The Pope on Human Uniqueness

Originally posted by josephw
Gee FMF, I don't know! Who was it that said "transcend"? Was it the Pope, or was it his speech writers? Or is it a force of influence designed to keep the world in a constant state of confusion "baffled and grappling with one another their whole lives long"?

It is FMF who talked about the world being baffled by these alleged evidences of transcendence, not the pope. It is you who said this was the pope's intent. Maybe you both are wrong. It seems to me that the world is divided into two camps of those who consider themselves unbaffled: those who believe humans transcend their biology, and those who do not. (Aside from those who don't have time for such thinking.)

Originally posted by vivify
"capable of entering into dialogue with others and with God himself. Our capacity to reason, to develop arguments, to be inventive, to interpret reality and to create art".

"capable of entering into dialogue with others and with God himself."

Demonstrate to me that both a god or gods exist, and that we are capable of
"entering into dialogue" with that god or gods.

Otherwise the Pope is simply claiming that which is not only not proven to be true,
but is in fact proven not to be true.

Originally posted by JS357
It seems to me that the world is divided into two camps of those who consider themselves unbaffled: those who believe humans transcend their biology, and those who do not. (Aside from those who don't have time for such thinking.)

Suggesting that the meaning of the word "transcends" ~ in the Pope's sentence ~ sparks debate among spiritually/intellectually curious people quite clearly is not a claim that everyone is baffled. I also suggested that many people embrace a religion in order to render themselves "unbaffled". Any suggestion that the Pope sought to "keep the world in a constant state of confusion" through his use of the word "transcends" strikes me as utterly absurd.

Originally posted by FMF
Suggesting that the meaning of the word "transcends" ~ in the Pope's sentence ~ sparks debate among spiritually/intellectually curious people quite clearly is not a claim that everyone is baffled. I also suggested that many people embrace a religion in order to render themselves "unbaffled". Any suggestion that the Pope sought to "keep the world in a constant state of confusion" through his use of the word "transcends" strikes me as utterly absurd.

Agreed. The pope does not offer bafflement, he offers an answer to it. There may be divisions within Christianity that make his opinions suspect, as per joe.