The Portland daily press., 1881-09-29
[The Bible and science-Dr. Brunton.l
Adam and Paradise.

Now it is very remarkable that the doctrine
of evolution be it true or not, exactly agrees
with the Mosaic account in reference to the
place whore man was created, whether this
creation took place by special act or by evolu-
tionary process. 1t took place in a paradise,
where the air was balmy where fruit trees
were plentiful, and where there were no car
nivorous animals TO prey upon and attack man.
For man differs from the lower animals in the
absence of furry or hairy coat (although Gu
riously enough, such coat is possessed by un-
born children) Now, if for a moment we sup
pose ourselves driven to conclude that, in re-
spect of his physical nature, man was evolved
from lower type of life, he could not have
lost his hairy coat unless the air had been soft
and baimy; for the essence of che doctrine is
that the fttest only survive, and the fttest to
survive exposure to heat or cold would not
have been the naked but the hairy individuals.
Had not food been abundant and easily masti-
GATED, like the fruit of trees, man would not
huYe lost the projecting muzzle and larger
Jaws Of the apes, as a small jaw would be less
fitted for the mastcation Of hard and innutri-
tious food. Had man been liable to the at
tacks of wild beasts in this paradise, he could
not have lost the large caLines which form
such powerful implements of defense in the
gorilla Nor would he have remained SO long
helpless and unable to take care Of himself,
unless in such a paradise as we have supposed,
where all the conditions of life were favorable.
The children, which were long in developing,
would have been at a disadvantage in the
struggle for existence; they would have sdied
off; and the progentors Of the human race
could never developed into men. The site, too
of the paradise, according TO the evolution the
ory, agrees exactly with that indicated in the
Book of Genesis and, indeed until | saw a
map by Hackel, the most prominent defender
of the evolution theory in Germany,
was puzzled to understand the
Mosaic account. The site thus indicated with
the utmost precision by Moses is perhaps the
only one upon the surface OF the whole earth
which fulflls the demands of the doctrine of
evolution For, as we have already seen, ac-
cording TO this doctrine, man must have been
developed in genial climate, in spot where
abundance of food existed Now, such a place
might, perhaps, be found in a similar latitude
in America, but it is agreed by all evolution
lists that man could not possibly have been de-
veloped in the New World, because his atfini-
ties are altogether with the monkeys Of the
Old World, aud not with those of the New.
This is the only point, too, from which man
could have spread in such way as would
agree with the distribution of races
which we now find. But man did not always
continue to live in this paradise. He was driv-
en- out; according to the theory OF evolution. he
was probably forced 10 migrate from this sa-
cred spot for the same reason that races have
been forced to migrate ever since, namely,
want of food due to increasing numbers. These
increasing numbers would, first of all, consume
the natural fruit of the trees; they would then
be forced to til the ground, and, finally, some
of them would be obliged to leave altogether.
We read in Genesis that the woman was cursed
in her conception being multiplied, and that
the man was cursed by having to till the
ground by the sweat of his brow. While In
paradise he was naked, but after he left he
wore coats Of skin. He had not yet learned
the use of metals, and lfs tools and implements
must have been those OF wood and stone. For,
according to Genesis it was not until several
generations afterward that Tubal-Cain taught
men the use OF brass and iron. However man
was formed, then, the Mosaic account corre-
spends with what we find in the progress of
civilization-the stone age precedes that OF
bronze and iron. The paradise whose locality
was indicated by Moses has now disappeared
bereath the waters of the Indian Ocean,
Whether its disappearance was preceded by
some great volcanic eruption or not, and
whether such eruption is referred TO in the
mention of the flaming sword which turned
every way, we cannot tell; but we have no in
dication in Genesis of the submergence OF par
adse until the time of the flood, which, in ac-
cordance with Hugh Miller's idea, is supposed
by our author to have been due to subsidence
of the land.