B
buffalo
Guest
It is best to follow the constant understanding and teaching of the Catholic faith.
Can you convert to the Catholic faith and still believe in creationism?
- Status
J
JanetF
Guest
Malia, on this website, under the “Faith” tab, you can access all sorts of information including the church’s teaching on science, an extensive section on evolution and creationism. They do not contradict each other, so both are acceptable to the Church.
W
Wampa
Guest
Malia, this post illustrates what you’re asking about in your first post. Yes, the mocking exists, unfortunately. As others said though, this is mostly an Internet forums phenomenon, as least in regards to creationism/evolution, because the topic is largely irrelevant to most people’s lives. Don’t let it get you down and definitely don’t let it hinder you in coming into the Catholic Church! This topic will likely never come up in your real life.
S
StAnastasia
Guest
Excuse me, Wampa, but you misunderstand if you think I’m mocking. To the best of my knowledge, for membership in the Church there is no litmus test regarding any scientific theory.Malia, this post illustrates what you’re asking about in your first post. Yes, the mocking exists, unfortunately. As others said though, this is mostly an Internet forums phenomenon, as least in regards to creationism/evolution, because the topic is largely irrelevant to most people’s lives. Don’t let it get you down and definitely don’t let it hinder you in coming into the Catholic Church! This topic will likely never come up in your real life.
StAnastasia
R
ricmat
Guest
So says the church, but to get the non-mocking approval of StA, it seems that there IS a litmus test for particular scientific theories.
L
Luke65
Guest
You hear that, Wampa, you misunderstood! You can believe the earth is flat and still be a Catholic - StA just wanted to make sure everybody knows that! Of course, the Church never taught that the earth was flat - that was a concoction of a Bible and Church-mocking liar, Washington Irving; a myth that StAnastasia is pleased to perpetuate with his incessant comments conflating Geocentrism with Flat-Earthism, as the enemies of the Church love to do.
S
StAnastasia
Guest
Correct. Any particular cosmology is independent of the central kerygma of the Church. Of course, if Dante meant to claim that hell is literally underground, that would be both geographically incorrect, and theologically irrelevant. But I don’t think he meant for The Inferno to be read literally.
S
scottywolf777
Guest
Hi Holly are you aware that under religion you are listed as mormon? As a convert you might consider changing that.
By the way inre: “canonization” of any scientific dogma by the church really ceased with galileo. scientific dogma is based on theorem and not always on facts and our understanding of science is always changing. Only God Himself knows how it all worls and He isn’t telling probably because we’d make a bigger muck than we already have!
K
KingTheoden
Guest
Malia -
Welcome to the journey! As a former (nominal) Protestant, I can empathize with your situation in trying to determine truth and, as such, how to become closest to Jesus Christ.
On the issue of evolution/creationism/etc., as many others have posted, this is categorically NOT an impediment, in any way, to converting. We must believe certain truths about our origin (they have been posted already and are the things like Adam and Eve were REAL, were our first parents, and really did sin against God setting into motion our fallen nature).
I personally do not believe in evolution (and do not necessarily accept a literal six day creation). I believe there is much mystery to our Creation, such mystery that science can never begin to unlock. Of course, that does not mean we cannot try to better explain natural phenomena.
As a general rule of thumb, we should be very careful about putting too much confidence in Man and his rationality. Modern society would like to think that we can reason everything completely by our own intellect (this humanist/rationalist approach has been a wedge between us and God especially in the recent centuries).
But returning to your immediate concern, rest assured that it is nothing at all that would prevent a full embrace of conversion. I truly hope that you find a good RCIA program (as I am so thankful that I did) and continue down this journey.
Also, don’t get overwelmed - it can get that way with SO much information; indeed, remember that the Catholic (universal) Church is so big that of course there are seas of information and mystery that no one can immediately (or ever on Earth) get. There will be things that are hard, things that are confusing, and times you will be unsure. The best remedy is not to attempt to rationalize these things, but rather let the Spirit fill you and commit to a healthy prayer life.
Keep us informed as to your journey!
Welcome to the journey! As a former (nominal) Protestant, I can empathize with your situation in trying to determine truth and, as such, how to become closest to Jesus Christ.
On the issue of evolution/creationism/etc., as many others have posted, this is categorically NOT an impediment, in any way, to converting. We must believe certain truths about our origin (they have been posted already and are the things like Adam and Eve were REAL, were our first parents, and really did sin against God setting into motion our fallen nature).
I personally do not believe in evolution (and do not necessarily accept a literal six day creation). I believe there is much mystery to our Creation, such mystery that science can never begin to unlock. Of course, that does not mean we cannot try to better explain natural phenomena.
As a general rule of thumb, we should be very careful about putting too much confidence in Man and his rationality. Modern society would like to think that we can reason everything completely by our own intellect (this humanist/rationalist approach has been a wedge between us and God especially in the recent centuries).
But returning to your immediate concern, rest assured that it is nothing at all that would prevent a full embrace of conversion. I truly hope that you find a good RCIA program (as I am so thankful that I did) and continue down this journey.
Also, don’t get overwelmed - it can get that way with SO much information; indeed, remember that the Catholic (universal) Church is so big that of course there are seas of information and mystery that no one can immediately (or ever on Earth) get. There will be things that are hard, things that are confusing, and times you will be unsure. The best remedy is not to attempt to rationalize these things, but rather let the Spirit fill you and commit to a healthy prayer life.
Keep us informed as to your journey!
M
Malia_Belen
Guest
Wow, thanks King Theoden.
That’s some great advice especially the part that says: The best remedy is not to attempt to rationalize these things, but rather let the Spirit fill you and commit to a healthy prayer life.
B
BigDave31
Guest
Hi and welcome to the journey. As a recent (3years) convert please do not let all this fluff disuade you in any way. I wish people here would realize that an inquirer has some fairly simple to answer questions that need answering. There was no need to get into a discussion of this size. Rest assured there will be no occasions to be embarresed over your views because most people will not even know or care. It just never comes up. Continure your journey, you will be so glad you did. So happy to be catholic!!!
Dave
Dave
J
Jon_Paul
Guest
I do not understand this… how can you not believe in a literal Adam and Eve? The very concept of Original Sin and the corruption of human nature relies on the existance of our first parents.
Our fallen human nature and Original Sin is passed throughout the generations of Adam’s seed… because of our first parents fall from grace, a fall from the state of Original Justice, and if it were so that we did not have a singular set of first parents – Adam and Eve – but instead multiple humans in existance with an occurance of a fall from grace, would not explain the corruption of human nature, instead you would only be able to point out to single instances – or multiple – deviations from human nature whilst other men retained a state of Original Justice.
These single instances of a fall from Original Justice amongst multiple prehistoric man wouldn’t explain the complete corruption of human nature.
I might not be making sense of course… I’m still learning
.
A
Aramis
Guest
The Church doesn’t require you to believe in evolution, nor will it condemn evolution, for evolution is the apparent means of God’s creation.
The Church DOES require you to believe that creation is dependent upon God as the first principle, that at some point, God created ensoulled beings, and one of them sinned, and through that sin, the immortal soul of all was imperilled.
Now, Young Earth Creationism isn’t well supported in the Catholic sphere, and while not declared heresy, several popes have indicated it’s not congruent with the evidence at hand. (Paul VI, JP II, B XVI (tho’ before his election)).
Biblical literalism of Genesis isn’t a staple of Catholic theology, either. That it teaches truth through parables, that’s part of the teaching. That it’s an accurate history in the modern sense isn’t.
The Church DOES require you to believe that creation is dependent upon God as the first principle, that at some point, God created ensoulled beings, and one of them sinned, and through that sin, the immortal soul of all was imperilled.
Now, Young Earth Creationism isn’t well supported in the Catholic sphere, and while not declared heresy, several popes have indicated it’s not congruent with the evidence at hand. (Paul VI, JP II, B XVI (tho’ before his election)).
Biblical literalism of Genesis isn’t a staple of Catholic theology, either. That it teaches truth through parables, that’s part of the teaching. That it’s an accurate history in the modern sense isn’t.
W
Wampa
Guest
LOL, well said, Luke. Thanks to you and ricmat for pointing out how disingenuous StA’s answer was
S
StAnastasia
Guest
Aramis, this is certainly how most theologians understand it the science-religion relationship. “Creation” is a theological concept, indicating the ontological dependence of the world upon God; it is not a scientific principle at all. “Evolution” on the other hand is a scientific theory, not a theological claim. It can in no way conflict with “creation” because it is not even in the same category of concept. The confusion arises when either a religious believer or a scientist confuses creation and evolution as trying to explain the same thing, and therefore as standing in conflict.
Where I differ from you is on your claim that “one of them sinned, and through that sin, the immortal soul of all was imperiled.” It makes no theological sense to assume either that (1) in an evolving population of hominids only one would sin, or (2) that if only one did sin, the immortal soul of all would be imperiled. This makes sense only on a literal reading of the Adam and Eve narrative, which most theologians do not regard as appropriate. It makes more theological sense to interpret sin as evolving along with the increasing neural capacity of *Homo sapiens *and the evolution of the species into self-consciousness 50,000-150,000 years ago. Sin appeared on the scene as soon as humans were self-conscious enough to experience free will and the capacity to do otherwise.
Thank you for your thoughtful post!
StAnastasia
S
Shin
Guest
There is a list of non-negotiable dogmas posted earlier on this thread and they truly are non-negotiable. You have to work your history with them involved, not make up new stuff that tosses them out the window or reinterprets them to mean something other than they have always meant.
When you do that, you leave the Catholic Faith and make up your own.
When you do that, you leave the Catholic Faith and make up your own.
S
StAnastasia
Guest
What do you mean by “non-negotiable”?
D
DonLeon
Guest
Aren’t all dogmas of the CC non-negotiable? You either believe and accept them or you dont. Black or white, no gray areas…
PAX DOMINI
Shalom Aleichem
S
StAnastasia
Guest
It depends on what you mean by “non-negotiable.”
D
DonLeon
Guest
You can’t bargain your way, make minor changes, or be like cafeteria catholics, pick and choose…You either accept as is or you don’t. If you do, then you are a Christian and Catholic. So, there!
PAX DOMINI
Shalom Aleichem
- Status