We discuss the Catholic teaching related to creation and the theory of evolution. While evolution would in no way undermine the Catholic faith or the belief in the existence of God, there are certain scientific and philosophical reasons to question the theory.
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High School Youth Group – Fall 2020 – The Catholic
Response to Atheism
December 20th - Session 8 – Creation and Evolution
“The fool hath said in his heart: There is no
God.” -Psalm 13:1
I. Calendar: December 20th,
Last Class of Fall, resuming January 10th and continuing until May 2nd.
II. Review of last week
A. The Creation Account(s).
Differences between Genesis 1 and 2.
B. Various Interpretations
Related to Time
C. The Interpretation of Sts
Augustine and Thomas
III. St Augustine and Evolution
A. While St Augustine would not
support modern ideas of evolution developed from Darwin (and neither would I),
he does have a basic understanding of species of creatures slowly emerging in
the world.
B. St Augustine believed that God had planted “seeds” in the Earth which would
develop into all the various species of creatures throughout the [billions of]
years of existence. And, before any
laugh at the idea that all the species are “seeds” in the Earth, St Augustine
is using the word “seed” or “semina” in a metaphysical sense, not to mean a
physical plant seed but referring to the causal principal of a nature or
species. It was not until Darwin that
people actually entertained the outrageous belief that plant seeds could become
fish and that fish could become monkeys and that monkeys could become human
beings – St Augustine was never as foolishly imaginative as modern
“scientists.”
IV. Problems with Evolution:
Three hurdles to overcome
A. The beginning of life
B. The beginning of animal life
C. The beginning of rational life
V. Problems with Evolution:
Polygenism vs Monogenism
A. The question of “first
parents”
B. The dogma of original sin
seems to require monogenism (one set of first parents)
C. Even some scientific studies
seem to indicate that we all come from two first parents
