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Happy birdy Darwy!
The Vatican has admitted that Charles Darwin was on the right track when he claimed that Man descended from apes.
A leading official declared yesterday that Darwin's theory of evolution was compatible with Christian faith, and could even be traced to St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas. "In fact, what we mean by evolution is the world as created by God," said Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture. The Vatican also dealt the final blow to speculation that Pope Benedict XVI might be prepared to endorse the theory of Intelligent Design, whose advocates credit a "higher power" for the complexities of life.
Organisers of a papal-backed conference next month marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin's On the Origin of Species said that at first it had even been proposed to ban Intelligent Design from the event, as "poor theology and poor science". Intelligent Design would be discussed at the fringes of the conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University, but merely as a "cultural phenomenon", rather than a scientific or theological issue, organisers said.
The vatican never really objected to Darwin and didn't ban his books.Vatican buries the hatchet with Charles Darwin
In this fascinating study, Werth (The Scarlet Professor) shows how the idea of social Darwinism, as codified by Herbert Spencer, took hold in the United States, underpinning the philosophy of the Gilded Age's social, cultural and financial elite. Anchoring his story with the stunning Delmonico's celebration honoring the departure of Spencer after a triumphant tour of the United States in 1882, Werth rightly depicts the frame of reference Spencer left behind as a predecessor to Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism, with its focus on unrestrained self-interest and unbridled capitalism. As Werth explains, Spencer's interpretation of Darwinism won the approval of not only robber barons but also prominent religious, scientific and political leaders. Henry Ward Beecher, writes Werth, used the most acclaimed pulpit in America to preach the gospel of evolution; that is, that it was God's way to... sort the worthy from the wretched. This was survival of the fittest, which Spencer and his followers saw as not only just but necessary. Thus, Werth elegantly reveals a firm philosophical foundation for all the antilabor excesses of the Industrial Age. . . .
Lincoln, by far. His hands-off approach in the early stages of Civil War (a situation left to him by an incompetent predecessor) allowed the Confederacy time to recruit and arm an army when the Union had overwhelming superiority on the field. If he had over-ruled and/or replaced some over-cautious generals early and pressed the Union's military advantage, the rebellion could have been crushed and hundreds of thousands of American lives would have been saved AND the infrastructure of the South needn't have been destroyed.w3390 said:How strange that both Lincoln and Darwin share the same birthday. Actually, if you go by statistics, a shared birthday is not as rare as it may seem. Who changed history more, I wonder.
Moridin said:
A leading official declared yesterday that Darwin's theory of evolution was compatible with Christian faith, and could even be traced to St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas. "In fact, what we mean by evolution is the world as created by God," said Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture. The Vatican also dealt the final blow to speculation that Pope Benedict XVI might be prepared to endorse the theory of Intelligent Design, whose advocates credit a "higher power" for the complexities of life.
mgb_phys said:Surprisingly the Vatican has never been that anti-science, it sees the long term benefits in not looking too stupid. Most of the famous cases of Galileo/Bruno etc were more due to politics than science.
Me too, I think the general spin was that the universe is the way it is because God made it so and science is just studying God's handiwork. Which is an easy to defend - or at least impossible to disprove - position.Ivan Seeking said:but I can say that we were taught about evolution in my Catholic school; and that was a long time ago. Not once were we ever taught to accept religion over science.
That's a curious statement, since Genesis seems to make the Earth older than the Sun, and the Sun as old as the Moon, but day and night existed for two "days" before the Sun was created! Also, reptiles were created after birds and whales. And all this stuff happened in 5 days.wildman said:Genesis can be read to agree quite nicely with modern science without very much bending at all. Actually you have to bend the words more in order to fit it in with what the creationists believe.
Gokul43201 said:That's a curious statement, since Genesis seems to make the Earth older than the Sun, and the Sun as old as the Moon, but day and night existed for two "days" before the Sun was created! Also, reptiles were created after birds and whales. And all this stuff happened in 5 days.
And that's just Chapter 1.
wildman said:The point of view of Genesis changes from the universal to the surface of the Earth on the second day
If you assume that the view is from the surface of the Earth, then the sun and moon etc appeared after the plants (at least photosynthesis). This is because before photosynthesis, the atmosphere was reducing (opaque) and oxidizing (transparent) after. This agrees quite nicely with the order of things in Genesis and in science.
mplayer said:Wait, photosynthesis existing before the sun agrees with science?
Anyway, happy birthday Darwin, hopefully you'll get a little break from burning in hell today.
Cyrus said:Wow, please don't play scientist. We already pay qualified people to do that.![]()
wildman said:I said opaque not totally dark. Photosynthesis works just fine on a cloudy day.
On the eve of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, a new Gallup Poll shows that only 39% of Americans say they "believe in the theory of evolution," while a quarter say they do not believe in the theory, and another 36% don't have an opinion either way.
lisab said:I don't know quite what the heck is up with ~60% of my fellow citizens...
lisab said:I don't know quite what the heck is up with ~60% of my fellow citizens...
Gokul43201 said:That's just so boring though. It's way cooler when man is created by say, an ice-licking cow.
mgb_phys said:The vatican never really objected to Darwin and didn't ban his books.
The Anglican church was the main objector but CofE bishops in the 19c were hardly theological giants, it was more a social club for younger sons of aristocracy.
Surprisingly the Vatican has never been that anti-science, it sees the long term benefits in not looking too stupid. Most of the famous cases of Galileo/Bruno etc were more due to politics than science.
Generally the Catholic church has been a bit more flexible about seeing the bible as alegory than protestant churches - for most of history the prevailing view was that creation happened all at once.Moridin said:The Vatican has flirted with creationism more than once and let us not forget Galileo.
Darwin was a British naturalist and biologist who is best known for his theory of evolution by natural selection. His birthday is important because it marks the birth of a revolutionary scientist who changed our understanding of the natural world.
If Darwin were still alive today, he would be 200 years old.
Darwin's most significant contribution was his theory of evolution by natural selection, which explains how species change over time. He also made important contributions to the fields of geology, botany, and zoology.
There is no record of how Darwin celebrated his birthday, but it is likely that he spent it with his family and close friends.
Darwin's theory of evolution has had a profound impact on modern science, influencing fields such as biology, anthropology, and psychology. It has also sparked debates and discussions about the origins of life and the diversity of species on Earth.