Two Questions on Creation

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 04-12-18 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[Faith Presses On]

It’s certainly true that the Garden of Eden was only a place on earth, though also a uniquely special one, and one that the Bible says was made inaccessible to man after Adam and Eve sinned and God expelled them from it. But it really isn’t true to say that death was a part of Eden because Adam and Eve ate fruit in the Garden. The fruit might be said to be “alive” in some molecular way while it’s attached to a tree, but the real life is the tree, and we can be sure that the trees in the Garden didn’t die. And if the trees there didn’t die, and Adam and Eve weren’t subject to death until they ate the fruit that God had forbidden them to eat, we can’t even be sure about the nature of the fruit in Eden and how much eating it would be like eating fruit in this world outside Eden.

[af_vet_1981]

Amen

[Varda]

The Monsignor is always interesting but sometimes has incorrect information.

” Microevolution refers to developmental changes within a species or small category of organisms that occur over a relatively short period of time.
- Well no. Any evolution is about a change in gene frequencies. I'm guessing he means a change in gene frequencies within an interbreeding population but the time frame doesn't matter.

“Macroevolution refers to major changes that occur over very long periods of time. For instance, the introduction of entirely new species, genera, families, or orders that are entirely independent of what currently exists. In our times we have not seen this”
- This cannot be about species. Long periods of time are not necessary for speciation and there have been many observed speciation events (This is also routinely done artificially.) A change in taxonomic categories above the species level would fit this word. That would require a lot of time.

I'm not seeing why this matters to Genesis. Creation is finished and part of creation is time itself. We are within time and see the unfolding of creation (Augustine - “Rationes Seminales”)