Evolution: Soul is the big difference

by Letters Editor · October 25, 2012

From Andre Du Chenne, Johannesburg

I have been following the on-going letters on evolution by Tony Sturges and Franko Sokolic with some interest, as I have recently acquired a 4-disc DVD set by Fr Robert J Spitzer SJ titled The Heavens Proclaim the Glory of God, which I first viewed on EWTN.

"The soul...is not derived from an evolutionary process, which is a physical and natural process subject to the laws of biology, physics and sensitive psychology."

Towards the end of the series Fr Spitzer deals with evolution and the existence of a soul in humans.

Life forms cannot emerge from non-life physical constituents because biological systems, for instance those that give rise to metabolism and reproduction, are not completely explicable according to the laws of physics, Fr Spitzer says. Evolution within a species is believable. Where good rational intellection of evolution stops is when you are talking about evolution from non-humans to human beings.

Here he cites the main difference between humans and non-humans as beings as the presence of a soul, which is immaterial and can exist independently of our embodiment. It is not controlled by the conditions of physics. It is unified with the human body and interacts with it. It is not derived from an evolutionary process, which is a physical and natural process subject to the laws of biology, physics and sensitive psychology. The soul will survive bodily death and is capable of transcending physical acts.

We are made in God�s image and we have something of God in us�God�s essence, God�s spirit. Sufficient to be creative, sufficient to survive bodily near-death experience, sufficient for the pursuit of truth, love, goodness, beauty and home.