The relatively new Pope Francis I after revealing the statue of the former Pope Benedict XVI, accepts that he believes in evolution, and that science and religion can peacefully coexist without dangerous consequences. As he says, "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,” Francis explained. ”Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve."
This idea that the Catholic Church is becoming much more modern and finally coming to odds with scientific discoveries/theories that have been developed over recent years. This makes the Catholic Church a much more relevant church because now the Church itself doesn't have as many wholes in the story that it says is the basis of its belief system. This statement as the most powerful man in Catholic religion, shows how disputes and the conflict between science and religion is and can come to a close.
http://www.salon.com/2014/10/28/pope_francis_believes_in_evolution_and_big_bang_theory_god_is_not_a_magician_with_a_magic_wand/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
This idea that the Catholic Church is becoming much more modern and finally coming to odds with scientific discoveries/theories that have been developed over recent years. This makes the Catholic Church a much more relevant church because now the Church itself doesn't have as many wholes in the story that it says is the basis of its belief system. This statement as the most powerful man in Catholic religion, shows how disputes and the conflict between science and religion is and can come to a close.
http://www.salon.com/2014/10/28/pope_francis_believes_in_evolution_and_big_bang_theory_god_is_not_a_magician_with_a_magic_wand/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
Hey Varun! I was really pumped to read your post because I had just read this in the news! Just to let you know, the quote is highlighted white right now so you can't read it without highlighting over the text.
ReplyDeleteIt might seem like a bit of a stretch, but while I was studying for the last test on the Civil war, I came across some really cool links regarding religion during the 19th century. I think that this really shows how far religion has come and how religion reflects the ideals of the particular time period. In this time, religion has a similar purpose in people's lives as it did then, but it has a different meaning. Then, religion for Roman Catholics was a belief system that would help them through hardships (as like now) but many of these people were very steadfast to what the pope said and the traditions of what the popes had said in the past. If Pope Francis said what he has now regarding science and religion then, he probably would have elicited a very different response than he is receiving now. Here are the links that I used for the last time that related many different religious sects to the events of what was happening at the time period:
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen.htm
In particular, I really liked the link about Roman Catholics's Immigration to the US because I find it relevant to the topic of how religion has changed over the past 200 years (which I think ties into your post) as well as the African American Christianity during the Civil War (which I found particularly helpful when understanding the slavery issue when studying for the last test). Once again, thanks for the post Varun!
I'm really interested in this topic because I have recently been attending a Catholic youth group and have become involved in discussions about the modernization of the church. I find it a little hard to swallow that the church tends to almost-but-not-quite change its beliefs or at least the way it explains its beliefs to fit the current sociopolitical circumstances. I understand that the Bible is under constant reinterpretation, but it's hard for me to swallow that they can just issue a statement like the one in this article and suddenly change its stance on an issue that it had previously opposed. I say this with all due respect to the church. What do you guys think?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that it's sometimes weird how religions change their stances on certain issues to fit with current circumstances. If you think about it, though, one of the main tenants of many religions is to try to convert others. So when religions contradict themselves or go back on their views, I think many members can justify it as trying to appeal to a wider range of people.
DeleteHere's an interesting article about this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/10/mormon-church-black-racism-_n_4418703.html
It talks about the Mormon Church lifting the ban on blacks becoming priests. The statement issued by the church basically says they've changed their views but does not give a real reason why. If the religion continued to discriminate against blacks, a large group of possible members would be alienated, so it makes sense that they would need to change their policies to ensure their religion stays alive.