DID POPE FRANCIS CONTRADICT THE BIBLE ON ACCOUNT OF CREATION?

Another “Pope Hoax” from a deceitful “Christian” News Firm, christiannews.net

An article entitled “Pope Contradicts Genesis Account of Creation, Argues ‘God and Evolution’ Are Compatible” was released online by christiannews.net.  Of course this caught so much attention of many.  In the third paragraph of the article, Pope Francis stated that “GOD IS NOT A DIVINE BEING or a magician, but the Creator who brought everything to life,” according to Heather Clark (the writer).  Here it is clear that the Pope denied God as a divine being and this is where Heather Clark LIED.  According to the Catholic News Agency, this is what the Pope said:  “…precisely because God is not a DEMIURGE or a magician, but the creator who gives being to all things.”.

Let us first differentiate a divine being from a demiurge.  A demiurge, a Greek Philosophy concept which refers to a figure responsible crafting and maintenance of the entire universe including our world.  A demiurge is simply a product of another being higher than it.  A divine being, however, refers to that which by his own power created literally everything while he himself remains uncreated.  He is the first cause of all causes.  It is therefore evident that a demiurge and a divine being are two different things.

Heather Clark changed the term “demiurge” to “divine being” from the statement of the Pontiff in order to say that the Pope denies the divinity of God.  Otherwise, Clark’s vocabulary is deficient.    

In the following statement, Heather Clark forgot to  change the term “divine”: 

Pope Francis continues, “The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the DIVINE creator but, rather, requires it. … Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”

In the next paragraphs of her article, we see Heather Clark mentioned Bro. Guy Consolmagno, a research astronomer at the Vatican Obersatory, when he said that young earth creation beliefs are nearly tantamount to blasphemy to make it appear that Catholics have different views with regard to the creation – the Pope says there is an interplay between Science and the Bible while the Vatican Astronomer says it is blasphemous.  Smart, eh?  

But this is not what Bro. Consolmagno meant.  Bro. Consolmagno’s point is that the Bible should not be used as a basis for scientific study.  Because “Science goes out of date.  So, if you’re turning the Bible into a science book, then you’re saying you should throw it out after three years and you don’t want to do that. …The very concept of a science book didn’t exist when the Bible was written – that’s the misunderstanding of theology, of the Bible.”

Next, Heather Clark said in this article, “The papal astronomer further explained that he REJECTS the literal interpretation of Genesis and instead FINDS TRUTH through “science.” Again, this is not true.  

According to Cameron Atfield of the Australian News Firm who interviewed Bro. Consolmagno in “The Pope’s astronomer on space, the Bible and alien life” (here is the link of the full interview: http://www.smh.com.au/national/people/the-popes-astronomer-on-space-the-bible-and-alien-life-20141015-116nrl.html), 

“Brother Consolmagno said science, like religion, was not literal.”  

“The search for literalism, the search for absolute truth, isn’t what science is about and it’s not what religion is about,” he (Bro. Consolmagno) said.  “If you want a sound bite answer [to the reconciliation question], my religion tells me God made the universe and my science tells me how he did it.”

Here we see Bro. Consolmagno saying that Science and Religion have different subject matters.  Nothing of it says that truth can be achieved ONLY by means of Science.  It is clear that Heather Clark lied once again only to say that the Papal Astronomer himself does not agree with Pope Francis.  But , in fact, Bro. Consolmagno also said “What’s death to science, what’s death to theology, is to say ‘I have the answer’. No. I’ve got an interesting question, which is a lot of fun to play with.”  Meaning, the absolute truth cannot be achieved from only Science or the Bible. 

Heather Clark continues, “Many influential leaders of the Roman Catholic Church have endorsed evolution and disregarded the literal interpretation of Genesis. In 1950, Pope Pius XII declared that there is no intrinsic conflict between Catholicism and evolution, and, in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI stated that “there are … many scientific proofs in favor of evolution.””  

But Pope Pius XII and Pope Benedict XVI did not deny the Account of Creation.  They only meant that there is an INTERPLAY in Science and Religion.

Here are some Catholic scientists who proved it:

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

Father of Microbiology, developed “pasteurization”

“The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator.”

 “Science brings men nearer to God.”

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)                                                   

Scientist noted for work in physics, hydrostatics, vacuums; inventor of mechanical calculator

“Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness engenders pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God engenders despair.”

Sir Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727)

was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, alchemist, inventor and natural philosopher. He is often regarded as the most influential scientist in history and is best known for discovering the Laws of Gravity.

“Religion is partly fundamental & immutable partly circumstantial & mutable. The first was the Religion of Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham Moses Christ & all the saints & consists of two parts our duty towards God & our duty towards man or piety & righteousness, piety which I will here call Godliness & Humanity. Godliness consists in the knowledge love & worship of God, Humanity in love, righteousness & good offices towards man. “

Since the time of the apostles, pre-catholics and Catholics held the Account of Creation stated in the Book of Genesis to be true. It may not be that literal, but it is true. One must not understand the Account of Creation in a very literal sense because of its complexity.  For example, it is absurd to say that the world was literally created in just seven days because the sun and moon were only created on the 4th day.  And even then, we cannot say that the earth circulated in just 24 hours.  

It is important to note that God does not tell us in the Book of Genesis how the world was created but instead WHY he created the world.  That is why it is also uncomfortable to find biblical answers by means of science and vice versa.  Because clearly, Science tries to answer how the world was created while the Bible gives us the reflective answers on why God created the world.  However, the Church has opened its doors for scientifical discussions.

The article “Pope Contradicts Genesis Account of Creation, Argues ‘God and Evolution’ Are Compatible” is lying because the Pope never contradicted the Genesis Account of Creation.

A responsible writer knows that she has to be exact in her articles especially in quoting statements of other people.

I summon Ms. Heather Clark and the news staff of www.christiannews.net (Christian News Network) to defend their deceitful article.

(This is the full Article of Heather Clark:  http://christiannews.net/2014/10/27/pope-refutes-genesis-account-of-creation-argues-god-and-evolution-are-compatible/)

POSITIVE ARTICLE FROM CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE:

POPE-EVOLUTION Oct-28-2014 (980 words) With photo. xxxi

Pope: Evolution, Big Bang do not push aside God, who set it in motion

(CNS/Paul Haring)

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Big Bang theory and evolution do not eliminate the existence of God, who remains the one who set all of creation into motion, Pope Francis told his own science academy.

And God’s existence does not contradict the discoveries of science, he told members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Oct. 27.

“When we read the account of creation in Genesis, we risk thinking that God was a magician, complete with a magic wand, able to do everything. But it is not like that,” he said. “He created living beings and he let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave each one, so that they would develop and reach their full potential.”

God gave creation full autonomy while also guaranteeing his constant presence in nature and people’s lives, he said.

The beginning of the world is not a result of “chaos,” he said, but comes directly from “a supreme principle that creates out of love.”

“The Big Bang, which today is held as the beginning of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator, but requires it,” he said. “Evolution in nature is not at odds with the notion of creation because evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve.”

Members of the academy, many of them renowned scientists and philosophers, were meeting at the Vatican Oct. 24-28 to discuss “Evolving Concepts of Nature.”

Science, philosophy and religion have all contributed to how people see the world, how it began and what it all means, said the introduction to the academy’s program.

Despite many scientific advances, many mysteries remain, said Rafael Vicuna, professor of molecular genetics and molecular biology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. While Charles Darwin shed light on the origin of species, one of the most perplexing questions is the actual origin of life, Vicuna said.

How is it that inert, inanimate matter turned into something living, and how is it that the first living single-celled organisms were still so amazingly complex, he asked in his talk Oct. 27.

Chemistry, biology and genetics have been able to identify the tiniest components and basic building blocks of living organisms, but there is something more than just what they are made out of that makes them “living,” he said in an interview with the Catholic newspaper, Avvenire.

“I can know perfectly what a cell is made up of, but how it works deep down, what really is the dynamism that makes it move — that is, life — I don’t know,” Vicuna said. “A refrigerator and a car are complex structures that move, but only with an immense amount of energy from the outside. Life, in its deepest essence, remains something that escapes us.”

In his talk to academy members, Vicuna said the laws of chemistry and physics “do not suffice to grasp the whole of life … that life is more than molecules.”

Another mystery is how everything in the universe, from the smallest atomic particles to every galaxy, is spinning and orbiting, another academy member said.

Rudolf Muradyan, a quantum and mathematical physicist who also works in cosmology, said in his talk that spin “is the most important problems in our universe. It is the only thing that prevents the universe from totally collapsing.”

Without bodies rotating on an axis or orbiting each other, everything would fall: all the stars would become one giant black hole, the earth would crash into the sun and the moon would collide into the earth, he said.

He said the problem with the Big Bang theory is it explains linear motion, with everything moving outward and expanding from one common point as a result of the “bang,” but it does not account for the rotation of celestial objects, and theories that the universe was “born spinning.”

Philosophy and religion have to be careful to not make the mistake of trying to solve the mysteries in nature by making God “responsible for a natural process that escapes scientific explanation,” Vicuna said.

An example of this, he said, can be found in the intelligent design movement, which accepts that life has evolved over eons but asserts that it is so complex that its development must have been guided by a supreme being or intelligent agent.

Not only are intelligent-design proponents “denying nature’s autonomy, but they are also revealing some degree of ingenuousness, because science has already provided explanations for the development” of structures they had considered to be too complex to occur naturally, he said.

However, there is an argument for the “apparent design, order and purpose observed in nature,” he said, which is not to be confused with intelligent design and it is the “God of the gaps.”

Pierre Lena, a French Catholic astrophysicist, told the assembly that there are laws at work in the entire universe that are “eternal, creative, uniform in space and time and stable” enough to be fairly predictable.

“But these laws have a mystery. Why are they there? We can’t touch them, but they act. They are not God,” he said, but they are a sign of the “supranatural existence of something.”

He told Catholic News Service that scientists can observe laws working exactly the same way over time and space. This “strange property” means scientists can figure out what most likely happened one billion years ago, as well as “in a remote galaxy and here in this room with the same accuracy.”

“If the laws were changing, science would not be possible,” Lena said.

Early philosophers like Plato, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine all felt nature’s wonder and beauty reflected the beauty and perfection of their maker, Vicuna said.

However, “the existence of a divine creator of life and the universe” comes from personal belief and conviction, not scientific proof; science cannot empirically prove or disprove a God that transcends the natural sciences, he said.

SOURCE:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1404445.htm