| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"James" |
| Date: |
30 Jan 2006 04:55:39 PM |
| Object: |
Was "Re: Vatican Paper Hits 'Intelligent Design'" |
"Scott" <scott@nospam.net>
Was "Re: Vatican Paper Hits 'Intelligent Design'"
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060118/API/601180929
Vatican Paper Hits 'Intelligent Design'
By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press Writer
VATICAN CITY
The Vatican newspaper has published an article saying "intelligent design"
is not science and that teaching it alongside evolutionary theory in school
classrooms only creates confusion.
The article in Tuesday's editions of L'Osservatore Romano was the latest in
a series of interventions by Vatican officials - including the pope - on the
issue that has dominated headlines in the United States.
The author, Fiorenzo Facchini, a professor of evolutionary biology at the
University of Bologna, laid out the scientific rationale for Darwin's theory
of evolution, saying that in the scientific world, biological evolution
"represents the interpretative key of the history of life on Earth."
He lamented that certain American "creationists" had brought the debate back
to the "dogmatic" 1800s, and said their arguments weren't science but
ideology.
"This isn't how science is done," he wrote. "If the model proposed by Darwin
is deemed insufficient, one should look for another, but it's not correct
from a methodological point of view to take oneself away from the scientific
field pretending to do science."
Intelligent design "doesn't belong to science and the pretext that it be
taught as a scientific theory alongside Darwin's explanation is
unjustified," he wrote.
"It only creates confusion between the scientific and philosophical and
religious planes."
Supporters of "intelligent design" hold that some features of the universe
and living things are so complex they must have been designed by a higher
intelligence. Critics say intelligent design is merely creationism - a
literal reading of the Bible's story of creation - camouflaged in scientific
language and say it does not belong in science curriculum.
Facchini said he recognized some Darwin proponents erroneously assume that
evolution explains everything. "Better to recognize that the problem from
the scientific point of view remains open," he said.
But he concluded: "In a vision that goes beyond the empirical horizon, we
can say that we aren't men by chance or by necessity, and that the human
experience has a sense and a direction signaled by a superior design."
The article echoed similar arguments by the Vatican's chief astronomer, the
Rev. George Coyne, who said "intelligent design" wasn't science and had no
place in school classrooms.
Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed in off-the-cuff comments in November that the
universe was made by an "intelligent project" and criticized those who in
the name of science say its creation was without direction or order.
Hello,
The Vatican paper, the Vatican itself, or any religious organization,
or anyone, can claim that humans and all the many diversified life
forms arrived here by mindless random chance. But true Christians
believe what the Bible says. It clearly shows that God created all
these things. (see Ge 1:1; 24,25)
And even Jesus, who many do have respect for whether professing to be
Christian or not, believed in creation, not evolution. Mt 19:4,
"And He answered and said, "Have you not read, that He who created
them from the beginning made them male and female,"" (NASB)
Sincerely, James
***********************************
Want a FREE home Bible study?
Have Jehovah's Witnesses questions?
Go to the authorized source:
http://www.watchtower.org
***********************************
.
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| User: "Bill" |
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| Title: Re: Was "Re: Vatican Paper Hits 'Intelligent Design'" |
30 Jan 2006 02:10:31 PM |
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"James" <landa77@surfbest.net> wrote in message
news:1b6tt1t4q15fmti9sgfik7jf9djktif6d0@4ax.com...
Hello,
The Vatican paper, the Vatican itself, or any religious organization,
or anyone, can claim that humans and all the many diversified life
forms arrived here by mindless random chance. But true Christians
believe what the Bible says. It clearly shows that God created all
these things. (see Ge 1:1; 24,25)
Just more impossible Bible nonsense.
There are NO original copies of the Bibles. They are all hand copies of
copies of copies etc. by hundreds of scribes over a period of thousands of
years. There is no
accurate way to determine their authenticity or historical value.
The bibles obviously contain a plentitude of myths, fables, legends and
totally
impossible tales.
There is also the matter of the Biblical canon itself.
After all, ancient Israel and the early church knew of many more
religious books than the ones that now constitute the Bible. For
example, there were 50 gospels in circulation at the time, yet only four
made it into the New Testament. Who decided which of the books would
become part of the Christian scriptures, and again, "Why?" Who decided,
"This book belongs... this book doesn't..."? What were their reasons?
What were their motives?
The fact is, there are no clear records available
which document the church's process of determining which books were
acceptable and which books were unacceptable. The general consensus of
opinion among scholars is that the decision was based on whether or not
the book agreed with the prevailing theological thought at the time. In
other words, the only books accepted were the ones that maintained the
"status quo".
This means that the fundamentalists' religion is not
based on the Bible, as they claim so fervently... it means the Bible was
based on the prevailing religion! This, in itself, is another example of
the "circular argument" as related earlier.
It is also interesting that, even though the Biblical
canon was purposely chosen to include only books that met the "status
quo", there is so much inconsistency and contradictions in the Bible.
And it is even more interesting that so many fundamentalists proclaim
that there are no contradictions in the Bible! If that were true, then
why are there so many different sects of Christianity?
For example, Christianity is basically divided into
three main sects: the Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, and the
Protestants. And the Protestant branch alone is divided into many
different sects: the Adventists, the Amish, the Anglican Church, the
Apostolic Faith, the Assemblies of God, the Baptists, the Brethren, the
Christian Church, the Church of Christ, the Church of God, the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons), the Church of the
Nazarene, the Congregational Christian Churches, the Episcopal Church,
the Evangelical Congregational Church, the Friends (Quakers), the
Jehovah's Witnesses, the Lutherans, the Mennonites, the Methodists, the
Pentacostal Churches, the Presbyterians, the Salvation Army, the
Unitarians, the United Church of Christ, and at least 66 other sects!
And that does not count the different sub-sects of
these sects! For example, the Baptists are further divided into: the
American Baptist Convention, the Southern Baptist Convention, the
American Baptist Association, the Baptist General Conference, the Bethel
Baptist Assembly, the Christian Unity Baptist Association, the
Conservative Baptist Association of America, the Baptist Church of
Christ, the Free Will Baptists... and at least 19 other sub-sects. And
there are no "minor differences" between these sub-sects. For example,
the Southern Baptist Association was formed in 1845 in large part
because of disagreements with other Baptists concerning slavery.
The other Protestant sects are also broken up into
various sub-sects. For example, the Methodists have 23, the Mennonites
15; the Presbyterians 9; the Mormons 3; etc.
And yet (especially for the more right-wing sects),
these numerous sects and sub-sects claim to possess the truth of the
Bible in its purest form... and each one are able to quote verses from
the Bible to prove it! So much for the "harmony" of the Bible.
Believing in the Bibles is not much better than believing in Alice in
Wonderland, Harry Potter or Aesop's Fables.
And even Jesus, who many do have respect for whether professing to be
Christian or not, believed in creation, not evolution. Mt 19:4,
"And He answered and said, "Have you not read, that He who created
them from the beginning made them male and female,"" (NASB)
Sincerely, James
***********************************
Want a FREE home Bible study?
Have Jehovah's Witnesses questions?
Go to the authorized source:
http://www.watchtower.org
***********************************
.
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