold with a page on its website paying tribute to his "forgotten" work in his local parish, showing science and religion need not be at odds.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident." Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860

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TK
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Re: Evolution is compatible with Christianity

Post by TK » Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:07 pm

i am fairly certain that CS Lewis believed in evolution(I seem to remember reading something by him that implied this belief). although i admit i may be mis-remembering.

I have decided to file the controversy over the age of the earth, etc. as a "non-essential" issue(in my own mind). the topic interests me, but i believe that you can be a bible believing, spirit-filled christian and maintain either view (although belief in human evolution is much more problematic to me than belief in a billions of year old earth).

TK

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Re: Evolution is compatible with Christianity

Post by RND » Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:36 pm

I appreciate your thoughts TK. I've never been able to reconcile Genesis 2:7 with life coming into existence from some primordial ooze. It appears that CS Lewis was indeed an evolutionist in the beginning but as time wore on these thoughts might have been steadily replaced with thought of YEC.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident." Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860

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Re: Evolution is compatible with Christianity

Post by steve » Sun Feb 22, 2009 8:10 pm

In everything I have read of Lewis on the subject, he presupposes the correctness of evolutionary history of all species, including man (e.g., chapter 5 of "The Problem of Pain" is dominated by this idea). Lewis was not a scientist, but a philosopher, and he died too early to have access to the many scientific discoveries and arguments that undermine grand theory of Darwinism (nobody ever questioned micro-evolution, of course).

Lewis certainly did not see any reason to deny that God could have used evolutionary processes, and he took them for granted, since there were few voices in the scientific community questioning them. Lewis clearly accept theistic evolution. It did not interfere with his being a Christian, as it has not interfered with many other evolutionists being Christians. I believe that Darwin's theory does not correctly represent the methods God used in creation, but I don't see it as anything to divide Christians about.

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Re: Evolution is compatible with Christianity

Post by christopher » Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:06 pm

This seems to be a British thing (no offense to any brits out there ;) ). But it seems in debates I've heard against Richard Dawkins and those of his like, assume Darwinian evolution to be true (Alistair McGrath, John Lennox, etc.)

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Re: Evolution is compatible with Christianity

Post by steve » Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:28 pm

Young earth creationists (of which I am one) are generally viewed as backwater hayseeds by most Christians other than American (and a few other) evangelicals and fundamentalists. Given the respective evidence for and against evolution, I have never been able to understand why this is so. I think it is simply that evolution, since the Scopes trial, has completely one the war of public perceptions.

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Re: Evolution is compatible with Christianity

Post by RND » Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:50 pm

"In his encyclical Humani Generis (1950), my predecessor Pius XII has already affirmed that there is no conflict between evolution and the doctrine of the faith regarding man and his vocation, provided that we do not lose sight of certain fixed points....Today, more than a half-century after the appearance of that encyclical, some new findings lead us toward the recognition of evolution as more than a hypothesis. In fact it is remarkable that this theory has had progressively greater influence on the spirit of researchers, following a series of discoveries in different scholarly disciplines. The convergence in the results of these independent studies -- which was neither planned nor sought -- constitutes in itself a significant argument in favor of the theory." - Pope John Paul II, October 22, 1996, address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences

We cannot say: creation or evolution, inasmuch as these two things respond to two different realities. The story of the dust of the earth and the breath of God, which we just heard, does not in fact explain how human persons come to be but rather what they are. It explains their inmost origin and casts light on the project that they are. And, vice versa, the theory of evolution seeks to understand and describe biological developments. But in so doing it cannot explain where the 'project' of human persons comes from, nor their inner origin, nor their particular nature. To that extent we are faced here with two complementary -- rather than mutually exclusive -- realities. – Cardinal Ratzinger, In the Beginning: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident." Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860

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Re: Evolution is compatible with Christianity

Post by Suzana » Mon Feb 23, 2009 5:07 am

Darwin's Birthday Poll: Fewer Than 4 in 10 Believe in Evolution
February 12, 2009
A new poll released just in time for Charles Darwin's 200th birthday found that only 39 percent of Americans say they "believe in the theory of evolution," and just 24 percent of those who attend church weekly believe in that explanation for the development of life on Earth. The Gallup survey, released Wednesday, found a quarter of those polled do not believe in evolution, and 36 percent said they don't have an opinion either way.
Fox News

The secular education system is great at presenting theories as if they were proven facts. Very un-scientific. When in high-school, I changed my belief in creation to theistic evolution to reconcile those so-called 'facts' with my faith. It was not until much later that I discovered there were much more valid scientific arguments against Darwin's theory.
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Re: Evolution is compatible with Christianity

Post by darinhouston » Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:37 am

I think people equate OEC with supporting Evolution. I am an OEC, but not because of a belief in Evolution -- just because the earth is old, that doesn't mean people are. I think there is ample evidence (for me) that the earth is indeed billions (or at least more than thousands) of years old. I don't believe there is sufficient evidence (again, for me) that humanity originated in goo or evolved from lower life forms.

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Re: Evolution is compatible with Christianity

Post by RND » Mon Feb 23, 2009 12:08 pm

Suzana wrote:Darwin's Birthday Poll: Fewer Than 4 in 10 Believe in Evolution
February 12, 2009
A new poll released just in time for Charles Darwin's 200th birthday found that only 39 percent of Americans say they "believe in the theory of evolution," and just 24 percent of those who attend church weekly believe in that explanation for the development of life on Earth. The Gallup survey, released Wednesday, found a quarter of those polled do not believe in evolution, and 36 percent said they don't have an opinion either way.
Fox News

The secular education system is great at presenting theories as if they were proven facts. Very un-scientific. When in high-school, I changed my belief in creation to theistic evolution to reconcile those so-called 'facts' with my faith. It was not until much later that I discovered there were much more valid scientific arguments against Darwin's theory.
That's outstanding news! All that work to deceive has gone down the drain!
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident." Arthur Schopenhauer, Philosopher, 1788-1860

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