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Pope Francis Declares Evolution and Big Bang Theory Are Right
HughPickens.com writes: The Independent reports that Pope Francis, speaking at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, has declared that the theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real. "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," said Francis. "He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfillment." Francis explained that both scientific theories were not incompatible with the existence of a creator – arguing instead that they "require it." "Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve." Experts say the Pope's comments put an end to the "pseudo theories" of creationism and intelligent design that some argue were encouraged by his predecessor, Benedict XVI who spoke out against taking Darwin too far.
This has been mainline Christian thought, even among evangelicals, for decades. YEC's get the spot-light because they're zany, but this has already been accepted for a good while now.
might well have been a spaceship from another planet or solar system, colonializing earth with humans and various animal species.
Unless they populated Earth with every single lifeform, that wouldn't be possible, since all lifeforms have a single family tree.
I have a feeling this only seems newsworthy because most folks here are more acquainted with American Catholicism, which tends be very very influenced by American protestentism (ie, evangelicals) and thus very very conservative in some areas (especially science).
The Catholic Church has not been opposed to these things for some time, regardless of the feelings of certain members of the Church who didn't bother to learn their Catechism very well. Granted, the Church does an end run around them by essentially saying "if it is so, then it is so because God made it so", which is fairly standard religious belief around and not really out of hte ordinary.
But the point is, the Church's actual teaching is that there is no conflict between the Church's spiritual beliefs and teachings and these sciences, and thus the Church does not reject these scientific theories.
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
The Vatican has accepted Evolution doesn't conflict with theology for decades now, and the Big Bang theory was was proposed by a Catholic Priest.
The problem is, most of the biblical literalists don't consider Catholicism to be a valid branch of Christianity.
Why are people getting so excited?
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fact: what we now call the "big bang" was proposed by Georges Lemaitre, a Catholic preist, in 1927. the alternative "steady state" (basically, the universe always existed) was primarily supported by Anglicans and atheists. The big bang theory was a big fuck you to both of them. I'm glad Pope Frank is keeping it real and isn't afraid to bitch slapping the Anglicans and atheists.
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(Full disclosure, I'm an atheist) Actually, god was afraid we would steal his power. That's why he kicks us out.
And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."
- Genesis 3:22
The reason for this is much more mundane. In the original Hebrew, God has many names depending on whether God is being referred to as someone who judges sins, as merciful, etc. These don't all translate perfectly from Hebrew to English so sometimes "Lord" is used and sometimes "God" is used - depending on the translation. No need to bring in space aliens and further complicate matters when a simple translation explanation will do.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
If the Pope is (according to the Catholic Church) the infallible representative of God on this earth, then logically now, how can two popes say two different things?
If you want to argue about papal infallibility it's probably wise that you understand papal infallibility and ex cathedra before uttering idiotic statements like what I quoted.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
If the Pope is (according to the Catholic Church) the infallible representative of God on this earth, then logically now, how can two popes say two different things?
Papal infallibility only pertains to Catholic doctrine, and nothing else. If you asked the Pope what the weather was going to be like next week, and he said it was going to be rainy, but it ended up being sunny, it wouldn't violate papal infallibility.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
And if you want to enlighten people about their misunderstandings of your religion, it's probably wise to know the difference between a "statement" and a "question," and, at a bare minimum, decency requires not conflating ignorance of internal concepts like "ex cathedra" to stupidity.
Otherwise, you come across as just another thumpin' asshole.
Which is true, the vast majority of the time. The Pope is only considered infallable when claiming ex cathedra which is almost exclusively used for the canonization of saints. There are fewer than 15 acknowledged papal statements that are considered ex cathedra and consequently infallable. It was a rhetorical question made from a flawed premise that ended at the right conclusion. That's of course discarding any sort of argument against papal infallibility made from within the Catholic Church or other Christian faiths.
However, as juancn stated, the philosophy of the church and faith is a deeply complicated matter that a few simple sentence cannot do justice. Terms rarely as blanket statements and are usually far more nuanced than people realize. Religious orders themselves have influenced things in various ways. The Jesuits have always been an interesting order to follow and it certainly doesn't hurt that Pope Francis is the first Jesuit elected to the Papacy.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork