Evolution

Gardeil on Evolution (very end of multi-article series)

But (on that last day) there will begin, under the direct influence of the glorious and glorifying Christ, the ultimate psychological evolution that will know no end.  Grace will be transformed into the light of glory, and in this light, man will see God as he is, sicuti est (1 John 3:2).  Its activity will pour forth over the body itself, which once upon a time came forth from the lowliest world of matter: “He will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).  And under the breath of the Spirit, man will undergo his ultimate transformation: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

 

Here, human evolution will come to an end.  But the believer glimpses further on, in the very heart of the Trinity, a mysterious activity of which our supernatural evolution would seem to be a distant imitation, our psychological evolution a dim image, and material evolution a faint vestige.

-Ambroise Gardeil, “L’Évolutionisme et les principes de saint Thomas (III: Conciliation),” Revue Thomiste 4, Old Series (1896): 216–247 (here 247)