From the
Catholic Review
catholicreview.org/article/work/catholic-church-has-evolving-answer-on-reality-of-adam-and-eve
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “the account of the fall in Genesis … uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man. 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.”
In that language, Father Guinan detects a straddling of the issue. “It recognizes that Genesis is figurative language,” he pointed out, “but it also wants to hold to historicity. Unfortunately, you can’t really have both. The catechism is clearly not the place to argue theological discussions, so whoever wrote it decided, as it were, to have it both ways.”
Father Michael D. Guinan, OFM is one of many Catholics seeking change in the Catholic doctrines regarding a real Adam and Eve. The above is from a major news story in 2011 where he is explaining how Catholics should give up their belief in the real Adam and Eve. According to this breaking news, it is really easy for Catholics to free themselves from the Catholic chains of old fashioned Divine Revelation by our Creator.
There are as many ways to analyze the above as there are people reading the above.
Personally, I started with Father’s quote from the universal *Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition. *The first two noticeable things are the omission of the citation and the empty space in “fall in Genesis … uses figurative language”… Frankly, I am not sure why the
CCC, paragraph number 390 and the chapter number 3 were dropped.
What is important is that the quote needs to be re-read and thought about independently. Writers on the slippery slope seem to take it for granted that Catholics do not care enough about the Catechism to actually read it energetically. For example, by going to
CCC, 390,
we find the very interesting footnote 265. Notice the dates 1513 and 1966 which is evidence of the constant teaching of monogenism (first parents). 1513 refers to the Council of Trent. Those who are curious about the role of this Council should check out pages 721-722 in the “Index of Citations” which begins on page 689 following
CCC, 2865.
Footnote 265 places Pius XII in the middle. This refers to the Encyclical,* Humani generis *To Our Venerable Brethren, Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Local Ordinaries Enjoying Peace and Communion with the Holy See Concerning Some False Opinions Threatening to Undermine the Foundations of Catholic Doctrines.
For everyone’s information, please check out paragraph 35, especially the last sentence, and paragraphs 36 and 37. One of the tricks of those who want to topple Adam is to debate #37 and tire Catholic’s poor minds so that
CCC, 35 becomes a blur.
vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis_en.html
Readers may wonder why I take such a long road regarding Catechism paragraph 390. Simple answer. I do not know everything about the Catholic Faith. Personal answer. When I hold the Catechism Second Edition in my hand, I can indulge my curiosity.
More will follow.