| What is
the attitude of the Catholic Church towards the theory of evolution?
Considered strictly as a scientific theory, evolution starts with
the hypothesis or conjecture that higher forms of life have
developed from lower forms over a period of millions of years. The
scientist then tries either to prove or disprove this hypothesis by
searching for evidence to be found in the geological record. If he
can show that there is a record in the rocks which shows the
development of some lower form of animal into a higher form, he has
proven his hypothesis. Consequently, there has been a great effort
among scientists to search the geological record for evidence that
modern man has indeed descended from the lower animals like the ape.
There are, however, too many missing links in the record to allow
any reputable scientist to claim that evolution is a proven fact.
Since, however, the cultural elite of today have a strong bent
towards atheism or at least agnosticism, they push the theory of
evolution as a proof that the world has not been created by God and
that man is simply a higher animal without an immortal soul. In this
propaganda effort they have taken a scientific hypothesis and turned
it into a philosophy. They claim that their beliefs are somehow more
rational or scientific than the belief of Christians. A true
scientist, however, will recognize that physical science has nothing
to do one way or another with proving or disproving the existence of
God or the immortality of the soul. A true scientist will stick to
his trade and recognize that such matters are beyond his competence
as a scientist. If he is of the opinion that there is no God he will
hold it as his personal belief and not as a proven scientific fact.
Obviously, those who embrace evolution as a philosophy oppose
Christianity. Thus today there is a struggle in the public schools
between the "Creationists" and the
"Evolutionists." The Creationists, who are those
Protestants holding for a strictly literal interpretation of the
account of creation in the Bible, oppose evolution not only as a
philosophy but as a scientific theory. Holding the God created man
directly from the earth, they insist that the hypothesis of man
descending from the apes must be wrong. Hence they regard the
teaching of evolution even as a scientific hypothesis as
anti-Christian.
The Catholic Church is united with these Christians in opposing
evolution AS A PHILOSOPHY. With the Protestants, the Church insists
that God created the world and that man has an immortal soul. The
Church, however, does not oppose evolution AS A SCIENTIFIC THEORY.
The reason is that she does not hold for an absolutely literal
interpretation of those chapters of Genesis. Thus the Church sees no
necessary conflict between the belief that God created the world
from nothing and the scientific hypothesis that the world has
evolved over millions of years. Again, the Church sees no necessary
conflict between the belief that God created directly the souls of
Adam and Eve and the scientific hypothesis that Adam and Eve
descended from non-human ancestors. Thus even if can be proven
scientifically beyond a reasonable doubt that man has descended from
some lower animal like the ape, the Church will not have to change
its position. Thus the Church is content to let the scientists go
about their business and will only react when some step beyond the
limits of science in making the claim that the theory of evolution
has made Christianity obsolete.
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