Re: Newspapers & **Dinosaurs**

[Stewart Bruce Archibald <sbarchib@xxxxxx>]

I think that a very big problem that the fundamentalists *really* have 
with evolution is the "anti-teleological" implications of it. "It goes 
no-where."

Many Catholics may have found a way around this with the teachings of 
the priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. This is the same fellow that 
coined the word "biosphere" and was suspected of being involved in the 
piltdown man hoax in an essay by Stephen J. Gould. Teilhard de Chardin 
said that evolution proceeds in an inevitable plan from the body to the 
mind to the spirit--progresses in an ordered manner towards a goal 
or end which will then be completed, and some master plan fulfilled. 
This means that evolution becomes "co-opted" to fit the overall idea of 
purpose and meaning in the universe. ugh.

Bruce Archibald
(I'm new on this service, let me introduce myself, I'm the Chair of the 
Vancouver Paleontological Society, and a Director of the British Columbia 
Paleontological Alliance.
608 Prior Street
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada
V6A-2G6
(604)251-1774


 On Fri, 25 Aug 1995, Roger L. Kaesler wrote:

> Neal Evenhuis wrote:>
> 
> "Actually, I'm VERY surprised that the "Catholic" church would
> consider 11,600 year old bones as "dinosaurs". Remember, the real
> fundamentalists have to deal with the fact that existence as we know it>was
> not older than 4,400 B.C. Maybe the church is getting a bit lax
> and>allowing a "few" more thousand years for evolution to have taken
> place."
> 
> Evolutionists need to know who their allies are.  The Roman Catholic Church
> officially accepted the doctrine of organic evolution early in this
> century, I believe 1908.  My understanding is that they accepted most of
> the corollaries along with it:  old earth and all that.  There is a lot of
> objection to evolution coming from fundamentalists, but a great many
> religious leaders are on our side!
> 
> Roger L. Kaesler
> 
> --
> Roger L. Kaesler
> Paleontological Institute
> The University of Kansas
> 121 Lindley Hall
> Lawrence, Kansas 66045-2911
> (913) 864-3338 = telephone
> (913) 864-5276 = FAX  
> 
> 
>