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OneofthemostimportantquestionsforeveryeducatedCatholicoftodayis:Whatistobethoughtofthetheoryofevolution?IsittoberejectedasunfoundedandinimicaltoChristianity,orisittobeacceptedasanestablishedtheoryaltogethercompatiblewiththeprinciplesofaChristianconceptionoftheuniverse?

Wemustcarefullydistinguishbetweenthedifferentmeaningsofthewordstheoryofevolutioninordertogiveaclearandcorrectanswertothisquestion.Wemustdistinguish(1)betweenthetheoryofevolutionasascientifichypothesisandasaphilosophicalspeculation(2)betweenthetheoryofevolutionasbasedontheisticprinciplesandasbasedonamaterialisticandatheisticfoundation(3)betweenthetheoryofevolutionandDarwinism(4)betweenthetheoryofevolutionasappliedtothevegetableandanimalkingdomsandasappliedtoman.

Asascientifichypothesis,thetheoryofevolutionseekstodeterminethehistoricalsuccessionofthevariousspeciesofplantsandofanimalsonourearth,and,withtheaidofpalontologyandothersciences,suchascomparativemorphology,embryology,andbionomy,toshowhowinthecourseofthedifferentgeologicalepochstheygraduallyevolvefromtheirbeginningsbypurelynaturalcausesofspecificdevelopment.Thetheoryofevolution,then,asascientifichypothesis,doesnotconsiderthepresentspeciesofplantsandofanimalsasformsdirectlycreatedbyGod,butasthefinalresultofanevolutionfromotherspeciesexistinginformergeologicalperiods.Henceitiscalled"thetheoryofevolution",or"thetheoryofdescent",sinceitimpliesthedescentofthepresentfromextinctspecies.Thistheoryisopposedtothetheoryofconstancy,whichassumestheimmutabilityoforganicspecies.Thescientifictheoryofevolution,therefore,doesnotconcernitselfwiththeoriginoflife.Itmerelyinquiresintothegeneticrelationsofsystematicspecies,genera,andfamilies,andendeavourstoarrangethemaccordingtonaturalseriesofdescent(genetictrees).

Howfaristhetheoryofevolutionbasedonobservedfacts?Itisunderstoodtobestillonlyanhypothesis.Theformationofnewspeciesisdirectlyobservedinbutafewcases,and

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onlywithreferencetosuchformsasarecloselyrelatedtoeachotherforinstance,thesystematicspeciesoftheplantgenusnothera,andofthebeetlegenusDimarda.Itis,however,notdifficulttofurnishanindirectproofofgreatprobabilityforthegeneticrelationofmanysystematicspeciestoeachotherandtofossilforms,asinthegeneticdevelopmentofthehorse(Equid),ofammonites,andofmanyinsects,especiallyofthosethatdwellas"guests"withantsandtermites,andhaveadaptedthemselvesinmanywaystotheirhosts.Uponcomparingthescientificproofsfortheprobabilityofthetheoryofevolution,wefindthattheygrowthemorenumerousandweighty,thesmallerthecircleofformsunderconsideration,butbecomeweakerandweaker,ifweincludeagreaternumberofforms,suchasarecomprisedinaclassorinasubkingdom.Thereis,infact,noevidencewhateverforthecommongeneticdescentofallplantsandanimalsfromasingleprimitiveorganism.Hencethegreaternumberofbotanistsandzoologistsregardapolygenetic(polyphyletic)evolutionasmuchmoreacceptablethanamonogenetic(monophyletic).Atpresent,however,itisimpossibletodecidehowmanyindependentgeneticseriesmustbeassumedintheanimalandvegetablekingdoms.Thisisthegistofthetheoryofevolutionasascientifichypothesis.ItisinperfectagreementwiththeChristianconceptionoftheuniverseforScripturedoesnottellusinwhatformthepresentspeciesofplantsandofanimalswereoriginallycreatedbyGod.Asearlyas1877Knabenbauerstated"thatthereisnoobjection,sofarasfaithisconcerned,toassumingthedescentofallplantandanimalspeciesfromafewtypes"(StimmenausMariaLaach,XIII,p.72).

Passingnowtothetheoryofevolutionasaphilosophicalspeculation,thehistoryoftheplantandanimalkingdomsuponourglobeisbutasmallpartofthehistoryoftheentireearth.Similarly,thegeologicaldevelopmentofourearthconstitutesbutasmallpartofthehistoryofthesolarsystemandoftheuniverse.Thetheoryofevolutionasaphilosophicalconceptionconsiderstheentirehistoryofthecosmosasanharmoniousdevelopment,broughtaboutbynaturallaws.ThisconceptionisinagreementwiththeChristianviewoftheuniverse.GodistheCreatorofheavenandearth.IfGodproducedtheuniversebyasinglecreativeactofHiswill,thenitsnaturaldevelopmentbylawsimplantedinitbytheCreatoristothegreatergloryofHisDivinepowerandwisdom.St.Thomassays:"Thepotencyofacauseisthegreater,themoreremotetheeffectstowhichitextends."(Summac.Gent.,III,c.lxxvi)andFranciscoSurez:"Goddoesnotinterferedirectlywiththenaturalorder,wheresecondarycausessufficetoproducetheintendedeffect"(Deoperesexdierum,II,c.x,n.13).InthelightofthisprincipleoftheChristianinterpretationofnature,thehistoryoftheanimalandvegetablekingdomsonourplanetis,asitwere,aversicleinavolumeofamillionpagesinwhichthenaturaldevelopmentofthecosmosisdescribed,anduponwhosetitlepageiswritten:"InthebeginningGodcreatedheavenandearth."

Theisticvs.atheistictheoriesofevolution

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Thetheoryofevolutionjuststatedrestsonatheisticfoundation.Incontradistinctiontothisisanothertheoryrestingonamaterialisticandatheisticbasis,thefirstprincipleofwhichisthedenialofapersonalCreator.Thisatheistictheoryofevolutionisineffectualtoaccountforthefirstbeginningofthecosmosorforthelawofitsevolution,sinceitacknowledgesneithercreatornorlawgiver.Naturalscience,moreover,hasprovedthatspontaneousgenerationi.e.theindependentgenesisofalivingbeingfromnonlivingmattercontradictsthefactsofobservation.ForthisreasonthetheistictheoryofevolutionpostulatesaninterventiononthepartoftheCreatorintheproductionofthefirstorganisms.Whenandhowthefirstseedsoflifewereimplantedinmatter,we,indeed,donotknow.TheChristiantheoryofevolutionalsodemandsacreativeactfortheoriginofthehumansoul,sincethesoulcannothaveitsorigininmatter.Theatheistictheoryofevolution,onthecontrary,rejectstheassumptionofasoulseparatefrommatter,andtherebysinksintoblankmaterialism.

Thetheoryofevolutionvs.Darwinism

Darwinismandthetheoryofevolutionarebynomeansequivalentconceptions.ThetheoryofevolutionwaspropoundedbeforeCharlesDarwin'stime,byLamarck(1809)andGeoffroydeSaintHilaire.Darwin,in1859,gaveitanewformbyendeavouringtoexplaintheoriginofspeciesbymeansofnaturalselection.Accordingtothistheorythebreedingofnewspeciesdependsonthesurvivalofthefittestinthestruggleforexistence.TheDarwiniantheoryofselectionisDarwinismadheringtothenarrower,andaccurate,senseoftheword.Asatheory,itisscientificallyinadequate,sinceitdoesnotaccountfortheoriginofattributesfittedtothepurpose,whichmustbereferredbacktotheinterior,originalcausesofevolution.Haeckel,withothermaterialists,hasenlargedthisselectiontheoryofDarwin'sintoaphilosophicalworldidea,byattemptingtoaccountforthewholeevolutionofthecosmosbymeansofthechancesurvivalofthefittest.ThistheoryisDarwinisminthesecondary,andwider,senseoftheword.Itisthatatheisticalformofthetheoryofevolutionwhichwasshownaboveunder(2)tobeuntenable.ThethirdsignificationofthetermDarwinismarosefromtheapplicationofthetheoryofselectiontoman,whichislikewiseimpossibleofacceptance.Inthefourthplace,Darwinismfrequentlystands,inpopularusage,forthetheoryofevolutioningeneral.Thisuseofthewordrestsonanevidentconfusionofideas,andmustthereforebesetaside.

Humanevolutionvs.plantandanimalevolution

Towhatextentisthetheoryofevolutionapplicabletoman?ThatGodshouldhavemadeuseofnatural,evolutionary,originalcausesintheproductionofman'sbody,ispersenotimprobable,andwaspropoundedbySt.Augustine(seeSAINTAUGUSTINEOFHIPPO,underV.AugustinisminHistory).Theactualproofsofthedescentofman'sbodyfromanimalsis,however,inadequate,especiallyinrespecttopaleontology.Andthehumansoulcouldnothavebeenderivedthroughnaturalevolutionfromthatofthebrute,sinceit

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isofaspiritualnatureforwhichreasonwemustreferitsorigintoacreativeactonthepartofGod.

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Sources

Forathoroughexposition,WASMANN,ModernBiologyandtheTheoryofEvolution(FreiburgimBr.,1904).Oftheolderliterature,MIVART,OntheGenesisofSpecies(LondonandNewYork,1871).

Aboutthispage

APAcitation.Wasmann,E.(1909).CatholicsandEvolution.InTheCatholicEncyclopedia.NewYork:RobertAppletonCompany.RetrievedJune6,2015fromNewAdvent:http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05654a.htm

MLAcitation.Wasmann,Erich."CatholicsandEvolution."TheCatholicEncyclopedia.Vol.5.NewYork:RobertAppletonCompany,1909.6Jun.2015.

Transcription.ThisarticlewastranscribedforNewAdventbyWGKofron.WiththankstoSt.Mary'sChurch,Akron,Ohio.

Ecclesiasticalapprobation.NihilObstat.May1,1909.RemyLafort,Censor.Imprimatur.+JohnM.Farley,ArchbishopofNewYork.

Contactinformation.TheeditorofNewAdventisKevinKnight.Myemailaddressiswebmasteratnewadvent.org.Regrettably,Ican'treplytoeveryletter,butIgreatlyappreciateyourfeedbackespeciallynotificationsabouttypographicalerrorsandinappropriateads.