Church and Darwin's theory

I would like to respond to R. Daryadi's letter (Jan. 22, 1997) who proclaimed his literal interpretation of the Bible and his blind faith that he, at least, did not descend from an ape.

I think he might be interested in the following. When Copernicus first suggested that the earth revolved around the sun, he was broadly condemned by religious fundamentalists of the day. Luther summed up the feeling by saying, "This fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy, but sacred scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still and not the earth. It is dishonest and indecent to assert such notions publicly and the example is pernicious. It is the part of a good mind to accept the truth as revealed by God and to acquiesce it."

Throughout history, religious dogma like this has, in fact, been violently against all major scientific advances. Describing how the blood flows around the body used to be punishable by death in Christian Europe for example. Other great leaps forward like the science of optics or the technology of mass printing and man's first attempts to explore the world, were strongly resisted by the Church and the amazing discoveries that stemmed from these advances were often denied if not outlawed.

And this was all because the observed and verifiable facts failed to match the prevailing theological wisdom.

But in reference to Darwin, I understand that the Pope has recently "rehabilitated" Galileo after a few centuries of denial. So I wonder how long it will be before Darwin is allowed to join those other previously condemned visionaries and his extraordinary discoveries become absorbed into the Church's worldview. But I guess it would take longer for Darwin to gain acceptance than Galileo, if only for the fact that man's origins are a more sensitive subject than the movement of the planets.

In the meantime, perhaps the people responsible for the world famous museum housing the remains of "Java Man" might, for our benefit, including R. Daryadi's, care to shed a little light on the matter.

I shall now eat a banana.

DAVID S. WIXEY

Jakarta