Adam & Eve vs: Evolution

[Coreopisis]

A friend of mine and I both went to a private Catholic grade school. I was talking to her on the phone today and she told me something interesting. This friend married a non-catholic and they together had to go to counseling with our parish priest prior to marriage in the church. Her fiance (at the time) took this opportunity to ask a ton of questions of which included the question of Adam & Eve or evolution. She told me that our priest said that he believed in evolution and believed that the story of Adam and Eve is simply a story to explain how we are sinful by our very nature.

However…I thought it was supposed to be a real story?

Which is it?

I have another question that tags onto this…

I’ve been reading the bible and I’ve read alot about “God’s chosen people…” and how they include all Adam and Eve’s decendants which if Adam and Eve were the first people wouldn’t we all be God’s chosen people? Could it be possible that both Adam and Eve and Evolution exist side by side? Could it be that Adam and Eve were special and that all other men were simply evolution aside from Adam and Eve’s offspring???

I am obviously confused on the topic any help is much appreciated.
~Sarah

 

[Genesis315]

Without more information, I can’t tell if the priest was correct or not. Yes, we can believe that the stories in Genesis are not literal, but taken from popular narrations and we can also acknowledge that the human body was created by God through evolution. But, we must believe in two original first parents (because the soul is created immediately by God) who sinned causing our fall and we must believe that God inspired the sacred authors to choose those popular narrations.
Here is the authoritative teaching from Pope Pius XII on this subject:

(see next post):

 

[Genesis315]

1. For these reasons the Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter - for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God. However, this must be done in such a way that the reasons for both opinions, that is, those favorable and those unfavorable to evolution, be weighed and judged with the necessary seriousness, moderation and measure, and provided that all are prepared to submit to the judgment of the Church, to whom Christ has given the mission of interpreting authentically the Sacred Scriptures and of defending the dogmas of faith.[11] Some however, rashly transgress this liberty of discussion, when they act as if the origin of the human body from pre-existing and living matter were already completely certain and proved by the facts which have been discovered up to now and by reasoning on those facts, and as if there were nothing in the sources of divine revelation which demands the greatest moderation and caution in this question.
2. When, however, there is question of another conjectural opinion, namely polygenism, the children of the Church by no means enjoy such liberty. For the faithful cannot embrace that opinion which maintains that either after Adam there existed on this earth true men who did not take their origin through natural generation from him as from the first parent of all, or that Adam represents a certain number of first parents. Now it is no no way apparent how such an opinion can be reconciled with that which the sources of revealed truth and the documents of the Teaching Authority of the Church propose with regard to original sin, which proceeds from a sin actually committed by an individual Adam and which, through generation, is passed on to all and is in everyone as his own.[12]
3. Just as in the biological and anthropological sciences, so also in the historical sciences there are those who boldly transgress the limits and safeguards established by the Church. In a particular way must be deplored a certain too free interpretation of the historical books of the Old Testament. Those who favor this system, in order to defend their cause, wrongly refer to the Letter which was sent not long ago to the Archbishop of Paris by the Pontifical Commission on Biblical Studies.[13] This letter, in fact, clearly points out that the first eleven chapters of Genesis, although properly speaking not conforming to the historical method used by the best Greek and Latin writers or by competent authors of our time, do nevertheless pertain to history in a true sense, which however must be further studied and determined by exegetes; the same chapters, (the Letter points out), in simple and metaphorical language adapted to the mentality of a people but little cultured, both state the principal truths which are fundamental for our salvation, and also give a popular description of the origin of the human race and the chosen people. If, however, the ancient sacred writers have taken anything from popular narrations (and this may be conceded), it must never be forgotten that they did so with the help of divine inspiration, through which they were rendered immune from any error in selecting and evaluating those documents.
4. Therefore, whatever of the popular narrations have been inserted into the Sacred Scriptures must in no way be considered on a par with myths or other such things, which are more the product of an extravagant imagination than of that striving for truth and simplicity which in the Sacred Books, also of the Old Testament, is so apparent that our ancient sacred writers must be admitted to be clearly superior to the ancient profane writers.

vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis_en.html

 

[Genesis315]

As for your second question, the spiritual descendants of Abraham by faith are God’s chosen people. Formerly by circumcision and now by Baptism we are made the adopted children of God, rather than just the children of Adam. We are of Christ, heirs to His blessings, rather than of Adam and heirs to his sin and curses.

 

[buffalo]

from the Catehchism:

** How to read the account of the fall**
[390](javascriptpenWindow(‘cr/390.htm’) The account of the fall in *Genesis *3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man.264 Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents.265

 

[buffalo]

from the Catechism:

1. Read the Scripture within “the living Tradition of the whole Church”. According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church’s heart rather than in documents and records, for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God’s Word, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture (". . . according to the spiritual meaning which the Spirit grants to the Church"81).
   [114](javascriptpenWindow(‘cr/114.htm’) 3. Be attentive to the analogy of faith.82 By “analogy of faith” we mean the coherence of the truths of faith among themselves and within the whole plan of Revelation.
   The senses of Scripture
   115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two *senses *of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church.

[116](javascriptpenWindow(‘cr/116.htm’) The literal sense is the meaning conveyed by the words of Scripture and discovered by exegesis, following the rules of sound interpretation: "All other senses of Sacred Scripture are based on the literal."83
[117](javascriptpenWindow(‘cr/117.htm’) The spiritual sense. Thanks to the unity of God’s plan, not only the text of Scripture but also the realities and events about which it speaks can be signs.

1. The allegorical sense. We can acquire a more profound understanding of events by recognizing their significance in Christ; thus the crossing of the Red Sea is a sign or type of Christ’s victory and also of Christian Baptism.84
2. The moral sense. The events reported in Scripture ought to lead us to act justly. As St. Paul says, they were written “for our instruction”.85
3. The anagogical sense (Greek: anagoge, “leading”). We can view realities and events in terms of their eternal significance, leading us toward our true homeland: thus the Church on earth is a sign of the heavenly Jerusalem.86

118 A medieval couplet summarizes the significance of the four senses: The Letter speaks of deeds; Allegory to faith;
The Moral how to act; Anagogy our destiny.87 [119](javascriptpenWindow(‘cr/119.htm’) "It is the task of exegetes to work, according to these rules, towards a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture in order that their research may help the Church to form a firmer judgement. For, of course, all that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgement of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God."88

But I would not believe in the Gospel, had not the authority of the Catholic Church already moved me.89

 

[Coreopisis]

Without more information, I can’t tell if the priest was correct or not. Yes, we can believe that the stories in Genesis are not literal, but taken from popular narrations and we can also acknowledge that the human body was created by God through evolution. But, we must believe in two original first parents (because the soul is created immediately by God) who sinned causing our fall and we must believe that God inspired the sacred authors to choose those popular narrations.
Here is the authoritative teaching from Pope Pius XII on this subject:

(see next post):

I wonder if it is possible that people physically evolved until the point of Adam and Eve where maybe God then gave them souls?

 

[buffalo]

I wonder if it is possible that people physically evolved until the point of Adam and Eve where maybe God then gave them souls?

That is not Catholic dogma.

1. 
   *] The first man was created by God. (De fide.)
   *] The whole human race stems from one single human pair. (Sent. certa.)
   *] Our first parents, before the Fall, were endowed with sanctifying grace. (De fide.)
   
   *] The donum rectitudinis or integritatis in the narrower sense, i.e., the freedom from irregular desire. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
   
   *] The donum immortalitatis, i.e., bodily immortality. (De fide.)
   
   *] The donum impassibilitatis, i.e., the freedom from suffering. (Sent. communis.)
   
   *] The donum scientiae, i.e., a knowledge of natural and supernatural truths infused by God. (Sent. communis.)

 

[Coreopisis]

That is not Catholic dogma.

1. 
   *] The first man was created by God. (De fide.)
   *] The whole human race stems from one single human pair. (Sent. certa.)
   *] Our first parents, before the Fall, were endowed with sanctifying grace. (De fide.)
   
   *] The donum rectitudinis or integritatis in the narrower sense, i.e., the freedom from irregular desire. (Sent. fidei proxima.)
   
   *] The donum immortalitatis, i.e., bodily immortality. (De fide.)
   
   *] The donum impassibilitatis, i.e., the freedom from suffering. (Sent. communis.)
   
   *] The donum scientiae, i.e., a knowledge of natural and supernatural truths infused by God. (Sent. communis.)

1. 
   Ok Baffalo, you’re way over my head. You’re even typing in two languages. I wish I was so smart as to follow what you said but I am going to have to ask you to dummy it down a bit for me.
   
   I guess the root of my questions is that I am just wondering how the church defines “human” Does not a human have a body and a soul? If this is true can it follow that people existed before humans did?
   
   So let’s say that people evolved from a single celled organism. Then along came God who sort of took sort of jump started Adam and infused him wiht a soul. Therefor it would be though the grace of God Adam stepped beyond the Apes. Then so God gave him woman also with a soul and they became the first parents. Meanwhile the rest of that line of evolution stayed as animals. I think of this because of chimps and so forth. So you see this would still allow for a single set of parents it just sort of includes the evolution piece. Is that thought process still wrong?

 

[buffalo]

Ok Baffalo, you’re over my head. I am not sure what you just wrote but basically you’re saying that what I said is wrong. I am fine with that.

I am just wondering how the church defines “human” Does not a human have a body and a soul? If this is true can it follow that people existed before humans did? Maybe I am going out on a limb…

What I posted is Catholic Dogma. These are truths we are certain of.

All living things have souls, it is the life force that animates them. Humans are unique in that we have a rational soul that is immortal. The soul can live without the body, but the body cannot live without the soul.

The Church defines humans as the offspring of the original pair of humans whom we call Adam and Eve.