A teenager may ask: “But if the beginning of the Bible, that is, the account of our supernatural origins, should be interpreted allegorically to accommodate the claims of naturalism, why should other parts of it, such as supernatural transubstantiation, be interpreted literally?”
The Numbing Effect on the Faith of Youth
In his 2007 book, The Doctrines of Genesis 1-11: A Compendium and Defense of Traditional Catholic Theology on Origins, Fr. Victor Warkulwiz made an enormous contribution to the Church. One of his observations seems appropriate to repeat here while considering the effect of conflicting information on the youth.
The theory of evolution has caused confusion in the minds of the young because it differs so much from what is in the Bible. They recognize the contradictions and are not sophisticated enough to rationalize them away. Pope Leo XIII said in Providentissimus Deus: "[F]or the young, if they lose their reverence for the Holy Scripture on one or more points, are easily led to giving up believing in it altogether. It need not be pointed out how the nature of science, just as it is so admirably adapted to show forth the glory of the Great Creator, provided it be taught as it should be, so, if it be perversely imparted to the youthful intelligence, it may prove most fatal in destroying the principles of true philosophy and in the corruption of morality."
The notion of an earth billions of years old, which is espoused by Catholic evolutionists, has had a numbing effect on the faith of youth. It pushes God so far into the background of time that He’s barely visible and hardly seems relevant today. But the God of Genesis is up front. He created the world only a few thousand years ago and has lovingly and providentially followed, and intervened in, the history of mankind.
“What,” students may wonder, “was God doing during those billions of years?” Especially in his public school education, the student will be exposed to the concept that religion is just a cultural development of the pre-scientific age. To resolve that cognitive dissonance caused by those questions some might decide to reject the Bible outright (and belief in God as we know Him). And many have. John West of the Discovery Institute published an article titled “Are Young People Losing Their Faith Because of Science?” in which he observed that his research
suggests that if churches want to be effective in answering student questions about science and faith, they cannot wait until adulthood or rely on college ministries to do the job. They need to be engaging young people on these issues when they are in middle school and high school, if not earlier.
Along that line of thinking is an article called “Creation—the ‘dealbreaker’ for today’s generation: Survey results surprise youth worker” which was written about Australia but applies equally to America. Mentioned is a survey of religious beliefs of Generation Y (born after 1980), which showed that less than 50% of that group even believed that there was any sort of God, and that the single biggest reason that this generation gave for loss of faith was “doing further study, especially science.” (Mason, M, Singleton, A., and Webber, R., The Spirit of Generation Y, Mulgrave: John Garratt pub., 2007.) The article is online at creation.com/creation-dealbreaker
What those who have studied the loss of our youth have determined is that the “origins” questions raised by Humanist “science” must be countered very early. This means it is the duty of priests and parents. Priests have the control of parish facilities and can use them to promote and facilitate truth in natural science education. If priests lead, parents will follow.
My book, Creation, Evolution, and Catholicism: A Discussion for Those Who Believe is not hand wringing about how bad everything is. It is a blueprint for keeping our children Catholic by teaching them sound, modern natural science. Evolution is bogus. It is not scientific. My book will convince you of that and reinforce your faith in the Bible. Everything you need to expand your faith and knowledge is in the book.
Thomas L. McFadden
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