ABSTRACT

Indeed, the magisterium, by its very acceptance of the possible evolutionary origin of “Adam,” has already opened the door to polygenism, at least in the case of one couple. As Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner1 pointed out, we have to accept that “Eve” came about in the same way as “Adam”; if one of these first parents evolved, it is untenable to deny that both did. It is then difficult to see how the mutually independent evolution of two human beings from lower forms could have been limited to these two only.