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“Science is the organized knowledge of God’s creation.” Sr. Mary Matthew RSM ~a beloved science teacher from my grade school and high school years. |
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Evolution: it has become a fixture and an assumed truth in “modern science”. It is presented as an underlying life principle in nearly all teaching resources, higher institutions, and in definitely in most research dealing with biology. The theory is a source of great controversy not just in science, but in theology, ethics, even in morality now by extension from scientific evolution to evolutionism. Firstly a scientific definition is in order, what is the theory of evolution? In biological fields the term usually means: "a process whereby organisms change with the passage of time so that descendants differ from their ancestors." This definition deals with a theory of a process of how a succession of material events could have happened. Because evolution proper limits itself to material facts, its generalizations are necessarily mechanical. A biologist concerns himself with how events occur. For him, the question why lies outside the limits of his discipline. Hence, for the Catholic, the theory of evolution does not create a problem for either faith or belief in biblical veracity because it is merely about a process question. This is a surprise for many non-Catholics. But here is a brief explanation: The Church tells us that Genesis 1-3 contains real historical truth. The inspired author used a literary form popular in his day to explain the historical fact of Creation. These were named specifically by the Pontifical Biblical Commission, with the approval of Pope Pius X in 1909. This official document informs us that the literal and historical meaning of the first of Genesis 1-3 can not be doubted with regard to: "the creation of all things by God at the beginning of time; the special creation of man; the formation of the first woman from the first man; the unity of the human race; the original happiness of our first parents in the state of justice, integrity, and immortality; the command given by God to man to test his obedience; the transgression of the divine command at the instigation of the devil under the form of a serpent; the degradation of our first parents from that primeval state of innocence; and the promise of a future redeemer." The Catholic Church says nothing explicit about how God created the world and all the forms of life, nor how long any His act of creation took. The only "special creation" referenced is that of man, who is exceptional in having an immortal soul. For the Church, Genesis concerns itself with the prehistoric facts of a Divine Creation, not scientific progression--with the “what of His creation,” not the “how He created it”. Having admitted that I have no religious grounds to reject the theory, I have to immediately say that I do not think the theory holds water on the basis of the scientific evidence given by the scientific evolutionary proponents of the theory and the scientific and mathematical evidence presented against the theory. Evolution has many scientific facts against it: the fossil record ( or lack thereof) , the advances in the fields of molecular and cellular biology, the field of statistics, and many others. Space does not permit a refutation here. But to encapsulate my position, I would characterize my self in with the intelligent design crowd rather a theistic evolutionist. Age of the Universe Controversy: We do not know enough about time and space to really say for sure exactly how old the earth is, or for that matter, how old the universe is. But to encapsulate my position, I have been excited by the fact that there is a physicist who is also a Jewish rabbi, Gerald Schroeder, who has done the calculations that take into account Einstein's equations involving relativity. According to Dr. Schroeder, the age of the universe is about 15 billion years from our “time reference frame” this is simultaneous to the literal age given by Genesis. We examine his theories a bit, and it is fascinating to realize with wonder, how much yet, scientifically and scripturally there is to still learn. Basically an advanced PhD. Physicist is telling us that we can have our cake and eat it too! Thus the age of the universe is exactly what modern astronomers and geologists and physicists observe using scientific tools and accepted theories estimate it to be. At the very same time the age of the universe from the “time reference frame” of the center of the universe is age of the earth as determined by a literal reading of Scripture. Almost too fantastic to be true. I recommend reading this website of Dr. Schroeder and reading his book. We refer to this in class and explain some of these principles and ideas to students at their level of understanding during various classes that touch on this topic through out the year. Other controversies that are covered in this course will look at involve Galileo and the REAL story, not the one you hear piped by the media, and sadly warped by even some Christians eager to take a stab at the Catholic Church. I unapologetically support the actions of the Church’s Magisterial dealings with Galileo, especially when viewed in their historical and sociological context. We will share that with the students in detail. So let me end this page about our science department’s approach by saying all teachers adhere to what the Church teaches about Genesis, and for myself, I tend to hold the theory of biological evolution in great skepticism, if not total disbelief, in even in modern versions of Darwin’s theory. Science can do much better at theorizing life processes, I am sure, once it frees itself from the shackles of its absolute faith in this theory and gets an open mind again. Mrs. Harrison Department Math and Science |