Origins and Meanings

• Creation ex nihilo is the belief that before God created the universe, nothing existed and only God can create out of nothing.
• Evolution is the process of mutation and natural selection which leads to changes in species over time to suit particular environments.
• Imago Dei is the belief that human beings are uniquely a reflection of God’s personhood.
• Unlike the other animals, human beings are rational, free and moral.
• Inspiration is the belief that the Spirit of God guides an individual to act or write what is good or true.
• Omnipotence is the belief that God is all powerful.
• Revelation is the word used to describe all the ways in which God makes himself known to human beings.
• Stewardship is the duty for humans to care for creation responsibly as stewards, rather than consumers and to protect it for future generations.
• Transcendence is the belief that God exists outside of space and time; God exists in a way that makes him nothing like anything else that exists, above and beyond creation.
• Catholics believe that God created ex nihilo (creation out of nothing).
• Catholics believe that God is omnipotent (all powerful), which is another reason he can create from nothing.
• Catholics believe that God is transcendent (existing outside of space and time), which is how he can create from nothing.
• St Augustine was an early Catholic thinker who grappled with the origins of the universe.
• In his Confessions, St Augustine explained that God is eternal, transcendent, creator, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent.
• Genesis 1:1 - 31 describes God’s creation of the universe over a period of six days.
• Genesis can be interpreted as literally true because God is all-powerful and all-knowing, capable of creating the world in just seven days.
• God loves all humans and would not mislead people by giving them incorrect information.
• The Big Bang Theory is a description of how scientists believe the universe began, caused by a huge explosion about 20 billion years ago.
• The Big Bang Theory replaced the Steady State Theory as the accepted view of the origins of the universe, and there might be other theories waiting in the wings for that extra bit of persuasive evidence, like the Pulsation Hypothesis Theory.
• Science is open to change, development and revision, so can it be relied upon?
• Catholics accept the Big Bang Theory, as it was a Catholic priest, Georges Lemaitre, who first put forward the theory.
• Catholics argue that everything in the universe depends on something else, and there must be a First Cause to start the Big Bang off, which they point to as God.
• Pope Francis has asserted that the religious explanation for the origins of the universe and the scientific one are not incompatible and can both be true.
• Charles Darwin suggested the theory of evolution in 1859 following several years of research, suggesting that the huge variety of creatures and species is the result of thousands of years of change and adaptation (evolution).
• Several Popes, starting with Pope Pius XII in 1950, have taught that there is no conflict between Darwin’s theory and the Catholic understanding of God’s deliberate, purposeful creation of human beings.
• In Jewish belief, God is the source of all life and referred to throughout the Torah as the sole creator.
• In Genesis, the first book of the Torah, Heaven and earth, animals and humans are created in six days with the seventh day being a day of rest.
• Some Christians believe the story of creation in Genesis to be literal; that it tells us exactly how creation happened.
• Others believe that Genesis is more symbolic, with creation happening over a longer period of time.
• Pope John Paul II's encyclical Salvifici Doloris addresses the theme of suffering and its role in the development of virtues, drawing on sources from the Jewish religious tradition.
• The example and teachings of Jesus are seen as the source of moral authority.
• Jesus is also seen as the fulfilment of the Law as taught in Matthew 5-7.
• Natural Law, as explained by St. Thomas Aquinas, is seen as evidence of God’s goodness.
• Conscience is seen as evidence of God’s goodness.
• The role of suffering in the development of virtues is a theme that must be studied, where appropriate, from the Jewish religious tradition.
• Sculpture and statuary play an important role in Catholic tradition and worship.
• The Pieta, a sculpture by Michelangelo, is seen as an example of a work that expresses Catholic beliefs about God’s goodness and the meaning of human suffering.
• Popular devotion, as practised in Catholic communities in Britain and elsewhere, includes practices such as pilgrimage and the Rosary, which are seen as responding to suffering.
• Pilgrimage to Lourdes is a popular practice among Catholics.
• The Rosary is seen as a reflection on the Incarnation, with particular reference to the Sorrowful Mysteries.