The Paradox of Power....

[Elpidio Chuy]

Thedetester, if you are actually a Catholic and not a Poe, then why do you deny evolution? Your church made its peace with biology years ago and has officially held a stance that evolution happened according to God's providential plan. Do you care so little about the teachings of your church, or does it just take a long time for news to reach you in your ass?

And you have once again mentioned archaeology. Quit fucking around and give us some examples (more than the pools at Bethesda) of archaeological finds you think provide compelling evidence for thinking the Bible is completely trustworthy (or, what the hell, true for the most part -- take your pick). But before you do, you should understand that virtually no one ever has said that there is no overlap between Biblical narratives and history, geography, and what can be learned from archaeology. Most of us expect that further investigation will confirm certain elements of the Bible. Why wouldn't it? Ooh, they found the pools at Bethesda! Big fucking deal. I'd be surprised if there weren't pools since it's a fairly mundane claim, and I'm glad they uncovered it. But when it comes to something really big and presumably the sort of event that would have left plenty of evidence to be found, like the 40-year wandering in the desert as described in "Exodus"? Not a damn thing, despite painstaking efforts by teams of archaeologists combing the desert for decades. Nada. Zilch. Zip. What you need to understand is that a multitude of verified mundane facts (e.g., pools) does not provide you with sufficient evidence to jump to the conclusion that the more fantastical elements of your holy book are true.

But I'm the one who is actually talking to a wall, aren't I?

The church allows it's believer's to believe in creation or evolution as long as HE/SHE believe that God made it happen.

However the church has very solid teaching on the soul.

On the creation of the soul, the Church has a very strong teaching. The human soul was deliberately created in the likeness and image of God.

• The human soul is not simply a byproduct of the human body.
  
  
• The human soul has the power to know abstract concepts, to know God (intellect)
  
  
• The human soul has the power to choose and to love (will)
  
  
• The human soul has unique dignity above the rest of visible creation.
  

The human being is a combination of human body and human soul. Regardless of any speculative ideas of evolutionary processes that God may or may not have used in the design of the human body, Adam and Eve became human beings when God infused their bodies with human souls. The creation of the human soul was created immediately. The "image and likeness of God" that we read about in Scripture may be referring to our soul.

Catholics are at liberty to believe that creation took a few days or a much longer period, according to how they see the evidence, and subject to any future judgment of the Church (Pius XII’s 1950 encyclical Humani Generis 36–37). They need not be hostile to modern cosmology. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, "[M]any scientific studies . . . have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life forms, and the appearance of man. These studies invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator" (CCC 283). Still, science has its limits (CCC 284, 2293–4). The following quotations from the Fathers show how widely divergent early Christian views were. 

As for archaeology am just about to go into that.