Saturday, June 2, 2007

Christ and Evolution

Last night I went to a bar-b-que with my parish's young adult group. A couple of the young men there were discussing the fact that they were going to teach the 9th graders' catechism classes and when the subject of sex ed came up I naturally asked if they were going to teach JP II's Theology of the Body. The subject drew precious little conversation but it stimulated my mind towards what I read of that great work. So I was in a looooong line to buy coffee today and thinking about all sorts of things and thought about what JP II discussed in the opening of the Theology of the Body, namely that we are created in the image and likeness of God. It occurred to me that this is the most powerful argument we have against evolution.

In the Beginning, Adam was created whole, entire and perfectly, in the image of God. Because we are created as the sole creatures on Earth God has willed for His own sake we have our dignity and humanity from the foundation of time. Both Adam and Jesus Christ were perfect human beings. If we truly did come into existence through the evolution of apes, then Adam is a myth and our religion is false. If evolution will eventually change us into something else, then will God come again to die for the atonement of that species? If not then are we not the most glorious and exulted of all Creation? Surely we are because God took on human flesh and became one of us. As a species we are holy unto the Lord, both before His coming because we are looking forward to His coming and after His coming because He humbled Himself to share in our humanity. Looking at evolution and trying to reconcile the life and work of Jesus in and for humanity just does not work. Because God came down from Heaven as a human being, evolution could not be a valid explanation of human life on Earth.

2 comments:

Belladonna said...

I absolutely believe we were created in the image of God. I suspect that is why Satan tries so hard to get us (especially women) to hate our bodies - using every nasty trick he can to lure us into feeling critical of these sacred gifts in His image that are truly the temples that houses our spirits.

Joel Gamache said...

Belladonna,
You make a good point. Unfortunately, Satan is good at what he does. I have see first hand the work he does in that department and it is truly devistating to women, to men, to families and to our world as a whole. One of the things he does to men in that department is help to magnify what is holy, making it such an overwhelming part that it becomes profane, even demeaning to women. He plays males and females off each other creating a nasty little playground for himself.

Thanks again for your comments.
Joel