Did we evolve from apes?

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If I was to write the only book with which to lead, educate and retain my followers, I think I would add some more details about things like these…
Not necessarily go 100% into detail, but slightly more clues, keeping it a bit more factual than saying that Adam was formed out of clay…

Just some observations.
The Bible isn’t God’s only word to us. He also speaks to us in nature, as well. And science is what tells us about nature. But even science doesn’t tell us everything about nature, either. We need both, not just one, which is why God never set up a book to guide us. The development of the Bible is a long story (one that can be explored by anyone interested in pursuing it), but it is not our only source for understanding God, human nature, and the universe. 🙂
 
If I was to write the only book with which to lead, educate and retain my followers, I think I would add some more details about things like these…
Who in the world says it’s the only book written? Certainly not the Church.
Not necessarily go 100% into detail, but slightly more clues, keeping it a bit more factual than saying that Adam was formed out of clay…

Just some observations.
It certainly would need to go into every single detail, other wise someone, like yourself, would point to a missing second of evolution and claim there! It isn’t true, He left out this second in history. The point is a history book ONLY in the sense of it being a history of His relationship to us.
 
I wouldn’t say “as an advancement in the species”, but as an advanced species.

I personally don’t get into evolution other than accepting natural selection exists. I accept the riddled story in Genesis totally. If man descended from apes though, I’d have to say then that Adam and Eve must have been the first man and woman of the homo-sapiens species.
Either way. The scientific definition of homo-sapiens doesn’t include the distinction of “has a human soul.”

I was actually looking farther back though, around the period of cromagnon man, as the generation of self-awareness and simple rationalization. No one says that the species of human we have today is scientifically the EXACT same species as existed in Genesis.

Could the generation of self-awareness have coincided with a shift to new species? Possible, of course. Could it have also been a step forward of the current iteration of man? Also possible. The important part is that it DID happen, and it DID happen in two distinct persons, a male and a female.
 
Who in the world says it’s the only book written? Certainly not the Church.
So there are more divinely inspired books? more ones written by God?

I didn’t know Catholics counted the Koran and the Book of Mormon as divinely inspired works?

Sorry…a hint of sarcasm there…I was speaking as God, being the Autor of the book in question.
 
By the way, I bolded a piece of the evolution paste that for me was the crux
 
The important part is that it DID happen, and it DID happen in two distinct persons, a male and a female.
See above where I bolded the text I meant to in the first palce.

Admittedly I’m not an exopert on evolution, but there seem to be some evidence that there were other humans around at the time and not two people.

Again, just my observations.
 
See above where I bolded the text I meant to in the first palce.

Admittedly I’m not an exopert on evolution, but there seem to be some evidence that there were other humans around at the time and not two people.

Again, just my observations.
Is there evidence that these were people in the theological sense, possessing human souls?
 
So there are more divinely inspired books? more ones written by God?

I didn’t know Catholics counted the Koran and the Book of Mormon as divinely inspired works?

Sorry…a hint of sarcasm there…I was speaking as God, being the Autor of the book in question.
Why the “hint of sarcasm”? And why avoid the central point of both posts that answered your objection? Don’t just brush us aside like this. There are real issues here you simply do not understand. We are trying to help you understand by filling in the gaps in your misinformation/unintentional ignorance about the Bible and it’s purpose. If you don’t want us to do that–if you just want to dismiss us just say so–seriously. We have little interest in answering if you have no interest in replying more fully than this to our answers.
 
Is there evidence that these were people in the theological sense, possessing human souls?
We fall in the category of “homo-sapiens,” as we share the same brains and characteristics as earlier homo-sapiens, including the first homo-sapiens, Adam and Eve, who had souls (memory, intellect, and will). Adam and Eve were not animals at all, they just shared similarities with other mammals, like we do, like being warm blooded, etc… That is why I still believe in the Creationist view and don’t care if we share similar DNA to other animals. Similar DNA can’t definitively prove we came from apes or descended from apes, it just proves we share similarities with them in our genes. I am not on the side of evolutionists who argue we share a common parent with the apes. We just share similarities with mammals. That is all that can be proven.
 
I’d like to make a statement about self awareness and intelligence. To me, they are not indicators of a human soul. A human soul differs from an animal soul in the fact that the human soul is everlasting. An animal soul, and yes animals do have souls, dies when the animal dies. Animals may possess self awareness and intelligence, yet their soul is different from humans.
Intelligence and self awareness are not good indicators of a human soul.
This is the point God makes. We are indeed physically animals. We are human in that our soul is everlasting. This is how we differ from every other animal. It isn’t intelligence. It isn’t self awareness.
Science can not prove or disprove the existence of a soul. So for a scientist to “date” the first human is impossible. Humanity is more that our body.
If someone feels they have no soul, I am sorry for them, they are incorrect, but I will only pray for them. I can not “prove” the existence of their soul, especially if they try to deny it. If thousands of years of history don’t convince them that man is “different” from all other animals, I certainly won’t convince them.
Fear not, God will not torment you with His presence for eternity.
 
Hi everyone.

Now, I just read the Catholic Answers Tract “Adam, Eve, and Evolution”. The Church teaches that Adam and Eve were real people. They were also our first parents.

My problem is, how is this reconcilable with the theory of evolution? Did we not evolve from apes? I mean, in my opinion, Adam and Eve did evolve from apes, but then as humans, they were finally given a soul (God making them “in his own image”.).

Can my viewpoint fit with Catholic doctrine? Does anyone have any other ideas as to our evolving from apes?

Thanks and God Bless.
Humans evolving from apes and evolution itself is absurd.
 
Why the “hint of sarcasm”? And why avoid the central point of both posts that answered your objection? Don’t just brush us aside like this. There are real issues here you simply do not understand. We are trying to help you understand by filling in the gaps in your misinformation/unintentional ignorance about the Bible and it’s purpose. If you don’t want us to do that–if you just want to dismiss us just say so–seriously. We have little interest in answering if you have no interest in replying more fully than this to our answers.
The points that were made were, to me, hypothesizing on the nature of the book of Genesis, wether it should be taken literally or not. Since this question is still an open debate even amongst Catholics, I’m not sure how you would like me to respond differently?
Sorry, maybe I’m just not seeing it.
 
I am a firm beliver is a evelutionary process. I don’t think it was apes but we & they may have a common ancestor.
Dirk is right. Very much hit the nail on the head, actually.

To Answer the OP’s question from a scientific point of view, here’s another snippet that explains things quite well:
Humans did not evolve from monkeys. Humans are more closely related to modern apes than to monkeys, but we didn’t evolve from apes, either. Humans share a common ancestor with modern African apes, like gorillas and chimpanzees. Scientists believe this common ancestor existed
5 to 8 million years ago. Shortly thereafter, the species diverged into two separate lineages. One of these lineages ultimately evolved into gorillas and chimps, and the other evolved into early human ancestors called hominids.
From: pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/faq/cat02.html

I thought this was pretty insightful and neatly summarized.
 
Yes, we evolved from apes. No question there.

No, the notion of Adam and Eve being the sole ancestors of all humans cannot be reconciled with science. The Adam and Eve myth is just your basic rationalization of why kids should be punished for the acts of their ancestors.
Well, what do you expect me to say?

“Thanks for enlightening me, cerad! Now I realize that I was being irrational. I’ll leave Christianity immediately and become an atheist!”?

Look, this thread was not made for you to debate the credibility of Adam and Eve. It was for Catholics to tell me how they’ve reconciled Evolution and Adam and Eve to correspond to Church Teaching.

If you want to debate, create a thread, but don’t come onto a nearly unrelated thread looking for trouble.

God Bless.
 
Dirk is right. Very much hit the nail on the head, actually.
To Answer the OP’s question from a scientific point of view, here’s another snippet that explains things quite well:
From: pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/faq/cat02.html
I thought this was pretty insightful and neatly summarized.
So the earlier ancestor could have been “more” human and Apes would then have evolved from humans. I, myself, don’t feel offended being evolved from an mosquito, an Ape, an aardvark, who cares? God made them all. And that is the point of the Bible. Not when, not how, but that He did.
 
Well, what do you expect me to say?

“Thanks for enlightening me, cerad! Now I realize that I was being irrational. I’ll leave Christianity immediately and become an atheist!”?

Look, this thread was not made for you to debate the credibility of Adam and Eve. It was for Catholics to tell me how they’ve reconciled Evolution and Adam and Eve to correspond to Church Teaching.

If you want to debate, create a thread, but don’t come onto a nearly unrelated thread looking for trouble.

God Bless.
BTW, have we answered your question? Science and the Bible are not in opposition.
 
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