>>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.”
My statement has more “heft” than his.
I base mine on the Word of God, Genesis. I don’t believe the bible is fairy tales or misinterpretations so that fanciful stories can entertain us, of what actually happened.
And if you’re going to start in with man’s problematic dating methods that have all sorts of presumed assumptions behind them, I will pick the Word of God over anything man can claim, if they are at odds. Time and again top archaeologists have said the bible isn’t true because of this or that not being found (yet), only to later find the very thing the bible said was where it was, or what it was. Never has the bible been disproven when it aligns with discoveries in antiquity. It has always been proven correct.
I stick with God’s Word. Those that want to believe the pope are free to believe the pope.