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Redbandito
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Before considering the guidelines, let’s be clear about the difference between evolution and evolutionism. Evolution is a scientific theory that says that more complex forms of life developed from less complex forms, over extremely long periods of time (perhaps a couple of billion years). As a scientific theory, it is to be accepted or rejected based on the evidence.
Evolutionism, on the other hand, is the belief that everything that exists can be explained in exclusively materialist terms, apart from a Creator. According to evolutionism, everything that exists developed from “blind chance,” with no knowing or planning of its purpose or end.
Evolutionism is not only unscientific; it is unreasonable. A complex organism like the human brain could not have developed by “blind chance.” Because evolutionism denies the creative action of God, it is not only a false but also a dangerous view for us to hold (Rom 1:19–20; CCC 287). It implies that humans are mere animals. And, as the 20th Century showed, it is only a very short step from saying human beings are animals to treating them that way.
Here are some guidelines on what a Catholic should believe regarding creation and evolution.
The first three chapters of Genesis “pertain to history in a true sense even though the inspired author may have used a poetic literary form to communicate these truths” (CCC 289; Humani Generis). When the Church says “pertain to history in a true sense,” it means something that really happened. The first sin (original sin, the fall of our first parents) really happened at a certain time and place in history. Perhaps it was six thousand years ago; perhaps six hundred thousand years ago. For all we know, the first sin may well have had something to do with eating a certain fruit that God had commanded man not to eat. But it need not have. That may simply be a poetic way the Genesis writer chose to communicate the historical truth about man’s fall from paradise. What we must affirm is that there really was a first sin (Rom 5:12; CCC 390, 396, 397).
We must also affirm the following:
Evolutionism, on the other hand, is the belief that everything that exists can be explained in exclusively materialist terms, apart from a Creator. According to evolutionism, everything that exists developed from “blind chance,” with no knowing or planning of its purpose or end.
Evolutionism is not only unscientific; it is unreasonable. A complex organism like the human brain could not have developed by “blind chance.” Because evolutionism denies the creative action of God, it is not only a false but also a dangerous view for us to hold (Rom 1:19–20; CCC 287). It implies that humans are mere animals. And, as the 20th Century showed, it is only a very short step from saying human beings are animals to treating them that way.
Here are some guidelines on what a Catholic should believe regarding creation and evolution.
The first three chapters of Genesis “pertain to history in a true sense even though the inspired author may have used a poetic literary form to communicate these truths” (CCC 289; Humani Generis). When the Church says “pertain to history in a true sense,” it means something that really happened. The first sin (original sin, the fall of our first parents) really happened at a certain time and place in history. Perhaps it was six thousand years ago; perhaps six hundred thousand years ago. For all we know, the first sin may well have had something to do with eating a certain fruit that God had commanded man not to eat. But it need not have. That may simply be a poetic way the Genesis writer chose to communicate the historical truth about man’s fall from paradise. What we must affirm is that there really was a first sin (Rom 5:12; CCC 390, 396, 397).
We must also affirm the following:
- All things were created by a loving God (Jn 1:1–3; CCC 291, 315).
- Man is made in the image of God, which means, among other things, that he is a spiritual being with the powers of knowing and freely choosing (Gn 1:27; CCC 355).
- Even if man’s body evolved, God still created man, because God created the process of evolution, and His providence guided it to give rise to the human race (Jn 1:3; CCC 302, 308).
- Whatever the origin of man’s bodily form, his soul is a special creation of God, not the result of an evolutionary process (Gn 2:7; CCC 362-367). This is because spirit, unlike matter, is incapable of evolving, since it has no parts that could evolve from one thing to another. The soul is the direct creation of God, not a product of matter.
- Our original parents were created in a state of perfect happiness, a state of “holiness and justice” (Gn 2:7–9, CCC 375, 376, 398).
- Their obedience was tested and they transgressed the divine law at the prompting of the devil (Gn 3:1–7, CCC 397).
- They lost the supernatural gifts given to the human race by God at creation. (Gen 3:16–19; CCC 400). (For example, freedom from bodily death, freedom from suffering, control of the soul over the body).
- This state of original sin was passed on to their offspring. (Rom 5:12–19; CCC 402). Therefore, all human beings are born in this wounded and weakened condition. (CCC 404)
- They were promised a redeemer (Gn 3:15; CCC 410), who would restore mankind’s relationship with God…
