... against Pell on Evolution

Catholic Cardinal George Pell admits he believes in evolution, so where does the church stand?
Adam Heidingsfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv0LVRKjt2U

0:08 "From Neanderthals"?

As in "Neanderthals are not fully human" or sth? Or, were?

0:38 "x is extinct" does NOT mean "y evolved from x".

If one could conclusively prove:

a) x and y not being the same (and Neanderthals are simply human, so in this case they are) BUT close enough for one to evolve from other
b) x already being around at a certain time
c) AND y not yet being around at that time
d) AND not an as close or perhaps even closer z which y could have evolved from instead of from x

THEN one could say with some confidence "probably y evolved from x".

Pell believes in a "scientific" Evolution Narrative he doesn't master even the pseudo-science, let alone the part of real science of!

What Pell was getting at in the reply interrupted before 1:03 was this: "Neanderthals evolved before humans" (as in Neanderthals are not really human). Yes, so the Evolutionary Storyline actually goes.

Usually with this twist:

Homo Heidelbergensis first had a branch which evolved into Neanderthals;
Homo Heidelbergensis then had another branch which evolved into humans;
Then both Homo Heidelbergensis and Neanderthals died off, leaving humans behind.

On a Creationist view, "homo sapiens humans" (as if the rest were not human or homo sapiens) are as much descended from Adam and Eve as "Neanderthal humans" and "Homo Heidelbergensis humans".

All of which are grossly misdated to involve time for evolution to happen and by methods which are not reliable, either at all (as in Potassium Argon) or too far back (as with usual calibration of C14).

So, Neanderthals "evolved before humans" does NOT even on evolutionary terms mean "humans evolved from Neanderthals".

1:46 If Pell tried to have an intelligent conversation with Australopithecus Africanus (said to have developed in South Africa, as mentioned), he might NOT find a human soul in it.

1:52 But there are no drawings left by Australopithecus Africanus!

1:57 "no such thing from Neanderthals"?

Music instruments? Burial of dead? Really no such things?

C'mon!

You are not so much insulting the creationist in me as the ex-evolutionist, Pell!

2:07 "there must have been a first one"

And a book which the predecessors from which your Church apparently evolved a few decades ago considered and still (insofar as it survives) considers the word of God, that first man not only has a name (and his wife's name is mentioned too), but a lifespan, and a date at which the lifespan of the son from which we descend was born too.

Adam was obviously created 5199 years BC if Christ was born Anno Mundi 5199, as we say at Christmas!

2:24 Adam means Earth, Eve means Life. Ergo, "'Adam and Eve' means everyman".

Nero comes from the same noun root as Greek aner.

Perhaps there never was a KAISAP NEPON after all, perhaps that just means "everymale"?

And Peter means stone, perhaps there never was any St Peter either, since there was no Nero to crucify him?

C'mon!

2:31 "a mythological account"

You are as myth-educated about myths as about evolution, apostate Pell!

"Myth" does not per se specify whether it belongs to fact or fiction, any more than epic or drama do.

2:49 "to try to explain the evil and suffering"

To the Church which your community "evolved" from a few decades ago, Genesis chapter 3 DOES factually and adequately explain evil and suffering.

In Catechism of St Pius X there is not a trace of "try to explain" and "sophisticated mythological way".

Genesis 3 ALSO contains a promise about the Blessed Virgin Mary (3:15).

On Pell's "evolved" view presumably that promise was not literally pronounced by God either!

3:25 Pell was not sure God had written the ten commandments.

Here is what God / The Lord told Moses:

Exodus 24:[12] And the Lord said to Moses: Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and the law, and the commandments which I have written: that thou mayst teach them.

Dawkins bumps in with, actually a bit of sense:

4:07 "if Adam and Eve never existed, where did original sin come from" - hear, hear!

4:32 "there never was a last Homo Erectus who gave birth to a first Homo Sapiens"

How true, if both are simply human!

4:49 "it was always a case of just a slightly different from previous generation"

Which is a good reason not to believe evolution happened, from ape to man, from fish to lizard, from one-celled to many-celled, to name a few of the steps which defy this logic, if common descent were allowed.

6:09 a human has a soul, a principle of life, which is ... "immensely more sophisticated"?

The spot on is, "ontologically different, because a spirit"!

A few decades ago, Catholic Truth Society would have been ashamed of allowing you to speak, Pell!

7:53 A sceptic about the human contribution to dangerous climate change!

Wow, one good point for Pell!