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The real tragedy of Teilhard de Chardin was not that he fabricated his findings, but rather that individuals such as John XXIII and John Paul II would speak so favorably of him.

If you really want to take a peak into what's behind the curtain of evolution, read some of the books written by archeologist Michael Cremo, who is actually a Hindu convert and not an Evangelical. Cremo's well documented findings will absolutely blow your mind, unless of course you choose to believe they're fabrications. Warning, he is not popular with the evolutionist community.

Oh, I wasn't familiar with this fellow. After spending some time reading about him I realized that it was a waste of time reading about him and I was better off not knowing about him, lol.

I attended my old Latin rite parish this morning. In his homily, the priest said the Adam and Eve story was a myth; that our fallen state results from our own actions, not those of our original parents. This, of course, is heresy --- the result of little or no "quality control" by most Latin rite bishops. A sad, disappointing situation. So I left church feeling angry but also grateful that there is an Eastern rite (Ukranian) parish in my town. I believe God has given us the Eastern rite as an antidote to the decadence so prevalent today in our Church.

Im:

I think you supplied the support for the statement I made. I was not referring to souls. I was attempting to show Alexis that the Catholic Church does not buy into Genesis being a leiteral description of how we came to be as far as our earthly bodies came to be.

I did make the point that at some point, to make us different from all other creatures on this planet, God gave man an immortal soul. That does make us different that all other creatures. And I listed the characteristics of what makes a human soul a human soul.

In Christ,

BOB

Lawrence:

Don't know about Pope John XXIII but Pope John Paul II through the Curia was supposed to have repeated the Church's condemnation of Teilhard's theological theories. If memory serves, it was some time in the early 1980s.

In Christ,

BOB

I'll have to throw my hat in with hawk here. I've read so many books and articles and attended so many conferences, that I've basically come to the conclusion that I'm not smart enough to understand things when the details get heavy. Did God create the world in a literal 6 days? He certainly could have. Or he could have been the artist that enjoyed taking his "time" creating all things that would eventually lead up to the culmination of His masterpiece, mankind, Adam and Eve. Despite the criticisms in the media of the Intelligent Design movement, I find that they have the best explanation of origins around. I've spoken with many of the people within ID in person and I found that some of them do believe in a literal 6 day creation and some of them don't.
So to get back to the OP, I would have to say that if Christ is the second Adam, and the Blessed Theotokos is the second Eve, then their must have been a literal first Adam and a literal first Eve. I no longer have any problem/conflict with Adam and Eve being the first and original human beings on Earth.

I thought there was some theory out there some years ago that genetic tracing had produced the "proof" that we had all come from a single genetic woman. Does anyone remember reading that?

BOB

Yes through the study of mitochrondria DNA, scientists are saying that there was a first Eve ... or maybe four of them.

There were a group of theologians who put forward the idea of polygenism but the Latin Church never bought into this, of course, because it is incompatible with the Western view of Original Sin.I remember seeing a program which spoke of one single source of the human race.
Stephanos I

Bob

Here's the quote from John Paul II regarding Teilhard de Chardin.

on page 7 of the English edition of L'Osservatore Romano, October 30, 1996, Pope John Paul II is quoted as saying: "It is indeed remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted independently is itself a significant argument in favour of this theory."

LAWRENCE:

Which theory does His Holiness refer to in this quote?

I was referring to the condemnation of his theology during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.

BOB

Bob

I'm still looking for the article in it's entirety. October 1996 was a month when John Paul II made a number of statements regarding the theory of evolution.

Sorry but your post point seems unclear to me?
Stephanos I

It was in regards to favorable statements John Paul II made concerning Teilhard de Chardin and his evolutionary theories.

Mitochondrial DNA drifts at a known and consistent rate. By measuring the amount of divergence & similarity, all of humanity does indeed share a single foremother in a particular part (I forget which) of Africa--*EXCEPT* for some people actually *in* that reason, who seem to come from a different mitochondrial line. Those who left the region, though, all trace to that one woman.

There are also some interesting studies on the Y chromosome, which passes down the male line, confirming the Jewish lineage of some widespread groups with similar practices and beliefs to Judaism.

hawk