Creation, Early Man, and Evolution | According to Modern Holy Fathers

Hear over a dozen modern Orthodox Holy Fathers teach about the beginnings of God’s creation and the theory of evolution. This collection of teachings is specifically from Orthodox Holy Fathers of the 19th and 20th centuries. By no means is this meant to deemphasize the earlier Holy Fathers in any way; it is simply meant to highlight Fathers of our times who were familiar with the “enlightenment” of modern man, bound up with atheism and evolutionary theory. While their focus was on a true and authentic understanding of the origins of man and creation, and this apart from and beyond humanist theories like evolution, they nonetheless offered an Orthodox appraisal of evolution and other modern theories in order to guard the Faithful against soul-destroying heresy.

I encourage you to read the early Fathers and gain their understanding of Genesis and creation, which stands firmly on its own and which was not ignorant of the truth about creation. Just as Moses was a prophet not only of the future, but of the past, the early Patristic writers were also inspired by the same Spirit to perceive reality as Moses did.

Lastly, this recording is not meant to stir up further debates between “creation vs evolution” and “science vs religion.” These binary discussions are often fruitless and miss the point. What this recording aims to show is that not only do Orthodox Saints regard the theory of evolution as false and incompatible with Orthodoxy, as well as notions of theistic evolution (since “by man came death” -1 Cor 15, verse 21), but that their vision of Creation is not a reaction to the theory of evolution, rather it is enlightened by the Holy Spirit and retains fundamental presuppositions that allow for a truly God-inspired understanding.

Wrestle with these words. They are spoken by men illumined by God, and can help lead a humble man to the Kingdom of Heaven.

00:00 - Introduction
00:38 - Fr. Seraphim Rose, Hieromonk of Platina, California (+1982) – Basic presuppositions for knowledge of creation and early man.
04:33 - St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, Bishop of the Caucasus and Stavropol (+1867) – The state of creation before the Fall of Adam.
06:55 - St. Hilarion (Troitsky), Hieromartyr and Archbishop of Verey (+1929) – The Church’s view leads to humility, the secular view leads to pride.
10:38 - St. Nikolai (Velimirovic), Bishop of Zica (+1956) – “Death is Unnatural”
13:32 - St. Justin (Popovic) of Celije (+1979) – How man and the rest of creation are inseparable. When man fell, all of creation fell.
15:22 - St. Ambrose of Optina (+1891) – “Don’t believe at face value all kinds of nonsense…”
15:46 - St. John of Kronstadt (+1908) – True knowledge and the over-educated.
16:49 - St. Vladimir, Hieromartyr and Metropolitan of Kiev and Gallich (+1918) – Do not listen to teachings of unbelief for they “promise you nothing but despair and an inconsolable life.”
18:44 - St. Theophan the Recluse, Bishop of Tambov (+1894) – Evolution is anathema, along with other secular Western philosophies, and only a pure nous can accurately contemplate divine reality.
29:19 - St. Barsanuphius of Optina (+1913) – The moral ramifications of evolutionist philosophy.
30:05 - St. Nectarios, Metropolitan of Pentapolis and Wonderworker of Aegina (+1920) – “Without the acceptance of revealed truth, man will remain an insoluble problem.”
31:42 - Fr. Seraphim Rose (+1982) – Knowledge of creation and early man can only be obtained by divine illumination. (Note: This essentially repeats his teaching from the beginning, but it is kept here since it is so key to our understanding.)
34:26 - St. Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopol (+1961) – Evolutionary theory is not only contradictory to the Scripture, but to nature itself.
35:54 - St. Sophrony (Sakharov) the Athonite (+1993) – The absurdity of evolutionary theory.
36:57 - St. Paisios of Mount Athos (+1994) – Monkeys are far from humans; evolutionary theory is blasphemy.
41:31 - St. Justin (Popovic) of Celije (+1979) – His letter to a theology student asking about evolution in which he focuses on the impact of evolution on the Orthodoxy doctrine of salvation.
46:35 - Fr. Seraphim Rose (+1982) – Brief overview of the keys to the Patristic understanding.
52:44 - Hymns from Vigil of the Sunday of Forgiveness, The Casting Out of Adam from Paradise
54:33 - Hymn from the Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross

The majority of these texts can be found in “Genesis, Creation, and Early Man” by Fr. Seraphim Rose, published by St. Herman’s Press.

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