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When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so. God is not a demiurge [demigod] or a magician, but the Creator who gives being to all entities. Evolution in nature is not opposed to the notion of Creation, because evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve.
Pope Francis
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes that God is not a magician but the Creator behind the evolution of existence, integrating science with spirituality.

Pope Francis highlights that the understanding of Creation as described in Genesis should not lead us to picture God merely as a magician who conjures entities into existence. Instead, he argues that God is the Creator who initiates the existence of all beings, and that the process of evolution is part of the divine plan, presupposing an initial act of creation. This perspective invites harmony between scientific evolution and the faith-based concept of Creation.

Themes

CreationEvolutionGodSpiritualityNature

In practice

Example use cases

In a sermon discussing the relationship between faith and science.

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