Catholics & Creationism

Do Catholics believe that God created the world? Yes. Do Catholics believe that God creates humans? Yes. Do Catholics believe that God created human beings with a special image and differently than other beings and things? Yes. Do Catholics believe in some sort of evolution? Yes? How can all this be, you may ask. Let’s break it down.

God did create the world. Everything in this world was created by God in some fashion. Every object and every being as a distinct person. Nothing is an accident. I’m not going to prove God’s existence and how the layout of the world proves that. That can be a separate article for a different day. So, yes, we are creationists, in that we believe He is the one that created the world.

Similarly, we also believe that God formed and designed human beings out of his own image and likeness. What does that really mean though? We always say out of his image and likeness but what does that mean? It means that he gave us the capacity to love, to form relationships, to have a will, for without freedom there is no love (once again another article for another day).

But Catholics also believe in some sort of evolution, or at least we are open to it (meaning if evolution occurred it has no bearing on our faith). This is for a few reasons. Firstly, the argument that the Bible contradicts scientific evolution is wrong. The original Hebrew translation of the bible makes use of the word YOM, which in english translates to the word “day” but doesn’t actually mean “day.” It means “at the appointed time.” So once again, in the Hebrew version of the bible, the word yom is used meaning that a correct reading would be “God created the heavens and the earth ‘at the appointed time.’” Notice the big difference here. This could mean God created the plants millions of years before humans, as science has suggested. Therefore, no contradiction despite what secular society tries to push on you.

We also need to understand what it means when it says God creates humans. God creates the souls. When it says in the Bible that God created Adam and Eve, it means he literally created their souls, but their body could have come as a result of another one of his creations (i.e. oxygen or cells as science tells). Science and religion, despite what secular society tells us, are complimentary, not contradictory. Therefore science tells us about the bodies (the literal material) evolution, religion tells us about the soul, how God created the soul. It is also important to note that God also provided the materials. So even though we say God creates Adam, that means he created his soul, something only a divine creator can do. At some point God created some sort of material that evolved into the body, whether it be molecules, cells, or whatever, it's irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that we understand that God created the human being. He creates its soul. And everytime a baby is created, a miracle occurs -- God creates the soul of that new being (this is one of two on-going or “reoccuring miracles” -- the other is the Eucharist). This idea actually comes from some ancient philosophers as well, like Plato and Aristotle.

The last thing we need to understand is the definition of myth and how it occurs in the bible. The three definitions of myth are: (1) a literal lie, (2) something that is not literally true but symbolically true, and (3) symbolic language used to speak about a historical event. The first type of myth never occurs in the bible -- nothing in the Bible is a lie or misleading. The second and third types are used in the Bible, however. Creationism is an example of the third type. Creation did happen, just not in the exact 7 days the Bible says. That is why we say it used symbolic language to talk about a real historical event. This is common in the book of Genesis. Certain things, in fact many things, in the Bible happened as they are described. For example, the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles are eye witness accounts of the life of Jesus. They are like FOX5 news reports.

So putting it all together:

- God created human beings. He created the first human’s souls. Their body could have come as a result of many things since the Bible is very much open to evolution. We aren’t concerned with the material. We are concerned with the soul, which is the source of life.

- Creationism is described in the Bible using symbolic language, but it was a real historical event. It just may have occurred over the course of millions of years.

- Nothing about Jesus is symbolic. That is real. That is the story of a person who lived, who died, and who rose from the dead. That is why the Eucharist isn’t a symbol. That is why everytime the priest raises the host and says the words of consecration an ongoing miracle occurs -- God transforms that bread to the literal Body of Jesus Christ. It's hard to understand but nothing to be taken lightly. That is Jesus. Seek Him Out (Adoration, Mass, Etc.)

I know that was a lot but that should clear up any confusion regarding creationism.

In Christ.