The Daily Telegraph announced today that "The Vatican claims Darwin's theory of evolution is compatible with Christianity". This stops just before an official Papal Bull endorsing Darwin, but it is the next best thing, and by admitting that evolution should not be "dismissed" and stating that it is entirely compatible with the Christian view of Creation, the Vatican is not just saying what Christian freethinkers like yours truly have been saying for ages, but has hopefully delivered a swingeing death blow to the burgeoning Creationist and Intelligent Design movements.
The Daily Telegraph continued by quoting from two senior Roman Catholic authorities:
"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". Monsignor Ravasi also pointed out that 50 years ago, Pope Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans.
Next month there is even a Papal backed conference marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin's On the Origin of Species, at which Intelligent Design will be described as a "cultural phenomenon" rather than a scientific or theological issue. And Marc Leclerc, who teaches natural philosophy at the Gregorian University, has stated that too many of Darwin's opponents, primarily Creationists, mistakenly claim his theories are "totally incompatible with a religious vision of reality".
This is all very good news for science and for common sense, and we sincerely hope that sincere Christians across the world will follow the Papal lead, and shun the superstitious drivel spouted by Creationist leaders, who secretly hope for a totalitarian theocracy. Muslim religious leaders have already accepted the concept of an ancient universe, and now, it seems that Christian leaders have done likewise. We applaud them for it, and await further developments with interest.
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2 comments:
Why is this "good for science"? Wouldn't a group who runs against the grain of accepted scientific thinking appreciate other researchers who do the same?
Why are scientists correct when they say intelligent design has no basis whatsoever, but are incorrect when they scoff at things like yetis and Mothmen?
That is a good question, but the answer is simple. Whereas there is a burgeoning amount of evidence for the existence of unknown primates such as the yeti, there is no scientific evidence whatsoever for Intelligent Design.
However my main comments are against Young Earth Creationism. Adherents of this nonsense which has absolutely no basis for it whatsoever, are the same people who in many cases cite other parts of the Bible as being the literal word of God, and use their superstitious nonsense to justify bombing abortion clinics, persecuting minorities and other neo-fascist abominations.
Now, I am a Christian, and - from personal experience - I believe in God. I believe in Creation but not Creationism. The overwhelming physical evidence is for an ancient universe, and much as I would like there to be scientific evidence for Intelligent Design, there isn't any.
Now I have to admit that for many years I veered towards believing in Intelligent Design, because unlike Young Earth Creationism, I felt that some of the aspects of the natural world could not be explained purely in terms of Darwinism. I became very excited about it, but on every subject into which I have delved to any great extent, the principles of evolution were upheld.
This is sad, because I have been persecuted for years by atheists who say things like "How can you call yourself a scientist, and say you believe in God?"
Intelligent Design is a very broad church (if you will excuse the pun). I have addressed my own beliefs on the matter in my book `The Island of Paradise`. I believe in a Creator God who "wrote" the Laws of the Universe, but I don't believe in one who has tinkered incessantly with His creation ever since.
However these are my own personal beliefs and not the beliefs of the CFZ.
However where all the governing body of the CFZ are agreed is that the people who try to bully education officers to teach the fiction of Young Earth Creationism in schools as fact, and who send hate male and death threats to old men in their 80s like David Attenborough (see my blog posting on Darwin's legacy on the 12th) should be shunned and treated as anathema by all right thinking people, whatever their religious or political affiliations.
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