Posted on 10/30/2014 4:22:44 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real and God is not “a magician with a magic wand”, Pope Francis has declared.
Speaking at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pope made comments which experts said put an end to the “pseudo theories” of creationism and intelligent design that some argue were encouraged by his predecessor, Benedict XVI.
Francis explained that both scientific theories were not incompatible with the existence of a creator – arguing instead that they “require it”.
“When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” Francis said.
He added: “He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfilment.
“The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but, rather, requires it.
“Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Really? Well it seems that the Pope does not interpret the Bible literally and he does tend to speak for Catholics. However it is good that you and others would be so fundamentally disconcerted by “an emotionally charged hypothetical”. Perhaps it will cause you to reflect, rethink and perhaps alter your beliefs however difficult and challenging that may be. Perhaps its a good time for a little counter Reformation.
Matthew 3:9 (Douay-Rheims) 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham for our father. For I tell you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.
So was Jesus kidding, speaking metaphorically or did he mean it literally? I concede that some things he did not mean literally but some things he did, and I choose which to believe literally.
Catholics believe literally that Jesus' body and blood are in Communion as Jesus stated in John Chapter 6.
In the beginning there was nothing, and then nothing exploded.
“Sometimes atheists can know something true. That’s a good thing.”
OK, no disagreement in principle.
“It’s how unbelivers are evangelized. You find out what realities you both recognize and go from that ground of truth seeking truth.”
Does the Holy Spirit have any role in this in your theology?
“However it doesn’t work unless you believe truth is objective.”
No disagreement in principle. Again, I ask, does the Holy Spirit have any role in this? Or is this, in your mind, just a simple intellectual decision to believe or disbelieve? This will tell me how you understand the authority of the Holy Scriptures when it teaches in matters that do not touch on ‘science,’ in matters that go beyond science.
“If reality/truth is subject to what ever you feel there is no common ground.”
I agree ... more than you know. And who does not feel, even while claiming to know?
“Well it seems that the Pope does not interpret the Bible literally and he does tend to speak for Catholics.”
Ahhh, yes, “he does tend to.” Tend would be the operative word.
“Perhaps its a good time for a little counter Reformation.”
Would that be with or without the violence and killing?
Or a breath mint AND a candy mint.
Good start. Keep thinking and reflecting.
One just needs to realize that Francis uses language with the care and precision of Norm Crosby.
Ooh, arrogance too.
Again, according to your theology, does the Holy Spirit have any role in this?
As for the authority of scripture, there is no doubt. It's the authority of someones individual interpretation that I have skepticism about.
Funny you should ask. The Holy Spirit has always dwelled within the mystical body of Christ, the Church. Not sure what happens to those who have embraced heresy and left the Church.
Not mine and not yours. Our bodies began to develop when the sperm hit the egg. But Adam came directly from the dust of the earth. He didn't come from a beast. God created man with a dignity above the beasts.
The fact that Christ could create a healthy eye from unhealthy or could turn leprous skin into smooth (as did God a couple of times in the OT) or translate Lazarus from dead to living shows that He can create instantaneously and not over a period of years. We need to take God at His word in the creation account and not read our own preferences into it.
“Not sure what happens to those who have embraced heresy and left the Church.”
Good start. Keep thinking and reflecting.
“You choose Christ, that’s how the Holy Spirit is involved.”
You sure that is what the Scriptures say? Could you, perhaps, be so kind as to provide references for that teaching?
Ah excellent. Good to see that an “emotionally charged hypothetical” could lead to redemption. That wasn’t so hard. No need to be frightened by enlightenment.
Well, if nothing else, you are entertaining, even funny.
Yes but what are sperm and egg made from? Science is a case of reductionism. It’s the study of constituant parts. It explains everything by secondary and proximate causes. Theology is above that. It’s the study of the first cause and proceeds from that perspective.
Scripture says that Adam came from the dust of the earth but not whether there were intermediate forms. You are reading into the text that there weren’t. I don’t read it that way.
“God created man with a dignity above the beasts.”
There’s no doubt about that, we’re made in the image and likeness.
It doesn't say it because there's no reason to think it. When you start dreaming about intermediate forms, then ideas of other species may come into play which denigrate the dignity with which God created man.
And by the way, there's no reason that one cannot use theology when studying secondary and/or constituent parts. God is in the minutae as well as in the transcendent. He created science and true science leads to theology.
But the Pope is.
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