Christianity is faith in the Creator Spiritus, from whom comes everything that is real.  Precisely this ought to give Christianity its philosophical power today, since the problem is whether the world comes from an irrational source, so that reason would be nothing but a "by-product" (perhaps even a harmful by-product) of the development of the world, or whether the world comes from reason, so that its criterion and its goal is reason. The Christian faith opts for this second thesis and has good arguments to back it up, even from a purely philosophical point of view, despite the fact that so many people today consider the first thesis the only "rational" and modern view.  A reason that has its origin in the irrational and is itself ultimately irrational does not offer a solution to our problem.  Only that creative reason which has manifested itself as love in the crucified God can truly show us what life is.

Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures (Ignatius Press, 2006), Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, p. 49
         

Benedict XVI, Cardinal Schönborn on creation and evolution
 The Pope and the Cardinal address the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Pope Benedict: To state that the foundation of the cosmos and its developments is the provident wisdom of the Creator is not to say that creation has only to do with the beginning of the history of the world and of life. It implies, rather, that the Creator founds these developments and supports them, underpins them and sustains them continuously. Thomas Aquinas taught that the notion of creation must transcend the horizontal origin of the unfolding of events, which is history, and consequently all our purely naturalistic ways of thinking and speaking about the evolution of the world... READ MORE

Reasonable Science, Reasonable Faith
 Cardinal Christoph Schönborn
To the second edition of his Principia Mathematica, published in 1713, Isaac Newton appended what he called a scholium generale. A principal concern of Newton’s had been to refute Descartes’ theory of planetary motions, which he renounced as a materialistic theory. The perfection and the regularity of these motions cannot “have their origin in mechanical causes,” Newton insisted. “This supremely exquisite structure that is visible to us, comprising the sun, the planets, and the comets, could come into being solely through the decision and under the dominion of an intelligent and powerful, truly existing being. . . . He steers everything, not as a world-soul, but as the Lord of all things.” READ MORE

Genesis 1: A Cosmogenesis?
 Stanley L. Jaki
Genesis 1 is the most newsworthy chapter in the Bible. There can never be more fundamental news than that all depends on God because he made all, indeed the all, or the universe. This news did not come from any of the sages of ancient cultures. Genesis 1 is the most memorable source of that news, though in a way which has been all too often taken for a confrontation with news science seems to provide about the origin of the universe. Legion is the number of exegetes and theologians who in modern scientific times wanted to appear more newsworthy by showing that there is an agreement, a concordance, between the majestic diction of Genesis 1 and the science of the day. READ MORE

Thomas Aquinas vs.
The Intelligent Designers
 What is God’s Finger Doing in My Pre-Biotic Soup?
Michael W. Tkacz
A few years ago I received a phone call from Dr. Stephen Meyer, then on the philosophy faculty at Whitworth College.  He had just returned from an international conference devoted to challenges to evolutionary biology from Intelligent Design Theory.  There was a bit of urgency in Dr. Meyer’s tone, so I agreed to meet him.  As it turned out, he had something of a complaint to make, for he opened our meeting by showering me with a series of questions:  Where are the Thomists?  Where are the Catholics?  How come you Thomist guys are not out there defending us Intelligent Designers? READ MORE

Fr. Edward Oakes, S.J., and his critics
Fr. Oakes, a scholar and translator of works by Pieper and Von Balthasar, generated a fair amount of discussion when he critiqued Philip Johnson in 2001. (the original review here, and responses from authors such as Behe, Koons and Johnson are here, with Fr. Oakes's reply). More recently, ZENIT interviewed Fr. Oakes on the controversy over Cardinal Christoph Schönborn's commentary about evolution. "For one thing, the Church has no 'doctrine' on evolution, any more than it has a doctrine on tectonic plates or a magisterial teaching on how human consciousness arises from the electrical firings inside the neurology of the brain. These matters are both beyond the competence of the magisterium and are irrelevant to salvation, anyway..." READ MORE

A Designer Universe:
Chance, Design, and Cosmic Order
Michael W. Tkacz
In an effort to illustrate how natural development in the physical universe works, Canadian philosopher Charles De Koninck gives the following example. A duck hunter, wishing to bring down a duck in the most efficient way, uses a shot gun that produces a random scattering of many pellets. It only takes one pellet of shot, hitting a vital spot, to bring down a duck and any one of the many pellets fired will do. Indeed, the hunter prefers fewer rather than many pellets hit the duck—ideally only one. Yet flying ducks move pretty fast and he wants to be sure of a hit. So, by design, he cultivates a random distribution of bird-shot... READ MORE

 

 

 

Darwin's Divisions
The Pope, the Cardinal, the Jesuit & the Evolving Debate About Origins
 Martin Hilbert
The Catholic Church seldom speaks about scientific theories, from time to time it breaks the silence to address the question of biological evolution. It does so when it perceives that some Catholics accept as true a scientific theory that denies some important Christian teaching about man and his origins... READ MORE

Finding Design in Nature
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn
"Ever since 1996, when Pope John Paul II said that evolution (a term he did not define) was 'more than just a hypothesis,' defenders of neo-Darwinian dogma have often invoked the supposed acceptance - or at least acquiescence - of the Roman Catholic Church when they defend their theory as somehow compatible with Christian faith. But this is not true..." READ MORE

Creation, Evolution, and Thomas Aquinas
William Carroll
The analysis of creation and the distinctions Thomas Aquinas draws among the domains of metaphysics, the natural sciences, and theology can serve an important role in contemporary discussions of the relationship between creation and evolution... READ MORE

Creation or Evolution? Here Is the View of the Church of Rome
Sandro Magister
Creationists versus Darwinists, “intelligent design” versus random selection, the controversy is as heated as ever. The pope is studying the issue with a team of experts. Keep reading to find the truth he wants to reassert. And the confusion he wants to clear up... READ MORE

On the Square - First Things
Stephen M. Barr
The Rev. George Coyne, S.J., director of the Vatican Observatory, has a penchant for theologically risqué statements. In a recent talk he asked, about life’s origins, “Do we need God to explain this? Very succinctly, my answer is no.” Well, very succinctly, that is absurd.... READ MORE

The Design of Evolution
Stephen M. Barr
Catholic theology has never really had a quarrel with the idea that the present species of plants and animals are the result of a long process of evolution—or with the idea that this process has unfolded according to natural laws... READ MORE

The Designs of Science
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn
The Cardinal responds to Stephen Barr. "I fear, however, that Barr has misunderstood my argument and possibly misconceived the issue of whether the human intellect can discern the reality of design in the world of living things..." READ MORE

Catholics and Evolution:
An Interview with Cardinal Christoph Schönborn
What are your objections to the theory of evolution?
Evolution is a scientific theory. What I call evolutionism is an ideological view that says evolution can explain everything in the whole development of the cosmos, from the Big Bang to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. I consider that an ideology... READ MORE

 

The Cardinal, Intelligent Design, and Evolution
Carl E. Olson
Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn comments on evolution. The media reports. Confusion ensues... READ MORE

The Mystery of Human Origins
Which theories are compatible with Catholic faith?
Mark Brumley
Scientific and religious debates over claims about biological evolution and intelligent design have recently made front-page headlines in the United States. Not only scientists have been publicly involved in the fray, but also politicians, journalists, local school boards and even a Catholic cardinal... READ MORE

Science Does Not Need God. Or Does It? A Catholic Scientist Looks at Evolution
Father George V. Coyne, SJ
I would essentially like to share with you two convictions in this presentation: (1) that the Intelligent Design (ID) movement, while evoking a God of power and might, a designer God, actually belittles God, makes her/him too small and paltry; (2) that our scientific understanding of the universe, untainted by religious considerations, provides for those who believe in God a marvelous opportunity to reflect upon their beliefs... READ MORE Carl E. Olson has some reservations... READ MORE

Designed Beauty and Evolutionary Theory
Thomas Dubay, S.M.
Beauty and design are indeed the language of God. At this point in our study we need no longer multiply examples of the stunning splendors with which we are surrounded on every side, and most especially in the living kingdoms. Two reflections are now in order... READ MORE

Creation and Evolution: A Cardinal's Perspective
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has sparked furious debate with his four part catechetical lecture on Creation. But why read the commentary when you can get right to the source? Read PART 1, PART 2, PART 3, PART 4.

Evolution and the Pope
Mark Brumley
To paraphrase Santayana: Newspapers ignorant of history are condemned to reprint it. How else should we interpret the recent headline, describing Pope John Paul II's address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, "Pope Says Evolution Compatible with Faith"? There's not much "news" there... READ MORE

Truth Cannot Contradict Truth
Address of Pope John Paul II to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (October 22, 1996)
This address by Pope John Paul II that addressed evolution created a flurry of discussion in the Catholic world... READ MORE

Darwin Under the Microscope
Michael J. Behe
(October 29, 1996) Pope John Paul II's statement last week that evolution is "more than just a theory" is old news to a Roman Catholic scientist like myself.... READ MORE