A little confused about evolution, Adam/Eve, and the RCC

[grannymh]

God is needed to provide the gift of a rational, immortal soul. Such a thing does not emerge naturally. Human DNA is not enough to produce a true human nature. That is, the rational powers of a human being are not just emergent qualities, but are a “leap” above any of the material components. [This is not to exclude the material brain from intelligence, computation, etc… but that there is something additional to a rational mind that even the best brain could not produce on its own.]

Animals are animated. In Saint Thomas’ thinking, they are a composition of matter and form, too. The form of all living things being called a soul, though lacking rational powers.

The form (as in hylemorphic dualism, referring to their essence, not shape or DNA) of these “proto-humans” and the form of true humans would be different. Proto-humans would be a type of animal only, whereas true humans are rational animals…

I would not imagine God changing the form of a proto-human mid-life (though with God, nothing is impossible). I’d imagine that Adam, if born from a proto-human, would have had from the moment of his conception the form of a “true human,” the form of a rational animal.

The proto-humans would have been still a very behaviorally complex and social animal, more than any other non-human animal today, but it would have lacked certain rational powers. In Saint Thomas Aquinas’ thinking, it would not have been able to grasp “universals” in its mind or engage in certain types of abstract thinking. They would have been reproductively compatible with the children of Adam and Eve, being similar in matter (physiology, DNA) even if different in form.

Please explain in detail–What is a proto-human? Is its nature the same as Adam’s?
You did say: “Proto-humans would be a type of animal only, whereas true humans are rational animals.” That would mean that any sexual contact would be considered bestiality.

Is the Proto-human in the material world or the spiritual world of our Creator God?

When and how does a Proto-human get a spiritual soul so that it can mate successfully with a true human person?

Now if a Proto-human mates successfully with a real human as defined by the Catholic Church, which nature is the conceived being?

 

[Wesrock]

Please explain in detail–What is a proto-human? Is its nature the same as Adam’s?
You did say: “Proto-humans would be a type of animal only, whereas true humans are rational animals.” That would mean that any sexual contact would be considered bestiality.

To quote Kenneth Kemp:
“First, is this idea offensive to pious ears? Of course it may well be a consequence of my view that our earliest ancestors were sinners for continuing to interbreed with the pre-human beings who, if not of a different biological species, were not fully human beings either. The sin involved would be more like promiscuity—impersonal sexual acts—than like bestiality. But the idea that our first ancestors were sinners can hardly be an objection to this theory. It is an idea supported by all four of the great episodes of the human proto-history of Genesis—the Fall, Cain’s slaying of Abel, the Deluge, and the Tower of Babel. The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it as follows: “After that first sin, the world is virtually inundated by sin.””

The early men and women out of the Garden would have been at a very low level of technology and civilization. Socially, they may not have differed much from their proto-human “cousins” (such civilized differences emerging later as society developed). Keep in mind that a literal interpretation proposes incest. Like incest and polygamy, in either a literal understanding or in Kemp’s proposal, there would be such issues. The incest view is no better.

Is the Proto-human in the material world or the spiritual world of our Creator God?

I’m not sure entirely what you mean, but it’s often said that if animals are in the material world and angels in the immaterial world, humans have a foot in both. The proto-humans would have had both feet on the material side. Does that answer your question?

When and how does a Proto-human get a spiritual soul so that it can mate successfully with a true human person?

The proto-human would not have needed a new form/soul to mate with a true human. The biological compatibility would be on the material side only, in which they’re alike. Proto-humans would not be descended from Adam and Eve, and so would never be true theological humans.

Now if a Proto-human mates successfully with a real human as defined by the Catholic Church, which nature is the conceived being?

Keep in mind that genetically and physiologically, proto-humans and true humans were the same. According to Kemp’s proposal, the offspring would have the true human nature (I’m not sure if always or by a frequency, but that is not important, merely that it is possible). Now, the human soul is not inherited from the parents, but is created for each by God, and that would be the case in the offspring of these matches, too.

 

[Wesrock]

Also, not sure it needs to be said, but the proto-human and the true human would have the same amount of “brain power.” Whatever powers of intelligence are within the material would have been possessed by both. Perhaps even primitive communication/language. To a Thomist, what would be unique to a “true human” from an intellectual standpoint would be having the immaterial intellectual powers that reside in the soul. It would be the ability to grasp universals and the form of a thing in the mind, leading to rational and higher abstract thinking.

 

[grannymh]

Also, not sure it needs to be said, but the proto-human and the true human would have the same amount of “brain power.” Whatever powers of intelligence are within the material would have been possessed by both. Perhaps even primitive communication/language. To a Thomist, what would be unique to a “true human” from an intellectual standpoint would be having the immaterial intellectual powers that reside in the soul. It would be the ability to grasp universals and the form of a thing in the mind, leading to rational and higher abstract thinking.

I do thank you for your informative posts. Personally, I prefer other topics. My brain is older than dirt.