Ask a Catholic

[Randy Carson]

Randy, don't know if anybody asked already or if you've already said it, but are you a creationist?

Well, words sometimes get fuzzy on the Internet, so I'd want your definition.

But as I understand the word, yes, I believe that God created all things out of nothing and that He used evolution as the means by which the earth as we see it today arrived at its current state. This is one of the acceptable options for creation according to Catholic doctrine.

Now, my opinion is that man evolved from an ancestor of some sort which was NOT human (as you and I are human) but very close. You may agree with that. But this is key (and I freely admit that I may be wrong and that I may change my opinion without public notice), I think that at some point, God chose one male and one female of these ancestors and breathed into them a HUMAN spirit instead of an animal spirit which others of the species received. This pair, from which all humans are descended, are the man and woman we refer to as Adam and Eve.

But there may have been others on the planet who were like them in every other respect except for the nature of the spirit which they received.

I'd also have to think about whether the DNA evidence suggests that we are NOT descended from a single female, etc. But I'm not as concerned with HOW God did it as some people seem to be.