Chance or Purpose? Creation, Evolution and a Rational Faith

Chance or Purpose? Creation, Evolution and a Rational Faith is a Christian theistic evolution book, written in 2007 by one Christoph Schönborn — an Austrian cardinal of the Catholic Church.

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The main claim of the book is that science is "incomplete" without woo spirituality, and that specifically the Christian God (out of all potential deities) is somehow guiding all natural processes.[1][2]

Overview

In his book, Schönborn accepts evidence for evolution and common descent and claims that these scientific theories are compatible with Catholic belief. So far, so good.

Beyond that the troubles begin, however. Schönborn denies the "neo-Darwinian" interpretation of evolution, seeing evolution not as a random process, but as a directed one.[notes 1]

While Schönborn claims that his views do not conflict with the theory of evolution, his arguments essentially parallel those of your standard IDiot — most notably in his attempts to replace natural processes (read: scientific theories that actually have explanatory power) with "God".[3][4]

Reception

Schönborn is not only not a scientist, but indeed a faithful theologian.

As such, the book has been described not as a scientific, but a religious book — marketed towards Catholics who want to buy the conclusion that their Christianity still makes sense, whilst also (most wisely) accepting evolution.[5]

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See also

Notes
  1. As if the theory of evolution is based on the idea that "it's all random, maan."

References
  1. Introduction: Christoph, Cardinal Schoenborn's Chance or Purpose? Flickering light on the ID controversy at best
  2. Chance or Purpose? at St. Pauls Publications
  3. Catholics and Evolution: Interview with Cardinal Christoph Schönborn
  4. Chance or Purpose? at Ignatius Press
  5. Book Review
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