Here’s an interesting development, from the U.K. Times Online:
The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church [in England, Scotland, and Wales] has published a teaching document instructing the faithful that some parts of the Bible are not actually true.
This includes the first 11 chapters of Genesis, wherein the earth and humankind are created in six days. It’s a rebuttal to strict creationism.
Sometimes I have a sneaking suspicion that this is still news to some people: There are lots of different Christians, and they believe lots of different things. So in a sense, the publication of this teaching document doesn’t really mean anything — I’m pretty sure we’re all going to keep on believing what we’re believing. But it seems significant to me, and potentially to the environmental community, since, as the article points out, the Church has historically condemned those who don’t take the Bible as the literal word of God.
Anyway, I just thought that was interesting (as did Matthew Wheeland at Alternet, who beat me to the punch.)
