Evolution according to the Catholic Church

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I am going to first put it out there that I have ZERO clue on what the official Church teaching on evolution is. I have a Catholic friend who actually believes that humans came from monkeys, and that surprised and confused me, so I would appreciate a clarification

Also, with the question of evolution comes the question of how old the earth is. My catholic friend I mentioned above thinks that, since the earth is a couple of million years old (and a day for God could be a million years or something along those lines—he is not a creationist, by any means), it was possible for humans to evolve. He used an argument that the Bible says the earth has four corners, yet we know that the earth is round; I think what he was trying to say is that the Bible can have metaphors or something and mustn’t be taken literally sometimes , but I am not so sure myself.

Can somebody clarify this all for me, please? What is the official teaching of the Catholic Church on evolution?
thank you in advance and God bless!
 
I know right? LOL
he attended a Catholic school where his biology teacher was also his religion teacher.
 
tori2323 said:
I know right? LOL
he attended a Catholic school where his biology teacher was also his religion teacher.
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If he taught your friend that we evolved from monkeys then I’d be asking to see his qualifications.
 
Take a look at Humani Generis, by Pius XII… that’s the place to start.

Evolution of human flesh from a lower creature (“like” a monkey! but not) would be able to be squared with Catholic doctrine on creation and original sin as long as the immediate creation of the soul is protected…

It’s a possibility but it’s not insisted on, either way…
 
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I remember long ago reading a statement SAINT pope john paul said abour it : " If God chose to bring about mankind through evolution so be it." What I find fascinating is the way the evolution of life is described in Genesis. How did they know?!
 
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mary77 said:
I remember long ago reading a statement SAINT pope john paul said abour it : " If God chose to bring about mankind through evolution so be it." What I find fascinating is the way the evolution of life is described in Genesis. How did they know?!
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They didn’t. The sequence is completely wrong. And it doesn’t tie in with a process that could be described as evolution in any case. It’s creationism. Antithetical to evolution.
 
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tori2323 said:
I have a Catholic friend who actually believes that humans came from monkeys, and that surprised and confused me, so I would appreciate a clarification
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That’s not what evolution says, so . . .
 
Evolution is what we do all our life, physically and spiritually. The world we know will end and we will still not know all there is to know about our creation . That the book of Genesis speaks of evolution is itself a miracle.
 
The Church’s stance is simple even if this thread won’t be. A Catholic can believe in evolution or not they can believe in any sort of creation they wish. Human from monkeys, a 6000 year earth, whatever form of evolution is the current thought, as long as they acknowledge that God created man in his image, there was a fall of the first two humans, and that God’s creation is good. That’s it. The rest really doesn’t have anything to do with faith at all. A Catholic who is a genetic scientist and works with the theory of evolution is no less of a Catholic than a person living 500 years ago when evolution didn’t look like it does now or the person who holds to a young earth. All of them can stay within the teaching of the Church and coexist as faithful Catholics.
 
mary77 said:
Evolution is what we do all our life, physically and spiritually. The world we know will end and we will still not know all there is to know about our creation . That the book of Genesis speaks of evolution is itself a miracle.
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It doesn’t say anything about evolution. It speaks of creation. The two are diametrically opposed views of how we came to be.
 
tori2323 said:
Can somebody clarify this all for me, please? What is the official teaching of the Catholic Church on evolution?
thank you in advance and God bless!
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The official teaching of the church on evolution is that you can believe in it or not believe in it; neither will affect your salvation. As far as I’m aware the only type of evolution forbidden to Catholics is atheistic evolution.
 
I was thinking about that Encyclical as well. Humani Generis in #34, 35, 36, or 37 (I forget exactly where) explains a scenario that is feasible. At a certain point humanoids? could have been infused with a soul.

I am not saying that is what actually happened, but many are confused by the Adam and Eve in Genesis, and their knowledge of science brings up questions.

All I really know is that God created us, and loves us infinitely. How good it is to strive to cooperate with His grace!
 
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That was/is the common understanding for quite a while in some areas of science.
 
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