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{"id":16777,"date":"2014-10-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leithart.level2d.com\/?p=1606"},"modified":"2014-10-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-10-30T00:00:00","slug":"francis-and-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2014\/10\/francis-and-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Francis and Science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<\/head>

With all the pomp of an intrepid investigative reporter who has uncovered the next Watergate, Jerry Coyne\u00a0announces\u00a0<\/a>that Catholics believe that God created the world: \u201cThe Church\u2019s support of evolution, then, has been equivocal: while allowing that humans had evolved, it also affirmed human exceptionalism in the form of our unique soul. And the historical doctrine of Adam and Eve is profoundly unscientific, for we could not have descended from only two people, something that itself implies special creation. The Vatican, in other words, embraces a view of evolution that is partly scientific but also partly \u2018theistic,\u2019 reflecting God\u2019s intervention to produce a species made in His own image.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even Pope Francis believes it, as it turns out. Coyne\u2019s disappointment is touching: Francis teaches \u201cthe Church\u2019s traditional view of non-naturalistic, theistic evolution, expressed in words that sound good, but that still reflect a form of creationism.\u201d Worse, it appears that \u201ccreationism of some sort is still an essential part of Francis\u2019s view of life. Although the media, besotted by a supposedly \u2018modern\u2019 Pope, is all excited about what Francis said, his views don\u2019t differ in substance from that of his recent predecessors. As usual, Francis appears to be a voice for modernity but still clings to old dogma.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, yes, Mr. Coyne. That \u201cGod the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth\u201d is in the Christian creeds, and has been there a long time and it\u2019s not going anywhere.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"