No one will ever accuse Pope John Paul II of being a master of the media-friendly \u201csound bite.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Thus, his highly nuanced theological pronouncements often produce two quite different, or even contradictory, waves of information. First come the headlines and video clips, as reporters crunch complex texts into clusters of words. Then, days later, the pope\u2019s actual text circulates via fax machines and the Internet.<\/p>\n\n
A case in point: John Paul\u2019s recent speech to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences inspired headlines such as \u201cJohn Paul II Embraces Darwin\u201d and most experts declared that the Vatican had endorsed evolution and taken a belated step into modernity.<\/p>\n\n
Once again, the pope had delivered an address that defied easy editing. Also, it should be noted that one popular quotation \u2014 in which he supposedly said that \u201cnew knowledge leads us to recognize that the theory of evolution is more than a hypothesis\u201d \u2014 does not appear in many translations of his text.<\/p>\n\n
Instead, he said: \u201cRather than the theory of evolution, we should speak of several theories of evolution. On the one hand, this plurality has to do with the different explanations advanced for the mechanism of evolution, and on the other, with the various philosophies on which it is based. Hence the existence of materialist, reductionist and spiritualist interpretations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
John Paul went on to reject materialism and any evolutionary theory that says humanity is the product of a random, uncaring cosmos. In other words, he attacked the philosophy that forms the dividing line between today\u2019s scientific establishment and those who insist that the creation contains evidence of a Creator.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cTheories of evolution which, because of the philosophies which inspire them, regard the spirit either as emerging from the forces of living matter, or as a simple epiphenomenon of that matter, are incompatible with the truth about man,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are therefore unable to serve as the basis for the dignity of the human person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
This presents a problem, since the National Association of Biology Teachers has officially defined evolution as an \u201cunsupervised, impersonal, unpredictable, and natural process \u2026 that is affected by natural selection, chance, historical contingencies and changing environments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
John Paul obviously didn\u2019t endorse \u201cevolution\u201d in that sense of the word, noted Phillip E. Johnson, author of the controversial book \u201cDarwin on Trial\u201d and a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley. Darwinists who read the full papal address will quickly realize that this pope is not their ally.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cTo the materialists who dominate the scientific culture,\u201d said Johnson, any \u201ctheory of evolution involving a non-material spiritual element is as unscientific as outright creationism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
In addition to referring to \u201ctheories of evolution\u201d \u2014 plural instead of singular \u2014 the pope also stressed that scientists must remain critical of their own work. They must not allow any one theory to evolve into a doctrine that cannot be challenged.<\/p>\n\n
A scientific theory, according to John Paul, only \u201cproves its validity by the measure to which it can be verified. It is constantly being tested against the facts. When it can no longer explain these facts, it shows its limits and its lack of usefulness, and it must be revised.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Writing in the New York Times, a prominent Catholic scientist applauded the pope for noting this obvious point. Right now, defenders of Darwinian orthodoxy appear anxious to avoid any evidence that the building blocks of life are too complex to have evolved randomly, said Michael J. Behe, author of \u201cDarwin\u2019s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe complex design of the cell has provoked me to stake out a distinctly minority view \u2026 on the question of what caused evolution,\u201d said Behe, who teaches at Lehigh University. \u201cI believe that Darwin\u2019s mechanism for evolution doesn\u2019t explain much of what is seen under a microscope. Cells are simply too complex to have evolved randomly; intelligence was required to produce them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
If evidence continues to emerge that supports Behe\u2019s heretical theory, then the pope would argue that Darwin\u2019s disciples will need to revise their dogmas.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
No one will ever accuse Pope John Paul II of being a master of the media-friendly \u201csound bite.\u201d Thus, his highly nuanced theological pronouncements often produce two quite different, or even contradictory, waves of information. First come the headlines and video clips, as reporters crunch complex texts into clusters of words. Then, days later, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n