There was a lot of good discussion on my post last week - Friday Fast Fact: The Big Bang Theory. But a few points came up there and in some other responses that are important to clarify and remember as Catholics.
A lot of Christians say that they believe in the biblical Genesis story, rather than the “Big Bang” theory. Of course, such a statement presents a false dichotomy. It implies that the theory of the Big Bang necessarily contradicts the biblical account of creation. That is not true.
Those that believe in a scientifically literal interpretation of the book of Genesis are known as “creationists” or “fundamentalists.” And they can basically hold those views and be in perfectly good standing with the Church. However, we must leave room for other interpretations of Genesis that are still consistent with the doctrine of Jesus’ Church. Especially when the light of reason leads us there.
The same thing applies to the issue of biological evolution. But that discussion, the origin of life, has nuances of its own we won’t distract ourselves with here. The primary issue here is the origin - or “The beginning” - of everything. What was the cause? And how did it happen?
Philosophical reason tells us there must have been this first cause (some eternal Being we call God). The Bible and our Faith tell us who the cause was. But as to the scientific process of exactly how it all happened…the book of Genesis may or may not give us much help at all.
Does this then mean that the book of Genesis is untrue? Of course not. It just means that the truths revealed in Genesis may be different than the truths you are interpreting. It means it is answering the fundamental questions about ourselves in a particular way.
I’ll give you an example. You ask a man, “who lives in your house?” He could answer by saying, “Me, my wife and our three kids.” That may be truthful. He could also answer by saying, “the whole world lives inside this house.” This may also be truthful, but he’d quite obviously be making a figurative point about how much he cares for those in his house.
But if we were still unsure as to what the man meant, by using our reason, we could probably conclude that the whole world was not literally living inside of his house. And therefore, if we believe the man to be trustworthy, he must have meant something different by his answer.
It’s the same with the story of creation. God has not divinely revealed through the Church the scientific process by which all of creation came about. So we are free to believe in good faith wherever our reason leads us - as long as it does not contradict that which God has revealed as truth.
Cardinal Schonborn gives us a good summary of what the Church does teach on creation:
1. The doctrine of creation says that there is an absolute beginning—“in the beginning God created heaven and earth”—and that this absolute beginning is the free and sovereign act of establishing being out of nothing.
2. The doctrine of creation also says that there are various creatures. This is the distinction of creatures, “each according to its kind,” of which we read in the first chapter of Genesis. This is the work of the first six days as related on the first page of the Bible.
3. We believe not only in an absolute beginning of creation but in the preservation of creation; God holds in being all that he has created. We refer here to his continuing work of creation, which in theology is called the “creatio continua,” the ongoing act of creation.
4. And finally, the doctrine of creation most definitely includes the belief that God directs his creation. He did not just set it in motion once at the beginning and then let it run its course. No, the divine guidance of creation, which we call divine providence, is a part of the doctrine of creation. God leads his work to its final end.
The current theory of the Big Bang does not contradict any of that. And there is a huge consensus among experts on the validity of this theory. So it is certainly reasonable to believe in the Big Bang theory and it is entirely reconcilable with our Catholic faith.
However, it is just a theory. We must be careful to remember that.
In the past, there was also a consensus that the Earth was the center of the universe. Galileo helped us out by revealing that it was actually the Sun that was the center of the universe. Of course, that turned out to be wrong too. Maybe one day we’ll also look back on all of those silly people that believed in a “Big Bang”. Who knows.
And even if the Big Bang theory does hold true…who’s to say it was the first act of creation by God? Cardinal Schonborn says it well:
Do we have here the point at which we should insert our belief in a creator? Do we introduce him as it were at the limit reached by science? Does the creator begin to act beyond this threshold? Let us be careful! We must not be too quick to assume that God produced the big bang, as if in the smallest fraction of the very first second we come up against the wall behind which we find the creator, or reach the point where only the creator can explain what happened.
Everything in its proper place.
If you’d like more reading on this topic, check out this really great article with more from Cardinal Schonborn. And more on Creationism and cosmological and biological evolution here.
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An informative summary of some magisterial Catholic statements about Origins are available on-line from The Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation.
The second page summarizes the teaching of evolution and how Cutting-Edge Science says “No” to evolution.”
(Partial quote)
What Does The Catholic Church Teach about Origins?
- Genesis does not contain purified myths. (Pontifical Biblical Commission 1909)
- Genesis contains real history—it gives an account of things that really happened. (Pius XII)
. . .
- All the Fathers who wrote on the subject believed that the Creation days were no longer than 24-hour-days. (Consensus of the Fathers of the Church)
- Evolution must not be taught as fact, but instead the pros and cons of evolution must be taught. (Pius XII, Humani Generis)
. . .
What Does Cutting-Edge Science Teach about Origins?
...
- Matter from explosions does not condense to form objects like galaxies.
- Chemicals do not react together randomly to form amino acids through natural processes.
- Amino acids do not randomly interact to form living cells through undirected natural processes.
- Molecules-to-man evolutionism violates the Law of Biogenesis: Life does not come from non-life.
- The specific complexity of genetic information in the genome does not increase spontaneously. Therefore, there is no natural process whereby reptiles can turn into birds, land mammals into whales, or chimpanzees into human beings.
...
- Many worldwide natural processes indicate an age for the earth of 10,000 years or less. These include population kinetics, influx of radiocarbon into earth’s atmosphere, absence of meteorites from the geologic column, and decay of earth’s magnetic field.
. . .
(End of partial quote)
References:
What Does The Catholic Church Teach about Origins?
What Does Cutting-Edge Science Teach about Origins?
http://www.kolbecenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=170:what-does-the-catholic-church-teach-about-origins&catid=19:creation-doctrine&Itemid=80
Genesis 1-11
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis1-11&version=NIV
The global Flood of Noah
Genesis 6-11
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis6-11&version=NIV
That’s creation science. When a “science” is developed to support a belief system, it’s not science. The reasoning becomes circular. The facts are self-selected to support the belief system. Laws like the Law of Biogenesis are misinterpreted, or at the very least conveniently interpreted, to support the belief system. False statements are represented as statements of theory (No one supports the idea that evolution suggests that “chimpanzees into human beings” is an evolutionary process.) Such monkey business just doesn’t cut it anymore.
If you want to talk about creation science, please be up front about it.
“However, it is just a theory. We must be careful to remember that.”
And religion is “just” a belief system. A scientific theory that stands the test of time, that makes predictions that can be verified (Yes, many evoutionary predictions have been verified)and that cannot be falsified is indeed a robust body of knowledge. It is not “just” a theory. Evolutionary processes are perhaps the most fundamental developmental processes in the universe. Evolutionary processes are the developmental drivers in biological, social, religious, and econonomic systems.
“It implies that the theory of the Big Bang necessarily contradicts the biblical account of creation. That is not true.”
Since the Bible invokes God for everything, and since scientists never invoke God for anything, it’s fair to say that the Bible conflicts with all of science. http://darwin-killed-god.blogspot.com/
There is a major conflict between science and all religious beliefs. The scientific method is the only correct way to learn the truth. Religions are only good for wild guessing and they have always been completely wrong about everything.
It’s time to admit the war between religion and science is over with. Science won. Religion lost. So throw out all religions and do it now. http://darwin-killed-god.blogspot.com/
The “Human Ape” writes that “Religions are only good for wild guessing and they have always been completely wrong about everything.” Well, here are two exceptions to begin with. (1) The Hebrew scriptures (Genesis) says the universe had a beginning in time: so does the Big Bang Theory. (2) The Hebrew and Christian scriptures teach that we should treat others as we would like to be treated: is that completely wrong about how we should live our lives together?
Joseph… the official stance of the Catholic church is a yielding to modern biological science. It’s officially accepted.
Furthermore some of your statements are just outright ridiculous… like that amino acids cannot or do not form naturally (wha??) .. or that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old. Seriously, finish high school.
Anyone interested in a recent account of these matters by a Catholic philosophy professor may wish to consult “Understainding Our Being: Introduction to Speculative Philosophy in the Perennial Tradition,” by John W. Carlson (Catholic University of America Press, 2008), especially sections 1.3, 2.5, and 3.1 - 3.5.
if you dont believe that GOD created the world like it says in the bible…then you probably dont believe in CHRISTS words “THIS IS MY BODY”..etc….surely the GOD who is truly present in the BLESSED SACRAMENT, also created the world out of nothing just by his word alone
First I would like to say to Human Ape that you are entitled to your opinion to be formed of your own free will which GOD gave you. However if you are going to form an opinion you should at least make it an INformed opinion. I say this because your logic that “scientists never invoke God for anything, it’s fair to say that the Bible conflicts with all of science.” is SEVERELY flawed. And after all Logic and reason are the building blocks of science. Firstly, if you put that much stock in what scientists have to say (not science but the PEOPLE, and ALL people are flawed, who practice and study it)you really need to learn to think for yourself. Secondly you need to learn to refrain from using absolutes such as always and never. It is damn near impossible for anyone to be ALWAYS something or NEVER something else that implies absolutely no change in anything ever. Unless those things are the things that God has created with the intent of them never changing. I am by no means trying to say that I have it all figured out and am about to lay down the single argument that will unite science and religion only God can do that but I would like to at least attempt to enlighten you. You want to side with science and believe that means there is no religion or God? Ok my questions to you are these: In science are there not laws? Such as the laws of conservation of mass, energy, and momentum. Is there not perfect uniformity in those laws? No matter how many times you try to change it momentum will be calculated by mass times velocity, uniformly. Now how do you think those laws came to be? By random chance? The laws of science were created by God and that is why no matter how hard man tries he cannot break them. God had to put parameters, Limits, on what mankind could do through science otherwise we would have already destroyed ourselves if not everything that God created. Take the atom and hydrogen bombs for example, or how about man made black holes that can suck something out of existence those would make great weapons in war. Forget about any understanding of the universe that could be gained by studying them for the BETTERMENT of mankind. I am not saying that science is evil but mans use for it generally is. I guess this is a long winded way of saying that religion and science are just two different ways leading to God not rivals with one trying to disprove His existence. And uninformed asses like yourself helping to perpetuate that ideology of competition rather than cooperation, of science VERSUS religion instead of science WITH religion are a large part of the reason that I look forward to Jesus’ glorious return.
We are told evolution is science and creation is religion, but this is false. Neither are science, since both views can’t be observed, tested, repeated or falsified as as required for proof by the scientific method. Since both views require faith to believe, they are both philosophies or religions, but do not meet the qualifications for true science. See the real story here.
Just a clarification, JPII spoke to Pontifical Academy of Sciences on Oct 22 1996 on this topic. Basically, he said that evolution has credibility, but that we must always accept that God has created and infused the soul of man, because it is spiritual and can not evolve from matter( logical no?) Sorry, there is no English translation.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/messages/pont_messages/1996/index_en.htm
The topic of evolution, and how our world is created is a very heated topic. With dealing with the topic of evolution, it is not stated in the bible. In the book of Genesis, it states how god created man and woman. It states how god created humankind in his image. It does not state at all anything but man and woman evolving from different organisms. However, there is plenty of evidence that mankind has evolved over many years. One huge fact is that human beings and monkeys have 98% the same genes. That can’t be some coincidence, we are very similar to monkeys so there has to be somewhat of a connection between mankind and monkeys. Darwin’s theory of evolution is another source of how evolution has occurred over billions of years. He stated how over many years organisms adapt to their surroundings and over time can become a whole new species. It’s a very controversial subject but, he has evidence in his studies on how this happens. In the book of Genesis, its stated that God created the earth in 6 days and rested on the 7th day. Many people argue this topic. There have been many scientists that have facts and evidence that our universe did have a ” big bang” around 13.7 billion years ago. Hubble’s law also states that galaxies are appear to be moving away from us at a very high rate. This concludes that once upon a time that our universe was once compact. These topics are very controversial and people always argue from both sides. Some people believe that these scientists just make up all these facts out of nothing. If these scientists have all these facts and evidence that back up what there trying to prove, then they must be right. People who don’t believe these scientists think that everything in the bible is true no matter what. If scientists have all these facts and evidence to back up what there trying to say, then I would believe the scientists over what the bible states.
So, when it says in Genesis, that God created the earth in 6 days, you are telling us the word “day” is open to interpretation. Maybe it means, thousands or millions of years? Then, it follows we do not have to follow Jesus’interpretation of this book of the Torah. Jesus as a Jew knew the scriptures and he believed his Father made the world in six days. I guess Jesus didn’t know everything!
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