I would have a hard time accepting it if I was Catholic. What are your oppinions?
2007-02-19 20:41:54 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Please, no spelling corrections
2007-02-19 20:42:19 · update #1
John Paul II said that evolution shouldnt be dismissed. Look it up
2007-02-19 20:50:02 · update #2
The Catholic Church does not take the stories of creation in the Bible literally. Catholics believe the book of Genesis tells religious truth and not necessarily historical fact.
One of the religious truths is that God created everything and declared all was good.
Catholics can believe in the theory of evolution. Or not. The Church does not require belief in evolution.
On August 12, 1950 Pope Pius XII said in his encyclical Humani generis:
The Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter - for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.
Here is the complete encyclical: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis_en.html
The Church supports science in the discovery of God's creation. At this time, the theory of evolution is the most logical scientific explanation. However tomorrow someone may come up with a better idea.
As long as we believe that God started the whole thing, both the Bible and modern science can live in harmony.
With love in Christ.
2007-02-22 17:34:00 · answer #1 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The pope did not say, technically, that evolution was correct. He said that (in keeping with Thomas Aquinas' theory that scientific truth and religious truth cannot conflict) evolutionary science cannot be discounted as wrong so long as the theory put forth was compatable with God's word (in the metaphorical sense).
As such, being a physics major, I'm a strict believer in the theory of evolution. At the same time, I support a view that Evolution was theistically controlled (no, I am not an intelligent design proponent). By this I mean that at each point where the chance of formation occuring was incredibly small, that is where we see the divine influence affecting the process of creation.
2007-02-20 04:41:18 · answer #2 · answered by promethius9594 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not that JP2 said to accept evolution as fact; he said not to reject it outright. This is in line with the understanding that faith and reason go together, so that observed truths about the physical world figure into the Creation of the world. If evolution is part of God's plan, so be it. Note that this does not mean men descended from apes - this is the macroevolutionary portion that is rejected by most scientists. However microevolution (bacterial exchange of DNA, on up to the fact that people have gotten taller over the past 5,000 years) has been observed and does not refute our being created in the Lord's image.
"For one thing, the Church has no "doctrine" on evolution, any more than it has a doctrine on tectonic plates or a magisterial teaching on how human consciousness arises from the electrical firings inside the neurology of the brain." - Rev. Oakes, S.J.
2007-02-20 06:28:43 · answer #3 · answered by Veritatum17 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You must remember, the catholics have a leader who was a Nazi. As you know, they indoctrinated the membership into the idea of world domination. If you were Catholic, you would be exercised of evil spirits for disagreeing with the Nazi pope.
2007-02-22 18:21:43 · answer #4 · answered by Pope Benedict XVI 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why would the Pope take a public stand on evolution if he's not a scientist? I know he's a pretty smart guy, but it's not his purvue, is it?
Well, it's a free country. Wait a minute, I think the Vatican is technically a dictatorship. Well, that means it's free for him, anyway.
2007-02-19 20:47:00 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Well, I was raised catholic, and when I was growing up I was taught that the world was millions and millions of years old and neither of my parents disagreed. I am now 39 and just learned this last year after being saved and renouncing the catholic religion, that the world is only 6000 years old, and that evolution is a lie. Go figure.
2007-02-19 20:51:22 · answer #6 · answered by Dakota Lynn Takes Gun 6 · 0⤊ 5⤋
http://www.catholic.net/RCC/Periodicals/Dossier/0102-97/Article3.html
2007-02-19 23:03:54 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
NOOOOOO - ARE YOU KIDDING - THEY WILL NEVER GO FOR THAT!
2007-02-19 20:45:23 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋