Proof That Adam & Eve Were Made ... Not Born

Good Science Gone Theologically Bad

The “Born” Theory Can’t Clear the Monogenism Hurdle? So Let’s Redefine Monogenism!

This website is supported by a grant from the Evolution and Christian Faith (ECF) Program of the BioLogos Foundation. The BioLogos ECF Program is a multi-million dollar grants program sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation.

BioLogos gives priority to the claims of secular scientists. Their website says, “Overwhelming scientific evidence points to an old earth,” and “The data are clear that humans have been created through an evolutionary process and there was never a time when there was a single first couple [In other words, no Adam and Eve, which is pretty much what Fr. Nicanor Austriaco et al. are trying to get us to accept — SML]. … According to Karl Giberson, former executive vice president of BioLogos, the strategy BioLogos employs can be described as this: Reject what atheistic scientists like Jerry Coyne and Stephen Hawking say about God, but accept what they teach about biology and cosmology[1]."[1-B]

BioLogos’ balancing act doesn’t remove barriers to trusting Christ. It establishes new ones. By separating matters of God from matters of science, they build a wall that leaves God out of efforts to explain the real world. While the Bible claims that God is not only the Creator but also the foundation for all understanding, BioLogos takes a position that relegates Him to insignificance.[2]

Option #1: [that Adam and Eve are actual historical people] is the standard argument put forward by those who believe in a young earth created by God in six twenty-four hour days less than 10,000 years ago. BioLogos exists in no small part to marginalize this view from the Church. A fundamental part of our mission is to show that Option #1 is not tenable[3].[4]  

In the first book of the Bible, God fashions a woman from one of Adam’s ribs: “while Adam was sleeping, … [he] took one of the ribs… and the rib taken from man… made a woman” (Genesis 2:21–22). Were stem cells present at this ancient origin point, in Adam’s rib?

The recent discovery of stem cells in bone marrow and their therapeutic application in stem cells regenerative medicine would support the hypothesis that the development of science represents a quite predictable phenomenon proceeding from the potency of Adam’s rib. Likewise, the biomedical research appears to represent a continuous discovery of historical and prehistorical milestones. …

The rib, in particular, represents an anatomic type of long bone with a wide, spongious component rich in hematopoietic bone marrow, containing multipotent, pluripotent, and unipotent stem cells [AlisonMR, IslamS, “Attributes of adult stem cells.” J Pathol 2009; 217: 144–160.]. … Carefully reading Genesis 2 [Holy Bible, King James version, Genesis (2:7, 2:21–22)], one is impressed by the fact that man and woman originated via two different modalities: Man “from the dust of the ground, [God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7); Woman “from the rib he had taken out of the man [Adam]” while he was sleeping (Genesis 2:21–22).

The analogy between Adam’s sleep and anaesthesia (as in surgical procedures, for bone marrow transplantation) is striking. Also striking, is that the two events—the origin of man and of woman—are not comparable [i.e., two separate events involving two separate modalities — SML]. Adam’s origin is not discussed at present, as nowadays, it seems to belong to the sphere of divinity and as such is inaccessible to scientific knowledge, whereas woman’s origin is a suitable subject for science.

The recent discovery (or rediscovery) of stem cells in bone marrow and their application in regenerative medicine would seem to support the hypothesis that the development of science could be predicted from the story of Adam’s rib. Surprisingly, the progress of science, in turn, may lead us to look again into the narrative of our evolutionary ancestry.[5]      

Adam & Eve Are Saying, “OOPS! We Smell Heresy!”

1). All natures are communicated to offspring through begetting/generation. The nature of the begotten is the exact same as the nature of the one who begat. This has been well reasoned out by Aquinas himself. He wrote, “As in creatures, generation [i.e., begetting] is the only principle of communication of nature. (http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1027.htm#article4)” A human cannot generate a cat; a dog can’t generate a fish, a man cannot generate an angel, etc. So animal Adam and Eve would have been animals, as were their parents. They would have had sensitive/animal souls, not intellectual/rational souls.

2). Sensitive souls are not even capable of knowing and loving themselves, let alone knowing/loving the God who created them. As Augustine tells us, one cannot love what one does not know (http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/130109.htm). So the Holy Spirit would not/could not develop a bond of love with such an animal soul, nor dwell in one that is not capable of knowing and loving (Aquinas, Summa, I, q. 93, a. 2). Pre-fallen Adam and Eve were created perfectly in the image and likeness of God. Their corporeal and spiritual natures were in complete and perfect harmony. When they fell, their nature became corrupted. They were no longer in the perfect image and likeness of God. Thus, it was impossible for the Holy Spirit to dwell in any man (Adam) who was not a perfectly in the Imago Dei (image and likeness of God). You may be thinking that nothing is impossible for God, but you would be wrong. God cannot contradict His own essence. That would be a contradiction of Truth. God could not express/create a contradiction to His Truth. For example, God could not create evil — it is a contradiction/total absence of Truth. God would not be God if he were able to create/express a contradiction.

The Holy Spirit cannot dwell in a disordered nature. This is exactly why the Holy Spirit departed from our First Parents immediately after their sin. Why they lost Supernatural grace. When the Holy Spirit departed, Supernatural Grace was lost to them. Without this internal indwelling, the only type of grace available to fallen man would occur from the outside in — through Actual Grace. This type of grace is external to us, and is a result of the power of the Holy Spirit, which does not require an indwelling to communicate Actual grace. The Holy Spirit did not return to dwell in any man until Jesus redeemed him and established his Church (John 7:39). Consequently, if a fallen rational man, whose corrupted nature produced a corrupted image and likeness of God, cannot be dwelt within by the Holy Spirit, so much more the case for an animal Adam who is not even remotely in the image and likeness at all, let alone imperfectly. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, i.e., Supernatural grace, a necessary prerequisite for this unnatural transformation of a hominin, could not happen. For any attempt to make this false hypothesis true, it would require one to employ circular logic, which is false logic. To suggest that the Holy Spirit could dwell in an animal, is to commit heresy.

3). The Holy Spirit could not have been nonchalantly breathed into animal A & E by God because they were not generated/begotten as persons in the image and likeness of God (see #2). To assert otherwise is to engage in heresy, as was already stated in #2. It is important to note what the International Theological Commission tells us. The Imago Dei resides in the whole man, body and spiritual soul [https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20040723_communion-stewardship_en.html, n. 9] (See also #5a below). Consequently, both body and animal soul (the substantial form of an animal body) would either together or separately, would not be capable of receiving the gift (via the Holy Spirit) of becoming a rational human beings (possessing a spiritual soul) made in the image and likeness of God. No Imago Dei, no Supernatural Grace.

4). The “breathed in” Holy Spirit does not change a pre-existing nature (pre-existing through conception/generation) into a different, higher or lower, nature. I am not aware of that occurring anywhere in Scripture. To avoid possible confusion, one must be aware of the following: unless one has a solid philosophical background, they might confuse annihilation with substantial change; transforming from actuality to potentiality in, say, prime matter. In fact, according to Aquinas, an animal soul is not directly given by God. A sensitive (animal) soul is not subsistent (able to exist independently from the animal body), the sensitive soul is communicated with the semen during the fertilization process of the animal egg (Aquinas, Summa, I, q. 118, a. 1). It is NOT gifted by God upon conception. So the entire substance of the animal has its origin as an inseparable part of the conception, unlike rational human beings.

Mary received the physical part her human nature entirely from her parents. The rational spiritual soul was breathed in at conception by God — not as a result of the fertilization of St. Anne’s egg by St. Joachim’s sperm. The Holy Spirit did not change her nature in any way. An Immaculate Conception was not needed to change her nature, she was already a rational human being. Using Mary’s Immaculate Conception as an example, the Holy Spirit bonded in Love with that normal rational human nature (https://saintmaximiliankolbe.com/who-are-you-o-immaculate-conception/); a bonding not possible with an animal, for reasons stated in #3 above. Consequently, what occurred with Mary could not have occurred with an animal Adam & Eve, even though that is what would be absolutely necessary for the theories at hand to work.

5). To accomplish what Kemp and Austriaco are proposing, the animal nature of animal Adam & Eve would have had to been annihilated — reduced to nothingness — uncreated. After all, it would be impossible for Adam & Eve to each have two completely separate natures simultaneously. Remember, God created by fiat. All creation took substantial form immediately when the Father said, Let it be. Thus, there can be no such thing as two separate natures existing simultaneously in the eternal now. It is a contradiction. Unfortunately, for those particular hypotheses, annihilation creates a whole new level of very serious theological problems.

St. Thomas Aquinas tells us, “Grace does not destroy [annihilate] nature but perfects it.”

According to Connie Rossini, “St. Albert the Great says that ‘grace builds on nature,’ they mean that grace presupposes a rational animal as the recipient.” Therefore, if through grace (and it would absolutely require the communication of grace to accomplish it), turning animal Adam into rational Adam would, in fact, destroy/annihilate the animal nature. Using Grace to elevate a rational man to the nature of an angel would, in fact, destroy/annihilate rational man’s human nature.[6]

5a). The sensitive (animal) soul is non-subsistent (Aquinas, Summa, I, q. 118, a. 1). Therefore it is likely that the annihilation of it would have also resulted in the annihilation of the genetic material as well. It is not the same as a rational human, where the body dies but the intellectual soul (which is not subsistent) lives forever. Even if the genetic material of animal Adam were not annihilated, it would simply be a collection of dead cells with no substantial form. So, now we are absent both an irrational soul and an irrational body, within which to breathe a rational soul.  Hmm! I see a problem here. Don’t forget, the image of God lies in the whole man — body and spiritual soul.

5b). As I said earlier, there is no mention in Scripture, or in any Magisterial writing, that demonstrates the annihilation of one nature, after which it is replaced by a different higher or lower nature. In fact, there is Magisterial evidence contradicting it.

Scripture tells as that God turns dust into gnats (Ex. 8:16-17). Wouldn't that be an annihilation of geological dust? No it would not. The dust is not annihilated. It is prime matter that became incorporated into the DNA of the gnat. Remember, DNA is the dust of the earth from which all organic matter is formed.

5c). Scripture and the Summa tell us that God does not annihilate anything. From the Summa we read, "Now the nature of creatures shows that none of them is annihilated … Moreover, the annihilation of things does not pertain to the manifestation of grace; since rather the power and goodness [emphasis SML] of God are manifested by the preservation of things in existence [therefore annihilation of a nature would be contrary to God’s perfect goodness--SML]. Wherefore we must conclude by denying absolutely that anything at all will be annihilated … That things are brought into existence from a state of non-existence, clearly shows the power of Him Who made them; but that they should be reduced to nothing would hinder that manifestation, since the power of God is conspicuously shown in His preserving all things in existence, according to the Apostle: ‘Upholding all things by the word of His power’ (Hebrews 1:3) … and ‘I have learned that all the works that God hath made continue forever [Ecclesiastes 3:14]. [Summa, I, q. 104, a. 4].’”

To put it another way, all of creation is the expression of the goodness and the perfections of God. God says in Genesis that all of his creation is good. In God, good means absolutely perfect — cannot be made more or less perfect. To annihilate one of his creatures (which a good God created as perfectly good) in order to replace it with something better is to imply that God needed an eraser; that his “original” creation was not good enough, so it needed to be re-made better. We would be forced to say that the power of evil is more powerful than that of a Good God. That would be an additional heresy.

6). Here is a further problem with the Kemp and Austriaco hypotheses. St. Hildegard of Bingen wrote, “When God said, ‘Let it be done!’ things were enclosed at once within their forms, just as the divine providence had seen them in an incorporeal way before time was [Hildegard of Bingen’s Book of Divine Works].” It seems contradictory that, in the eternal now, there would be two different and contradictory expressions /forms of the same subject (Adam). As is written in the Catholic Encyclopedia (“Eternity”), “In them [creation] there is before and after, but not in Him, Who is equally present [in the eternal now] to them all, no matter how or when they may have come into being, or how they may succeed one another in time or in space.”

Adam & Eve: an Immaculate Conception?

1). There are only two possibilities for Adam and Eve. Either an immaculate conception occurred (which is impossible and would violate the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary which states that she is the only Immaculate Conception), or they would have to have been made from some other genetic matter

— but not through conception. If the former were even possible, it would still had to have occurred through an annihilation, which would mean that a continuing succession of annihilations would be needed, because the only beings involved in the conceiving of animals are animals. Consequently, we would be faced with a never-ending circle of conception followed by annihilation.

2). The other possibility involves two sub-options. First, creation from literal geological dust. Second, formation through the use of pre-existing genetic material, such as a donor stem cell; such as I have suggested from the very beginning in my two-part blog on mitochondrial Eve and Genesis.

Adam & Eve Created as Literally Described in Genesis?

Time for a Dogmatic Definition

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