Pope don't believe the bible???

[ayin jade]

The Catholic Church no longer teaches creationism -- the belief that God created the world in six days as described in the Bible -- and says that the account in the book of Genesis is an allegory for the way God created the world.

This is what I was trying to show.

Ah yes thats definitely a problem.

[oldzimm]

I don't think it is right to say the pope does not believe the bible. More so that he believes the bible, but that the message of Genesis is not literal. He may or may not be wrong about what he thinks Genesis says, but he does believe that the message of the bible is true. Just thought I'd clarify.

It's one thing to say that the bible is false, another to say that a passage is allegorical rather than literal.

~candice~ I'm not saying that the Pope does or doesn't believe the Bible, I will not judge him, for it is not for me to judge him. Regardless if I'm Catholic or not (which I'm not) I don't hold the Pope higher than any other mortal man, he puts his pants on the same way I do, one leg at a time. Now "if" the Pope or any other man doesn't believe in all the Bible and just the parts they want to believe, they should kneel down and have a serious talk with God.

[~candice~]

Indeed I just wanted to differentiate between people who think that Genesis is true and should correctly be interpretted allegorically, and those who think that Genesis is patently false.

The title suggests that "Pope don't believe the bible" when in fact he does believe the bible, he just differs from the conservative fundamental interpretation of the bible.

[josephine tomczuk]

why would anyone believe in God Almighty, but then suggest doubt in His ability to create the earth in six days? God's Word is God's Word, right? just the same way i dare to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for me and rose again BECAUSE HIS WORD SAYS SO, that's the same way i believe God created the earth in six days.

unless there's some allegory about salvation which we've not found yet. honestly, if we go down this imagery road, which parts of the bible can we believe at all - and you know if that's the case then everyone's gonna have their own different parts. then the Word of God loses its meaning and truth. either it's all true, or just throw it out with the rest of the trash.

[awomanafterHim]

I'm with u josephine!!!! Amen

[Jorge S]

Please note that the comment about the RCC no longer teaching creationism in the literal sense of Genesis is an interpolation made by the reporter at the end of the article. Pope Benedict did not say it himself. We may assume that the current Pope adheres to the position of his church on that matter, but based on this report I cannot be sure about his own personal stance. I don't know what to make of the opening statement without further elaboration.

The title of this thread is eye-catching but does not live up to its content. It feels forced and tendentious when seen in context.

Here is the original article. I have highlighted in green the literal quotes of what the Pope said, in blue what the reporter says the Pope said, and in grey the final reporter's thoughts.

God was behind Big Bang, universe no accident: Pope

by Phillip Pullela

VATICAN CITY | Thu Jan 6, 2011 10:05am EST

(Reuters) - God's mind was behind complex scientific theories such as the Big Bang, and Christians should reject the idea that the universe came into being by accident, Pope Benedict said on Thursday.

"The universe is not the result of chance, as some would want to make us believe," Benedict said on the day Christians mark the Epiphany, the day the Bible says the three kings reached the site where Jesus was born by following a star.

"Contemplating it (the universe) we are invited to read something profound into it: the wisdom of the creator, the inexhaustible creativity of God," he said in a sermon to some 10,000 people in St Peter's Basilica on the feast day.

While the pope has spoken before about evolution, he has rarely delved back in time to discuss specific concepts such as the Big Bang, which scientists believe led to the formation of the universe some 13.7 billion years ago.

Researchers at CERN, the nuclear research center in Geneva, have been smashing protons together at near the speed of light to simulate conditions that they believe brought into existence the primordial universe from which stars, planets and life on earth -- and perhaps elsewhere -- eventually emerged.

Some atheists say science can prove that God does not exist, but Benedict said that some scientific theories were "mind limiting" because "they only arrive at a certain point ... and do not manage to explain the ultimate sense of reality ..."

He said scientific theories on the origin and development of the universe and humans, while not in conflict with faith, left many questions unanswered.

"In the beauty of the world, in its mystery, in its greatness and in its rationality ... we can only let ourselves be guided toward God, creator of heaven and earth," he said.

Benedict and his predecessor John Paul have been trying to shed the Church's image of being anti-science, a label that stuck when it condemned Galileo for teaching that the earth revolves around the sun, challenging the words of the Bible.

Galileo was rehabilitated and the Church now also accepts evolution as a scientific theory and sees no reason why God could not have used a natural evolutionary process in the forming of the human species.

The Catholic Church no longer teaches creationism -- the belief that God created the world in six days as described in the Bible -- and says that the account in the book of Genesis is an allegory for the way God created the world.

But it objects to using evolution to back an atheist philosophy that denies God's existence or any divine role in creation. It also objects to using Genesis as a scientific text.

[Arthur Durnan]

The Roman Catholic Pope - which is unheard of in Holy Writ! I mean which disciple attended which "Roman Catholic" parish where? - must now explain how any Big Bang or little bang or a medium bang for that matter anywhere at any time could produce an ordered universe. Bangs destroy, not create in orderly fashion! Pulleezz!! Even Humpty Dumpty would decry Benedict's surmising because "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. Which made up for his lousy summer, yes?

[Guest]

While A Man Pontificates

"If man were merely a random product of evolution in some place on the margins of the universe, then his life would make no sense or might even be a chance of nature," he said. "But no, reason is there at the beginning: creative, divine reason."

Church teaching holds that Roman Catholicism and evolutionary theory are not necessarily at odds: A Christian can, for example, accept the theory of evolution to help explain developments, but is taught to believe that God, not random chance, is the origin of the world. The Vatican, however, warns against creationism, or the overly literal interpretation of the biblical account of creation.

Read more: http://www.azcentral...l#ixzz1QRME7HZ6

And Speculates

Professor Leclerc said that too many opponents of Darwin - above all Creationists - had mistakenly claimed that his theories were "totally incompatible with a religious vision of reality", as did proponents of Intelligent Design.

Darwin's theories had never been formally condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, Monsignor Ravasi insisted. His rehabilitation had begun as long ago as 1950, when Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans. In 1996 John Paul II said that it was "more than a hypothesis".

Father Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Santa Croce University in Rome, said that Darwin had been anticipated by St Augustine of Hippo. The 4th-century theologian had "never heard the term evolution, but knew that big fish eat smaller fish" and that forms of life had been transformed "slowly over time". Aquinas had made similar observations in the Middle Ages, he added.

He said it was time that theologians as well as scientists grappled with the mysteries of genetic codes and "whether the diversification of life forms is the result of competition or cooperation between species". As for the origins of Man, although we shared 97 per cent of our "genetic inheritance" with apes, the remaining 3 per cent "is what makes us unique", including religion.

"I maintain that the idea of evolution has a place in Christian theology," Professor Tanzella-Nitti added.

Creationism remains powerful in the US, however, notably among Protestants, and its followers object to evolution being taught in state schools.

The Church of England is seeking to bring Darwin back into the fold with a page on its website paying tribute to his "forgotten" work in his local parish, to illustrate how science and Church need not be at odds. Several pages celebrate Darwin's "significant scientific progress" to mark his bicentenary and also the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species.

http://www.blackchri...tion-video.html

The LORD God Almighty Delineates

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis 1:31

So Whatever Is A Little Child Of God Left To Do

Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James 4:4

But To Trust In The Holy WORD

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:1-5

In The LORD My God

And I Do

[Guest TeenTitan19]

I don't think it is right to say the pope does not believe the bible. More so that he believes the bible, but that the message of Genesis is not literal. He may or may not be wrong about what he thinks Genesis says, but he does believe that the message of the bible is true. Just thought I'd clarify.

It's one thing to say that the bible is false, another to say that a passage is allegorical rather than literal.

as much as we have been going back and forth in PM this past week i have to say i LOOOOOVE this post. actually, it sums up exactly what I was going to say. I don't see the big problem with the idea that God created science and the event that caused the creation of the universe (multiverse???????) =D

[~candice~]

I don't think it is right to say the pope does not believe the bible. More so that he believes the bible, but that the message of Genesis is not literal. He may or may not be wrong about what he thinks Genesis says, but he does believe that the message of the bible is true. Just thought I'd clarify.

It's one thing to say that the bible is false, another to say that a passage is allegorical rather than literal.

as much as we have been going back and forth in PM this past week i have to say i LOOOOOVE this post. actually, it sums up exactly what I was going to say. I don't see the big problem with the idea that God created science and the event that caused the creation of the universe (multiverse???????) =D

It's not that simple. I have a soapbox debate with Shiloh about this very topic if you are interested in reading.