[extropy-chat] Religion: A discussion

[Acy James Stapp]

Please see "Address of Pope John Paul II to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (October 22, 1996)"
http://www.newadvent.org/docs/jp02tc.htm

"Today, almost half a century after the publication of the encyclical, new knowledge has led to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis. [Aujourdhui, près dun demi-siècle après la parution de l'encyclique, de nouvelles connaissances conduisent à reconnaitre dans la théorie de l'évolution plus qu'une hypothèse.]"

and

"Consequently, theories of evolution which, in accordance with the philosophies inspiring them, consider the spirit as emerging from the forces of living matter or as a mere epiphenomenon of this matter, are incompatible with the truth about man. Nor are they able to ground the dignity of the person."

The Anglican church has no official position on evolution, as far as I can tell. However, see "WHAT IS THE POSITION OF OTHER CHURCHES ON EVOLUTION?"
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/2437/churches.htm

"The General Convention of the Episcopal Church issued a statement in September 1982 concerning evolution and creation science: "The terms 'creationism' and 'creation-science' . . . do not refer simply to the affirmation that God created the Earth and Heavens and everything in them, but specify certain methods and timing of the creative acts, and impose limits on these acts which are neither Scriptural nor accepted by many Christians." (cited in Frye, 1983, p. 4) The statement went on to "affirm in its belief the glorious ability of God to create in any manner", and rejected "the rigid dogmatism of the 'creationist' movement." (cited in Frye, 1983, p. 7) Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong has written an entire book, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, which points out the problems with a literalistic interpretation of the Bible. (Spong, 1991)"

and

"The Roman Catholic Church... has declared that the acceptance of evolutionary theory is not incompatible with Catholicism, so long as one recognizes that at some point in human evolution, God inserted an immortal soul into humankind. In a 1950 Papal Encyclical titled Humani Generis, Pope Pius XII concluded, "The Teaching of the Church leaves the doctrine of Evolution as an open question, as long as it confines its speculations to the development, from other living matter already in existence, of the human body" ... "The Bible speaks to us of the origin of the universe and its makeup, not in order to provide us with a scientific treatise, but in order to state the correct relationship of man with God and the universe . . . Any other teaching about the origin and makeup of the universe is alien to the intentions of the Bible, which does not wish to teach how heaven was made, but how to go to heaven."

It seems likely from my reading that the Eastern Orthodox churches do not support evolution.

Acy

[ -----Original Message-----
[ From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org 
[ [mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of 
[ Brent Neal
[ Sent: Wednesday, 11 February, 2004 15:11
[ To: ExI chat list
[ Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] Religion: A discussion
[ 
[ 
[  (2/11/04 8:10) Mike Lorrey <mlorrey at yahoo.com> wrote:
[ 
[ >The Catholic Church has endorsed evolution, as have the
[ >Unitarian/Universalists, while the Congregationalists are 
[ generally in
[ >agreement, but getting them all to agree on anything in particular is
[ >difficult. Anglican Bishop Robinson of NH has endorsed evolution as
[ >well, last I heard.
[ 
[ 
[ No. Because 1) The Catholic Church has -not- to my knowledge, 
[ endorsed evolution. 2) UUA is -not- Christian, as I stated 
[ before, which leads me to believe that not only did you not 
[ read my email, you also have no idea what you're talking 
[ about, and the Anglican church has -not- endorsed evolution, 
[ which I know because I -was- Anglican before I left. 
[ 
[ B
[ --
[ Brent Neal
[ Geekery. Politics. Spirituality.
[ http://brentn.freeshell.org/blog
[ "Is reincarnation like rebooting your soul?"
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