---

Pope Preaches Against Chance Evolution: "Man is Not the Chance Result of Evolution"

By John-Henry Westen

REGENSBURG, Germany, September 12, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - This morning Pope Benedict XVI discussed evolution in his homily at the outdoor Mass celebrated in Islinger Field.  In a direct attack on the concept of random chance evolution, Pope Benedict asked rhetorically: "What came first? Creative Reason, the Spirit who makes all things and gives them growth, or Unreason, which, lacking any meaning, yet somehow brings forth a mathematically ordered cosmos, as well as man and his reason."

The Pope explained that the belief in God as Creator comes in the most ancient profession of faith known to Christians, the Apostles' Creed.  "As Christians, we say: I believe in God the Father, the Creator of heaven and earth - I believe in the Creator Spirit. We believe that at the beginning of everything is the eternal Word, with Reason and not Unreason," he said.

While faith is not opposed to science, the Pope noted that some scientific endeavor is aimed at opposing faith.  "From the Enlightenment on, science, at least in part, has applied itself to seeking an explanation of the world in which God would be unnecessary," he said.  The Pope added, "And if this were so, he (God) would also become unnecessary in our lives."

Man, "would then be nothing more than a chance result of evolution and thus, in the end, equally meaningless," said the Pope.

However, Benedict XVI, noted assuredly that attempts to show God as unnecessary in the explanation of the universe are futile.  "But whenever the attempt seemed to be nearing success - inevitably it would become clear: something is missing from the equation!," he said.  "When God is subtracted, something doesn't add up for man, the world, the whole vast universe."

See the English translation of the homily from Vatican Radio here:
http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=94805

 Back to Top

---

MORE NEWS: LifeSiteNews.com Home Page  Last 10 Days   Archives   Special Reports

Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.