EVOLUTION AND THE BIBLE 



empirical plane; they open to us a natural history of man. 

 Revelation is situated on the spiritual plane, and teaches the 

 supernatural history of man. We do not have to choose 

 between the revealed notion and the scientific notion. Both 

 can be true, each in its own order. In any case, the first cannot 

 be either verified or contradicted by the second, for the 

 realities it expresses cannot be ascertained by historical 

 research. The state of original justice can in no way be 

 likened to a cultural cycle that leaves traces for paleontologists 

 to discover. 



Nevertheless scientific progress and the evolutionist outlook 

 dominating the modern mind have urgently invited theologians 

 to reconsider the classical depiction of the life of Adam and 

 Eve in Paradise, and especially to distinguish the genuine 

 word of God from incrustations that may have been introduced 

 by human interpretations. It is undeniable that theologians of 

 an earlier day often exaggerated the privileges of Adam and 

 Eve, describing in detail what would have been the history 

 of mankind if Adam had not sinned. A clearer grasp of the 

 purpose of revelation has tended to call a halt to speculations 

 that are more interesting than useful. Contemporary exegetes 

 are more accurate than their predecessors in fixing the essen- 

 tial elements of original justice as required by faith. 



How does Genesis display the original state that was 

 forfeited by sin? The description is characterized by a tone 

 of sober reserve.23 In the miniature society formed by the 

 first pair a perfect harmony prevails, indicated by their naked- 

 ness. "Both the man and his wife were naked, but they felt 

 no shame" (Gen. 2:25). Man and woman, at peace with 

 God, are at peace with each other and have nothing to hide. 

 This feature illustrates their moral condition and their mutual 

 trust and esteem. The nakedness of Eden supposes both the 

 clemency of external nature and a relationship between human 

 persons undisturbed by fear and confusion. Among the beauti- 

 ful fruit and shade trees planted in the garden, the tree of life 

 (Gen. 2:9) symbolizes the immortality man would have 

 enjoyed if he had persevered in fidelity to God. The author's 

 main purpose is to set forth the situation that followed the 



^ Cf. A. M. Dubarle, O.P., "Original Sin in Genesis," Downside Review 

 76 (1958) 239. 



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