Ratzinger - God the Creator PDF

# In the Beginning …: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall ## Homily 1: God the Creator "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face...

# In the Beginning …: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall ## Homily 1: God the Creator "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. And God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth.” And it was so. 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. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day." _Genesis 1:1-19_ ## The Difference Between Form and Content in the Creation Narrative The story of creation, though seemingly simple, can be a source of conflict due to the modern scientific understanding of the universe. While many theologians argue that creation is an unreal concept and that we should instead speak of mutation and selection, a more nuanced approach exists: * **Different Form & Content**: The Bible presents a creation narrative in a format comprehensible to the people of the time. It used images and storytelling conventions that are no longer relevant in modern science. * **Not a Science Textbook**: The Bible is not intended to be a textbook of science. It’s a religious book, offering a different kind of truth: a religious experience and a framework for comprehending the divine. ## The Unity of the Bible as a Criterion for Its Interpretation The Bible, unlike a simple narrative, is a journey. It evolves over time, reflecting the history of God’s interaction with his people. This means: * **No Closed System**: The creation account in Genesis is not a closed, independent piece of writing. It resonates with and builds upon the entire narrative of the Bible. * **Progressive Revelation**: As the journey unfolds, the “real way” of declaring God's truth becomes clearer. We can only understand the full meaning of the Old Testament through the lens of Christ, the ultimate revelation. ## Christology as a Criterion The Christian view of creation culminates in the New Testament, with the revelation of Christ: * **The Word is God**: *"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made."* _John 1:1, 3_ * **Reinterpreting Creation**: John, taking up the beginning of the Bible, re-interprets the creation account with Christ at its heart. ## The Pagan's Viewpoint & God's Order The creation account was a response to the prevalent pagan understanding of the world: * **Marduk & the Dragon**: Pagan myths like the Babylonian account of Enuma Elish envisioned a chaotic world arising from the victory of the male god Marduk over the primordial dragon. This view painted the world with a sense of underlying evil and power struggles. * **God's Order**: The Bible, however, insists that the world wasn't born from chaos but from God’s creative order. The "void" represents the absence of chaos, and God's love and reason are the ultimate forces at work, replacing fear and demonic powers. * **Continuing Revelation**: As Christianity developed, it engaged with the complex worldviews of the time. The creation narrative, in its enduring truth, was continually reinterpreted, like in the Psalms and Wisdom literature, to address new challenges.