Expert: Michael Clark, Ph.D. - 10/6/2004

Question
Good morning, Dr. Clark, would you write me what your opinion is on aging of our palnet, when the Holy Bible says it is approximately 6,000 yrs, while science, for instance astrophysics, biology admit that our Cosmos is over millions years. I do not understand it. I heard some Catholic theologians believe partially Evolutionism. Thank you very much.  
     Buzrla from Czech Republic

Answer
Hello Petr.. The Church, you know, is itself evolving over time. In medieval times, and earlier, the Bible tended to be taken far more literally than today. Even quite recently, thinkers like Teilhard de Chardin

>> http://www.crosscurrents.org/chardin.htm

took a lot of heat from the Church for his innovative views. But as you also know, the Church really is concerned with truth, so when it goofs up, it eventually comes around to correcting the mistake. Just think of saints who were persecuted by myopic Church officials, only to be later canonized.

Same thing with the relation btwn. faith and science. These days, the Pope says that religious and scientific truth are not in contradiction. Of course, it's sort of a silly statement, because science doesn't really offer truth. As he himself notes, it offers working theories subject to revision. But I think the Church is trying to get it right, in their sometimes bumbling and intellectually inadequate way.

Another way to look at this, is that they're not as dull-witted as they may appear. For the Church also exists in a political environment. So it might be in the best interests of the Church to make general and sweeping statements which appeal to the average intellect.

I really don't know what motivates them at times.

Perhaps you could read this and decide for yourself:

>> http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_jp02tc.htm