"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. He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfilment. 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."
The Pope

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"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

...and this same Pope continues to allows his priests to molest and rape little boys. He harbors and protects them!

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The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

. If evolution simply means that a positive thing called an ape turned very slowly into a positive thing called a man, then it is stingless for the most orthodox; for a personal God might just as well do things slowly as quickly, especially if, like the Christian God, he were outside time.

 

 

               Chesterton...

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Edited: 10/28/2014 at 02:26 PM by somebodyelse

So Francis acknowledges that God created human beings, but denies he has the power "to do anything"?

The idea of the magician with a magic wand conjures the familiar image of the black robed performer making something appear out of nowhere (or likewise, disappear) with a wave of his magic wand and a chant of "Abra Cadabra".

So if God is not this kind of "magician", then just how does Francis propose that God created human beings?

If God created anything...even a single-celled creature, then was it not "out of nothing"?

And if God can create anything out of nothing, then how is this not "magic" by all modern standards?

Francis' limited statements in the linked article leave me confused about his position.

Two books you might want to read in succession:
1) Quantum Evolution by Johnjoe McFadden
2) The Language of God by Francis Collins

And slightly related to the other movie thread...
watch "The Gospel of John" (acted out word for word from the book),
then read a very Catholic-oriented book called
"The Way of Divine Love" by Sister Josefa Menendez.
(You don't have to be Catholic to appreciate the book, but there is some vocabulary adjustment needed for us non-Catholics to fully comprehend it.)

All combined, they're good, interesting, and quickly effective ways to get your heart and mind into a really good place.