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"The Bible claims that God formed man of the dust of the ground, not something that would become man after millions of years of genetic mutations."
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Theistic Evolution? Does the Vatican have a clue?
Brian Culliton
Ever since the "Galileo incident," the Catholic Church has been a bit cautious when it comes to refuting scientific claims. Such is the case when it comes to the theory of evolution. The RCC does not support Darwin's Theory of Evolution, but rather they have their own theory of "divinely guided" evolution. The Catholic view is simply a hybrid theory attempting to combine creationism and evolution.
Why does the Catholic Church accept evolution as a possible method by which God could have created the world? One reason may have something to do with the huge embarrassment the RCC incurred over Galileo's claim. In 1616 Galileo had the audacity to teach what he knew to be true, that the earth revolved around the sun. The powerful Roman church called Galileo's claims "foolish and absurd" and branded him a heretic. Under the threat of torture, Galileo was ordered to renounce his position that the earth was not the center of the universe - he was subsequently sentenced to a life of perpetual imprisonment and penance.
Obviously the church got it wrong, and that gave scientific theories a tremendous boost, while leaving theological assertions looking a bit foolish; at least that's how it looks to the scientific world. The real problem is the severe lack of Scriptural knowledge the Catholic hierarchy actually possesses. Assertions made by people who don't know what they are talking about will always end up making them look foolish. That is why the Catholic Church will not make a stand for the literal genesis creation despite the tremendous amount of biblical evidence supporting it.
The RCC is convinced that there is no scientific evidence to support the literal creation claim. Strange, the lack of scientific evidence for the real presence doctrine never stopped them from making the claim that Christ is physically present in the Eucharist. But then again, all the scientific bases are covered since the doctrine claims that the accidents remain. In other words, Christ's physical presence is not detectible. But no such security blanket exists for literal creation. If science ever discovers the missing link, or otherwise proves evolution, the Catholic Church does not want to find themselves in another embarrassing situation.
In order to ensure nothing like the Galileo incident ever occurs again, the Vatican put together an assembly of scientists called, the "Pontifical Academy of Sciences" to advise them on matters of science. The academy's job is to make sure Catholicism is in line with scientific reasoning. And when it comes to evolution, the academy's president, Nicola Cabibbo, made his views crystal clear.
The National Catholic Reporter interviewed Cabibbo in July 2005. One of the questions interviewer John Allen asked Cabibbo was: "The fact that evolution involves a random element does not mean that God is not the cause of it. Would you agree?" Cabibbo answered, "That's the whole point. This is why John Paul II was not afraid of evolution. How can you be afraid of something that is true?"
Cabibbo's answer clearly shows that the pope and the Vatican are being advised by their panel of experts that evolution is a scientific fact. Therefore, the Vatican is forced to reconcile Christian theology with scientific theory; thus, the theory of "Theistic Evolution" was born.
Why is the Catholic Hierarchy so worried about scientific evidence? If they believe the Bible to be the word of God, why don't they just believe what it says? God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness." Is it unreasonable to believe He did exactly what He said? And what about the biblical claim in Genesis 2:7: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." The Bible claims that God formed man of the dust of the ground, not something that would become man after millions of years of genetic mutations.
And what about Eve? The Bible claims she was formed from Adam's rib. In order to endorse evolution, one would have to completely discount this claim. Yet, John Paul II asserted "Indeed, the theory of natural evolution, understood in a sense that does not exclude divine causality, is not in principle opposed to the truth about the creation of the visible world as presented in the Book of Genesis." (General Audiences, January 24 and April 16, 1986) Did John Paul II read some other book of genesis?
Another fact that should make those who believe in the biblical God oppose evolution is that death is a critical element of the theory. Without the cycle of life and death, the theory of evolution would be void of any scientific credibility. But the Bible claims that death did not enter the world until Adam sinned. Adam received his death sentence from God in these words: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return." (Gen. 3:19)
But perhaps the strongest evidence that death did not enter the world until Adam's sin is in the inspired words of the Apostle Paul who said, "For since by man (Adam) came death, by Man (Jesus) also came the resurrection of the dead." (1Cor. 15:21) Paul was also very clear when he said, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-- (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come." (Rom. 5:12-14)
The Bible is clear about creation and it clear about death being a product of Adam's sin. To believe that Adam was a mutated descendent of some creature God created millions of years earlier is absurd. Yet the scientists that advise the Vatican think literal creationists who believe the biblical text are absurd.
But interestingly, science supports the biblical creation, not evolution, by presenting the following scientific fact - the odds of life randomly developing here on earth are on the order of 1 in 10375. That's a 1 followed by 375 zeros! I think we can safely round this fraction to zero.
The Catholic scientists who advise the Vatican are very much aware of the astronomical odds against their theory, but that doesn't stop them from propagating their agenda. Even though the evidence is quite visible to them, they are unable to see the biblical perspective as evidenced in Cabibbo's reply to John Allen's statement:
"Some creationists argue that on the basis of an examination of the scientific facts, you can conclude that there must be a creator." Cabibbo's reply: "This is not believed by any serious scientist. You can certainly construct an argument about how beautiful the creation is, how clever it is, but these are aesthetic, not scientific concepts."
The word of God proclaims: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork." (Psalm 19:1) But the Catholic scientist Nicola Cabibbo contrasts the word of God by asserting, "The environment is the visible hand of evolution."
It's really very simple; if you believe in God, believe His word! His word is truth!
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