Original Sin OR evolution
This article is intended primarily for Catholics and those believers who agree with Catholic doctrine on the subject of Original Sin.
I maintain that the doctrine of Original Sin as understood by Catholics and other Christians cannot be reconciled with evolutionary theory, as I will attempt to show in the following argument. I will use documentation from the Catholic tradition, simply because that is what I am most familiar with, but the points should, for the most part, be acceptable to most other Christians who accept the doctrine as well.
First, Catholics define Original Sin as an act against God’s command. This is basic christian dogma:
"Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church, ¶ 100
Catholic teaching demands that we accept the real existence of these two first parents in human history:
"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."
Catechism of the Catholic Church, ¶ 390
To relegate the people we refer to as Adam and Eve to mere metaphors, or other alternatives to real actual people is to undermine a basic dogma of christianity:
“The Church, which has the mind of Christ, knows very well that we cannot tamper with the revelation of original sin without undermining the mystery of Christ.”
Catechism of the Catholic Church, ¶ 389
In other words, Christ, the Lord of Hosts, the Lamb of God, the second part of the Holy Trinity would not have been sacrificed for a metaphor or allegory. The sacrifice of Easter was made necessary, in Catholic and Christian doctrine, because one or two real, authentic people, the first humans, made a real choice against God’s commandments.
As a result of original sin, humanity is now subject to death. This is also Christian and Catholic doctrine:
“From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die.”
Genesis 2:17
“Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned”
Romans 5:12
"Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will 'return to the ground,' for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human history."
Catechism of the Catholic Church, ¶ 400
To reiterate, according to Christianity, humans are subject to death solely because of Original Sin. If Adam had not disregarded God, he and all of humanity would be free from illness and corruption. There would be no death. We would be immortal.
That’s the Christian side of the issue. Now let’s briefly look at the evolutionary side.
Evolution involves genetic mutation which causes change in organisms over the course of many generations; some mutations offer improved adaptation to the environment and are passed on through natural selection; other mutations aren’t so helpful and are not passed on. If we accept evolution, we must accept the existence in the past of creatures that were “almost” homo sapiens, who produced offspring with a certain genetic mutation, a mutation that made the offspring homo sapiens. In this context, we will call this offspring the First Human.
In Christian doctrine, this person would be considered Adam or Eve, and would grow up to be our first parent, the one who disobeyed God.
Evolutionary theory tells us this First Human must have had parents, who themselves had parents, who also had parents, etc. and that death was a common event within his/her family and in the world in which they lived.
Thus we arrive at a major conflict between the doctrine of Original Sin and evolution.
Clearly the only conceivable way for death to be new to this Adam or Eve, would be for it to be the first time they had ever been confronted with a loss of life. For this to happen, for Christian doctrine to be true, there would have to have been NO DEATH for anyone prior to the transgression against God, and in fact this is precisely what Christian dogma asserts. But if there was no death for any living thing prior to Original Sin, the mechanics of evolution would not have worked. Natural selection works primarily because of generational turn-over . Mutations that help adapt can only advance if the holders of the non-mutated genes eventually die off. Further, if the possessor of a mutated gene that did not improve adaptation is allowed to live forever and reproduce, there would be no benefit to anyone, since both good adaptations and bad adaptations reap the same reward: continued existence. The phrase “survival of the fittest,” as inaccurate as it is, would thus have even less meaning, since without death, both the fit and the unfit would live and reproduce in equal numbers.
Therefore, if there was no death prior to Original Sin, then evolution as currently understood would be impossible.
Original Sin and evolution then, are incompatible because:
1. If evolution is true, and death occurred prior to the First Human, then Original Sin is refuted.
2. If the dogma of Original Sin is true, and death did not occur prior to the First Human, then evolution is refuted.
These scenarios are mutually exclusive; they cannot both be true.
Now there are a couple objections to this scenario that are worth considering.
Objections
One objection to the above argument is to assert that the death in question is not a physical death, but a spiritual one. The penalty of Original Sin is not the physical death of the body, but the death of the spirit. It is the death of the soul. If true, this would eliminate the contradiction between Original Sin and evolution by offering a death of a different sort for each. If the penalty for Original Sin is simply the death of the soul, then evolution, which only requires the death of the body, remains untouched.
The problem with this objection is that it runs counter to actual Catholic doctrine. From the Apostle Paul, to St. Augustine, the Council of Trent, and including the most recent Catechism of the Catholic Church, there has been complete unanimity regarding the punishment for Original Sin: death of the body. Certainly other punishments are attached as well (including something called the “death of the soul” - see Council of Trent, chapt 5, ¶ 2) but they are in addition to the physical death, and not integral to this discussion. The Catholic Church has always held the position that physical death came to humanity only as the result of Original Sin.
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Also, it could be argued that Original Sin did not occur with the first homo sapiens, but earlier. Perhaps it happened to a more primitive form of human-like being, preferably one without much memory, or self-awareness, who lacked the ability to recall an encounter with death.
The problem with this objection is that it reduces Adam and Eve to the level of a lower primate lacking the basic characteristics of homo sapiens, the ability to think, to remember, and to plan. In this scenario, God doesn’t play fair, instead testing a creature one or two rungs up from a monkey and punishing humanity for the offense. Far from supporting the cause of divine justice, this argument turns God into a sadistic thug who punishes humanity unfairly.
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Another counter argument is that the “death” referred to is actually the death of the soul, not the body. This argument makes the claim that God invested this First Human with the First Soul, and it is that soul which is in peril of death from Original Sin.
Aside from the question as to whether such a thing as a soul even exists, there simply is no support for the “death of the soul” within Christian doctrine or scripture. In fact, there are multitudes of references to the eternal damnation and everlasting punishment of souls of those who reject God. Christian doctrine emphasizes the eternal nature of the soul, even for those under the penalty of Original Sin. Therefore those who use this argument place themselves outside generally accepted Christian doctrine.
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Finally...
I hope I have presented the dilemma fairly. The Catholic Church would like to have us believe there is no incompatibility between official dogma and science, but there remains a fundamental conflict with regards to Original Sin and evolution as I have shown above. As a result, I think the choice for the believer is clear: either reject Original Sin, or reject evolutionary theory. I see no middle-ground between these two viewpoints.
It is not my intention to get into a debate on the merits of evolutionary theory, and I will ruthlessly eliminate any such comments along those lines; but if you have a comment or a possible scenario that would rectify the apparent incompatibilities between Original Sin and evolution, I'd love to hear it.
