It wasn't big news, at least I didn't hear a thing about it on my local news, but on October the Catholic Church made a profound statement about the nature of the Bible.  In a London Times article the Roman Catholic Church is said to have, "Published a teaching document instructing the faithful that some parts of the Bible are not actually true."  This is a monumental admission in an era when so many are absolutely sure that the bible is the absolute word of God.

This admission will do little to mollify the radical elements of the Christian faith.  There are still those who will continue to believe that the earth was created in six days, and that humans walked among dinosaurs.  But we can not blame the church for what people believe, not entirely.  People want to cling on to something that's larger than they are.  People want to believe that there is a force out there watching over us, protecting us.  Because if it's true that no one is out there listening to our prayers, then we are alone in this world.  But so many of us want to hold on to this hope of a benevolent God looking out for us.  It's simply human nature.

The reality is that even if there was a way to prove that there wasn't a God people would still believe.  It's called a matter of faith for a reason.  Love it or hate it, religion is something that many humans need.  They need it to be sure about something in their life.  When the bills are piling up, and everything seems to be going bad, people need to know that there is a God up in the sky looking down upon us.  What God looking does for us isn't really known, but it makes certain people feel better.

I'm not one of those people.  I have found that I rather trust in myself than in some hope that never comes.  I'm not shocked that the church has said that the bible isn't the literal word of God.  I'm shocked that it took so long.  Then again, the church would not want to just declare that the bible might not be entirely true.  There are many things in the bible that help churches continue the status quo.  It wouldn't be a good idea to suddenly say that none of the bible is true.  The main ideas have to be considered true by the church, or their power is gone.

It's entirely sad that there needs to be an official declaration by the church to finally put the rest if Eve really came from Adam's rib.  We should know that by now, especially since so much of what we know shows that such a thing goes against nature.

In short I'm glad that the Roman Catholic Church has come out stating that the bible may not be the literal word of God.  I knew that all along, but you can't blame the church for not wanting to completely admit the truth.  Not when there is money to be had, and people to be converted in the fight against other religions.  Perhaps some day.