The Pope Takes the Middle Ground

Pope Benedict XVI has decreed that "The universe is not the result of chance” and that God’s mind is behind the great scientific theories.

I say this is the middle ground because to the Right of the Pope are the Fundamentalist Christians that believe Genesis is a science text and that the universe was literally created in 6 days about 6,000 years ago. To the Left are the Atheists that claim that the hypothesis of God is no longer required and that all of existence is the result of natural processes.

So my question is whether or not this pronouncement is within the sphere of “Faith and Morals?” Because if it is, then according to Catholic doctrine, it is an infallible pronouncement that MUST be accepted by all Catholics. If they don’t accept the pronouncement, then they run the risk of committing the sin of disobedience.

This is a major difference between religion and the secular world. In the secular world there is no authority figure so powerful that all of his pronouncements must be accepted without question or criticism.

Are there people that one would be predisposed towards accepting what they say due to their recognized expertise? Of course there are, but none of them is immune to criticism or disagreement. No one has absolute authority.

In the religious world however God, the Prophets and some of the clergy, DO have absolute authority. If the Pope declares eating bagels dyed with green food coloring as an sinful act, then for all Catholics it becomes a sinful act. There are no if, ands or buts allowed.

For Protestant Christians this is a tad trickier since there is no central authority. Sola Scriptura rules. The problem with that idea is that while everyone may agree upon what the scripture SAYS, very often there is disagreement on what it MEANS.

This gets really dicey when one realizes that the arguments are taking place based upon texts that have been modified over time and may, or may not, accurately represent the originals in all cases.

As for me, like the Frenchman Pierre-Simon Laplace, when it comes to the question of God, “I have no need of that hypothesis.”