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The Independent reports that Pope Francis, speaking at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, has declared that the theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real.
“When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” said Francis.
“He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfillment."
Francis explained that both scientific theories were not incompatible with the existence of a creator – arguing instead that they “require it”.
“The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but, rather, requires it. Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”
Experts say the Pope's comments put an end to the “pseudo theories” of creationism and intelligent design that some argue were encouraged by his predecessor, Benedict XVI who spoke out against taking Darwin too far.
(Score: 2) by elf on Wednesday October 29 2014, @11:45AM
Hence for every thing that someone believes God did or caused, there must be a plausible, complete, and believable explanation of how it occurred without God; he's not going to damn us with a signature on a glacier. Thus God's hand in creation is completely a choice on our part, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. I see nothing in current theories of how the universe formed, or evolution of species, or the "god particle" that contradicts in my belief in a god.
You have fallen for the famous !A=B fallacy. Just because there is not evidence to explain some thing it doesn't mean you can automatically assign your own reason and make that correct. For everything you said I could replace the text with infinite other possibilities.
Here is my theory on big green frogs
Hence for every thing that someone believes "the big green frog" did or caused, there must be a plausible, complete, and believable explanation of how it occurred without "the big green frog"; it is not going to damn us with a signature on a lake. Thus "the big green frogs" hand in creation is completely a choice on our part, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. I see nothing in current theories of how the universe formed, or evolution of species, or the "'the big green frog' particle" that contradicts in my belief in a "big green frog".
(Score: 2) by caseih on Friday November 07 2014, @03:18AM
Maybe we're talking past each other here. Perhaps my phrasing was poor. I'm not saying that evolution is just a plausible alternative to some other explanation. In fact I haven't offered some other explanation. I'm saying that someone can say, "God did it" and be correct, while another says, "it came about by evolution" and be correct also. Science and God are not mutually exclusive. I'm not referring to magical alternatives here (wave a wand and things appear). The "alternative" part is whether or not someone believes that God exists. That's all. Science is showing more and more about how the universe came to be and the principles and forces at work in it (evolution, etc). Whether we believe that God has done this work (through the means that science has demonstrated) is the choice. Sorry you misread what I meant.