I recently heard a man on the metro say, "And those Catholics, man. Evolution happened. You can't deny it." Since the age of Darwin there has been a conflict between creation and evolution in which the two are often considered mutually exclusive. But they need not be.
Pope Benedict calls evolution and creation "complementary realities"(Benedict, 50). The former explains how man came to be while the latter explains what man is. Evolution explains the exterior formation of the species while creation explains the interior origin of a child of God.
Many scientists today believe in evolution and divine creation. I'm no scientist but the world did not need to form as it did. According to the laws of physics, the mathematical probability of any life coming to exist is very close to zero. Even less likely is the probability of that life evolving into humanity.
Additionally, evolution occurs when an error in reproduction causes a defect in the species. If this defect proves advantageous, it is sustained in future generations. Our existence, therefore, as evolved animals is a result of genetic defects.
But do we really have the nerve to say that all of humanity in its intricateness has no creative Reason behinds its existence. We are not the product of some random error! Rather "the human being is indeed a divine project, which only the creating intelligence was strong and great and audacious enough to conceive of"(56-57). Our existence only makes sense in light of One who was smart enough and artful enough to create such an exquisite creation.
"I did not have to exist but I do exist and you, O God, wanted me to exist" (53).
Benedict XVI. 'In the Beginning...'. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990.
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