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Comparing O Callaghan's Evolution And The Catholic Faith

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1. In “Evolution and the Catholic Faith” O’Callaghan relies on these ideas of primary and secondary causality to understand evolution. He emphasizes that a proper perspective of creation places natural causes within a framework of the divine. That is to say, because God causes them to be so, the natural causes are enabled. In a definitional sense, by this framework, primary causality is that which God does, and secondary causality is that which creatures do in accordance with natural law. Regarding evolution, this framework does not suggest that responsibility does not fall in an “either/or” sense, but rather, O’Callaghan claims, “God does it all” (282). God’s creative act and the scientific account of human origins do not have to be in conflict according to O’Callaghan’s framework because God causes the natural causes to operate, and He sustains their effects and results. “God is involved in all evolutionary process as primary cause to the secondary” O’Callaghan writes (290). …show more content…

Roman Catholics should not fall for this belief for a number of reasons that O’Callaghan outlines. Firstly, it equates the power of God as creator to the principles of nature and natural science. It also seems to suggest that in whatever science can explain, God is not involved. Following that, it would seem that the more we learn about the natural world, the more reason there is to abandon the existence of God. Finally, this idea suggests that while the divine may be more powerful than the natural, the divine is bound by natural

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Throughout this book the author, Darrel R. Falk, argues from his personal journey as a professing evangelical Christian and biologist, that only science, and not scripture, can reveal the details of creation. In the first chapter, the author talks about how, when one is living with both science and religion; it is like trying to live in two worlds at once. Falk spoke about how he grew up in a church that taught a literal view of Genesis, but those in leadership were not equipped to answer his questions about contradictions between the Bible and the real world. For this reason, Faulk drifted away from Christianity towards a life studying biology. Eventually he

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God is allowing change to occur autonomously and with his permission. This thinking process allows for the idea of free will that is a basic tenet in Judeo/Christian faiths. Many religious leaders maintain that religion and evolution are not incompatible. The basis of life religious creation cannot be fully explained by the scientific method.

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