Humani generis
is a
papal encyclical
that
Pope Pius XII
promulgated
on 12 August 1950 "concerning some false opinions threatening to undermine the foundations of Catholic Doctrine". It primarily discussed, the encyclical says, "new opinions" which may "originate from a reprehensible desire of novelty" and their consequences on the Church.
Influences
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There was speculation that Dutch
Jesuit
Sebastiaan Tromp
, professor of theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, had assisted in drafting the encyclical.
[1]
Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange
(1877?1964), professor of the
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas
, is said to have been a major influence on the content of the encyclical.
[2]
Content
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Role of theology
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Humani generis
states: "This
deposit of faith
our Divine Redeemer
has given for authentic interpretation not to each of the faithful, not even to
theologians
, but only to the teaching authority of the Church."
[3]
In
Humani generis
, Pope Pius held a corporate view of theology. Theologians, employed by the Church, are assistants, to teach the official teachings of the Church and not their own private thoughts. They are free to engage in all kinds of empirical research, which the Church will generously support, but in matters of
morality
and
religion
, they are subjected to the teaching office and authority of the Church, the
Magisterium
.
The most noble office of theology is to show how a doctrine defined by the Church is contained in the sources of
revelation
[…] in that sense in which it has been defined by the Church.
[4]
Humani generis
is critical of some trends in modern theology, but does not mention or attack individual opinions or even groups of dissenting theologians.
The Pope later refers to a new
axiom
: "a new
intellectual current
, a new public mood within the Church, and, new behaviour patterns" of its members. He asked his fellow
bishops
, to heal this "intellectual infection", which should not be allowed to grow.
[5]
[
verification needed
]
In areas of both "human sciences and sacred theology", the encyclical authorized "research and discussions" where "reasons for both opinions, that is, those favorable and those unfavorable to evolution" were to "be weighed and judged."
[6]
Obstacles to finding God
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Humani generis
begins with a recognition of several obstacles to seek and find
God
by the light of
reason
alone:
Though human reason is, strictly speaking, truly capable by its own natural power and light of attaining to a true and certain knowledge of the one personal God, who watches over and controls the world by his providence, and of the natural law written in our hearts by the Creator; yet there are many obstacles which prevent reason from the effective and fruitful use of this inborn faculty. For the truths that concern the relations between God and man wholly transcend the visible order of things, and, if they are translated into human action and influence it, they call for self-surrender and abnegation. The human
mind
, in its turn, is hampered in the attaining of such truths, not only by the impact of the senses and the imagination, but also by disordered appetites which are the consequences of
original sin
. So it happens that men in such matters easily persuade themselves that what they would not like to be true is false or at least doubtful.
[7]
This is why man stands in need of being truthfully enlightened by God's revelation.
Four issues
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Having thus established a main principle, the encyclical continues with a review of the philosophical currents of modern culture and their potential and dangers in light of
divine revelation
of faith in the distinct levels. It reviews recent theological, philosophical and scientific developments.
Nouvelle theologie
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In describing erroneous development in the Catholic Church after World War II, the encyclical does not mention names, nor does it accuse specific persons or organizations. The encyclical states the
Nouvelle theologie
and its followers viewed Catholic teaching as
relative
, that it departed from traditional
neo-Thomism
using relativistic
historical analysis
and engaging philosophical axioms, such as
existentialism
, or
positivism
. The encyclical further states that the
Nouvelle theologie
scholars expressed Catholic
dogma
with concepts of modern philosophy,
immanentism
or
idealism
or existentialism or any other system, and that some believed that the mysteries of faith could be expressed by truly adequate concepts but only by approximate and ever-changeable notions.
[8]
The encyclical also stated:
Everyone is aware that the terminology employed in the schools and even that used by the Teaching Authority of the Church itself is capable of being perfected and polished; and we know also that the Church itself has not always used the same terms in the same way. It is also manifest that the Church cannot be bound to every system of philosophy that has existed for a short space of time. Nevertheless, the things that have been composed through common effort by Catholic teachers over the course of the centuries to bring about some understanding of dogma are certainly not based on any such weak foundation. These things are based on principles and notions deduced from a true knowledge of created things. In the process of deducing, this knowledge, like a star, gave enlightenment to the human mind through the Church. Hence it is not astonishing that some of these notions have not only been used by the
Ecumenical Councils
, but even sanctioned by them, so that it is wrong to depart from them.
[8]
Pius pleads with the "rebels" not to tear down but to build up. He demands not to neglect, or to reject, or devalue so many and such great resources which have been conceived, expressed and perfected over the centuries. A new philosophy like existentialism, "today, like a flower of the field in existence, tomorrow outdated and old-fashioned, shaken by the winds of time",
[8]
he says, is a poor and unstable basis for the theology of the Church.
Evolution
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The encyclical took up a nuanced position with regard to evolution. It distinguished between the soul, held as created divinely, and the physical body, whose development may be subject to empirical and prudent study:
The Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter ? for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.
[9]
The encyclical does not endorse a comprehensive acceptance of
evolution
, nor its outright rejection, because it deemed the evidence at the time not convincing. It allows for the possibility in the future:
This certainly would be praiseworthy in the case of clearly proved facts; but caution must be used when there is rather question of hypotheses, having some sort of scientific foundation, in which the
doctrine
contained in
Sacred Scripture
or in Tradition is involved.
[10]
The position delinking the creation of
body
and
soul
has been more recently confirmed by
Pope John Paul II
, who highlighted additional facts supporting the theory of evolution half a century later.
Polygenism
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While the factual basis for creationism should be researched further, the encyclical issues a clear no to another scientific opinion popular at the time,
polygenism
, the scientific hypothesis that mankind descended from different groups of original humans (that there were many groups of Adams and Eves).
When, however, there is question of another conjectural opinion, namely polygenism, the children of the Church by no means enjoy such liberty. For the faithful cannot embrace that opinion which maintains that either after Adam there existed on this earth true men who did not take their origin through natural generation from him as from the first parent of all, or that Adam represents a certain number of first parents. Now it is no way apparent how such an opinion can be reconciled with that which the sources of revealed truth and the documents of the Teaching Authority of the Church propose with regard to original sin, which proceeds from a sin actually committed by an individual Adam and which through generation is passed on to all and is in everyone as his own.
[11]
Old Testament critiques
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A final critique is issued against negative interpretations which downgrade the
Old Testament
to historical half-truths, or which impute error to the alleged ancient sacred writers.
If, however, the ancient sacred writers have taken anything from popular narrations (and this may be conceded), it must never be forgotten that they did so with the help of divine inspiration, through which they were rendered immune from any error in selecting and evaluating those documents.
[12]
Therefore, whatever of the popular narrations have been inserted into the Sacred Scriptures must in no way be considered on a par with myths or other such things, which are more the product of an extravagant imagination than of that striving for truth and simplicity which in the Sacred Books, also of the Old Testament, is so apparent that our ancient sacred writers must be admitted to be clearly superior to the ancient profane writers.
[13]
Humani generis
encourages further research, taking into account and respecting the holiness of the
Old Testament
scriptures to
Jews
and
Christians
alike.
Conclusion
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Pope Pius XII, who usually employs diplomatic and carefully measured language in his writings, is convinced of the serious nature of those opinions threatening to (to quote the encyclical's subtitle) "undermine the foundation of Catholic doctrine", a most unusual tone for this pontiff.
Philosophy
and
theology
are the main topics of this encyclical. But it extends further into the realm of
culture
and
science
.
Legacy
[
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Fr.
Brian Van Hove
, SJ states that
Humani generis
caused "a freezing of
systematic theology
into a
Thomist
orthodoxy
", remarking that the "freeze" was later ameliorated by
Pope John Paul II
's 1993
Veritatis splendor
.
[1]
For example, Fr.
Henri de Lubac
(later Cardinal de Lubac) wrote about his plan for a comprehensive theological project integrating "patristics, liturgy, history, philosophical reflection [...] The lightning bolt of Humani generis killed the project."
[14]
See also
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Notes
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- ^
a
b
"Looking Back at "Humani Generis"
"
.
Homiletic & Pastoral Review
. 2013-12-24
. Retrieved
2020-08-19
.
- ^
Michael Kerlin, "Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange: Defending the Faith from
Pascendi dominici gregis
to
Humani generis
",
US Catholic Historian
, vol. 25, no. 1, winter 2007, 111: "No one has ever found a 'smoking gun' proving that Garrigou-Lagrange shared in ghost-writing
Humani generis
or has ever fixed his exact contribution. But, as noted above, it is plain that he had a major role in its gestation."
- ^
Pius XII, Encyclical
Humani generis: some false opinions threatening to undermine the foundation of Catholic doctrine
", Vatican City, 1950, 21.
- ^
Pius XII, Enc.
Humani generis
, 21.
- ^
Pius XII, The Magisterium of the Bishops, May 31, 1954.
- ^
Pius XII, Enc.
Humani generis
, 36.
- ^
Pius XII, Enc.
Humani generis
, 2.
- ^
a
b
c
Pius XII, Enc.
Humani generis
, 15.
- ^
"Humani Generis (1950)"
,
Faith and Science
, The Vatican Observatory Foundation.
- ^
Pius XII, Enc.
Humani generis
, 35.
- ^
Pius XII, Enc.
Humani generis
, 37.
- ^
Pius XII, Enc.
Humani generis
, 38.
- ^
Pius XII, Enc.
Humani generis
, 39.
- ^
Quoted in von Balthasar, Hans Urs,
The Theology of Henri de Lubac
, pp. 10-11.
External links
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