Ever since Noah smuggled a Tyrannosaurus or two onto the ark, evolution has been a major point of contention among Christians. More than one person has suggested that it was, like Vatican II, on the whole a really bad idea. But while we all remember the good old days swinging from the trees wearing nought but our fig-leaves, very few of us would happily return there if given the choice. Besides, there's that flaming sword holding us back.
But what are we to make of it as a theory? Is it compatible with the Bible or does it ruin the whole story? Or, as most people are secretly thinking, can I simultaneously avoid being a fanatic, a modernist, a troglodyte, a heretic, a rationalist, anti-science and anti-religion? Is it possible to have no enemies at all?
Probably not. But on this webpage we probably just want to avoid being un-Catholic and
un-Australian, Otherwise we have to come up with a new URL.
For Catholics, the short answer is - YES you can believe in Evolution - provided you also believe in God . . . and a few other things. . . The body may have evolved, but the soul is directly created by God. God is ultimately the author of all things, and designed all things. Life is not accidental. The Bible is infallible (though not always literal).
Pope Pius XII was not the first to say so, but his encyclical
Humani Generis in 1950 which allowed for the possibility of studying and teaching evolution within certain limits, was probably the first with any significant magisterial clout.
The magisterium of the Church does not forbid that, . . , research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God." [HG 36]
Of course it's cautious - not enthusiastically supporting evolution but allowing the investigation. He goes on to insist that
- Both sides of the debate should be shown,
- Ultimately Catholics should submit to the judgement of the Church.
- There can only have been one Adam and Eve (no polygenesis)[HG 37]
- Genesis 1-11 may not be written history the way we expect it today, but it still "pertains to history in a true sense" [HG38]
- Exactly in what sense it is to be taken, requires much, careful, study.
So, as to the last two points, don't go calling my Bible a "pious legend" or myth - if you really mean that it's a load of rubbish.
Pope John Paul II gave much stronger support to it in 1996, as might be expected half a century on, with evolution continuing to dominate the science of origins. After he said that evolution was now "more than an hypothesis", there were mixed reactions, mostly misguided. Some were aghast that the Pope was denying a supposedly key principle of Christianity. Others applauded the Pope for "finally adopting evolution into the Church's doctrine". Neither reaction is correct or appropriate. The more appropriate reaction would have been not really to react at all, since it was all fairly standard stuff.
Okay, so if I humbly allow those two guys to run the Church, it seems I'm allowed to believe it. So, to come clean, DO I believe in Evolution? Well, yes. Ish. Probably not as strongly as I believe that the world is round, or that God is 3 persons, one nature, but basically I'm inclined to believe it. Why? Peer group pressure. I've never really cared enough to scour the arguments for and against, but all my mates say it's really good and I'm too embarrassed to go against them. But I'm looking on interestedly to see who comes up with the best bumper sticker
The difficulties are not few, of course. Say we go with a 4 billion year-old earth, and about 150,000 years of humanity (I made that number up). We then have to deal with:
- 6 days of creation?
- Adam and Eve (remember, they must be our first parents)
- Who did Cain marry?
- "sin entered the world through one man". No death before Adam spells trouble for evolution.
- The genealogies in the Bible don't seem to miss too many gaps - but only get us about 6000-7000 years. That leaves 143,000 to fill in somehow.
- And do we have to start the spread of humanity over the world, all over again from Noah, after all that hard work? What if a geologist tells us "no evidence for a flood, sorry?"
What then, do we do with Genesis 1-11? Can we "compatiblise" it with Scripture? What about Intelligent Design? Should it be taught in schools? And is this alowance for evolution a "dramatic break with tradition"?
Hey guys, it's Friday night, and I'm going home. I'll have to deal with this stuff later.
