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"God preserves what is true, and buries what is wrong." "The Bible is not a natural science textbook, nor does it intend to be such. It is a religious book, and consequently one cannot obtain information about the natural sciences from it. One cannot get from it a scientific explanation of how the world arose; one can only glean religious experience from it. Anything else is an image and a way of describing things whose aim is to make profound realities graspable to human beings. One must distinguish between the form of portrayal and the content that is portrayed. The form would have been chosen from what was understandable at the time -- from the images which surrounded the people who lived then, which they used in speaking and in thinking, and thanks to which they were able to understand the greater realities. And only the reality that shines through these images would be what was intended and what was truly enduring. Thus Scripture would not wish to inform us about how the different species of plant life gradually appeared or how the sun and the moon and the stars were established. Its purpose ultimately would be to say one thing: God created the world." - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

"One must distinguish between the form of portrayal and the content that is portrayed. The form would have been chosen from what was understandable at the time -- from the images which surrounded the people who lived then, which they used in speaking and in thinking, and thanks to which they were able to understand the greater realities."

The then Cardinal, now Pope, is right: it took the discovery of cosmic background radiation for Science to learn what Judeo-Christians have always known . . . that there was a beginning.

editor-surveyor: "God preserves what is true, and buries what is wrong."

Natural Law: quoting - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI): "The Bible is not a natural science textbook, nor does it intend to be such.

"It is a religious book, and consequently one cannot obtain information about the natural sciences from it.
One cannot get from it a scientific explanation of how the world arose; one can only glean religious experience from it.

"Anything else is an image and a way of describing things whose aim is to make profound realities graspable to human beings.
One must distinguish between the form of portrayal and the content that is portrayed.
The form would have been chosen from what was understandable at the time -- from the images which surrounded the people who lived then, which they used in speaking and in thinking, and thanks to which they were able to understand the greater realities.
And only the reality that shines through these images would be what was intended and what was truly enduring.

"Thus Scripture would not wish to inform us about how the different species of plant life gradually appeared or how the sun and the moon and the stars were established.

"Its purpose ultimately would be to say one thing: God created the world."

Well worth repeating. ;-)