What MUST Catholics believe regarding creation?
- Catholics are obliged to believe that God created life
- man’s spiritual soul was and is created immediately by God
- A Catholic cannot hold that it was a matter of chance that brought about a process of evolution
- that matter existed eternally
- Catholics cannot hold that the soul of man evolved
- Catholic teaching informs us that man’s spiritual soul was and is a direct and conscious creation of God Whether you consider that Man was created from dust or by a process of divine evolution
Current scientific data hasn't proven that man evolved. Attempts have been made in several areas of science none of them has proved this. So, at this point it is just a theory. Please see the attached file.
Yes, as Catholics we are bound to believe that God created everything from nothing, which includes all matter and time - which is a necessary component of matter. When it comes to the discussion of evolution is where the seeds of confusion are planted - "Why should you not eat of every tree of paradise?" "Surely you will not die" (Gen. 3). As Catholics we are allowed the possibility of material evolution through God's creation and by his design although as Rajan has said, it is still only a theory - which has never been able to be duplicated in any scientific process. What we may not believe as Catholics is the particular form of evolution most understood as Darwinistic evolution in which matter, life, faith and reason are Godlessly and randomly assembled - which is an interesting thought because to even be able to talk of randomness an order, or design(er) is necessarily pre-supposed. This confusion is purposefully placed into the discussion of creation. It gained governmental support in the early 1920's (1922 I believe), coincidentally right at the time of the Atheistic Communist advance - yes, which planted its feet in America then too, the first Communist movement beginning just prior to 1920. Since then it has not only invaded the school system, but has silenced, or to use the common lexicon, cancelled any debate or discussion that challenge it. In doing that the ability to confuse becomes easier because the use and distortion of any form of creationist language is not allowed to be challenged. As a result it is taken for granted now by most people that life evolved, and that it did so in a (mostly perhaps) Darwinistic manner - because that is the only side we are allowed to hear in the public education sphere, confusing and bringing question into the minds of even those who say they believe.
Is evolution possible? Yes, but only if God chose to develop the material world in that manner. Is the evolution of the soul possible? Absolutely not. This is the meaning of the 6th day of creation. This is the only time God begins a relationship with his creation; it is the only time he communicates with it in dialogue and it is only through man. This is also the meaning behind the Jewish feast of Rosh Hashanah. We commonly understand it as the Jewish new year, but it is in fact known as "the birthday of the world". The blowing of the Shofar is to symbolize the infusion of the soul into Adam, thus God giving birth to his children made in his image. Let us not forget though that evolution is still an unproven theory and that God as Creator cannot be removed from the equation - even in the most basic, logical sense: something CANNOT come from nothing and randomness only exists if there is an order it can deviate from first.
The professor in the youtube video sheds some light on Creation Vs. Evolution. About 2 hours long. He debates some atheists. You can fast forward and listen to only sections that might interest you. Note: He disagrees with the big bang theory. Like the theory of evolution, big bang is a theory. The honest truth is we don't know for a fact. This professor could be wrong. However, the evolution that is taught as a fact has lot of holes. For instance, the claim that Dinosaurs lived 65 million years ago and humans came after they were extinct is a lie. Now how about they were extinct 65 million years ago? Recently scientists have found fossils with bones. I will find and post that research paper. That professor was silenced by pseudo-scientist gang.
I've been thinking of how to reply to this without making it into an argument about evolution vs. creationism.
What we are bound to believe as Catholics (which is what the question is) is that God is the creator of all there is. How this occurred is not absolutely known. There is speculation and evidence that leads to assumptions which we call theories about both the big bang and evolution. Whatever the truth of these is, the truth is that God is the author of it. Plenty of evidence is there to support the big bang theory which is most certainly not in conflict with our Catholic faith and was in fact developed by Monsignor Georges Lemaitre, a Catholic priest. This theory conforms with Einstein's theory of relativity and shows the development of the universe as we see it today in the measurement of time, development and expansion. Evolution is a much less supported theory. Within that though are two different theories. The first is that God could have chosen to develop the material universe in that manner to achieve a particular state. In doing this it would necessarily act in opposition to the law of thermodynamics that says all things move from order to chaos, but in the creation story we read that God initiated creation from chaos to order; from "darkness to light"; from "evening to morning". Is this evidence? No. Is it out of the realm of possibility? No. This, however must be distinguished from the second theory within the theory of evolution, Darwinistic evolution. This theory is entirely contrary to our Catholic faith. In this theory God is removed from the story of creation, thus suggesting that somehow the laws that hold the entire universe together just somehow appeared in violation of its own law and operates both in accordance with and in opposition to those laws, yet still depends on them to sustain itself. This theory also does not allow for the creation of the soul and the life of faith and reason; in this theoretical argument the "missing link" of faith and reason in animal evolution is still missing and no one who adheres to this "belief" has any leads on where to begin looking for it.
As it stands, what is required is to believe that God is the Creator of all there is, regardless of the method he chose to use.
Steve, I totally agree with you that it truly does not matter how God created the universe. It is enough just to believe that He exists and He is in control of everything, including our lives. This belief needs to be deep in our hearts. I am not saying all this because I think you do not know these. we are just sharing ideas in the market of ideas. Once we are out Gen 1-3, most likely this topic will not come up.
I have held that when God said "let there be light", the Big Bang could have happened. The pseudo scientists took this theory and are trying to make it an accident. I believe the most important factor that they use as a "proof" for big bang is the observation of an "expanding universe". I have read a very detailed report on why this is flawed. That is the notion that the universe is expanding. I will point it out to you later.
My first preference is to assume a young world because Bible says so. Then I would like reflect on that with the evidence from science. The evolutionists say a 4 Billion year old earth. They conveniently use that so that they can fog our eyes. They say it took "a long time" for everything that they cannot show proof. To support their position they say
1. It took millions of years for coal to form
2. They say dinosaurs were extinct some 25 millions of years before humans evolved
3. It took millions of years for Grand Canyon to be carved by Colorado river.
There are more of these I believe.
1. I have a read a research that proved coal can be formed much quicker that was tested in a lab.
2. I have posted pictures of dinosaurs carved by humans which they could have done only by co-existing with dinosaurs.
3. By considering the depth of canyons formed by the eruption of the volcano in Mt. St Helen's we now know that their theory is not necessarily true.
My conclusion is that we should conclude that we really don't know how the universe was created and the school and university text books must reflect that. They can say creation as a possibility and evolution (after eliminating all manipulated data) as a possibility.
to be continued in a follow-up post..................
