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valentracy
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| Joined: | Mon Apr 7th, 2008 |
| Location: | Theodore, Alabama USA |
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| First Name: | tracy | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist |
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Posted: Thu Apr 10th, 2008 11:02 am |
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I have been reading the named book above off & on since February.My boyfriend,who is a convert from Baptist to Catholicism himself,bought it for me.He confuses me though as well as this book.This book says in the capter called "Symbolism & Metaphor in the Bible" that the Catholic Church accepts the theory of evolution & scientific theories.I asked my boyfriend what he thought & he tells me that he believes we derived from monkeys.Now I just don't & won't believe that.I believe that we were created by God & we all came from Adam & Eve.I have since spoke to several Catholic people & looked this up on the internet.Everyone says that is absolutely not true that The Catholic church does not believe this.I am thinking seriously about breaking up with my boyfriend because of this.It really disturbs me.My Aunt,who recently converted,says you have to be careful about which books you read.Can anyone give me their opinion about this & if the Catholic Church really does believe in this?????????
God Bless,
Tracy
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Ali
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| Joined: | Sat Jan 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | Ohio USA |
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| First Name: | Ali | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | JW, finally fully Catholic |
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Posted: Thu Apr 10th, 2008 11:36 am |
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Try this thread 
http://www.chnetwork.org/forums/view_topic.php?id=1687&forum_id=16&highlight=evolution
And Welcome!
Ali
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BodRod
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 2nd, 2006 |
| Location: | Apple Valley, California USA |
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| First Name: | Cliff | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Raised an SDA, then Generic Christian, finally at home with ... |
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Posted: Thu Apr 10th, 2008 01:04 pm |
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During my instruction, before membership, our group was taught that the world and all its contents were created by God but the Church does not hold to the concept of the world being created in 7 days. We were taught that the 7 days could be symbolic of 7 spans of time but the Church did not know how long the time spans actually were.
BTW, I have yet to meet my first scientist, who supports the theory of evolution and can explain it in light of the 1st and 2nd laws of thermo-dynamics. To the best of my knowledge, neither the theory of evolution nor the theory of creation can be proven. That is why each is called a theory. In years loooong past, I have talked with fellow science teachers who were loud and long supporters of the theory of evolution about the theory. When we get the the 1st and 2nd laws of thermo-dynamics, they suddenly remember something need to do right away and walk away.
Best wish on any decision you may make on this subject and the related relationships.
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Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.
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Steven Barrett
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| Joined: | Tue Nov 14th, 2006 |
| Location: | Hadley, Massachusetts USA |
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| First Name: | Steven | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, Episcopal communicant, Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Thu Apr 10th, 2008 01:29 pm |
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Whenever I hear (some) Protestants who buy into Biblical literalism and decry Catholics as sell-outs on "Darwinism" and evolution, I take comfort in recalling a few words right out of a Book we put together long before the first Protestant walked the earth.
The book is called The Bible.
The words go something like this: "In the beginning, God created ... "
If they still have a hard time trying to figure us out, well they'll still have a hard time until ... well, I'm not going to hold my breath out on this. You shouldn't either. Life's too precious to waste on long settled arguments.
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"This Old House's" motto is "Measure twice, cut once." My new motto is THINK at least twice or thrice, then you only have to write once, and maybe apologize nonce.
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BodRod
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| Joined: | Mon Oct 2nd, 2006 |
| Location: | Apple Valley, California USA |
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| First Name: | Cliff | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Raised an SDA, then Generic Christian, finally at home with ... |
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Posted: Thu Apr 10th, 2008 01:46 pm |
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Steven Barrett wrote:
Life's too precious to waste on long settled arguments.
Right!!! We were not told to go into all the earth and debate the origin of the earth. As I remember it, we were told to go into all the earth and spread the Gospel. 
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Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.
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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
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| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Thu Apr 10th, 2008 05:24 pm |
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valentracy wrote: Can anyone give me their opinion about this & if the Catholic Church really does believe in this?????????
Ali gave you a link to the previous thread, but to summarize...
The Catholic Church teaches that God created the heavens and the earth from nothing, and that we are all descended from a single pair of "first parents" who are generally called Adam and Eve.
Since no one was there to watch and take notes, we don't know what method God may have used. If you choose to believe in the literal truth of the creation stories in the Bible, and I choose to believe in an evolutionary form of creation guided by God's loving hand, we both fall within Church teaching. So no, the Catholic Church does not teach evolution as "the" method of creation, and no Catholic is bound to believe in the theory of evolution.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. He created our first parents, from whom all humanity descended. God continues to guide creation lovingly and every moment is a brand new creation.
The rest is just details, and we are free to speculate on the details.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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Dave Armstrong
Network Apologist
| Joined: | Fri Nov 2nd, 2007 |
| Location: | Melvindale, Michigan USA |
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| First Name: | Dave | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Evangelical (1977): Diverse Protestant Influences / Catholic in 1990 |
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Posted: Thu Apr 10th, 2008 07:31 pm |
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The Church also requires belief that every soul is a special creation of God at the moment of conception. This is not a scientific matter at all, since the soul is immaterial. Science can't test this, and so cannot reject it. It is a tenet of faith.
The real enemy is scientific materialism, that claims (very unscientifically) that there is no God, or that scientific discovery has ruled out God. Hogwash! It has done no such thing. Even philosophy (not bound to the strictures of science regarding theories, replication, experiments, observation, etc.) hasn't done that. There are plenty of theistic philosophers around, and always have been.
Folks can argue about evolution and its various flaws. I have myself, for over 25 years. But the enemies of Christianity are those scientists who try to deny God a place in creation altogether. All Christians must believe that God created. And all atheists must deny it. The atheist is too dogmatic to allow possible belief in creation (however it is construed). But Christianity is big enough and open-minded enough to allow both creationist and evolutionary beliefs among its members, provided they don't deny in any way that God is Creator and lies behind the operation of the universe and its scientific laws, as First Cause and Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.
I would say (as strictly my own opinion) that geocentrism and a 10,000 year-old universe have been amply disproven by science. Virtually all Catholics who are creationists of some sort deny the young earth / universe scenario. And a Catholic who accepts the theory of evolution does so in a way that doesn't exclude God altogether, as playing no part in any of these processes.
Here are some of my papers along these lines:
The Atheist's Boundless Faith in Deo-Atomism ("The Atom-as-God")
Dialogue With Atheists on the Evolution of the Eye, Irreducible Complexity, and Intelligent Design
Dialogue on Materialist Evolutionary Theory and Intelligent Design (including St. Augustine's and St. Thomas Aquinas' Views on Creation and Evolution) (vs. five agnostics)
Intelligent Design: Scientists' Observations
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I'm happy to offer whatever theological & personal assistance I can. My blog, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, contains 2000+ papers & web pages (absolutely free) & 16 apologetic books (for sale):
http://www.biblicalcatholic.com/
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Dave Armstrong
Network Apologist
| Joined: | Fri Nov 2nd, 2007 |
| Location: | Melvindale, Michigan USA |
| Posts: | 1869 |
| First Name: | Dave | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Evangelical (1977): Diverse Protestant Influences / Catholic in 1990 |
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Posted: Thu Apr 10th, 2008 07:34 pm |
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I should add, also, as to Adam and Eve: Catholics are not to allegorize them away. We believe (are required to believe, as Rick noted) that they were literal historical figures, who rebelled against God, and brought about the Fall (just as Protestants believe, though some particulars as to the nature and extent of the fall differ). See my paper:
Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah as Actual Historical Figures: the Biblical Evidence and Catholic Agreement With It
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I'm happy to offer whatever theological & personal assistance I can. My blog, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, contains 2000+ papers & web pages (absolutely free) & 16 apologetic books (for sale):
http://www.biblicalcatholic.com/
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leofff
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| Joined: | Fri Apr 11th, 2008 |
| Location: | Canada |
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| First Name: | Leo | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Religiopath |
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Posted: Fri Apr 11th, 2008 12:56 pm |
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But no one is required to believe in anyone else's views of Adam and Eve. If you wish to view Adam and Eve as the first prototypically human couple first evolved from their immediate non-homo sapien ancestors, then one may do so quite happily.
Clearly there had to be a first person who, knowing the difference between right and wrong, chose to do wrong. Beyond this, it's speculation.
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http://leosfootblog.blogspot.com/
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Annie
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| Joined: | Wed Feb 14th, 2007 |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio USA |
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| First Name: | Annie | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | nothing, Quaker, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Apr 11th, 2008 01:26 pm |
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Biblical literalism will always be a problem with converts, especially those from conservative backgrounds. The Church has based her views on a more intellectual, or non-emotional process of the testing of theology. That is why there is variance in what you are allowed to believe within the context of the Magisterium.
Far too many people misunderstand what Darwin thought, never having actually read any of his books, they take things from tertiary sources. There is no reason to fear science or scientists or to despise them in any way. There is no reason to get all hysterical if somebody doesn't believe in the literalness of some things in the Bible which were obviously intended to be read as allegories. The story of creation is to be taken as literal up to a point, that point being where it collides with what we know to be fact.
Also important is the fact that theories themselves evolve over time as new data surface. Darwin's theory is a little less right than it was in his day but is still viable. What has changed is our knowledge of what actually drives genetic inheritance.
It is important to know what the word "theory" means, it means it is a explanation of a large set of observable data. It is not to be confused with the word "hypothesis." The theory of evolution in no way violates the laws of physics since the Earth is not a closed thermodynamic system.
The statement that we should not even be wasting our time on this is a point well taken.
Last edited on Fri Apr 11th, 2008 01:28 pm by Annie
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Annie
Ora et labora
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Parodyonlife
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| Location: | Corning, New York USA |
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| First Name: | John | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | NEW CATHOLIC!!! W( ) ( )T!!! |
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Posted: Tue Apr 15th, 2008 09:53 pm |
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We still havent found that sneaky missing link .
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abbycat
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| Location: | Maryland USA |
| Posts: | 158 |
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Posted: Thu Apr 17th, 2008 05:02 pm |
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I agree ... we shouldn't worry about things we do not or cannot understand, but then I wonder .... we know it is a "theory" of evolution, but how do we know it is a "theory" of creation? I don't see "theory" anywhere in Genesis? ((I'm sorry ... guess you can tell I'm a conservative literalist.))
abby
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