Case Study: Catholic Perspective on Evolution #4

This part is important so read carefully.

Catholic teachings

It comes as a surprise to many Catholics to learn how little the church teaches in this area--how few tenets are established as true beyond doubt,and therefore how much latitude is left to Catholics for their personal judgment. The Church has not been concerned with evolutionary questions as such, but rather with their possible implications for Catholic belief.

The Church has maintained that the first three chapters of Genesis contain historical truth. Their inspired author used a popular literary form of his day to explain certain historical facts of Creation. These were named specifically by the Pontifical Biblical Commission, with the approval of Pope Pius X in 1909. The official document states that the literal historical meaning of the first three chapters of Genesis could not be doubted in regard to:

• "the creation of all things by God at the beginning of time;
• the special creation of man;
• the formation of the first woman from the first man;
• the unity of the human race;
• the original happiness of our first parents in the state of justice, integrity, and immortality;
• the command given by God to man to test his obedience;
• the transgression of the divine command at the instigation of the devil under the form of a serpent;
• the degradation of our first parents from that primeval state of innocence;
• and the promise of a future redeemer."

Note that the Church says nothing definite about how, in specific detail, God created the world and its various forms of life, or how long any of this took. The only "special creation" mentioned is that of man, who is unique in having a spiritual immortal soul. In the Church's eyes, Genesis deals with historical fact, not scientific process--with the *what* of creation, not the *how*.

In 1950, Pope Pius XII addressed the question of man's origins more specifically in his encyclical *Humani Generis*. With a few terse paragraphs, he set forth the Church's position, which we may summarize as follows:

• 1. The question of the origin of man's *body* from pre-existing and living matter is a legitimate matter of inquiry for natural science. Catholics are free to form their own opinions, but they should do so cautiously; they should not confuse fact with conjecture, and they should respect the Church's right to define matters touching on Revelation.
• 2. Catholics must believe, however, that the human *soul* was created immediately by God. Since the soul is a spiritual substance it is not brought into being through transformation of matter, but directly by God, whence the special uniqueness of each person.
• 3. All men have descended from an individual, Adam, who has transmitted original sin to all mankind. Catholics may not,therefore, believe in "polygenism," the scientific hypothesis that mankind descended from a group of original humans.

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