The Catholic Church and Evolution

A while ago there was a high-profile debate between Kevin Ham and Bill Nye (the science guy).  This was seen by many as a clash between two diametrically opposed worldviews:  The world of science and the world of Christian faith.

Today I wanted to discuss why this dichotomy is thought to exist and where the Catholic Church stands on it.




Finding the Headwaters:

One of my students noticed how the popular media assumes all Christians are obliged to believe in a literal 6-day Creation event … as if the text of Genesis was a screenplay.  They assume this is THE Christian position.  And the thing is, they have good data to back it up.  She asked me why that is the case.

For most of Christian history it was because no other theory really existed.  Most Christians read the book of Genesis, assumed it all happened literally, and went back to scraping out their survival.  But today is different.  Now there is an alternate scientific story and a doggedly determined reaction among many Christians toward a literalistic reading of Genesis.  Why is that?

My answer can be summarized with two words:  Sola Scriptura.

Sola Scriptura is one of the rallying cries of the Protestant era.  This doctrine asserted that the sole rule of faith  – the final authority for determining Christian doctrine – would be the Holy Scriptures.  It rejected the Catholic Church’s claim to have the authority to definitively interpret the Bible for believers.

So along comes Charles Darwin, evolutionary theory, and the implications it poses to Biblical interpretation.  Now something like the following conversation occurs:

Who, Indeed:

Arguments can be presented and texts can be analyzed, but in the final analysis, no one has the authority to settle the question regarding Genesis.  Sola Scriptura exists as a rejection of any such authority.

In this framework, the Good Lord gave us the inspired text (somehow), but neglected to give us a lens through which to read it.  Thus, the question of proper interpretation will always be open and up to each individual, and the answer is ultimately unknowable.

By itself, there is little harm in someone doubting the strict historicity of a woman being carved from a rib or a talking snake.  But what happens when people inevitably apply that sort of allegorical interpretation to the Gospels and say the resurrection was just a metaphor of the power of Christ’s moral teachings?  

Now you have a problem.  Such an assertion would gut Christianity and make it utterly pointless.  But there is no one who can authoritatively say they are wrong.

Modern Christian fundamentalism was birthed in the US as a reaction to this liberalizing apostasy.  It reasoned that the surest way to prevent this denial of essential Christian doctrines is to completely shut the door on non-literal interpretation.  Don’t let the camel’s nose into the tent.  This is why the good people at Answers in Genesis  frame their mission as defending the Bible as a whole.



Freedom and Authority:

The Catholic Church isn’t immune to the wiles of liberal theologians, but we do have the critical tool for combating them –  a teaching authority which can set immutable standards.  

Imagine a winding road up a mountainside.  If that road has no guardrails, how will you drive your car?  Nervously, to say the least.  But now suppose a sturdy guardrail is installed.  Now you can drive with more confidence.

Paradoxically, the rejection of interpretive authority led to a situation where people became less free in how they read the Bible.  But by embracing the interpretive authority of the Church, Catholics are offered wide latitude on what they may believe about Creation without having to worry about going off the edge.

As it happens, the Catholic Church does allow the idea that the early parts of Genesis were written in a style of history that described real events using figurative language.  This endorsement can be found in the 1950 Papal encyclical Humani Generis (“On the Origin of Man”) and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

“The first eleven chapters of Genesis, although not conforming to the historical method used by authors of our time, do nevertheless pertain to history in a true sense.  The same chapters, in simple and metaphorical language adapted to the mentality of a people but little cultured, both state the principal truths which are fundamental for our salvation, and also give a popular description of the origin of the human race and the chosen people.” – Humani Generis, 38

“The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man. Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents.” – CCC 390

Catholics are bound to four propositions regarding creation, which allows them to explore the matter more freely.  Here they are:



1) Creation Ex Nihilo:

Whether it happened 7000 years ago or 13.7 billion years ago, God created the world from nothing sometime in the finite past.   This is found in the Nicene Creed, which states:

“I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.”

2) Made in God’s Image:

The human body is indeed an animal body, but a human being is not simply another animal.  The Catholic Church teaches that humans were created in the image and likeness of God.

That means we have traits given to us by God which make us like Himself.  Our ability to reason abstractly, to discern moral truths, to seek knowledge, to imagine the future, and to search for personal meaning are worlds away from what we see in in the animal kingdom.  These are fruits of the unique gift that God gave to human beings – an eternal, rational soul.

We are permitted to believe that the human body evolved from prior living matter, but the Church teaches that every individual human soul is created by God at conception:

“For these reasons the Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions 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.” – Humani Generis, 36

3) Our First Parents:

This is the most controversial point, and its precise meaning is still discussed.  But here is the core truth which is asserted:  

We believe the whole human race is descended from two first true humans.  The Bible calls these people Adam and Eve, but their names are irrelevant.  They could be called Male True Human #1 and Female True Human #1.

This is important because the Church teaches that we are all one human family.  We all share the same nature, the same fallen state, and (most importantly) the same Redeemer.  Here is what Humani Generis had to say on the matter:

“When, however, there is question of polygenism, the children of the Church by no means enjoy such liberty. For the faithful cannot embrace that opinion which maintains that either after Adam there existed on this earth true men who did not take their origin through natural generation from him as from the first parent of all, or that Adam represents a certain number of first parents. 

Right now it is in no way apparent how such an opinion can be reconciled with that which the sources of revealed truth propose with regard to original sin, which proceeds from a sin actually committed by an individual Adam and which, through generation, is passed on to all.” – Humani Generis, 37

4) Original Sin:

Lastly, the first two humans were originally in a state of peace with God and each other.  But through a definitive act of disobedience, they declared their independence from God and forfeited that original justice.  After committing that sin, Adam and Eve could not pass along a perfect human nature to their offspring.

“Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command.   He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his creaturely status and therefore against his own good.  Constituted in a state of holiness, man was destined for glory in God.  Seduced by the devil, he wanted to be like God, but without God." – CCC 397-398

A Big Tent With Fixed Boundaries:

Those four boundaries make up the Church’s teaching on the origin of human life.  You are fine as long as you stay within those four beliefs.  That could include everything from Creationism to Intelligent Design, to macro-evolution.

So within the walls of the Catholic Church you can find geocentricists and heliocentrists, young earthers and evolutionists.  As long as the four walls are not breached, all the Church asks is that we follow the truth and play nice.