quote: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 practice the old virtues of 'faith seeking understanding' and hope that makes some amends. But the struggle for your reputation is not over yet, and the problem is not just your religious opponents but those who falsely claim you in support of their own interests. Good religion needs to work constructively with good science – and I dare to suggest that the opposite may be true as well. Supported by Ecclesiastical Insurance Group
This is just the end bit of a longer essay. I won't comment on it, though there are some things worth talking about in there. I just think it's interesting that they've gone and done this. I don't completely understand how this works though. This is a whole religion suddenly saying, "do not take the bible literally". Doesn't that seem to open up a can of worms for everything they try to teach members from here on out?
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
They aren't suddenly saying anything, and they won't need to change any current teaching. The Church of England have never been bibilcal literalists. Anglican theology is completely compatable with Darwin's work. Heck, the man is burried in Westminster Abbey!
Edit: having now read the article, I'll put it another way. That is a completely mainstream Anglican essay, which won't raise a single eyebrow in the Church of England. There's no can of worms there. It's an essay commemorating the 200th anniversary of Darwin, not a new position statment for the church.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
quote:Originally posted by dkw: They aren't suddenly saying anything, and they won't need to change any current teaching. The Church of England have never been bibilcal literalists. Anglican theology is completely compatable with Darwin's work. Heck, the man is burried in Westminster Abbey!
Edit: having now read the article, I'll put it another way. That is a completely mainstream Anglican essay, which won't raise a single eyebrow in the Church of England. There's no can of worms there. It's an essay commemorating the 200th anniversary of Darwin, not a new position statment for the church.
Which is why I converted right before I got married, and why I am very happy with my religion for the first time in decades.