"If, in the question of man's creation, the obvious meaning of the Bible is abandoned, a meaning which has been received and confirmed by constant Catholic Tradition, what attempt can be made to defend the account of the earthly Paradise, of the fall of Adam and its consequences? If it be admitted that the body of an animal became fit in the course of centuries to be informed by the human soul, will the unity of the human race remain sufficiently established against polygenism? And if this unity collapses, what will be the fate of the doctrine of original justice and original sin which constitutes the foundation of our sacred religion?" 3
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