From Alan G. Yost, SJ. (Letters to the Editor).

I appreciate your attempt to address what you may see as concerns in Catholic orthodoxy. Dr. Shea's article of April 2002 was brave. But unfortunately it showed little understanding of evolutionary theology. This especially surprised me, coming from a man of science. Let's begin with the significant error in the easily verifiable identity of Sr. Joan Acker. He clearly resorted to a web search to identify her, and chose the wrong hit. She is actually a retired professor from John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH, and not especially feminist. (I know her personally.)

On to the subject of evolutionary theology. Early on, Dr. Shea rightly comments that "the primordial cause, meaning, and purpose of the universe cannot be known by scientists." Yet, evolutionary scientists, for the most part, do not purport to have access to such knowledge. Immediately after that, he writes, "Their discussion properly belongs in the domains of philosophy and theology." Well, that's what evolutionary theology is for. And that is what it is trying to do. Evolutionary theology does not take away from any of the dogmatic tenets of Catholicism. For example, Christ's redemption of man has NOT "lost its true meaning." It is simply not the sole reason for Christ's incarnation. If it were, we would be forced to explain the problem of divine afterthought. It would imply that God had to change His plans when Adam and Eve sinned. No, God's plan, from the very beginning, was to send His Son to demonstrate the kind of self-outpouring of love that is unconditional, as well as an affirmation of the blessedn ess of Creation. And why shouldn't it be blessed, when created by an all-good God?

While I have never read any of Domning, I can say that evolutionary theology is neither pantheistic nor pelagian. I can certainly assure your readers that they will find no traces whatsoever of pantheism in either Teilhard or Lonergan. If anything, evolutionary theology is panentheistic, meaning that God is everywhere in the world, and transcends the world, since the world is finite, but God is infinite. Do you see anything there that mitigates orthodox Catholic doctrine? Seems like standard catechism stuff to me.

Evolutionary theology's ongoing goal is to bring theology in line with the divine truths we receive from God's other Book of Revelation -- Creation. Not to do so is to ignore the gift and power of the human intellect and imagination. And ultimately, isn't the goal to know God better? Let us not get trapped into committing the idolatry of raising our doctrines to the level of the divine. If and when we outgrow them, let's move on, let's evolve into truths that are a little closer to the reality of God and God's love for us.

Chicago, IL