I never really thought you would, I was confessing my error and making a point.. I will leave it at that.
But I do have substantial Knowledge of Catholicism to which includes that they don't adhere strictly to that of the Bible.. I know more than you think I do on the subject. And no, Catholicism addresses the creation of the Observable Universe... There are two definitions of "Universe", and this is where set theory comes into play.. Yes, there is a major difference between "Observable Universe", and "Universe" .. There is a reason why I used the term "Existence", and this is so the two would not be confused. You have no real argument here to say it is irrelevant, it is pretty difficult to create what yourself requires to exist, and that includes having a place to exist in.. The question I asked you is entirely a relevant question, and it matters not what sect or denomination of Christianity to which is being referenced.. It's not a matter of addressing Jesus, the ten commandments, or anything but the concept of "god" in general regardless of religion or definition there of.. This is the point you did not address.., and my discussion on Jesus's existence etc is a separate issue and argument from that.. Furthermore, this isn't to say priests can't be well educated in geology, but what I find most often is that many priests are not well versed in the contemporary history.. If one were to really take the academics seriously on the issue, it will show the evidence to be pretty overwhelming that religions like Judaism and Christianity were born from Pagan mythology, philosophy, rituals, and oral traditions, and largely through the contemporary and ever evolving geopolitical environment.. Go back in history long enough, and you will see religion in general wind back to basic animism ..
I have had many mature discussions with religious leaders on these subjects, and most of the time I would get apologetics as obtuse answers to things we know today such as the fact that there is no actual distinction between the Canaanite and the Israelite culture.. They will profess a narrative we know historically is untrue. One of the most interesting was the claim that the Israelites were Hyksos, this ignoring the fact that the Hyksos didn't actually worship Yahweh or EL. This ignoring the fact that Hyksos themselves were of Syrian and Canaanite origin who worshiped their Asiatic deity Ba'al (z)saphon (Hadad) in association with the Egyptian Storm god Seth and Mt Zaphon (Zion).. You can find this association in the Bible:
You may also search this reference in reference to Mount Hermon to which is according to some, the possible place of Jesus's
Transfiguration (See: R.T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries) (IVP Academic, 2008). So you have to excuse me when I scoff at supposed theological scholars of Christianity... When considering the evidence, and this being just a single example, I find it very hard to take a Priest seriously as they spoon feed me a narrative that doesn't match any of the actual evidence.. This is the sort of evidence that effects Christianity as a whole, not just any particular denomination... Hence I find it unconvincing that their version of pagan mythology is somehow more true than which they had derived from.. I am however always open for a mature discussion on the subject, but I wouldn't ever take apologetics as an academic argument I should ever take seriously. But if someone were to, for example, produce contemporary evidence of an actual historical Jesus, I would consider the evidence.... However, there isn't any thus far, and it doesn't help knowing that Christianity and Judaism emerged from Pagan Polytheistic religions, beliefs, rituals, philosophy, and oral traditions..
Yahweh takes on Ba'al's Identity .. You can also reference:
Fred E. Woods on how Yahweh usurps Ba’al and becomes the god most high (El Elyon). So to start here I will reference the Lexicon and then present how that relates to a brief overview of Fred E Woods paper, this which includes referencing the lexicon:
To which can also be translated as the following:
It’s very confusing when knowing this while reading the bible to which is filled with rhetoric that attacks the worship of Ba’al. However that makes sense in terms of the process of usurping since that is how it was sometimes done to take over the epithets and status of a particular deity competing for dominance and influence in the region. Much of which is probably associated to the geopolitical environment of the time. This usurping also includes absorbing a target deity’s persona into the deity you want to become the head of the Pantheon, or the only deity left standing for a shot at expanding influence of your own cult movement. So to put some of that into perspective, I believe some of you might find this article a matter of interest:
Abstract 1 & 2:
As you can see, the rabbit hole goes much deeper than your typical priest is going to tell you, or anyone for that matter.. It is rather difficult to get in these discussions with them, they become very deflective.. :/ I welcome any attempt to such a discussion..., so I will leave this as food for thought.