New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-09-16
NEW PUBLICATIONS.


THE BIBLE AND sCIENCE. Ty T. LANDER BRrNyo oS,
MD, Disc, f. X B. syo PIP. XIV 4Ao nav
milan d Co.
Dr. Bruntoa's purpose in this book is 10 SUI"
that the theory OF evolution. far from being oSson
italy atheistical, is consistent with inc o''i "
an almighty creator and offers no u''"'u'
those who maintain the divine inspiration Oh WV
Scriptures The title OF the treatise accoiu' "'"
with the apthors urinary intention IN writing put
II bv po means indicates the varied ana ae htsV
sight apparently incongruous coh'eh's Vi '"0
votume There are seventeen chapters, or us 'hey
are stvlod by the Doctor. lectures :; fourteen OF
these are introductory two suffice for the discus
sion of Science and the Bible y; and one IL sup
n,e,peutqry essay which has only slight, we are
tempted TO say q fancifu connection with what
goes before It, 1t will be seen therefore that the
plan OF the work is eccentric. 1t embraces now
ever n great amount of useful knowledge, pre-
eented in a popular way and is distinguished not
only by cleaTness of statement but by force ana
directness of reasOning so that although the lee
turer wanders far away from tho letter of his text
he rarely allows to lose sight of the conclusion
toward which he is marching. In the first three
chapters he surveys the physical characteristics of
Egypt and Palestine in connection with tho Bible
history, and points out Instances In which modern
research has confirmed the sacred narrative lhis
portion of the book he calls introductory. But the
next and b., far tie most considerable, portion Is
comprises brief account first of the living things
both animal and vegetable which now exist on this
earth and OF their relation to one another: and
secondly of the forms of life which existed in the
early ages Of the worlds history, and their rela-
tonships TO one another as we'll to those of the
present day." This synOptical sketch of animated
nature is Systematically arranged, and DR.. Brunton
is very successful in keeping always IN view the
links-so far Us they are known-by which the
clo iliaS ata app
the lines upon which, if the Darwlnian theory be
accepted, the evolution of each form of life from
lower form to be traced. The eleven chapters
constituting this " brief account" may be described
as a short and easy lesson in the history OF evolu-
ton leading up to the consideration OF the question
how the Darwinian principle is to be rcconciled
with revealed religion. Here it may be objected
Dr. Brunton has made light of some special difficult
ties presented by the Mosaic record but we must
remember that he has not undertaken eXh1
tive consideration of the athestic arguments he
has merely presented the general outline Of plan
for the reconciliation of the Bible and Science"
Admitting, may, that animals and plants
all derived from one simple common form of
lfe and present resembances to each other because
they are members of one great family, ali descended
from the same parent and all more or less closely
related to each other" nay, that matter itself in
the form in which we are acquainted with ii, has
been evolved from nebulous atoms difiused through
space and that changes are going on which must
end i'll the condensation of all the matter in the
universe INTO one huge ball, and the conversion of
all tie energy in the universe into radiant heat -
admitting all this, we seem to have an arrange
ment which we may compare to an enormous clock
set going and ages ago. which will go on for
ages and ages to come, but at some remote period
will certainly run down. And now the question
naturally arises, Who wound it upi Matter and
energy such we know them appear to be prac-
tlcally coming to end, and almost
forced to believe that their original position and
properties must have been impressed upon them by
some power apart from either. Supposlng this to
be the case, the Power who gave the atoms their
position and properties must, from a knowledge of
these, almost necessarily have been able not only
to declare the end from the beginning Isaiah
XVII, 1O), but to know what was going on in every
space and at every time, and must indeed be not
only omnipotent but omnlscent." In short
whether believe in special act of creation for
each of the various forms of life, in the gradual
development of all existing forms from one
primitive form. must fall back upon an omnip-
otent Creator at the beginning. The chief diff
Guilty has always been in the application of the
evolution theory to the human race The doctrine
of common descent of man and monkey from
some lower animal is supposed to cut at the root of
all religious belief. This, however is not the case
=" man is a man, and not a monkey, whether his
first progenitors became by special creation
from lump of clay, or whether they devel
oped from man-like animal" 1t is true that we
cannot tell the precise point in the process of de
velopment in which the of man acquired 6
soul, and so became essentially and eternally dis
tingushed from the beast but neither can we ty
the point at which the embryo of the individual
man becomes human being and acquires q soul
The ovum is not human being; the embryo
which succeeds the is at certain stages of it,
development undistinguishable from that of fish
q tortoise, a bird, and at a later period from
that of dog rabbit. The question of evolu
tion is simply whether the of mankind ha
been developed in the course of time in the sam,
way that in which every individual man ha
developed from an embryo, and the difficulties
regarding the passage from animal to q maj
and the possession of q soul the same in thu
case of the individual as they are in the cas-,
of the race"
For DR.. Brunton's explanation of the story o
Genesis in accordance with this view, as wei
as tor the ingenious reasoning by which h
establishes exact agreement between the doc
trine of evolution and the probable site of tn
Garden of Eden, must refer readers to TIN