The Theology of Creation of Man and Paleoanthropology

The author asks himself, how to reconcile the ontological jump, i.e. infusion of the soul into the body prepared by the evolution, with the non-dualistic message of the Scriptures and the corresponding teaching of the Magisterium. The author sees another dilema between the Christian anthropology on one side and the discoveries of paleoanthropology on the other side. This leads to the concern about the criteria for the acknowledgement of the individuals at a certain stage in the evolution of man as human beings. It seems likely that the process of hominisation was gradual and that God created man through evolution both in the corporal as well as in the spiritual area. However, the theologian is aware also of other related burning questions: What about the salvation of hominids and those forms of humankind, which were not fully developed? How will their resurrection probably look like? At the end the author comes to the conclusioni that we are facing here the mystery of protology, which won't be brought to light until the moment of the full knowledge of eschatology, because only the ultimate goal reveals the meaning of the whole process.

Keywords: Creation; Paleoanthropology; Soteriology; Evolution; Resurrection; Eschatology