Creation/evolution3

[watchamadoodle]

I was surprised to learn that Catholics have a fairly traditional understanding of the stories in Genesis. I'll include some quotes from a Catholic website, but I think Drich might be in agreement with some of these ideas even though he isn't a Catholic.

This quote reminds me of Drich's distinction between homo-monkeyus (without a soul) and homo-gardenus (with a soul):

Concerning human evolution, the Church has a more definite teaching. It allows for the possibility that man’s body developed from previous biological forms, under God’s guidance, but it insists on the special creation of his soul. Pope Pius XII declared that "the teaching authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions . . . take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—[but] the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God" (Pius XII, Humani Generis 36).

This statement about the six days of creation seems to give lip service to Biblical inerrancy:

It is impossible to dismiss the events of Genesis 1 as a mere legend. They are accounts of real history, even if they are told in a style of historical writing that Westerners do not typically use.

Here is the view on Adam and Eve which seems far more literal than I expected:

The story of the creation and fall of man is a true one, even if not written entirely according to modern literary techniques. The Catechism states, "The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man. Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents" (CCC 390).

Here is the source for the above quotes:
http://www.catholic.com/tracts/adam-eve-and-evolution