musturde Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 Is it okay to believe in evolution? If we can't believe in it. Please provide proof. If we can believe in it. Can anyone, if possible, fight any arguements against evolution (just one). Can anyone provide proof that all Christians can believe in it too? Please provide proof (Bible Verses, Catechism stuff, Catholic quotes, etc...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norseman82 Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 I'll just tell you my thought and leave it at that. Evolution is a theory. And we're discovering new scientific evidence every day. So as far as I'm concerned the "jury is still out". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iacobus Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 I am not the best perosn to answer this question but I will try. Most Bibles' Book of Gen. says that God created the Earth and all things. He also allowed for them to reproduce and pass on their likeness. And God specialy created man and gave him a soul. This is what makes man different from all other life. Darwin's theroy stated that the most fit orginaism would survie. In other words, if i spreaded herbacide on some weeds those that could not survie the chemicals would die and not pass on the genes (likeness), whereas those that were not killed by the herbacide would spread there likness. This would cause that weed that was able to breed to be the majority of the next generation. That is all evolution, according to Darwin's theory, is. Evolution deals with the physical change over time with and has nothing to do with the spirt and soul or God.It does not deal with souls and how humans got them, but does not say God does not give souls to humans. I feel that God can guide evolution and guided it as to grant a soul to man. A theory is not a provable fact. In science nothing is 100% sure. There is no absolute truth in science like there is in God. A theory also is a tested idea. It is not accpeted until many labs have verified it. Theories change over time as our knowdgle base changes. This is different from a law which is a statement that merely says something (ie Every thing that goes up comes down). A theory explains this statement (ie Objects of smaller masses and lesser matter tend to be pulled towards objects of a large mass and higher matter because...) P.S. I have talked to a priest about evolution. He said the Catholics are free to believe in evolution as long as they don't deny God created all things and humans have souls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty_boy Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 I had a discussion with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago about evolution. She said that one day God decided to take an ape and give it free will, rational thought, and a soul. Apparently he forgot to give her rational thought. She says that they only need to find the missing link. If there were so many of these missing links, how come we haven't found any? BECAUSE THEY DON'T EXIST!!! That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Circle_Master Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 (edited) Let me clarify something on evolution. The "Theory of Evolution" is really only a hypothesis. It cannot be tested. The "Theory of Evolution" also consists of several parts. One is microevolution One is macroevolution One is random actions making the first cell. There are a few others but I forget them Microevolution has been proven, things adjust to their environments. The Pope issued a statement a few years ago agreeing with this one as well. The other two, well, macroevolution has never been seen (mutating beyond species level) And the first creation of cells has recently brought a new level of arguments out. Behe, the author of "Darwin's Black Box" is a very strong leader of a new scientific movement called "Intelligent Design". There are many extremely intelligent scientists behind it. A few are Christian, but the majority just see proof that there had to be an intelligent designer. Edited December 31, 2003 by Circle_Master Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IXpenguin21 Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 (edited) I had a discussion with a friend of mine a couple of weeks ago about evolution. She said that one day God decided to take an ape and give it free will, rational thought, and a soul. Apparently he forgot to give her rational thought. She says that they only need to find the missing link. If there were so many of these missing links, how come we haven't found any? BECAUSE THEY DON'T EXIST!!! That's my story and I'm sticking to it. that's not that far off actually... in Humani Generis, Pope Pius XII states that the Church should comission research the theory of evolution (on oct 22, 1996, jp2 changed that to a plural meaning as new research developed multiple theories of evolution). The Church states that man is made for God's sake, a physical being combined with a rational and contempative soul given by God. The Church allows for there to be evolution, but recognises that only when these two (body and soul) were joined in history, the human being was formed. The book of Genesis is not an exact acount... obviously. It is though, revealed symbolism of the truth of the matter, that all things game to be through, and only through, God's imeasureable ability to create and His will to do so. This could mean that researchers have just uncovered more bologna than truth and God's book of Genesis carries more weight, or the other way around. God could have made the universe in stages so diverse that several could've taken place so close together that a "Big Bang" happend, waited a while for His plannets to form, then taken another "day" to make the creatures to populate His planets, then on the 6th "day", He might have placed a soul in the most able creature of the world. The human's physical state may have evolved slightly, but thier soul did not. Look at a man from African decent and compare him to a man from Italian decent; they have different features asociated with their environment yet are both human beings with souls. Edited December 31, 2003 by IXpenguin21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musturde Posted December 31, 2003 Author Share Posted December 31, 2003 (edited) ^_^ :D -_- :sadder: sanx dudes :ph34r: :blink: Edited December 31, 2003 by musturde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janana8706 Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 i don't have time to read all of these posts, but i thought i'd share my beliefs, which are a lill *unstrong*. I feel (sorta the same as our chruch) We are studying it right now in school, and my initial thoughts were, i'm in a catholic school y r u teaching thsi to us, but then she said that it was ok by the church. I somewhat agree w/ it, I think we all evolved, but i don't think i agree that we all came from monkeys or nething. I think that God was behind it all too, IF we did all come from protons, and the big BANG, i think God was totally behind it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cantstopdancin9 Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 I did a project on evolution for biology. The whole thing was about why I thought it didn't exist. All of the reasons are on this website: http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/top.htm It really does make you think. Plus doesn't evolution go against the church's teaching of how we were created? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted December 31, 2003 Share Posted December 31, 2003 Catholics are required to believe that God created man and gave him a soul. Man fell, resulting in original sin, and we suffer today as a result. Jesus came to restore us to life with God for eternity. THe beginning of Genesis is a collection of stories teachings us who we are, and why we are here. It is not a scientific textbook. It is not meant to be. It is religious truth, not science. Read my siggy quote from the Pope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musturde Posted December 31, 2003 Author Share Posted December 31, 2003 Thank you Cmoth!! I was looking for that quote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phatcatholic Posted January 1, 2004 Share Posted January 1, 2004 musturde..........the articles found here are very helpful as well. i encourage you to read them (they are not very long, and easy to understand) i hope that helps......pax christi phatcatholic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musturde Posted January 1, 2004 Author Share Posted January 1, 2004 sanx dude... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest swamphox Posted January 2, 2004 Share Posted January 2, 2004 I am not the best perosn to answer this question but I will try. Most Bibles' Book of Gen. says that God created the Earth and all things. He also allowed for them to reproduce and pass on their likeness. And God specialy created man and gave him a soul. This is what makes man different from all other life. Darwin's theroy stated that the most fit orginaism would survie. In other words, if i spreaded herbacide on some weeds those that could not survie the chemicals would die and not pass on the genes (likeness), whereas those that were not killed by the herbacide would spread there likness. This would cause that weed that was able to breed to be the majority of the next generation. That is all evolution, according to Darwin's theory, is. Evolution deals with the physical change over time with and has nothing to do with the spirt and soul or God.It does not deal with souls and how humans got them, but does not say God does not give souls to humans. I feel that God can guide evolution and guided it as to grant a soul to man. A theory is not a provable fact. In science nothing is 100% sure. There is no absolute truth in science like there is in God. A theory also is a tested idea. It is not accpeted until many labs have verified it. Theories change over time as our knowdgle base changes. This is different from a law which is a statement that merely says something (ie Every thing that goes up comes down). A theory explains this statement (ie Objects of smaller masses and lesser matter tend to be pulled towards objects of a large mass and higher matter because...) P.S. I have talked to a priest about evolution. He said the Catholics are free to believe in evolution as long as they don't deny God created all things and humans have souls. I always figured evolution would make a decent self correcting system that allows God to not constantly create new creatures in accordance with environmental changes. I also thought it was interesting that in the bible it states that a day to God is like a thousand years to man. Meaning God's day is not as defined by man but as defined by whatever God wants his day to be. One of God's days may last the entire life span of the universe (God has a lot to do) the next may only last a milisecond (God doesn't need a lot of rest)...has there ever been a definate length of time given by the church to how long one of God's day would be? I always think it's cool how in physics and chemistry that everything falls together neatly and ordered and that the odds of many things happening were so astronomical that one has to account for an intelligent creator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTHUS Posted January 3, 2004 Share Posted January 3, 2004 I am a Creationist, but many Catholics are not. We are free to believe either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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