THE DEBATE GOES ON
By Dom PETER DAMIEN
THE BIBLE AND THE ORIGIN OF MAN, by J. de Frames, S.J. (Desclee Cornpany, $2.50).
rir H E Encyclical Humani
Generis seemed to many people to put an end, in a someprocrustean fashion, to any debate within the Church about the claims of theology and science regarding the origin of man.
This essay shows that there is still a wide area in which debate is still possible, a wide field for "the investigations, which the progress of doctrine demands" (in the words of Pius XII). The book is a lesson in close theological argument.
Fr. de Fraines shows in a convincing manner that conflict between scientific hypotheses and the Bible is for the most part more apparent than real because the two use a different language. The toughest problem is the question of monogenesis versus polygenesis, whether mankind is descended from one original pair or from a whole race evolving simultaneously. This issue is complicated by the question of Original Sin. Without committing himself to any temerarious statements, the author tries to keep the door ajar for any new developments in either the theological or