The names "Adam" and "Eve" mean "The Man" and "The Mother (of the living)". The story of Adam and Eve tells us many things that are true about ourselves. It tells us that the first man and woman were made to the image and likeness of God, that God breathed into them a spiritual soul - and that they sinned through pride and disobeyed God. The story is clear that this was a disaster. One thing we can see without any doubt in our world is that human sin was and still is a disaster.

The book of Genesis is not just a myth or fairy story. It is the most noble of all the ancient accounts of creation and even today, we can find deeper and deeper layers of meaning in it.

Most people today accept that the universe has developed over time and that on earth, life has evolved from simple beginnings. As Catholics, we need not hide from these discoveries - they show us in greater detail how wonderful God's creation is.

As far as the human person is concerned, we are free to accept that we "evolved from the apes" provided that we also accept that at this "pinnacle" of evolution, God created the spiritual soul in the first man and the first mother (why not call them "Adam" and "Eve") - and that every human person who is conceived is a unity of body and soul.