Why does the pope beleive in Evolution?

Question

Why does the pope beleive in evolution, should bhe not be trying to defned the creation of the world as given to him in the bible?

what do catholics think about this,

the bible says:

"But He answered and said, "It is written, "MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" Matt 4:4

so therefore if God told us how he made the world, and darwin tells us another which point of view should the pope try to defend?

The bible says six days, darwin says millions

the question isn't about evos vs creo's

it's about wbhy the most revered religeous person on the planet is disregardiong God as his creator and instead saying it was due to the primordial swamp

I mean, if Genesis has no meaning, why support the rest of the bible?

Why does the catholic church have disregard Genesis and The book of Revelations in particular

i mean is there anything in these books that we or they should be worried about?

The Genesis account speaks of Eve giving Birth to child without using Adams seed

i.e. virgin Birth

It talks about This Child Bruising the seed of the serpent, and the serpent striking the seed of the womans heel

i.e. Jesus dying on the cross, (striking his heel)

Jesus releasing man from the burden of death

(The seed of the woman bruising the head of the serpent)


For christians:

if Genesis is not real
then how did sin and death enter the world, and if there were already were animals dtying and eating each other, why would God tell man to eat of al fruit apart from one

if things were not perfect then the devil is not responsible for sin

and we should not bother stop sinning or atone for it,

Genesis says there was a perfect world without sin

this was the begining

Revelations says, The servants of God will be called back to live with him in his perfect world will be restored

this is the end

so how can these books be dismissed by the church but everything else is kosher?

Thetre is a quote somwhjere i have yet to find that says

only the sons of Adam will be saved

this implies a literal adam, the genealogy of Christ, in matthew or luke also stakes Jesus Genealogy and goes all the way back to adam

and this is the part of the bible the pope beleives in,

so if this is true

then Genesis has to be true, or neither of them are true

Evo's are entitled to their opinion, like homosexuals they should be hugged not burned
you are not outcasts, as we are all sinners

but one question for evo dude's

how does a tiny point holding all the laws of the universe overcome it's own law, that is the first law of dynamics, explode to become the big bang, and then restore the 1st law of dynamics?

using newton
An object is either inert or in motion unless acted upon by an external force

and since this tiny point containg could not overcome the 1st law of dynamics explode create the universe and restore the 1st law of dynamics:

the question is what was the external force that acted upon the tiny point which was at rest, to make the it go bang?

thanks

Solarius:

one question

If you are not basing your faith on what Jesus actually said

then what are you basing it on?

Jesus raised from the dead as he was God and he was sin free

so for him to create the world and everything in it would have been impossible because darwin and dawkins say so?

If you beleive he rose from the dead, then what would be impossible for him?

For huim to create a world so perfect for you to live on, unlike mars and saturn?

nice range of answers i would like to jknow if catholics think the pope is wrong or if they think Genesis and revleations have untold significance?

Answer 1

Because, despite the many other disagreements I have with him, he isn't a complete idiot.

Answer 2

Remember Jesus chided the Pharisees for taking the Bible too literally.

Most Christians do 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 theories of the big bang or evolution or both or neither.

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 theories of the big bang and evolution are the most logical scientific explanations. However tomorrow someone may come up with better ideas.

As long as we believe that God started the whole thing, both the Bible and responsible modern science can live in harmony.

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

No Pope has ever used his infallible power when it concerns how life started, it has only been used in regards to the Blessed Virgin Mary, however, JP II accepted evolution, Pius XII, who loved astronomy, came out in favor of the Big Bang theory, he believed that what the Big Bang happened because of God, and thats what started the Universe as we know it. I'm a Catholic and I believe evolution happened. How and why, we don't know 100%. I think Darwin was right for the most part, off on a few things, but close. the Catholic Church has never said that the creation story in Genisis should be taken literally, its a story, not the literal blow by blow account.

Answer 4

Maybe the Pope means microevolution, which isn't evolution, but only descent "within kind", or family of creatures.

Historically, the Catholic Church has been a rabid defender of Creation, as evidenced by Popes' quotes in centuries past.
That doesn't seem the case these days.

The Papal Astronomer, George Coyne, is fond of evolution, and I suppose others around the Pope.

The bottom line: Evolution has no way (mechanism) of happening, so it should be disregarded until the slightest hypothesis about it can be formed.

Answer 5

I am a Catholic, and don't believe in promoting Creationism. It's poor science. I'm not a Biblical literalist, nor is my priest, nor are most of my Catholic friends, family, and acquaintances. Unlike some denominations, the Catholic Church is not a "Sola Scriptura" church that bases all decisions solely upon a literal understanding of the Bible. We are not Fundamentalists. Not all Catholics necessarily embrace the theory of evolution, but we're certainly not prohibited from believing in it, either.

Answer 6

Actually, here ya go. Edge, read this:

Concerning cosmological evolution, the Church has defined that the universe was specially created out of nothing. Vatican I solemnly defined that everyone must "confess the world and all things which are contained in it, both spiritual and material, as regards their whole substance, have been produced by God from nothing" (Canons on God the Creator of All Things, canon 5).

The Church does not have an official position on whether the stars, nebulae, and planets we see today were created at that time or whether they developed over time (for example, in the aftermath of the Big Bang that modern cosmologists discuss). However, the Church would maintain that, if the stars and planets did develop over time, this still ultimately must be attributed to God and his plan, for Scripture records: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host [stars, nebulae, planets] by the breath of his mouth" (Ps. 33:6).

Concerning biological evolution, the Church does not have an official position on whether various life forms developed over the course of time. However, it says that, if they did develop, then they did so under the impetus and guidance of God, and their ultimate creation must be ascribed to him.

Concerning human evolution, the Church has a more definite teaching. It allows for the possibility that man’s body developed from previous biological forms, under God’s guidance, but it insists on the special creation of his soul. Pope Pius XII declared that "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 . . . 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—[but] the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God" (Pius XII, Humani Generis 36). So whether the human body was specially created or developed, we are required to hold as a matter of Catholic faith that the human soul is specially created; it did not evolve, and it is not inherited from our parents, as our bodies are.

While the Church permits belief in either special creation or developmental creation on certain questions, it in no circumstances permits belief in atheistic evolution.




Some of you who answered did it again - no bothering to research the position the Church has on evolution...just keep spouting the same old crap. Try reading. It's good for you.

Answer 7

He isn't disregarding God as the creator, he is simply saying that there is a possiblity that the earth was not created in six days. After all, the Bible was not sent down directly from God. It was written by a person claiming to have recieved a message from God.

Answer 8

Great question, but i think the bible is merely figurative metaphors. The Genisis is i think just a way to make God sound almighty and make the rest of the bible more believable and maybe the Pope sees it that way to. If you take the bible for its true meaning you don't need Genisis.

Answer 9

Becasue he does.I dont know why mabee he is a sensible man and that is what he thinks.I dont believe in evolution myself because it dosnt make sense to me not because the bible says so...

Answer 10

anyone with intelligence is leaving the church. the church is trying to get people to stay by accepting some scientific theories as legitimate christian studies. catholics have not quite gotten over the Galileo thing, and are treading carefully through scientific discoveries since they no longer have the power to burn evolutionists at the stake.

Answer 11

Jesus said that his Father created them male and female.

Who ever does not believe what Jesus himself said is not a true Christian.

True Christians don't pick and chose what they want to believe from the Bible.


Mathew 19:4 In reply he said: “Did YOU not read that he who created them from [the] beginning made them male and female

Mark 10:6 However, from [the] beginning of creation ‘He made them male and female.