Posted on 10/28/2014 3:19:32 PM PDT by Faith Presses On
In an exciting declaration, Pope Francis I stated that God should not seen as a “magician with a magic wand,” while unveiling a statue of his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Pope Francis also stated that evolution and the Big Bang theory are both true and not incompatible with the church’s views on the origins of the universe and life.
“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, according to the Independent. Francis continued by stating that God “created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfillment.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
I would add John 1:1. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God”. Nancy Pelosi favorite Word.. I wonder if she knows that verse means Jesus was there in the beginning when World was created.
I would add John 1:1. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God”. Nancy Pelosi favorite Word.. I wonder if she knows that verse means Jesus was there in the beginning when World was created.
i didn’t see you complaining about the pope’s lack of scientific references.
evolution involves death so if evolution was there when Adam and Eve came into being, then whole Genesis is a fraud because death was there before they sinned.
The Pope is an incredibly sloppy thinker and preacher. He creates controversies where there are none, and confusion where none is necessary.
His remarks are not a good starting point for a useful discussion.
Recently, he said that “Jesus is consubstantial with the Father. Jesus is consubstantial with Mary.” Totally misused the term “consubstantial.” Makes nonsense of the Nicene Creed.
NEWS FLASH: The Catholic Church teaches CREATION. The Catholic Church does not teach that the STORY of creation in Genesis is literally true in all its details. How could the TWO creation accounts both be true, since they contradict each other?
The Catholic Church teaches that God created all things ex nihilo; that God created the first man and woman; that all living humans are descended from one man and one woman.
The DETAILS of the creation story teach a number of philosophical and theological truths about God and man. It is a misunderstanding of Scripture to believe that Genesis was intended to teach geology, physics, etc.
As is typical of this Pope, he had to use provocative language that just insults a lot of people.
I love what Nels Bohr said to Einstein after Albert claimed that "God does not play dice with the universe!" His reply..."Stop telling God what to do!" Humans do not limit God by description, ideas, understanding or... God is beyond rational, and that not subject to our limited whim. DK
ahhhh No. He says stuff (doesn’t matter what) then
claims “lost in translation”
Oh come on people this guy has never read a Biblical reference in his life.
Oh he will, just as he has done every other time
Magicians do not perform miracles, therefore God is not a magician.
A magician is a created being who uses powers he doesn't understand to do things he doesn't fully understand either. Of course God is not a magician and miracles are miracles, not magic.
Where exactly did he say that?
No need to exaggerate. Of course he’s familiar with Scripture. And he’s not the one who claims “bad translation.”
But he is careless with words, and he did try to push the Kasperite, heretical agenda through the Synod.
The issue here is that the bible is really a library of different literary genres... Genesis is a narrative not literal history (impossible to document all of creation), it is vastly different in genre from Leviticus, Exodus, the Gospels, The Epistles etc.
Ignorance of genre is ignorance of the nature of scripture.
I’ve also come to understand that not only does the style not translate to English from Hebrew very well,
but there is SO MUCH Jewish background/cultural knowledge that is assumed in the writing that just gets lost coming into a comparatively juvenile English language.
The word ‘days’ in Genesis is a metaphor... And obviously so because the concept of ‘day’ in Genesis predates the existence of the Earth and the Sun which is how we mark ‘days’ on Earth.
From God’s perspective... Which is the perspective that we see the Genesis narrative... The concept of day is going to be different.
Just as the typical person can only establish relationship with about 150 people in real life... A God that has literally created billions of people and seeks relationship with all who are on earth might have an expansive view of time from his perspective.
Does that make sense?
It is FR anti-Catholicism that has pushed me, like a sign from above, to the Church. I’m in RCIA and will join the Church on Easter. I noticed the Catholic bashing and, as a Protestant, was appalled! There are many issues to be concerned about these days, yet they insist on aiming their hatred at Catholics. As a mom, I don’t know how they have the time for it. This started my journey, as I began researching the issues, and I realized that there is only one Church.
When we read in Genesis the account of Creation, we risk imagining God as a magus, with a magic wand able to make everything. But it is not so. He created beings and allowed them to develop according to the internal laws that He gave to each one, so that they were able to develop and to arrive [at] their fullness of being. He gave autonomy to the beings of the Universe at the same time at which he assured them of his continuous presence, giving being to every reality. And so creation continued for centuries and centuries, millennia and millennia, until it became which we know today, precisely because God is not a demiurge or a conjurer, but the Creator who gives being to all things. The beginning of the world is not the work of chaos that owes its origin to another, but derives directly from a supreme Origin that creates out of love. The Big Bang, which nowadays is posited as the origin of the world, does not contradict the divine act of creating, but rather requires it. The evolution of nature does not contrast with the notion of Creation, as evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve.With regard to man, instead, there is a change and something new. When, on the sixth day of the account in Genesis, man is created, God gives the human being another autonomy, an autonomy that is different to that of nature, which is freedom. And he tells man to name everything and to go ahead through history. This makes him responsible for creation, so that he might dominate it in order to develop it until the end of time. Therefore the scientist, and above all the Christian scientist, must adopt the approach of posing questions regarding the future of humanity and of the earth, and, of being free and responsible, helping to prepare it and preserve it, to eliminate risks to the environment of both a natural and human nature. But, at the same time, the scientist must be motivated by the confidence that nature hides, in her evolutionary mechanisms, potentialities for intelligence and freedom to discover and realise, to achieve the development that is in the plan of the Creator. So, while limited, the action of humanity is part of God’s power and is able to build a world suited to his dual corporal and spiritual life; to build a human world for all human beings and not for a group or a class of privileged persons. This hope and trust in God, the Creator of nature, and in the capacity of the human spirit can offer the researcher a new energy and profound serenity. But it is also true that the action of humanity – when freedom becomes autonomy – which is not freedom, but autonomy – destroys creation and man takes the place of the Creator. And this is the grave sin against God the Creator.
“Magicians are illusionists. God is a Creator. Ex nihlo type.”
Sometimes He fools us with what is, for him, just an illusion...and sometimes He creates out of nothing. He is the very definition of “multi-talented” - His knowledge and abilities are literally infinite and beyond our understanding, no matter what our level of technology.
>>i didn’t see you complaining about the pope’s lack of scientific references.<<
His statement is a faith-based statement. And it has what we in science call “heft.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.