Ed << Symbolic? Adam and Eve were the parents of the human race. >>
2004 extinct thread meet 2009 evolved thread.
Yes, and
here is how they did that. OK one view.
Another view. And yet
another view (see bottom, someday I may finish editing up this one again).
Ed << Evolution is doubtful. As Pope Benedict stated after referring to the statement by Pope John Paul II that met with great secular approval: "But it also true that evolution is not a complete, scientifically proven theory." I believe him 100%. >>
Balance with these statements:
"While the story of human origins is complex and subject to revision, physical anthropology and molecular biology combine to make a convincing case for the origin of the human species in Africa about 150,000 years ago in a humanoid population of common genetic lineage. However it is to be explained, the decisive factor in human origins was a continually increasing brain size, culminating in that of homo sapiens. With the development of the human brain, the nature and rate of evolution were permanently altered: with the introduction of the uniquely human factors of consciousness, intentionality, freedom and creativity, biological evolution was recast as social and cultural evolution." (
Statement of ITC headed by Cardinal Ratzinger, paragraph 63 [July 2004]).
"All of this is well and good, one might say, but is it not ultimately disproved by our scientific knowledge of how the human being evolved from the animal kingdom? Now, more reflective spirits have long been aware that there is no either-or here. 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. But let us look a little closer, because here, too, the progress of thought in the last two decades helps us to grasp anew the inner unity of creation and evolution and of faith and reason." (
In the Beginning by Cardinal Ratzinger [Eerdmans, 1986, 1995]
To say something is not completely
scientifically proven, does not mean the Pope thinks evolution is not true or "doubtful." Which reminds me of some more recent books:
Creation and Evolution: A Conference with Pope Benedict XVI (Ignatius Press, 2008) for his and others complete views
Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne (Viking, 2009)
Lucy's Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins by Johanson, et al (Harmony, 2009)
Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters by Donald Prothero (Columbia Univ Press, 2007)
Same old, same old.
Evolution is a fact, the
most prominent Catholic churchmen and scientists know this, but these threads haven't evolved much in 5 years because many people in these threads don't realize this (yet).
Phil P
Extinct Thread
Threaded Mode
