Vatican City, Feb 6, 2013 / 08:19 am
Even with modern scientific advances, it is still right to speak of the beginning of life as "Creation" because the world's origin is rational and motivated by love, Pope Benedict XVI said.
In today's "age of science and technology," the Pope asked, does it make sense to still speak of creation as Scripture does?
The Bible, he responded, "is not intended as a manual of the natural sciences; it wants to help us understand the authentic and profound truth of things. … So the Scripture tells us that the origin of the world, our origin is not irrational or out of necessity, but reason and love and freedom."
The Feb. 6 general audience was held in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall with approximately 8,000 people in attendance. As part of his ongoing series of reflections on the Creed during the Year of Faith, the Pope focused his attention on its second phrase – God is the "Creator of heaven and earth."