Church of England to Apologize to Charles Darwin

[wurd2]

September 14, 2008 — Charles Darwin to receive apology from the Church of England for rejecting evolution
The Church of England is to apologise to Charles Darwin for its initial rejection of his theories, nearly 150 years after he published his most famous work.

The Church of England will concede in a statement that it was over-defensive and over-emotional in dismissing Darwin's ideas. It will call "anti-evolutionary fervour" an "indictment" on the Church".

The bold move is certain to dismay sections of the Church that believe in creationism and regard Darwin's views as directly opposed to traditional Christian teaching.

The apology, which has been written by the Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, the Church's director of mission and public affairs, says that Christians, in their response to Darwin's theory of natural selection, repeated the mistakes they made in doubting Galileo's astronomy in the 17th century.

"The statement will read: Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still. We try to practise the old virtues of 'faith seeking understanding' and hope that makes some amends."

Opposition to evolutionary theories is still "a litmus test of faithfulness" for some Christian movements, the Church will admit. It will say that such attitudes owe much to a fear of perceived threats to Christianity.

The comments are included on a Church of England website promoting the views of Charles Darwin to be launched on Monday.

Humankind is making progress!

:rockon:

.

 

[dogmush]

Humankind is making progress!

One might even say that the Church's views are evolving. :-D

 

[sunburned]

Interesting, but cool I think. Good for them, it's about time they start apologizing for all the sh*t they put scientists through because they didn't want reality to trump their beliefs.


PS: I typed sh*t out and it stayed. What happened to the obscenity filter?

 

[T-Bolt]

Shit ain't censored. Only **** and **** are. Wait, I mean the F-word and the C-word.

 

[Antex]

September 14, 2008 — Charles Darwin to receive apology from the Church of England for rejecting evolution
The Church of England is to apologise to Charles Darwin for its initial rejection of his theories, nearly 150 years after he published his most famous work.

The Church of England will concede in a statement that it was over-defensive and over-emotional in dismissing Darwin's ideas. It will call "anti-evolutionary fervour" an "indictment" on the Church".

The bold move is certain to dismay sections of the Church that believe in creationism and regard Darwin's views as directly opposed to traditional Christian teaching.

The apology, which has been written by the Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, the Church's director of mission and public affairs, says that Christians, in their response to Darwin's theory of natural selection, repeated the mistakes they made in doubting Galileo's astronomy in the 17th century.

"The statement will read: Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still. We try to practise the old virtues of 'faith seeking understanding' and hope that makes some amends."

Opposition to evolutionary theories is still "a litmus test of faithfulness" for some Christian movements, the Church will admit. It will say that such attitudes owe much to a fear of perceived threats to Christianity.

The comments are included on a Church of England website promoting the views of Charles Darwin to be launched on Monday.

Humankind is making progress!

:rockon:

.

Good to Hear!!

One might even say that the Church's views are evolving. :-D

:beer:

 

[svtfocus2cobra]

Well the church doesn't speak for me on this issue, but at the same time I never believed all of Darwin's theories and findings were false either. I'm certainly not an expert on the subject but his theory of natural selection seems to make sense to me. For most Christians it's just his explanation for Darwin's origins of human life we disregard. In the Biblical sense we do not know what life was on this earth before we were here because the Bible never explains when the earth was first created. But the Bible does say when man was created so that's what we stand by rather than Darwin's version of how man evolved from Monkeys, and I assure you that will never change.

I just hate when some church comes out and claims something like this like they speak for everyone when they do not. The "church" deserves very little respect in this day and age because they have sold themselves out to self-pride and greed. I'm not saying all churches, but definitely churches like this one.

And I'm not starting a religious debate here, just putting things into perspective a little.

 

[floyd4ford]

Fail!

 

[Riddla]

Religious folks Fail!

agreed:-D

 

[347zz5.0]

Too little too late.

The church isn't relevant anymore, hasn't been for a long time.

Being satisfied with the unknown and afraid of conflicting data is no way to live and nothing I would ever associate with.

 

[Moparkidd]

good for them

 

[Jefe]

I wonder how the people who originally spoke against Darwin would feel about this. Oh wait, they arent around anymore....Who cares

 

[Riddla]

I wonder how the people who originally spoke against Darwin would feel about this. Oh wait, they arent around anymore....Who cares

But they are in heaven listeningoke:

 

[ScareCrow]

Well the church doesn't speak for me on this issue. But the Bible does say when man was created so that's what we stand by rather than Darwin's version of how man evolved from Monkeys, and I assure you that will never change.

Im not knocking your opinion svtfocus , just curious in if Im reading your statement correct. Is your belief that Adam and Eve / Garden of Eden was where man originated at ?

 

[svtfocus2cobra]

Im not knocking your opinion svtfocus , just curious in if Im reading your statement correct. Is your belief that Adam and Eve / Garden of Eden was where man originated at ?

Yep!

 

[wurd2]

But the Bible does say when man was created so that's what we stand by rather than Darwin's version of how man evolved from Monkeys, and I assure you that will never change.

I think the trend for literal interpretation of Genesis is rapidly declining. Scientific data sharply conflicts with a literal interpretation of this account, so I predict that the conflict between evolution and creationism will resolve itself because children will be taught less and less that evolution is phony science and conflicts with God. We would benefit from a nation-wide acceptance of compatibility between God and evolution because it would allow us to greatly improve our science education in this area. I say this because science drives a large part of the economy and worldly power.

The "church" deserves very little respect in this day and age because they have sold themselves out to self-pride and greed.

Acknowledging scientific data is a step in the right direction though because the church has an ENORMOUS impact on what children are willing to believe about the universe. And education has an impact on everything, eventually. So this is really important.

I wonder how the people who originally spoke against Darwin would feel about this...

You can ask their numerous predecessors who've adopted the same ignorance passed down from generation to generation. For the most part, they'll feel the same way.

:beer:

.

 

[wrksnfx]

Here is 50 Scientific reason that prove evolution is impossible.

 

[N2DAMYSTIC]

That is a big step for the Church. Find it hard to believe other churches will follow suit though. Perhaps donations are at an all time low?

 

[ScareCrow]

Here is 50 Scientific reason that prove evolution is impossible.

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

[svtfocus2cobra]

I think the trend for literal interpretation of Genesis is rapidly declining. Scientific data sharply conflicts with a literal interpretation of this account, so I predict that the conflict between evolution and creationism will resolve itself because children will be taught less and less that evolution is phony science and conflicts with God. We would benefit from a nation-wide acceptance of compatibility between God and evolution because it would allow us to greatly improve our science education in this area. I say this because science drives a large part of the economy and worldly power.

Here's the problem with that logic in combining Christian theology and evolution or more specifically the evolution of man. As a Christian if you substitute one truth (which is God's truth) out for the truth of men than you might as well throw the whole book out and just say screw it. John 1:1 outlines this very well and is very much the cornerstone of Christian faith in the contents within the Bible. It is God's own very words, and to exchange His truths for another is pretty much telling God what He says is wrong when in fact He is the original creator of everything. So I don't doubt there will be some that accept the theory of evolution into their religion like you say, but in many aspects they contradict each other so those people are going to have a choice to make on what they really believe in.

Acknowledging scientific data is a step in the right direction though because the church has an ENORMOUS impact on what children are willing to believe about the universe. And education has an impact on everything, eventually. So this is really important.

You're right to an extent, but like I said before churches like these have very little impact on the public these days. Much of their impact is limited to their small congregations, and to think that Christians will follow their pastors blindly, especially on an issue like this is a mistake. In these days we aren't stuck learning about our theology from only one pastor in our small town church. We can turn on the TV or go on the internet and listen to other's teachings from all over the world. Ultimately these teaching come from the parents anyway, and as we see society heading in a downward spiral we are becoming very protective of what our children are learning in schools, tv, and such. So while you may think that Christian children will eventually be indoctrinated you're mistaken because the safety of our children's minds are one of a Christian's greatest concerns as a parent today. So what I'm trying to say is that as society changes we only distance ourselves more and more from it as to not be corrupted by it.

One of the things I've noticed lately is a large number of small churches popping up that don't have a lot of money but don't ask for it either. They operate very much in the way of the early churches of the New Testament in ways like feeding and and clothing the homeless and just being good patrons to the community. My opinion is that we should expect a new movement and direction in Christianity, one that we haven't seen in our lifetime. We're used to churches commonly referred to as the fire & brimstone churches that turned so many of us off on the idea of church, but I think that is going to change soon. So if any of you think religion is fading as more and more scientific finding come out I'd say think again.



Just my .02 :beer: