HisChildForever Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 How do we reconcile the creation account (Adam and Eve) with the science behind human evolution? This article made me think about the topic and I just skimmed through Wikipedia. Which, yeah, isn't a legitimate scientific source but from what I glanced through there's molecular biology, genetics, and fossils that support human evolution. I know we don't have to take the creation account of the earth verbatim but it's obvious that Adam and Eve are rational, intelligent human beings. Could we speculate that God breathed the soul into humans after a certain point in mankind's evolution (and then presume that no evolutionary changes occurred after)? I know I've seen similar threads like this on Phatmass but I'd rather this be a discussion, not debate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Or mabey the adam eve story isn't ture...God can still be real and we can still learn from the Bible...I tend to think at a certain time souls came into the body...Although I honestly don't know how much anymore I believe in a garden and a talking snake.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightofChrist Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 (edited) Or mabey the adam eve story isn't ture...God can still be real and we can still learn from the Bible...I tend to think at a certain time souls came into the body...Although I honestly don't know how much anymore I believe in a garden and a talking snake.... Adam and Eve exist. The "snake" was Satan. The creation of Adam and Eve was a supernatural event, the Flood was a supernatural event, God setting the children of Israel free from the bondage of Egypt were supernatural events, the Virgin birth was a supernatural event, Peter seeing Christ as Lord was a supernatural event, the feeding of the 5,000 a supernatural event, the death and resurrection of Christ and the washing away of our sins is a supernatural event. It's fine to a degree to try and attempt to explain supernatural events by natural means. But supernatural events transcend nature, empirical data will never explain fully supernatural events, and just because science cannot explain or prove supernatural events is not a good reason for people of faith to doubt revealed supernatural events. Edited March 9, 2013 by KnightofChrist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 One thing to take into account is that the Pope in the early 20th century infallibly declared that Adam and Eve did exist. Period. He said it was possible that humans could have evolved, but there was a time when souls were created and Adam and Eve were the first two parents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HisChildForever Posted March 9, 2013 Author Share Posted March 9, 2013 (edited) One thing to take into account is that the Pope in the early 20th century infallibly declared that Adam and Eve did exist. Period. He said it was possible that humans could have evolved, but there was a time when souls were created and Adam and Eve were the first two parents. Yeah, I thought this would happen...I don't want this to turn into a "Did Adam and Eve exist?" debate, because that's off topic... Do you have a link to the encyclical where human evolution is addressed? Edited March 9, 2013 by HisChildForever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Yeah, I thought this would happen...I don't want this to turn into a "Did Adam and Eve exist?" debate, because that's off topic... Do you have a link to the encyclical where human evolution is addressed? Pope Pius XII's Humani Generis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evangetholic Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I believe in both Genesis and Evolution. Genesis as understood by the Magisterium of the Church and evolution as understood by science. I do not see the conflict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG45 Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Yeah, I thought this would happen...I don't want this to turn into a "Did Adam and Eve exist?" debate, because that's off topic... Do you have a link to the encyclical where human evolution is addressed? Tangentially related, there is the mitochondrial Eve, the most recent common ancestor of all living humans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mortify Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 How do we reconcile the creation account (Adam and Eve) with the science behind human evolution? This article made me think about the topic and I just skimmed through Wikipedia. Which, yeah, isn't a legitimate scientific source but from what I glanced through there's molecular biology, genetics, and fossils that support human evolution. I know we don't have to take the creation account of the earth verbatim but it's obvious that Adam and Eve are rational, intelligent human beings. Could we speculate that God breathed the soul into humans after a certain point in mankind's evolution (and then presume that no evolutionary changes occurred after)? I know I've seen similar threads like this on Phatmass but I'd rather this be a discussion, not debate. Some do speculate that Adam was not created immediately from the slime of the earth, but rather through an evolutionary process bearing an incalculable number of intermediary stages. Eventually what we call human characteristics came to being and when God developed hominids to their ideal He chose a worthy pair to be the first to receive an infused spirit. It's an interesting hypothesis because it offers and alternate explanation as to why Genesis implicitly suggests the existence of other humans outside of Adam's direct progeny and it offers some reconciliation between Genesis and evolution. We have to remember though evolution would not have stopped with the creation of Adam and Eve but would be continuing to this very day (some say modern humans no longer evolve but this is for other reasons.) Although it's thought provoking I pesonally lean towars the traditional view of a miraculous creation, directly from the Earth and it's for a simple reason. There is a connection between the First Adam and the Second Adam, and as the Second came into being miraculously so must have the First. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 (edited) Knight of Christ...You say the world wide flood was real ? I thought science has shown that not to be the case. Sorry for hi jacking your thread HCF. Edited March 9, 2013 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightofChrist Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Knight of Christ...You say the world wide flood was real ? I thought science has shown that not to be the case. Sorry for hi jacking your thread HCF. Science tells me also that it is impossible for a child to be born of a virgin, to have no biological father, to have great and profound knowledge and wisdom no man has taught him, heal the sick raise the dead, foretell the future, die for the people of the world to save them from their sins, then descend into a lower realm, outside of time and space as we know it, free the souls therein, then raise from the grave, preform more great wonders, then ascend into a higher realm that transcends any and all of human understanding of existence, where he sits as King of the Universe. John 5:47 "But if you do not believe his (Moses) writings, how will you believe my words?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriela Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 (edited) Personally, I take what science says on such matters (most matters, actually) with a grain of salt. They change their minds pretty radically about every 50 years, so... I'm not against science. I think it's pretty cool, and I think that some things are probably definitively settled (like gravity). But on most things, I think science is an ongoing process of discovery, so it's unwise to ever assume that science has ever settled anything definitively. That being said, I am totally AOK with accepting the teachings of the Church on all matters, even when they conflict with the current scientific theories. Give those theories another 50 years or so... Edited March 9, 2013 by curiousing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modifier Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 How do we reconcile the creation account (Adam and Eve) with the science behind human evolution?What is the science behind human evolution??! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudate_Dominum Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 (edited) double post Edited March 9, 2013 by Laudate_Dominum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laudate_Dominum Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 I happen to have a tab open which has some potentially relevant vids--might as well share. Discussion: Reconciling Religion and Science Bones, Stones, and Genes: The Origin of Modern Humans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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