The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1874-09-04
mot QUITE A oARwINlANn
CRfTICISES Mr.. THAYER.
ff'or THE BrLLETIN.l

WVete "sVV B''~-@
erent conclusions. His subject
was taken from Gen. 2 and 8: "And tho
Lord God planted a garden eastward in
Eden; and there be pu. the man whom
be had Iasde." Before taking up the |
real subject he msdea very pointed but
un wise attack upon the DArwinian theory. |
He thought IL much better to believe that
man was crested with all his present At.
tributes, and In the Likeness OF God, than
that be should have developed from the
lowest forms Of animal life.
Although 1 am not quite DMrinisn
myself, yet cannot allow such staten ents
to pass unno,iced when it 10 In my power
to correct them.
l admit that u 10 much plessAntsr to
believe A. he does, and that mon, chris
tisns especially, in macy cases, rather be.
lievs fiction than fact But this 10 not .
question Of mere likes or dislikos--it is one
| of stern fact and should be considered ss
such If ii can be proven, by the workings
of nature, that man arrived at his present
stage through = series Of transform tions,
why should we not believe it, IL IL not
better to believe that which 10 sustained
by the imnutable laws of nature, than to
blindly believe y stale and suparstitious
theory entirely unfoundsd in facts OF to-
day? .....
The reverend gentleman then took up
the real subject and after some prslimi-
nsries, proceeded 10 erplsin how our frs,
parents sinned.
He stated that nobody would deny God
the right to test the obsdiAnce Of the chill
dren whom be had made that man Wal
placed IN the garden Of Eden with the lib
erty to choose either good or evil thai
there would have been no use for that lib
erty, unless there had been something I,
choose from, that the Law Of God VA
there that man violated that law, ant
must therefore abide with the conss
quences, When we consider the circum.
stances under which that test was made
We Ind that the question WAS not "Hst
God = RICH. to apply that test ?" But
s'oas IL necessary. God certainly had u,
more right to apply test that he knew
would prove injurious to man, than VI
have to punish child without cause
1t 10 supposed Gsd WAS slwiso. II thi
is so, he knew how far man would obsy
without applying II test.
He also knew what the nssqusnces o.
that unnecessary test would be; it mus
therefore have been his desire that thos'
consequences should come to pass, and !
it WAS GOd's desire that they should COM
70 pass, what fault Of poor, helpless mai
nn th-s b. has fallen into sim
But says Mr.. Thsyer, man was sndo wet
with the liberty Of choice, he could just .,
easily have chosen good ~ evil. True
but did not God know that man wsult
choose the wrong, long before he applist
that ts't2 Besides the bible REPRESENT
man As not knowing good from evil until
he had eaten of the tree OF the kno wledgs
Of good and evil, and that God allowed
them to be tempted to do wrong
by the devil. II this 10 q
Adam and Eve could not have known
that IL was wrong 10 disobsy Gods CON-
msndment. In view of these things ]
ask, how could just God bring such
fearful punishment upon all mankind q
haves child, full OF plsyfulnsss, with
innocence stamped upon its pure, white
brow,-n yet unable to distinguish right
from wrong placing it at = table well
filled with eatsbles / warn il not 10 eat oil
the cake in the center Of the table, lest |,
be punished. / do this merely for the Gu.
riosity Of testing Its obsdiance, at the same
time knowing that the child will eat Of II.
But not being content. even with allow.
ing 1t it, free course In choosing, l permit
= tsmptor to tell it that wha. have said
hal lie. That instead Of being punished,
its eyes will be opened and see man y
beautiful things. The child, forgetting
for the time its fathers command, and in
Its childish simplicity trusting the tsmpter
4" children trust almost any body, hseds
his request, takes piece Of the cake ana
eats II, without even dreaming Of doing
wrong. Now rs-sntsr the room, and
Learning what has traaspired, could 1, the
father with one spark of mercy in my
angry breast, curse that ihoughtisss ehiidp
-banish II from my house forever p
even 1t had not deliberately planned
its destruction Mo- But il did curse
1t, could ask it 10 kneol down and
call mo good l leave those questions
Tor the reader to answer.
From what have said, draw tho fol-
lowing conclusions
First; That IL 10 always better 10 be-
iieve fact than fiction even il it 10 . little
di'sgresabls sometimes.
Secondly; That God either deliberately
designed mans fall, or was not ADVISE.
And thirdly: That man having been
tempted to do wrong, and not knowing
what wrong wal, could not be held rsspons- |
iels for the CONSCIOUSNESS of eating that sp- |
pie in the garden Of Eden.
Hoping that this little spis,ls will Of
Tend no one l am EFT.
CAIRO, Aug, 81, 1874.
The dedication OF the N. II. church =
UlIin will take place on Sunday, Sep
smber 18Th, st II o'clock =. In