The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-02-13

rectly affirmed that It directly involves
msterialism. However, that its tenden-
: Giles are In the direction Of that system
/ rather than against II, seems TO be clear.
!, On the one hand, 80 far as the presence ol
God, as spirit who sufficiently controls
and directs all that occurs In nature Is
concerned, Il carefully ignores him. The
infinite mind, as factor In the world
around Us, thus Is practically eliminated.
On the other hand, the mind Of man Is as
70 its origin traced back to the instinct
first Of the bruteS, and eventually to that
Of the lowest forms oi animal existepces
In which 1t can scarcely be distinguished
from the sensitiveness Of certain plants
The amount Of distinctive intellect left in
the universe by this process Is infnitessi-
NAL.
Tho tendency OF the whole theory of
evolution Is so Enthusiastically toward
mSterislism that materialistic theorists
from the time Of Epicurus down to the
present have been eager to embrace 1t and
use 1t for their purposes, II exactly falls
in with the views Of such men ss Mands.
ley, Vogt, and Molescott, who scout the
idea Of the reality Of any living existence
except bodies which, as the last Of these
has said, being dislntegrated into "ammo.
MIA, csrbonic acid, and lime, serve to en-
rich the earth, and nourish plants, which
iced other generations Of men,"
rs DARwINIsM ANTrscRIPTURAL?
So far as It is atheistical the answer
must be in the affirmative. Even thsugh
It does Concede that there Is God who
created the heavens and the earth in
the beginning, II so separates him from
the present state Of the world and its
various organisms that we cannot see in
them the works Of his designing hands,
and that by his Providence he does NOT
control and guide In all events, this by.
pothesis In these particulars arrays itself
against the Bible. Again, so far as 1t is
materialIstic, the answer also must be In
the affirmative. The distinction between
mind and matter in the Scriptures is
everywhere assumed. The human soul
ls represented 10 be q direct emanation
from the deity, and as such to be capable
OF existence apart from any bodily organ.
izatlon.
50 far as the origin OF species Of plants
and animals, not including man, Is con.
cerned, the language OF the Scriptures
seems on its face to conflict with Darwin.
ism. Darwin says, II believe that ami.
mails Hre descended from at most only
four or five progenitors, and plants from
an equal or lesser number" And again:
"AnGLOgy would lead me to one step fur.
ther, namely, to the belief that all ami.
mails and plants are descended from some
one prototype" OF this last step he Is
not quite sure. Once taken 1t would land
him in the boldest msterialIsm. Man
then would be only highly developed
plant. But even the other Of these dec.
larations appears to contradict the &C.
count in Genesis, which tells US that the
earth at the command Ot God brought
forth grass, herb and fruit trees, each after
It's kind, In the same way the living
creatures in the water and on the land
were produced, after their kind. This
seems to indicate an original difference in
species. Still It must be conceded that
this language admits oi an Interpretation
not in conflict with form OF develop.
ment. 1t Is not explicitly said to be
direct act OF God which produces the
creatures. He operates indirectly through
the earth and its elements. We might
regard the passage as the statement OF the
result ultimately reached by process of
development under his control and gui.
dance.
THE SCRIPTURES AND THE DARwINIAN
DESCENT OF NAN.
The account which Darwinism gives In
regard to the origin Of man comes direct
ly into conflict with many OF the funda-
mental principles of the Bible. Darwin
accounts for our bodies and souls by the
operation Of natural laws, in accordance
with which they have been evolved from
lower orders OF animals. The Bible as
distinctly as possible declares that the
Almighty, when he introduced our race
on the earth, by his omnific power,
created and united the two elements
which constitute our being. The earth
did not produce man. God said "Let us
make man in our image, after our like
ness. 80 God created
man in his own image, in the image Of
God created he him, male and female
created he them.n "And the Lord God
formed man Of the dust Of the ground
and breGthed into his nostrils the breath
Of life, and man became q living soul"
Darwinism tells US as to the condition
OF man that when he appeared In the
world he was raised only one grade above
the beasts. Il would Of necessity have
been hard TO decide whether he was more
than an ordinary animal. The eScriptural
representation is that our first parents
were created in the image OF God. They
were holy and happy. They may not
have been acquainted with modern arts,
but they were richly endowed with intel
ligence. Theirs was superior condition
to ours. We are in a fallen state. The
story OF the Garden Of Eden is impossible
according to Darwinism.
This hypothesis indirectly denies the
moral responsibility Of our race. AS TO
our natures, according to 1t, we are not es.
sendally raised above the dog, or wolf
or ape. And unless we are prepared 70
ascribe genuine accountability 10 them,
1t cannot be attributed TO Us. Our con-
sciences are supposed to be only a higher
phase OF their social instincts. As TO the
evil tendencies which are within US, we as
a race did not bring them upon ourselves.
There never was such q thing as the fall
Of man. We are rising from the level OF
the beasts, and these are some of the un.
happy remains oil our former slate which
cling to US. In fact If this theory could
be true, not only must moral responsible.
ity but even right as rule OF con-
duct for man disappear. We are no bet.
ter by nature than the brutes, to which
such thing as essential rectitude Is inap.
plicable,
And If God did not make man upright
and happy, II there has been no fall, and II
We are not strictly speaking resgonsible,
then the idea Of redemption by Christ Is
foolishness. Darwiniam in Its account oil
man does not leave q stone on which the
scheme Of salvation can be built. There
G.kA q .