Did any Church Fathers specifically reject Common Descent?
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Another user made the comment:
> What is undisputed is that the Fathers left no room for evolution.
I'm aware that the Church Fathers for the most part believed that Earth was Created some time between about 3,000 BC and 10,000 BC (and certainly *not* billions of years ago). I'm also aware that "evolution" is a poorly defined term, but for this purpose, I think it's safe to use the sense of humans being descended from non-humans, i.e. Common Descent.
It may need to be pointed out that "evolutionary" ideas are not new. Lucretius (b. 98 BC) wrote "the earth deserves the name of mother which she possesses, since from the earth all things have been produced" and "of herself she created the human race" (*On the Nature of Things*). Galen wrote that "certain things are impossible by nature [...] God does not even attempt such things at all but [we say] that he chooses the best out of the possibility of becoming" (*On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body*), which strongly suggests an early expression of directed evolution.
**Which Church Fathers and/or Apostles, if any, specifically wrote against the idea that humans somehow arose from non-human animals?** Note that I am not interested in *implicit* denials arising from assertions that Earth is only some thousands of years old (which are trivial to find). I am looking for instances where Common Descent (or an equivalent concept) is *specifically* denied.
Asked by Matthew
(12382 rep)
Feb 7, 2023, 09:41 PM
Last activity: Feb 8, 2023, 02:47 AM
Last activity: Feb 8, 2023, 02:47 AM