Creation and the Bible Alone

Recently I returned from vacation with my girlfriend's family. We traversed throughout Kentucky and had a lot of fun. The end of the vacation, though is what I will focus on.

Her family are staunch fundamentalist Bible alone people. Very good people and very good Christians. I really do love them. As the final stop on the vacation we went to the Creation Museum. Now, being a student of science and reading as much as I do, I immediately had some qualms about going. However, because I was with them, I was obliged to check it out. My poor girlfriend who knows my position on things was also a bit apprehensive. She was getting stomach pains as well, albeit for a different reason.

We arrived and being the guy that I am, I pocketed my rosary in case I needed to squeeze something. The first thing that we viewed was a show in the planetarium. That was probably one of my favorite things of the day. Basically it was an exercise in the expansiveness of the universe and how God created it all. Great. I have no problem in acknowledging that God created everything. The dicotomy that these types of Christians place unecessarily on science and faith is unwarranted. They mentioned a few times how the universe is only about 6,000 years old and used the fact that scientists say that some blue giants cannot have existed very long because their life expectancy is shorter. So they can't figure out one tiny aspect of creation. Okay. There are many things that we do not know that we are still trying to understand. Things do not operate according to our rules. We form the rules from what we observe. That does not necessarily mean that the universe is only 6,000 years old. I will give them that the production was very interactive and I enjoyed the space traveling and seeing how much of the universe has been actually mapped. It put in perspective how small that we really are in the big picture.

Next was the walk through the actual museum. When you hold the Bible to be a scientific treatise, then you can expect to see some gross miscalculations such as placing humans with dinosaurs. Immediately there were people placed in a display with some dinosaurs. As I said before, with what I have read and with what I believe, it seems to me that people are trying to present a world view that does not mesh with what we have figured out. In one instance they celebrate science and it's discoveries of the universe and the next instance, they hold contempt for what it has discovered that goes against their preconceived belief. Especially when it comes to time.

I have come to believe that my faith is only strengthened by the fact that God can choose to create in his own way and in his own time. Without the confines of the Church to interpret scripture and without the proper understanding of the context a particular verse or book of scripture this can lead to many different conclusions. As was shown by the walk through the museum. The most hurtfull aspect of the walk through was how they alleged that the Church had placed tradition over the Bible. Typical Protestant reasoning and "history." What did Luther have to do with the creation debate? They placed him there though nailing his 95 theses to a door. What I also found interesting was the fact that they had on display (on loan) the Codex Sinaiticus, which by the way, includes all 73 books of the Bible as decided by the early Church. They lumped themselves in with the early Church, yet failed to recognize the promise that Christ made to the Church in the first place, that She would be led into all truth. I doubt that many who go to the museum realize what truly the whole history of Christianity means.

I enjoyed seeing the fossils and the dinosaur sculptures, but again the time frame they placed them under was not sitting right. What I found most interesting was the fact that they even had a sign (in the corner) that mentioned that "even though there have been no human bones found along with dinosaur bones doesn't mean that they didn't coexist." Huh!? The simple fact that they mentioned this was indicative of the grasping for straws. I realize that there are scientists who are doctors and such that believe in the 6 day creation, but I believe they are starting with the wrong assumptions. Does it really hurt your faith to say that God might not have created the world in a literal 6 days? If you are going to take the Bible literally why not believe in John 6? How about the fact that Genesis was written for a specific people to help them understand that indeed God created everything that we see? Or the fact that people were already used to the 7 day week at the time it was written? Maybe it was written so that people would understand how God creates rather than the time that he creates it in? I believe in Adam and Eve. There was a specific time in history that God gave his greatest creation a soul. Did we disobey? Absolutely. We are fallen, but we are not stupid. Reason is a gift from God and God does not deceive. If he does, then he is not God.

I think you can see what I believe. I could be wrong, but I do have some faith in science. Not the same faith that I have in God, but a trust nonetheless. If you look at all the advances that science has given us, maybe it is indicative of other things as well. Science itself is not inherently evil. The misconception lies within the fact that according to the creationists, it has to be "either/or" instead of "both/and." What makes science evil is the way that people use it (i.e.- fetal stem cell research or contraception.) The scientific method is used to figure out the cures to diseases and to make new vaccines and to further the human exploration of all of God's creation. I do not have a problem acknowledging all that science has done and I know that God did everything. Will we find out some evidence for or against the creationist position? I do not know. So far, what we have found has lent credence to what scientists are saying about the world and the universe. Until I see some conclusive sound evidence to support the creationist view, I will continue to trust what science has so far found.

On another note, this whole thing depends on how one reads the Bible and what it has to say. If you are interpreting to your own belief and apply it to some preconceived notion then you can interpret the Bible to fit anything that you want. I totally believe that the Bible is God's inerrant word. But when you read something you need to realize the whole context of the work and what the author wants to convey. Since the Bible is a collection of books put together by the Church she is the rightful interpreter of it. As St. Augustine says, "I would not believe in the Gospel myself if the authority of the Catholic Church did not influence me to do so."(Against the letter of Mani, 5,6, 397 A.D.)

Maybe I am being too harsh on people. But with this mindset pervading amongst certain fundamentalist Christians, I cannot but help try to understand where they are coming from and how to me they seem very off in their thinking and interpretation of scripture. I suppose that this is another instance of the logical outcome of the complete rejection of Church authority and the emphasis on the Bible alone.

The Beauty of the Mass

When we look at something, do we not admire it's beauty? When we hear the birds in the trees first, before we see them, are we not struck with awe at their beautiful sound? There are usually many different birds in the trees all contributing to the sounds of outside. They are dissonant at first, but when you take a second to just listen, it transforms you. The trees sway in the gentle breeze and the diversity of life is just amazing.

The smells that waft through the air take you to another place outside of time maybe. For a second it feels like eternity and you are happy to just let it go on forever. Again, the many different smells that you perceive all contribute to what you are experiencing. I am always in awe of God's great earth every time I just take a second and know that He is there.

If you are like me, you enjoy the outdoors and you enjoy the natural beauty. And you may just agree with everything that I just posted. Did you pick up on the underlying theme though? We as humans are sensual creatures. Thus, the things that we sense and experience also have a profound effect on our mind and our spirit.

The beauty of the Mass can also be described like this. In fact, that is why I wrote this post. The beauty of a Church coupled with the altar and tabernacle at the front can transport you to a different place outside of time if you just take a moment to realize where you are. The sounds of silence and the sounds of the great organ or the simpleness of the chant, although entirely different, can have the similar effect. The music will transform you and give you chills. The swirling of the incense up to Heaven and the smell really takes you to Him in Heaven and outside of comprehension.

I guess you could say that nature mimics the Mass. Simple, yet profound. In time, yet eternal. God truly is amazing. I am constantly in awe of the majesty that is here and in the realization that this is nothing compared to the Beatific Vision. Truly amazing. Thank God.

On the Eucharist...

Recently, I was in a dialogue with a close friend of mine who had some questions regarding the Eucharist. The following is her question and my response:

"Okay, so Catholics don't take Communion (bread and cup) at any other church, right? Because of the doctrine of transubstantiation. And for the same reason, they don't allow non-Catholics to take Communion in their churches, right? Or is there some other reason that I'm missing? Is that right?"

Catholics do not take communion at other churches because of the doctrine of transubstantiation, you are correct. It’s also because to take it at another church would be, not to sound harsh, a charade of the sacrament. If Jesus is truly present and this is true, then anything else pales in comparison. To say that Christians are in full communion with one another is a lie (Obviously this is apparent). And we shouldn’t lie when we receive the Truth incarnate. Let me explain:

Transubstantiation is the doctrine which states that at the words of consecration ("this is my body, this is my blood") by a validly ordained priest, the actual substance of the bread and wine change. The accidents (form and appearance and taste) remain. It is truly an act of faith, but it is easy to believe when you think about it. The Creator of the universe created everything out of nothing. I think it would be pretty easy to change one thing into something else; especially when He commands we do it ("do this in memory of me"). So He’s holding His own body in His hands, big whoop for the Creator of the Universe. Those who don't believe that are not allowed because, without maybe knowing it in one instance, they are putting a limitation on what God can and can't do (At least their version of God). But there are a few more reasons why as well.

When you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior you accept everything that He is and everything that He did and everything that He is capable of doing. If He truly is the Lord of your life, you accept everything about Him; including his Church, good and bad (think about Judas. God sure can pick 'em), which He did establish from the get-go. (See Mt 16:16-18. Pay attention to the verse where He says, "...I will build my church") Now, if God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and He says that He will lead His church into all truth (will lead is future tense, all this is in the gospels), then we can trust that He will. To say that an apostasy happened or to say that His Church went wrong at any point in history would be to deny Christ and His promise. And it would make Jesus just a crazy Jewish man, in which case He isn't God and all of this is in vain. God is the only person who has ever followed through and kept His promises. The Holy Spirit was promised to lead the church into all truth. And truth is authority and freedom.

Now there can only be one truth. And one shepherd and one flock. Jesus is the Truth. There are those outside the flock, yes, that God uses and works with, but to get the fullness of the truth and to experience the truth wholly and totally, you need the Church who this was entrusted to and who explains the life of Jesus and who explains confounding verses in the Scriptures. God did establish a Church and there was only one in the beginning as there is only one now.

Now when Jesus established His Church we read, at the end of the gospel of Matthew I believe, that Jesus has all the authority of Heaven and earth at His disposal. And He commands and shares His authority with the Apostles (which is a Greek word that means, "those sent with authority, pretty cool huh?) and their successors. The laying on of hands, which is the sacrament (outward signs of God's grace) of holy orders has been used since new testament times (see Acts) to confer the authority to the succeeding generations of bishops, priests, and deacons. This valid form of ordination was used for 1500 years before the Reformation. Now when Luther split off from the church and when the other reformers took a cue from him, those that were priests, were still validly ordained. No bishops followed Luther out of the church. Very interesting, especially since they are the ones who administer the sacrament of holy orders. When Luther's generation of priests died off, there was no validly ordained person to confer the New Testament priesthood on. So the Lutherans lost it.

Since other forms of Protestantism completely did away with any type of priesthood, they did not have the valid form either. Now the Anglicans are a different story. When Henry VIII broke away, some bishops followed him because they were threatened under penalty of death. These were validly ordained bishops and for a few years still had a valid priesthood. King Edward of England decided to change the form of ordination. This went on for about 100 years until they realized they had made a mistake. They switched back to the original form, but by then, the validly ordained bishops were already long dead. That left the Catholic Church as the only church with any validly ordained priesthood (The Orthodox Church is a different e-mail). There can only be one priesthood, as there was in Judaism. The Jewish priesthood, because there was no reason to sacrifice animals anymore because of the expiating sacrifice of Jesus Christ, was done away with when the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. God works in some pretty awesome ways. The old covenant was fulfilled in the new covenant and therefore a new priesthood fulfilled and completed the old.

So a valid Eucharist (which is Greek for "thanksgiving" because Jesus broke the bread and gave “thanks”) is only available through a Catholic priest, one who can actually trace his orders all the way back to the apostles. Every priest can, which is really cool if you think about it. So when we say that a fellow Christian cannot receive the Eucharist it is because 1) they are not in full communion with the validly ordained bishop of Rome, the pope and 2) there is no such thing as a communion of disagreement. It's not because you are not in communion with God. But God established a Church on Earth giving them the power to bind and loose. We share a common bond in Jesus, but when we only have some of it or only agree with some of what Christ's Church teaches, then that is not a true communion and will never be until we are one as Jesus prayed us to be in the gospel of John in the 17^th chapter. To say that “I don’t think God would do that” or “We are all part of Christ’s church” although true in some sense, makes God subjective to our wills and our version of God. We are operating within the confines of our own "tradition" and looking through our own set of glasses rather than that of the Apostles which was given to them by Christ himself.

This is why Communion is called Communion in the first place. It is a unity of all belief and a true participation in Christ's community, our community on earth, the Church.

Sites of Interest

www.relevantradio.com

http://home.inreach.com/bstanley/index.htm

www.principiumunitatis.blogspot.com

www.vatican.va

The Church as Mother

To fully grasp what I am aiming for as I continue to post and update this blog is to truly come to an understanding of my faith through the eyes and with the full support of the Church. What makes this endeavor easier is because I am operating within the guidelines of the Church. To have that is true freedom.

What I mean by that is this: think about kids on a playground. They are running about and going every which way and they could run off anywhere at anytime with no notice and get lost or hurt. Now think about that playground with a fence surrounding it. There is little to no danger anymore about running amok. There is little chance to get hurt or lost. The freedom that comes with knowing that you are safe is what is truly liberating. I can do pretty much anything as long as I stay within the "fence."

This is not just any "fence", mind you, but the one that gives the most freedom. Granted there are a lot of "playgrounds" out there to choose from and not all of them are truly what they seem. What makes my "playground" different is that it has the "fence" and it has a supervisor, my Mother, to oversee what goes on. It's easy to pick out which one that I am going to go to play at everyday.

(I hope all this playground anology is making some sense. Stay with me, I am going somewhere with this.)

Because I have the consent and the blessing from my Mother, I am able to get the most out of my experience and the most out of my day. My Mother loves me and wants the best for me. I trust Her and I know that She will not lead me on the path of destruction or let me get hurt.

It's good to have a Mom like that.

Hello!

Seeing as this is my first foray into the blogosphere, I am slowly learning the applications and tools to make this blog the best it can be. Since we all can use some dialogue for just about anything, I figured that this can be a place for it. I welcome comments and I want to reiterate that all things said on this blog are in charity. Here's to happy hunting and to great conversation!