Creation, Evolution, and Catholicism
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Creation, Evolution, And Catholicism A Discussion for Those Who Believe By Thomas L. McFadden Institute for Science and Catholicism Copyright Notice Copyright © 2016 by Institute for Science and Catholicism In order for this book to discuss the scientifically and religiously controversial subjects that it has it was necessary to identify and quote from published sources on each side of those subjects to criticize or comment on them, to support the author’s thesis, to illustrate by examples, or for other fair uses in accordance with section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act which permits “fair use” of copyrighted material in certain circumstances without prior permission. Guidance for interpretation and application of section 107 provided by the Copyright Office online was followed. This book is an educational outreach project of the Institute for Science and Catholicism (ISC) which is solely responsible for its content. ISC is a non-stock Virginia corporation organized for charitable, religious, and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. ISC is promoting the renewal of a Catholic theology of creation and a new science/faith synthesis based on sound scientific data and a serious approach to the Holy Scriptures in accordance with longstanding Church Tradition. Email: [email protected]. On the web: ScienceAndCatholicism.org On Facebook: Institute for Science and Catholicism Library Cataloging Data Creation, Evolution, and Catholicism: A Discussion for Those Who Believe by Thomas L. McFadden 282 pages, 6” x 9” x 0.69” & 0.93 lb. BISAC: SCI027000 SCIENCE / Life Science / Evolution BISAC: SCI008000 SCIENCE / Life Science / Biology BISAC: SCI075000 SCIENCE / Philosophy & Social Aspects BISAC: SCI034000 SCIENCE / History BISAC: REL106000 RELIGION / Religion & Science BISAC: PHI010000 PHILOSOPHY / Movements / Humanism ISBN-13:978-1530654765 ISBN-10:1530654769 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016906195 CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, North Charleston, SC ii Contents Preface | 1 Chapter 1-The Crisis of Faith | 3 Chapter 2-When Do They Stop Believing? | 12 Chapter 3-Evolutionary Cosmology | 18 Chapter 4-Evolutionary Biology | 35 Chapter 5-Why That Was Important | 52 Chapter 6-The Importance of Noah | 64 Chapter 7-Evolution and Theology | 83 Chapter 8-Humani Generis Explained | 96 Chapter 9-Biblical Interpretation | 122 Chapter 10-The Scholars’ “End Run” | 146 Chapter 11-Does Truth Matter? | 152 Chapter 12-Who made God? | 181 Chapter 13-Diagnosis and Cure | 187 Chapter 14-Humanism Crosses the Atlantic | 193 Chapter 15-Education Is Within Reach of All | 243 Chapter 16-The Enemy Is Us | 250 Chapter 17-Plan for a “Comeback” | 257 APPENDIX I-What about Galileo? | 271 APPENDIX II-Letter from Ireland | 272 Appendix III-Science and Catholicism | 276 iii Ever since the creation of the world His eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things He has made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:20 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching., but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:1-5 iv Preface This book was written primarily for persons who consider themselves to be faithful and believing Catholics to provoke reflection on the effect of belief in evolution on Catholics, especially young Catholics. Molecules-to-man evolution—the origin of man and of all living things (with or without divine assistance) through hundreds of millions of years of the same kinds of material processes going on now—is taught to most students as a scientific fact in public and Catholic schools and by the culture at-large. This book demonstrates that this evolutionary indoctrination plays a significant role in the accelerating loss of Faith among Catholic youth. I became aware of the skepticism among Catholic teens in 1974 while teaching CCD when they asked me “You don’t really believe in Adam and Eve, do you?” I learned from them that their unbelief in fundamental doctrines of Genesis was because of their belief in evolution. They realized there was a conflict between the Bible and what they were taught in school; their school teachers were more effective than their religious educators and had so much more of the students’ time to make their case. At that point, nothing in my educational background or engineering career had acquainted me with the subject of evolution. In 1975 I attended a convention of scientists who reject evolution on scientific grounds. While researching evolution I discovered that those who believe it do so based on the premise that cosmic and biological evolution are undeniable scientific facts. For believers in evolution all unproven and not- capable- of- being- proved or disproved speculations about how it happened are considered to be scientific. It is illogical and unscientific but for its believers the alternative, fiat creation by God, is unthinkable. I found that evolution is the basic dogma of a non-theistic religion called Humanism. That belief and the 1 public policies advocated by Humanists were clearly expressed in Humanist Manifesto I of 1933 and Humanist Manifesto II of 1973. I educated my own children as best I could about the flaws in evolution theory and its philosophical implications for the faith. The accelerating loss of faith by Catholic youth reported by the Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project, Religious Landscape Survey was my motivation for this book. The public policies advocated by the Humanist religion have become the anti-Christian policies at all levels of government. The Government’s use of law and policy to impose its morality on us in matters such as contraception, abortion, homosexualism, and acceptance of “peaceful” Islam under the guise of diversity are just the flash points. The real, long-lasting damage is being done “under the radar,” so to speak, in the Nation’s schools by the indoctrination of children with the dogmas of Humanism. This book is not intended to promote more of the Catholic handwringing we have seen as America’s Humanist-dominated public policy and culture becomes more hostile. Rather, this book proposes that Catholic clergy and laity learn to both discredit the cornerstone dogmas of Humanism and rediscover the doctrines of creation that are the foundation of the Faith. If that plan were to be followed, particularly by our parish-level clergy and Catholic intellectuals, it would kick start the New Evangelization of which we hear where it is needed most-- within our own Catholic community. In so doing I assert that Catholics will recover the outgoing confidence needed to keep our youth Catholic and become more capable of engaging our culture. Thomas L. McFadden, Sr. 2 Chapter 1-The Crisis of Faith Pope St. John Paul II once said that every generation, with its own mentality and characteristics, is like a new continent to be won for Christ. That counsel contains within it a hint of the courage, zeal, and determination necessary to win, that is, to hand on the faith to the younger generation. In the United States, that battle is being lost. As will be shown, Catholic youth are leaving the Faith at an accelerating rate. Adults who are committed and practicing Catholic parents of young children might not even think about the extent of the problem if it is has not happened in their family. How would parents who go to Church and their priests, surrounded by like-minded people, know how many youth went “missing” intellectually so soon after receiving their confirmation? The Overall Catholic Loss The Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project, Religious Landscape Survey, Religious Affiliation: Diverse and Dynamic February 2008 found that belief and practice among adult Catholics in the U.S., particularly the younger ones, is in a steep decline: While those Americans who are unaffiliated with any particular religion have seen the greatest growth in numbers as a result of changes in affiliation, Catholicism has experienced the greatest net losses as a result of affiliation changes. While nearly one-in-three Americans (31%) were raised in the Catholic faith, today fewer than one-in-four (24%) describe themselves as Catholic. The Survey report also cites the Catholic exodus as an example of the dynamism of the American religious scene: Other surveys – such as the General Social Surveys, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the 3 University of Chicago since 1972 – find that the Catholic share of the U.S. adult population has held fairly steady in recent decades, at around 25%. What this apparent stability obscures, however, is the large number of people who have left the Catholic Church. Approximately one- third of the survey respondents who say they were raised Catholic no longer describe themselves as Catholic. This means that roughly 10% of all Americans are former Catholics. Falling Away As noted above, the research shows that 1 in 3 Americans were raised Catholic but only 1 in 4 still self-identify as a Catholic. Year after year, survey after survey also confirms that the majority of those who continue to self-identify as Catholics in the U.S. do not accept various Church teachings and that the younger the survey respondent the more extensive the non-acceptance.