Who Said?

Who said the following? "We cannot say: creation or evolution. The exact formula is creation and evolution, because both respond to two different questions."

Pope Benedict XVI wrote that. It was quoted by the dean of philosophy at the Regina Apostoloruin a brief, Catholic news report.

The pope offers a reason why we balancing both creation and evolution is necessary.

"The story of the dust of the earth and the breath of God does not tell us how man originated. It tells us what he is.

"It talks about his most profound origin, it illustrates the plan that is behind him. Vice versa, the theory of evolution attempts to specify and describe biological processes.

"It does not succeed in explaining, however, the origin of the 'project' man, his interior derivation and his essence. Therefore, we are before two questions that integrate one another but do not exclude each other."

Answering every question is not our goal. Some questions can never be answered, but they can help us stand in greater awe before the mysteries of life, and the Mystery.

All scientists are not without a sense of, even a desire for Mystery. Albert Einstein said, "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."

Pope Benedict has helped us remember that humans always stand before separate and interrelated question-worlds of science and revelation. God help keep open our eyes!