Thomistic Hylomorphism and Theistic Evolution

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12775/SetF.2023.025

Keywords

Mariusz Tabaczek, Catholicism and science, eduction, anthropogenesis, substantial form

Abstract

Working within the framework of Thomistic metaphysics, Mariusz Tabaczek O. P. has developed a version of Catholic theistic evolution that includes speciation, human origins, and the origin of life. He assigns biological evolution to the domain of divine governance rather than that of creatio ex nihilo which only applies to primitive matter and human souls. This article reviews Tabaczek’s work with an emphasis on his argument for the compatibility of hylomorphism and evolutionary change through the eduction of novel substantial forms.

Author Biography

James R Hofmann, California State University Fullerton

Professor Emeritus of Liberal Studies

References

Artigas, Mariano, Thomas Glick, and Rafael Martínez. 2006. Negotiating Darwin: The Vatican Confronts Evolution 1877–1902. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Austriaco, Nicanor. 2016. “How did God Create Homo Sapiens through Evolution?” In Thomistic Evolution: A Catholic Approach to Understanding Evolution in the Light of Faith, edited by Nicanor Austriaco, James Brent, Thomas Davenport, and John Baptist Ku, 201–206. Tacoma: Cluny Media.

Austriaco, Nicanor, James Brent, Thomas Davenport, and John Baptist Ku, eds. 2016. Thomistic Evolution: A Catholic Approach to Understanding Evolution in the Light of Faith. Tacoma: Cluny Media.

Carl, Brian T. 2020. “Thomas Aquinas on the Proportionate Causes of Living Species.” Scientia et Fides 8 (2): 223–248. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12775/SetF.2020.020.

Chaberek, Michael. 2021a. “The Metaphysical Problem for Theistic Evolution Accidental Change Does Not Generate Substantial Change.” Forum Philosophicum 26 (1): 35–49.

Chaberek, Michael. 2021b. Knowledge and Evolution How Theology, Philosophy, and Science Converge in the Question of Origins. Eugene, Oregon: Resource Publications.

Dodds, Michael. 2012. Unlocking Divine Action: Contemporary Science and Thomas Aquinas. Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press.

Dorlodot, Henry de. 1922. Darwinism and Catholic Thought. Translated by Ernst Messenger. London: Burns, Oates, and Washbourne.

Hofmann, James. 2020. “Some Thomistic Encounters with Evolution.” Theology and Science 18 (2): 325–346.

Hofmann, James. 2021. “Catholicism and Evolution: Polygenism and Original Sin (Part II).” Scientia et Fides 9 (1): 63–129. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12775/SetF.2021.003.

Hofmann, James. 2023. “The Evolving Taxonomy of Progressive Creation.” Scientia et Fides 11 (1): 199-214. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12775/SetF.2023.002.

Hofmann, James and Bruce Weber. 2003. “The Fact of Evolution: Implications for Science Education.” Science & Education 12: 729–760.

Kemp, Kenneth. 2011. “Science, Theology, and Monogenesis.” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 85 (2): 217–236.

Kemp, Kenneth. 2021. “A Brief History of Catholic Evolutionism.” https://catholicscientists.org/articles/a-brief-history-of-catholic-evolutionism/

Lombardo, Nicholas. 2018. “Evolutionary Genetics and Theological Narratives of Human Origins.” The Heythrop Journal 59: 523–533.

Luyten, Norbert. 1951. “Philosophical Implications of Evolution.” New Scholasticism 25: 290–312.

Moreno, Antonio. 1973. “Some Philosophical Considerations on Biological Evolution.” The Thomist 37 (3): 417–454.

Ramage, Matthew. 2022. From the Dust of the Earth: Benedict XVI, the Bible, and the Theory of Evolution. Washington, D. C.: Catholic University of America Press.

Revol, Fabien. 2020a. “The Concept of Continuous Creation Part I: History and Contemporary Use.” Zygon 55 (1): 229–250.

Revol, Fabien. 2020b. “The Concept of Continuous Creation Part II: History and Contemporary Use.” Zygon 55 (1): 251–274.

Russell, Robert, Nancey Murphy, and William Stoeger, eds. 2008. Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action: Twenty Years of Challenge and Progress. Berkeley: Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences.

Tabaczek, Mariusz. 2019. “What Do God and Creatures Really Do in an Evolutionary Change? Divine Concurrence and Transformism from the Thomistic Perspective.” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 93 (3): 445–482.

Tabaczek, Mariusz. 2022. “Does God Create Through Evolution? A Thomistic Perspective.” Theology and Science 20 (1): 46–68.

Tabaczek, Mariusz. 2023a. “Aristotelian-Thomistic Contribution to the Contemporary Studies on Biological Life and Its Origin.” Religions 14(2): 214. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020214.

Tabaczek, Mariusz. 2023b. “Contemporary Version of the Monogenetic Model of Anthropogenesis—Some Critical Remarks from the Thomistic Perspective.” Religions 14 (4): 528. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040528.

Wasmann, Eric. 1910. Modern Biology and the Theory of Evolution. Translated by Alexander Buchanan. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner.

Scientia et Fides

Downloads

Published

2023-11-09

How to Cite

1.
HOFMANN, James R. Thomistic Hylomorphism and Theistic Evolution. Scientia et Fides. Online. 9 November 2023. Vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 253-267. [Accessed 17 July 2025]. DOI 10.12775/SetF.2023.025.

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2023)

Section

Essay reviews

License

Copyright (c) 2023 James R Hofmann

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

CC BY ND 4.0. The Creator/Contributor is the Licensor, who grants the Licensee a non-exclusive license to use the Work on the fields indicated in the License Agreement.

  • The Licensor grants the Licensee a non-exclusive license to use the Work/related rights item specified in § 1 within the following fields: a) recording of Work/related rights item; b) reproduction (multiplication) of Work/related rights item in print and digital technology (e-book, audiobook); c) placing the copies of the multiplied Work/related rights item on the market; d) entering the Work/related rights item to computer memory; e) distribution of the work in electronic version in the open access form on the basis of Creative Commons license (CC BY-ND 3.0) via the digital platform of the Nicolaus Copernicus University Press and file repository of the Nicolaus Copernicus University.
  • Usage of the recorded Work by the Licensee within the above fields is not restricted by time, numbers or territory.
  • The Licensor grants the license for the Work/related rights item to the Licensee free of charge and for an unspecified period of time.

FULL TEXT License Agreement

Stats

Number of views and downloads: 1230
Number of citations: 0