Hierarchy, Exorcism, and Telegram

One of the most memorable presentations at the symposium was a lecture by Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner in which he argued that a fundamental difference between the traditional doctrine of creation and theistic evolution was that according to the traditional apostolic teaching, God created a hierarchical universe, whereas in the theistic evolutionist system, the hierarchical element is deeply distorted if not totally destroyed. I will always be grateful to Fr. Fehlner for illuminating the importance of this element of the traditional doctrine of creation, because, on reflection, it is not difficult to see that atheistic and theistic evolution represent an assault on the hierarchical nature of God’s Creation at every level.