An Apologetical Explanation of the

Creation and Evolution

What does the Church teach about evolution?

Thus says God, the Lord, / who created the heavens and stretched them out, / who spread forth the earth and what comes from it, / who gives breath to the people upon it / and spirit to those who walk in it… (Is 42:5)

Catholics may believe in theories of evolution as long as they are not incompatible with Catholic teaching on Creation such as the world having been created according to the plan of God, the descent of all human beings from a single set of first parents, and that every soul is created by an immediate act of God.

In many academic and popular circles today, there is a debate between “creationists” and “Darwinists,” i.e., between those who say that God created the world in six days and those who hold to the evolutionary theories developed by the nineteenth-century natural historian Charles Darwin. The question usually revolves around which version of events should be taught in schools.

The first thing the Bible tells us is that God created the heavens and the earth, which is one of the reasons that the Catholic Church teaches that God created the whole universe. Respecting both science and Revelation, the Church recognizes that there is no necessary contradiction between the teachings found in the account of creation in Genesis and certain theories of evolution. The biblical creation narratives are largely symbolic, and it is not necessary to interpret them literalistically: God could very well have accomplished his process of creation through an evolutionary method. As long as God is seen as the origin of all life and matter, holding the basic tenets of evolution remains a viable point of view.

One distinction, however, is important: The Church permits belief in the evolution of the body but not the evolution of the soul. The soul did not “evolve” but rather was an instantaneous gift of God, who infused Adam and Eve with their souls. (Cf. CCC 366)

What the Book of Genesis does intend to teach with regard to evolution is that God created everything that exists according to his design, whether this process took six days or trillions of years. At a certain point in time, God infused the first human man and woman with a soul, and all human beings are descended from these original parents. (Cf. CCC 70)

While the creation narrative tells us that God is the origin of the material universe, scientists attempt to explain how creation came into existence by an examination of the material universe. The Church has always encouraged research and discussions among learned men and women in science and sacred theology. However, when certain aspects of various theories of evolution conflict with the Deposit of Faith, the Church will indicate the truths that Catholics must believe.

The Catechism address this question in paragraph 366.

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To get a hardcopy of these Apologetics or the Didache Bible please visit the Midwest Theological Forum (publisher) at: http://www.theologicalforum.org