79. In this universe, shaped by open and intercommunicating systems,
we can discern countless forms of relationship and participation. This
leads us to think of the whole as open to God’s transcendence, within
which it develops. Faith allows us to interpret the meaning and the
mysterious beauty of what is unfolding. We are free to apply our
intelligence towards things evolving positively, or towards adding new
ills, new causes of suffering and real setbacks. This is what makes for
the excitement and drama of human history, in which freedom, growth,
salvation and love can blossom, or lead towards decadence and mutual
destruction. The work of the Church seeks not only to remind everyone of
the duty to care for nature, but at the same time “she must above all
protect mankind from self-destruction”.[47]
Excitement is used as a single measure of human emotion surrounding the drama of history. Excitement focuses the mind and hopefully the emotions. The conscience which Pope Francis relies on in much of his dialogue so far is a realization that the mind is not alone capable of being moral, but, the entire human experience builds and enforces moral content of a society. Reasoning away within a political dialogue all that is moral and best is dangerous and deadly.
80. Yet God, who wishes to work with us and who counts on our cooperation, can also bring good out of the evil we have done. “The Holy Spirit can be said to possess an infinite creativity, proper to the divine mind, which knows how to loosen the knots of human affairs, including the most complex and inscrutable”.[48] Creating a world in need of development, God in some way sought to limit himself in such a way that many of the things we think of as evils, dangers or sources of suffering, are in reality part of the pains of childbirth which he uses to draw us into the act of cooperation with the Creator.[49] God is intimately present to each being, without impinging on the autonomy of his creature, and this gives rise to the rightful autonomy of earthly affairs.[50] His divine presence, which ensures the subsistence and growth of each being, “continues the work of creation”.[51] The Spirit of God has filled the universe with possibilities and therefore, from the very heart of things, something new can always emerge: “Nature is nothing other than a certain kind of art, namely God’s art, impressed upon things, whereby those things are moved to a determinate end. It is as if a shipbuilder were able to give timbers the wherewithal to move themselves to take the form of a ship”.[52]
"The Holy Spirit" is the ethereal definition of the presence of God in the lives of people. Dare I make a synonym of "The Grace of God" as the Holy Spirit. While that statement chooses to make one in the same as a definition, it is not. The Holy Spirit, and not the Grace of God, is the third person in the triangle of definition of God. "The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit/Ghost." The Holy Spirit is the transcendence of God to the experience of human life. Catholic receive the Holy Spirit during communion. But, that is more of a study of the faith and not the message. Pope Francis also refers to "the divine mind."
Off topic: Pope Francis also mentions childbirth and it's cooperation with the Creator. It is this definition used by political figures to bring a far different definition to biblical content to the US Constitution. Child birth is not viewed the same across Christianity or other religious systems of belief. It is for this reason religion has a different authority in a person's life.
81. Human beings, even if we postulate a process of evolution, also possess a uniqueness which cannot be fully explained by the evolution of other open systems. Each of us has his or her own personal identity and is capable of entering into dialogue with others and with God himself. Our capacity to reason, to develop arguments, to be inventive, to interpret reality and to create art, along with other not yet discovered capacities, are signs of a uniqueness which transcends the spheres of physics and biology. The sheer novelty involved in the emergence of a personal being within a material universe presupposes a direct action of God and a particular call to life and to relationship on the part of a “Thou” who addresses himself to another “thou”. The biblical accounts of creation invite us to see each human being as a subject who can never be reduced to the status of an object.
Interesting. Evolution. He is correct. It is a leap of faith that defines evolution of the human being. There is no profound species of "Homo" that one can easily point to and state this was the direct ancestor previous to the human being. I am not going to discuss evolution of the human being because of it's length and complexity. There are species of great apes that point to their potential to evolution, but, does not directly point at the evolution of humans. So, I'll leave it there. Human beings are unique to Earth.
82. Yet it would also be mistaken to view other living beings as mere objects subjected to arbitrary human domination. When nature is viewed solely as a source of profit and gain, this has serious consequences for society. This vision of “might is right” has engendered immense inequality, injustice and acts of violence against the majority of humanity, since resources end up in the hands of the first comer or the most powerful: the winner takes all. Completely at odds with this model are the ideals of harmony, justice, fraternity and peace as proposed by Jesus. As he said of the powers of his own age: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Mt 20:25-26).
"Might is Right" is an interesting focus by Pope Francis. Another way of stating it is "Survival of the Fittest." This idea came into practice during Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism came out of Western Europe as an intellectual argument to colonialism. The idea that Western Europe had advanced in far greater measure than native tribes of the West Indies or Africa brought about the idea of genetic superiority. At the time genetics was in primitive understandings and ridiculous compared to today. But, genetics was not considered a valid science at the time. However, explaining superiority as a form of innate greatness provided a focus of amusement to the discoveries of land and that land's content to justify the ruling class with a basis of legitimacy.
83. The ultimate destiny of the universe is in the fullness of God, which has already been attained by the risen Christ, the measure of the maturity of all things.[53] Here we can add yet another argument for rejecting every tyrannical and irresponsible domination of human beings over other creatures. The ultimate purpose of other creatures is not to be found in us. Rather, all creatures are moving forward with us and through us towards a common point of arrival, which is God, in that transcendent fullness where the risen Christ embraces and illumines all things. Human beings, endowed with intelligence and love, and drawn by the fullness of Christ, are called to lead all creatures back to their Creator.
Harmony. Do human beings live in harmony with the natural world?
Excitement is used as a single measure of human emotion surrounding the drama of history. Excitement focuses the mind and hopefully the emotions. The conscience which Pope Francis relies on in much of his dialogue so far is a realization that the mind is not alone capable of being moral, but, the entire human experience builds and enforces moral content of a society. Reasoning away within a political dialogue all that is moral and best is dangerous and deadly.
80. Yet God, who wishes to work with us and who counts on our cooperation, can also bring good out of the evil we have done. “The Holy Spirit can be said to possess an infinite creativity, proper to the divine mind, which knows how to loosen the knots of human affairs, including the most complex and inscrutable”.[48] Creating a world in need of development, God in some way sought to limit himself in such a way that many of the things we think of as evils, dangers or sources of suffering, are in reality part of the pains of childbirth which he uses to draw us into the act of cooperation with the Creator.[49] God is intimately present to each being, without impinging on the autonomy of his creature, and this gives rise to the rightful autonomy of earthly affairs.[50] His divine presence, which ensures the subsistence and growth of each being, “continues the work of creation”.[51] The Spirit of God has filled the universe with possibilities and therefore, from the very heart of things, something new can always emerge: “Nature is nothing other than a certain kind of art, namely God’s art, impressed upon things, whereby those things are moved to a determinate end. It is as if a shipbuilder were able to give timbers the wherewithal to move themselves to take the form of a ship”.[52]
"The Holy Spirit" is the ethereal definition of the presence of God in the lives of people. Dare I make a synonym of "The Grace of God" as the Holy Spirit. While that statement chooses to make one in the same as a definition, it is not. The Holy Spirit, and not the Grace of God, is the third person in the triangle of definition of God. "The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit/Ghost." The Holy Spirit is the transcendence of God to the experience of human life. Catholic receive the Holy Spirit during communion. But, that is more of a study of the faith and not the message. Pope Francis also refers to "the divine mind."
Off topic: Pope Francis also mentions childbirth and it's cooperation with the Creator. It is this definition used by political figures to bring a far different definition to biblical content to the US Constitution. Child birth is not viewed the same across Christianity or other religious systems of belief. It is for this reason religion has a different authority in a person's life.
81. Human beings, even if we postulate a process of evolution, also possess a uniqueness which cannot be fully explained by the evolution of other open systems. Each of us has his or her own personal identity and is capable of entering into dialogue with others and with God himself. Our capacity to reason, to develop arguments, to be inventive, to interpret reality and to create art, along with other not yet discovered capacities, are signs of a uniqueness which transcends the spheres of physics and biology. The sheer novelty involved in the emergence of a personal being within a material universe presupposes a direct action of God and a particular call to life and to relationship on the part of a “Thou” who addresses himself to another “thou”. The biblical accounts of creation invite us to see each human being as a subject who can never be reduced to the status of an object.
Interesting. Evolution. He is correct. It is a leap of faith that defines evolution of the human being. There is no profound species of "Homo" that one can easily point to and state this was the direct ancestor previous to the human being. I am not going to discuss evolution of the human being because of it's length and complexity. There are species of great apes that point to their potential to evolution, but, does not directly point at the evolution of humans. So, I'll leave it there. Human beings are unique to Earth.
82. Yet it would also be mistaken to view other living beings as mere objects subjected to arbitrary human domination. When nature is viewed solely as a source of profit and gain, this has serious consequences for society. This vision of “might is right” has engendered immense inequality, injustice and acts of violence against the majority of humanity, since resources end up in the hands of the first comer or the most powerful: the winner takes all. Completely at odds with this model are the ideals of harmony, justice, fraternity and peace as proposed by Jesus. As he said of the powers of his own age: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant” (Mt 20:25-26).
"Might is Right" is an interesting focus by Pope Francis. Another way of stating it is "Survival of the Fittest." This idea came into practice during Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism came out of Western Europe as an intellectual argument to colonialism. The idea that Western Europe had advanced in far greater measure than native tribes of the West Indies or Africa brought about the idea of genetic superiority. At the time genetics was in primitive understandings and ridiculous compared to today. But, genetics was not considered a valid science at the time. However, explaining superiority as a form of innate greatness provided a focus of amusement to the discoveries of land and that land's content to justify the ruling class with a basis of legitimacy.
83. The ultimate destiny of the universe is in the fullness of God, which has already been attained by the risen Christ, the measure of the maturity of all things.[53] Here we can add yet another argument for rejecting every tyrannical and irresponsible domination of human beings over other creatures. The ultimate purpose of other creatures is not to be found in us. Rather, all creatures are moving forward with us and through us towards a common point of arrival, which is God, in that transcendent fullness where the risen Christ embraces and illumines all things. Human beings, endowed with intelligence and love, and drawn by the fullness of Christ, are called to lead all creatures back to their Creator.
Harmony. Do human beings live in harmony with the natural world?
