Does the Catholic Church teach that creation is cursed?

[smp501]

Growing up Presbyterian, I was always taught that as soon as Adam/Eve fell, sin entered the world and all of creation was cursed. This is why we have so many bad things such as natural disasters, disease, etc, and why childbirth hurts and we have to work to farm.

Since I’ve started attending Catholic services and church events however, I have repeatedly heard people say that according to God’s first judgement in Genesis, creation is “good” because God made it (He “loved it into existence”). Needless to say, theses are two very different pictures of creation!

So, what does the Church dogma on this? Is creation good or cursed? Thanks!

 

[PJM]

=smp501;9129827]Growing up Presbyterian, I was always taught that as soon as Adam/Eve fell, sin entered the world and all of creation was cursed. This is why we have so many bad things such as natural disasters, disease, etc, and why childbirth hurts and we have to work to farm.

Since I’ve started attending Catholic services and church events however, I have repeatedly heard people say that according to God’s first judgement in Genesis, creation is “good” because God made it (He “loved it into existence”). Needless to say, theses are two very different pictures of creation!

So, what does the Church dogma on this? Is creation good or cursed? Thanks!

THE VERY SAME THING [AND POSITION HELD BY GOD HIMSELF] This pretty well sums it up!

Gen.1
[1] In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [3] And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
[4] And God saw that the light was good;

[10] God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

12] The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. ***And God saw that it was good. ***

[18] to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

[21] So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. ***And God saw that it was good. ***

[25] And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

[27] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. [28] And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

[31] And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

Growing up Presbyterian, I was always taught that as soon as Adam/Eve fell, sin entered the world and all of creation was cursed. This is why we have so many bad things such as natural disasters, disease, etc, and why childbirth hurts and we have to work to farm.

Since I’ve started attending Catholic services and church events however, I have repeatedly heard people say that according to God’s first judgement in Genesis, creation is “good” because God made it (He “loved it into existence”). Needless to say, theses are two very different pictures of creation!

So, what does the Church dogma on this? Is creation good or cursed? Thanks!

Adam and Eve were creations of the Holy Scripture writers, inspired by God, and saying that there was something wrong with the State of Man on Earth. That Man though good is also evil.

 

[Elizium23]

This belief is based on Manichæism, which holds, in part, that the flesh is evil and humans should abstain from all Earthly pleasures in order to be free of sin. It was seen in the Middle Ages in the Albigensians, also known as Catharists. In response to the Albigensians, the Order of Preachers, or Dominican Order was formed by St. Dominic in the 1200s. The Albigensians were wiped out but their heresy, as you can see, is alive and well.

 

[Elizium23]

Adam and Eve were creations of the Holy Scripture writers, inspired by God, and saying that there was something wrong with the State of Man on Earth. That Man though good is also evil.

Adam and Eve truly existed (monogenism), and to deny that is to persist in heresy.

 

[bmonk]

Creation is not cursed, it is fallen.

In Genesis, God created all things, saw that each was “good”, and all together they were “very good.”

In the Fall, by choosing to sin, Adam and Eve corrupted that goodness, so that while the Earth is flawed, it is also still good. Good by nature, evil and flawed by choice.

Another way to put this is that, while created in “the image and likeness” of God, we lost that likeness in our sin, but we are still the image of God.

Also, in redemption, our sin and guilt are removed, and the corruption of evil is healed and restored. This is different from the view of many Protestant churches, who follow more Martin Luther’s image of a pile of horse droppings covered over by snow. The snow appears white and pure–but underneath all the stink and mess is still there. In this view, evil and sin is an irredeemable blot on creation.

 

[smp501]

Also, in redemption, our sin and guilt are removed, and the corruption of evil is healed and restored. This is different from the view of many Protestant churches, who follow more Martin Luther’s image of a pile of horse droppings covered over by snow. The snow appears white and pure–but underneath all the stink and mess is still there. In this view, evil and sin is an irredeemable blot on creation.

Yep, that pretty much sums up the theology of my youth Thanks everyone for clearing that up!

 

[stephe1987]

Humanity is fallen from its original state of grace, but it is not cursed (although some people have cursed themselves and/or their descendents by dealing with the occult, but that is a different story).

Sin is not the same as evil. Humans can sin by doing things that God doesn’t want us to do, doing something that isn’t part of His plan for our lives. But that isn’t the same as evil. Evil is the absence of good, and there is good in every human being.

 

[KathleenGee]

The entire cosmos awaits the Lord…and is being regenerated as well as us…Christ calls all men to Himself in His resurrection…

 

[Vouthon]

This is a Catholic view of creation, from a Saint who is being declared a Doctor of the Church later this year:

“…Oh fire of the Holy Spirit, life of the life of every creature, holy are you in giving life to forms …Oh boldest path, penetrating into all places, in the heights, on earth, and in every abyss, you bring and bind together. From you clouds flow, air flies, Rocks have their humours, Rivers spring forth from the waters And earth wears her green vigour…God created the world out of the four elements, to glorify His name. He strengthened the world with the wind. And he filled the world with all kinds of creatures. He then put human beings throughout the world, giving them great power as stewards of all Creation. Human beings cannot live without the rest of nature, they must care for all natural things…Then creation recognized its Creator in its own forms and appearances. For in the beginning, when God said, “Let it be!” and it came to pass, the means and the Matrix of creation was Love, because all creation was formed through Her as in the twinkling of an eye…The earth is at the same time mother, She is mother of all that is natural, mother of all that is human. She is the mother of all, for contained in her are the seeds of all. The earth of humankind contains all moistness, all verdancy, all germinating power. It is in so many ways fruitful. All creation comes from it. Yet it forms not only the basic raw material for humankind, but also the substance of the incarnation of God’s son… Do not mock anything God has created. All creation is simple, plain and good. And God is present throughout his creation. Why do you ever consider things beneath your notice? God’s justice is to be found in every detail of what he has made. The human race alone is capable of injustice. Human beings alone are capable of disobeying God’s laws, because they try to be wiser than God…No creature has meaning without the Word of God. God’s Word is in all creation, visible and invisible. The Word is living, being, spirit, all verdant greening, all creativity. This Word flashes out in every creature. This is how the spirit is in the flesh—the Word is indivisible from God…”

- Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), philosopher, mystic, visionary, artist, poet, composer, theologian and Doctor of the Catholic Church

Saint Hildegard composed many pieces of music, in an attempt to imitate the language and song of the angels which God revealed to her, one of which was this ode in praise of creation called “Spiritus Sanctus” (Holy Spirit) and based (I think) upon Psalm 110/111:

youtube.com/watch?v=LJEfyZSvg5c&feature=player_embedded

 

[jen_fla]

This is a Catholic view of creation, from a Saint who is being declared a Doctor of the Church later this year:

Saint Hildegard composed many pieces of music, in an attempt to imitate the language and song of the angels which God revealed to her, one of which was this ode in praise of creation called “Spiritus Sanctus” (Holy Spirit) and based (I think) upon Psalm 110/111:

youtube.com/watch?v=LJEfyZSvg5c&feature=player_embedded

great post and link. thanks!