Re: Cardinal Schoenberg

The insistence on the validity of an independent (N.B.) natural theology mandated by Vatican I is a significant error of traditional RC theology and it's unfortunate to see it emphasized in the statement below. Rome sometimes deals with unfortunate aspects of past teachings by just quietly ignoring them & it would be better if that were done with the decree of Vatican I. Calling attention to it plays into the hands of the ID movement & those who use its claims as proofs for the existence of God, creation, &c.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Randy Isaac
  To: asa@calvin.edu
  Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 8:19 AM
  Subject: Cardinal Schoenberg

  Today's NYTimes carried Cardinal Archbishop Christoph Schoenberg's editorial on the Pope's views of evolution:

  http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/07/opinion/07schonborn.html?

  He concludes:

    
  Throughout history the church has defended the truths of faith given by Jesus Christ. But in the modern era, the Catholic Church is in the odd position of standing in firm defense of reason as well. In the 19th century, the First Vatican Council taught a world newly enthralled by the "death of God" that by the use of reason alone mankind could come to know the reality of the Uncaused Cause, the First Mover, the God of the philosophers.

  Now at the beginning of the 21st century, faced with scientific claims like neo-Darwinism and the multiverse hypothesis in cosmology invented to avoid the overwhelming evidence for purpose and design found in modern science, the Catholic Church will again defend human reason by proclaiming that the immanent design evident in nature is real. Scientific theories that try to explain away the appearance of design as the result of "chance and necessity" are not scientific at all, but, as John Paul put it, an abdication of human intelligence.

  Randy
Received on Thu Jul 7 10:01:02 2005