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To: Patriotic1
Heck. St. Augustine first wrote about Genesis not being literal.

Assuming you are referring to Creation, I'll call you out on that...

The early Christian Church Fathers constantly argued with the pagans about the age of the earth, or about the age of civilization. They were unanimous that God had created the earth less than 6,000 years before they wrote. For example, one of the most influential, Augustine (AD354–430), in his most famous work, City of God, has a whole chapter, Of the Falseness of the History Which Allots Many Thousand Years to the World’s Past, where he says:

‘Let us, then, omit the conjectures of men who know not what they say, when they speak of the nature and origin of the human race. … They are deceived, too, by those highly mendacious documents which profess to give the history of many thousand years, though, reckoning by the sacred writings, we find that not 6000 years have yet passed.’

Augustine clearly believed in a literal account of the Creation as written in the scriptures...NOW, you won't have to repeat that error again...

30 posted on 10/30/2014 9:12:56 AM PDT by Iscool
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To: Iscool

It appears that you copied that text from somewhere. Can you direct me to it?


53 posted on 10/30/2014 1:35:12 PM PDT by Patriotic1 (Dic mihi solum facta, domina - Just the facts, ma'am)
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To: Iscool

Oh, and I might not make that mistake again, but the Church’s position doesn’t rest on his position. Basically, I believe the Bible is salvation history, not literalism in terms of history or science. And I believe the Catholic Church has believed that for some time (and yes, I am researching that too!). Now, as to what individual priests, nuns, etc have taught to various children throughout the decades isn’t something that proves or disproves the point. (I say that only because inevitably someone comes along saying that ‘the nuns taught me XYZ’ in order to refute something.)


54 posted on 10/30/2014 1:43:32 PM PDT by Patriotic1 (Dic mihi solum facta, domina - Just the facts, ma'am)
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To: Iscool
Looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegorical_interpretations_of_Genesis (Granted it's wikipedia but there are citations for Augustine and Genesis.)

And it's not that simple:

Saint Augustine, one of the most influential theologians of the Catholic Church, suggested that the Biblical text should not be interpreted literally if it contradicts what we know from science and our God-given reason. From an important passage on his "The Literal Interpretation of Genesis" (early fifth century, AD), St. Augustine wrote:

..SNIP...

In the book, Augustine took the view that everything in the universe was created simultaneously by God, and not in seven days like a plain account of Genesis would require. He argues that the six-day structure of creation presented in the book of Genesis represents a logical framework, rather than the passage of time in a physical way. Augustine also doesn’t envisage original sin as originating structural changes in the universe, and even suggests that the bodies of Adam and Eve were already created mortal before the Fall. Apart from his specific views, Augustine recognizes that the interpretation of the creation story is difficult, and remarks that we should be willing to change our mind about it as new information comes up.

But yes, in the City of God he defends the young earth idea.

Another Early Church Father, Origen, came out against it.

Ludwig Ott wrote about it citing early Councils and Fathers in his book Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma. I think I have it so if you want more quotes supporting a non-literal interpretation from a Catholic perspective.

What I will NOT do is get into a evo-creationist argument. You are free to accept my facts or not. You can interpret things differently, but things are what they are.

56 posted on 10/30/2014 1:52:03 PM PDT by Patriotic1 (Dic mihi solum facta, domina - Just the facts, ma'am)
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