Dear Selma Elizabeth Carvalho,
I respect your opinion. But it is wrong to say that Bible TEACHES that
Eve was created out of Adam's rib. This is a symbolic description to show
that the woman has equal rights as the male. The woman was despised. Jesus
has empowered women in the Jewish society. Bible has to be interpreted in
the right way. I cannot explain here all in detail. Evolution was not
rejected, provided that the fact that God is the originator is accepted
(Pius XII, Humani Generis). Creation is not a scientific theory of origin,
it is a statement that without God the Big-Bang process could not start.
Creationism cannot be accepted. No one should try to make us believe that
Eve was created out of Adam's rib.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carvalho" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!" <goanet@lists.goanet.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 1:58 PM
Subject: Re: [Goanet] Cafeteria-ism of Religion
--- "Fr. Ivo da C. Souza" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
God is the Originator. Bible
does not exclude theories
of evolution.
RESPONSE
With all due respect Fr. Ivo, the Bible would have us
believe Eve was created out of Adam's rib. The Bible
does not leave any room for theories of evolution. It
is infact the Church who subsequently acquiesced that
evolution and Catholicism were not mutually exclusive,
as long as one conceded that God was the Originator.
Fr Ivo wrote:
All
of us need God's love.
This is divine logic, not human logic. Unfortunately
you seem to have missed
it. Yet do not worry. He is the Saviour of the
World.
This is not "cafeteria religion", but scientific
biblical interpretation.
Fr.Ivo
RESPONSE:
The concept of a Saviour God was borrowed from
existing agrarian inspired myths of the time. It was
Augustine who later inserted this tricky bit of
theology to justify the need for a Saviour.
*Christian theology did not begin with St.Augustine.
If you are led by Bible to believe that Eve was created from Adam's rib,
why do you reject the teaching on Sin and Grace, which is the biblical
TEACHING
and is confirmed by human experience?
The concept of sin itself is a product of religion.
For me there is only normative behaviour and aberrant
beviour. Aberrant behaviour maybe the result of mental
impairment, physiological impulses or cultural
moorings. Some of it may be addressed through
treatment, some of it has to be addressed through
negative reinforcement such as prison. In anycase, any
God with the least amount of understanding of human
frailty will not seek redressal harsher than this, and
certainly not an eternity of damnation.
* I do admire you for advising God... You speak of aberrant and deviant
behaviour,
but forget that human beings have been given the gift of freedom.
In this line of thought, we can choose to sin... It can be frailty as well
as our decision...
You are raising the problem of "eternal damnation". That is a consequence of
the misuse of our freedom.
But we do believe also in God's mercy, embodied in his Son, Jesus of
Nazareth.
I do appreciate your point of view is from a
theological perspective but I really am too far
removed from salvation :-)
Selma
*Thank you! We do believe that God is Love.
Fr.Ivo
