Shawn
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
- When it says that God created Adam and
then Eve from his rib, etc; was this a
Homo sapien man, better known as a modern
day man?
If so, this would have happened about 200,000
years ago, or
- Does this exclude:
- the understanding of
evolution in a pre-scientific world at
the time? or
- exclude our understanding of
them having no knowledge of dinosaurs,
etc.
Thanks!
Shawn
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{
When
God created Adam and then Eve from his rib,
was this a Homo sapien man? }
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Mary
Ann replied:
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Shawn,
It refers to the very first man as
man.
It means that God formed the human
animal aspect from the Earth (perhaps
by evolution), and directly gave
him his spiritual nature (his soul),
and that man and woman have the same
origin and are equal.
Mary Ann
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Paul
replied:
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Shawn,
The Genesis story didn't have evolution
in mind, but there's no reason both
ideas can't go together. Whenever
the first human beings appeared on
earth — and this would mean
creatures with a (body/soul) composite
that includes the ability for language,
self-awareness, conceptual thought,
and free will — these first
two ancestors of ours would be considered
the Adam and Eve of the human race.
God could have created us through
an evolutionary process and communicated
our creation in poetry form to make
it more easily understood. This would
not make the Genesis story myth, as people understand the term today,
but rather a symbolic history that
preserves the important truths that
pertain to our salvation.
So to directly answer your question,
there's no consensus in the scientific
community as to when exactly modern
homo sapiens came into being, but
whenever it was, if it includes the
spiritual qualities above, then we
can trace Adam to this
hypothetical point.
Peace,
Paul
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Shawn
replied:
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Thanks, Paul —
I'm just trying to rationalize this
and it is hard since we know modern
homo sapiens came from Homo erectus
and Neanderthal man.
- What if I logically don't understand
this and the original sin process?
- Do I trust that God knows my
intentions though I have problems
understanding this and accepting
it without a doubt?
Thanks!
Shawn
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Mary
Ann replied:
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Shawn —
Modern man's matter could have evolved,
and then God imparted an immortal
spirit into him.
Original sin means this:
The world as we see it is not the
world as God created it, but is the
result of sin originating in the
first human pair: Adam and Eve.
By
the way, even science is saying that
we all have a common mother.
Mary Ann
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Shawn
replied:
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Hi, Mary —
Thank you,
I understand the part about Adam
and Eve, though I believe it was
more of a group of
homo sapiens, not just a male and
female alone, rather a small group
that first evolved.
My problem mainly is that of original
sin versus the evolutionary process
of psychology and understanding.
- If I, by reason and logic, do
not understand the original sin
part, at all, nor cannot accept
it consciously, how does that
effect my faith?
Thanks!
Sean
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Mary
Ann replied:
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Sean —
- You do not have to understand
a doctrine to accept it.
- You do not have to accept original
sin in any way other than the Catechism does.
- You do not need to understand
the figurative elements literally.
You just need to accept that the
first parents were in a state of
original friendship with God,
in harmony with Him and within themselves,
and with creation, and they fell
out of friendship
and harmony, by choosing to disobey.
You may find this article by Jimmy
Akin interesting:
Mary Ann
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Shawn
replied:
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Thank you, Mary!
That cleared up my question!
Blessings,
Shawn
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