Catholics, how do you deal with science, faith, and cherry pick’n bible parts?

Posted by on . 15 comments.


The Catholic Church accepts that there was no Adam and Eve to eat an apple that would cause the human races downfall. Wouldn’t this destroy the whole ‘Original Sin’ concept then? And if that is destroyed, why the need for a savior? how can you decide what is taken literally and what is not? the catholic church believed that adam and eve was FACT, until nearly every scientist on earth said, eh actually that's just a story.



I don't understand why religious people find it nearly impossible to say, HEY, this might not be true- the whole lot of it!
There are so many questions that are left without a satisfying answer, I think I would have to be in a daiye spa (brainwashing spa-Zoolander) for a month before I could 'accept' the rhubarb that religion holds to be true.
If you are religious, do you feel that you have to choose between science/facts and your faith? or do you manage to blend the two seemlessly

Comments

  1. the_ambusher says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    Hi and not so sure where you get your facts about the catholic religion not accepting the adam and eve story, It must have been recently as i was raised a catholic and am 62 years old and havent heard anything differently, although i have turned to be agnostic many years ago

  2. Shinigami (FAC) weeaboo says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    We nod and smile alot.

    srsly, God is all, and all is God.
    I don’t see a conflict.

    You would have me speak for God, which I cannot do.
    and I happen to like rhubarb

  3. Just The Kid Next Door says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    They were indoctrinated not to think critically or question. I’m telling you. I know many close Catholic people.

  4. Christian S says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    I wonder why aswell!!!!!

    ATHIEST

  5. ☼ Ducky ☼ says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    Wow, well said, I wish I had your verbatim! :)

  6. The Instigator says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    Shhhh! Don’t wake them up; they’re sleeping.

  7. afraidofamericans says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    I have absolutely no problem accepting the finds of science and believing God.

  8. Spazzy- McGee says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    I’ve tried to understand why theists (mostly Christians) believe what they believe and the only conclusion I can come to is that they like the notion of God to much to give it up even in the light of the hypocrisy of cherry picking as you mentioned.

    Of course I would take a cherry picking Christian over a fundamentalist Bible thumper any day, any minute, any second.

  9. Louzer says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    Catholic Church also teaches St. Mary was born without Original Sin. So why din’t God create everyone like that? He could have saved a lot of trouble.

  10. Sentinel (TRC) says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    Indeed there are those modernists in the church who seem to lean more towards science than scripture in these times and they surfaced during Vatican II, liberal theoologists such as Rahner,Schillebex etc, pushed their own ideas during the council and ever since there has been a steady watering down of Catholic traditions.
    However there is still a very large tradionalist movement in the church that hold to the firm teachings of the Popes before the council, and do not accept the modern fairy tales of the Liberals.
    Personally I hold to the teachings that all of the Bible is True, including Adam and Eve.
    God bless.

  11. KiwiSDA says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    Hello there,

    Great question! Please allow me to provide a brief (nowhere near complete) answer.

    Put simply, the Catholic church has a lot of problems. It claims to have the authority to interpret scripture and pick and choose as it likes. Indeed saying Adam and Eve were not literal people etc creates all sorts of problems, including the one you raise about original sin. Also the bible says that death entered because of sin. If Adam and Eve has somehow evolved then there would have been a lot of death before they sinned.

    When it comes to interpreting the bible we have to use common sense. Sure there are a lot of symbols used in the bible but the bible always interprets itself and tells the reader what the symbols mean. One is not left to guess what things mean. There is no indication in the bible that Adam and Eve are just symbols and not literal people that God created.

    I believe the bible is literal. For example I believe that God created the heavens and the earth in 6 literal days, I believe there was a worldwide flood etc etc.

    I have good reason to believe what I do and I could provide a lot of evidence, however I don’t think this is the place. One major reason why I believe that the bible is the inspired Word of God is because of the prophecies found in Daniel. I would encourage you too look into them. The Seventh Day Adventist church have a very good understanding of the book of Daniel and Revelation.

    I think science and the bible go hand in hand. I do not think it is one or the other. I myself am a theoretical physics phd student so am not completely ignorant on science.

    Anyways, hope my answer is of some use. I would certainly encourage you to continue searching for truth with an open mind.

  12. Jayson j says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    Excellent Leela. It seems that religious types do a lot of ‘Cherry picking’ as you put it. Especially when it comes to the old testament. The old testament being X-rated and the new testament being PG13. Religious types accept science every day. AS due to science, drugs, cars, computers, clocks etc etc have been created. Now, to say that a being created us, as in Adam and Eve, and then went crazy when we ‘
    ate an apple’ meant that he wasn’t a good creator after all, meaning he himself had flaws.

    Science has discovered bucketloads of evidence to disprove the bible, yet we still have these conversations. Wheres the talk of Dinosaurs in the bible? Wat about the earths land masses changing to create mountains and fault lines in the earth? So everytime theres an earth quake, is this God punishing us? What about hurricanes? Does god create those? He created the earth, so obviously he can keep the weather under wraps right?

    The bible is so ridiculous, youd have to have drunk paint as a kid to believe it.

  13. ohshow says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    We’ve been asking this question for years. The answers won’t come from any book (Bible included) or any preacher. The stories you mention and most others in the Bible are so far fetched I don’t know how any thinking person can accept it as fact. To take it on faith is asking a lot.Reason is thrown out the window when it comes to religion. I personally have given up on organized religion. They are all full of themselves, and refuse to believe that there is a possibility that they may be wrong They act a lot like drug addicts who feel they must have their drug (Jesus or equivalent)
    to survive. It’s their crutch and their answer to weakness over things they can’t explain. It’s so sad there are so many brainwashed souls out there.

  14. korban says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    I’m Catholic and there is no way this is what the church teaches.
    The church has embraced science and many priests are scientists.
    A few facts might help you See different side.
    Lets look at Adam only ! God said he created us from the soil, the best theory of modern science is that we formed from clay.
    All life should have a common Dna which it does, even the banana has 50% of our human Dna.
    God said he breathed life into us and that life is in the blood, Red blood cells are the only thing on earth with no Dna, 25 trillion cells carry oxygen around the body giving life to it.
    And lastly the humble rib, well here we find another interesting thing, he rib is the only bone in the body that when removed it will grow back.
    Please google away any of this you’ll find it correct.
    Can you explain this? brain washing is when you believe something taught to you that is someone else’s belief, that is Atheism.

  15. misty0408 says:
    August 24, 2009 at 1:21 am

    <<The Catholic Church accepts that there was no Adam and Eve to eat an apple that would cause the human races downfall.>>

    This is an untrue statement. The Catholic Church teaches that the entire human race came from two original parents. She teaches that sin came into the world through these parents and that original sin is passed on to all of us. I’m not sure what you’ve been reading or who told you that the Catholic Church doesn’t believe these things, she does. It is probable that our original parents were not named "Adam and Eve" and that there wasn’t exactly an apple, but the story is true. God created human beings, through their sin we were cast out of the Garden of Eden and separated from God. We all inherit original sin, and can only come to God through the Sacrifice of his Son.

    In fact the Catholic Church teaches that Baptism removes the stain of original sin…so it’s impossible that we no longer believe it.

    The fact that the Church has said an evolutionary process is not inconsistent with God’s plan does not wipe out the teaching on original sin. The Church has always been a proponent of scientific research. In fact, the Church spent a good deal of money funding research, building universities and observatories, etc. We have never been at odds with science. Knowing and understanding our world is to know and understand our Creator.

    Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says on original sin:

    http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s2c1p7.htm

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