Guest Post: Evolution vs. Intelligent Design

by David Martin

Pope Francis made waves in October 2014 when he told the Pontifical Academy of Sciences that
evolution was set in motion by God through a “big bang.” He said, “Evolution in nature is not at odds with the notion of creation because evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve.”

The problem is that God did not create beings that evolve. Supporters of Francis’ statement argue that the discoveries of science in nature do not contradict creation. This is true if something factual is discovered in nature, but evidence supporting evolution or the “big bang” theory are not among these discoveries, no more than evidence supporting aliens has ever been discovered.

Supporters argue that no pope has ever issued a formal decree against evolution. What's the point? The Church doesn't waste its time issuing decrees on the ridiculous. Shall the Church pronounce on E.T. and Martians too? It’s enough that the Church dismisses Darwin’s evolution as fiction.

Evolution is a cult of self-deification closely tied with Nietzsche’s idea that man evolved from the apes and is on his way to becoming a self-deified superman. Yea, evolution is the darling of atheists, progressivists, and satanists, which means Christians should have no part with it. “He that loves danger shall perish in it.” (Ecclesiasticus 3:27)

But too, evolution is out of sync with fact. The supportive “evidence” discovered by modern science is no evidence, but an illusion. Those who tout these “findings” are puffed up with self-admiration and have “become vain in their thoughts,” so that “professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” (Romans 1:22) The Church teaches that God created heaven and earth in one day, with the creation of beasts and man occurring the sixth day, so that the inhabitants of earth remain today as when they were created, minus the material change.

There is no knitting evolution with Catholicism. This is what Teilhard de Chardin was all about. His work to integrate the evolution theory with Catholicism helped spawn the modern day notion that the Catholic Church is an ongoing, evolutionary process that goes through phases of change over time. This is false. Monkeys do not grow out of fish, people do not grow out of monkeys, and modernism does not grow out of Apostolic Tradition. What God has established from the beginning, whether spiritual or physical, remains, and does not change.

It is man in his erring nature who constantly wrestles with this, seeing in nature evidence that is no evidence, and decreeing errors. Nature is miserably misinterpreted by the science community. For instance, a cat gives milk, and so does a human mother, so science lumps them in the same category and calls them "mammals." But who in Heaven ever said this? This is a categorization of science, not of God. Or an ape or dog has two eyes, two ears, and a nose, and so does a man, therefore science concludes that all three are related, when in fact there is no relation.

What they're failing to recognize is God's intellectual design, which is this: He created the world out of nothing strictly for man's benefit, and for no other reason, with man being the only creature made in the image and likeness of God. But in His goodness, God created a certain order in nature so that man wouldn't feel entirely alien to his surroundings, which is why animals have things like legs, eyes, and ears. But this does not mean they are related. Man is the only creature made in the image of God, which means he is related only to God, and to his children. But not to beasts.

St. Paul says: “The just man lives by faith” (Romans 1:17), but “Knowledge puffeth up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1) Christ said: “Unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matt. 18:3)

This is the challenge facing the science community. The presentation of simple, objective truth is causing great consternation in the minds of today's scientists, because the truth is too simple for them. Better that they use their time confessing their nothingness and glorifying their Maker. “For every mocker is an abomination to the Lord, and His communication is with the simple.” (Proverbs 3:32)

David Martin: jmj4today@att.net