"Our earthly liturgies must be celebrations full of beauty and power: Feasts of the Father who created us—that is why the gifts of the earth play such a great part: the bread, the wine, oil and light, incense, sacred music, and splendid colors. Feasts of the Son who redeemed us—that is why we rejoice in our liberation, breathe deeply in listening to the Word, and are strengthened in eating the Eucharistic Gifts. Feasts of the Holy Spirit who lives in us—that is why there is a wealth of consolation, knowledge, courage, strength, and blessing that flows from these sacred assemblies." unknown source possibly YOUCAT Mal.1.11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith theLord of hosts.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Long life Spans in the Bible

from Catholic Answers:

Full Question

Can you give me a logical answer about the people's ages in the book of Genesis? Some of them lived to be 900 years old. What is the Catholic Church's teaching about this?

Answer

The Church has no teaching regarding whether these ages are to be taken literally or not. The Church will say that whatever Scripture says is inerrant but must be understood in terms of the conventions of literature that were in use at the time.
It is known that, in many ancient cultures, fantastically long lives were assigned to famous forebears. This could be an indication that the ages are to be taken as symbolic of the greatness and venerability of the individuals.
However, this is not something the Church has taught. God can keep people alive as long as he wants. If he wants someone to live to be 900 years old, then that person can do so.

For those who do understand it more literally--who are trying to find scientific explanations to the questions of long life,  this second article describes why they may have lived longer--or what things may have affected their life spans.  http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/longlife.html
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)