This problematic piece on Aleteia website is why I posted the important and well-written article by Mark Joseph Zia on Monday. The inerrancy of scripture cannot be limited to only what concerns man’s salvation. The inspired history, Genesis included, must be defended. If not, we get aberrant speculations as the otherwise trustworthy Philip Kosloski gives us in the following quote:
“But it must also be taken into account that more recent Church documents have not commented on the issue have left the door open to other possibilities based on recent developments in science. Since the book of Genesis is understood to be symbolic in nature and not scientific, there is a variety of beliefs that can be accepted that do not contradict the spiritual meaning of the text.” This, he writes, right after quoting Pius XII’s Humani Generis to the contrary. No, Mr. Kosloski, the issue is not “open.”
Aleteia, Philip Kosloski: After Cain murders his brother Abel, “Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden” (Genesis 4:16). Immediately after this verse the author of Genesis states, “Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch” (Genesis 4:17). Read in full here.
