The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-02-24
BEECHER'S BELIEF
Is Expressed in His Lecture on
Evolution.
''If Man Don't Want to Descend From a
Monkey Ne Can Stay There
The Link stIIl Missing.

An audience that packed every nook
and corner of the great Tabernacle,
greeted the Rev. Henry Ward BeecheT
last night, In his great lecture on "EVO-
luton and Revolution" It was a mag
niticent audience, and numbered many
OF the most intelligent people Of the
city, both In q literary and scientific
sense. A prOfusiOn of fragrant plants
and flowers were tastily arranged upon
the platform, feature that Is never
omitted in Mr.. Beecher's own church In
Brooklyn. la "rt a.1. $500 -ttfl9
Judge G. E.. IngersOIl was introduced
az presiding officer of the evening, and
Immediately presented Rev. Henry Ward
Beeeher as speaker of the evening.
Mr.. Beecher said: There have been
three great movements In modern his
tory, all of them being of great benefit.
and yet all received with prophecies OF
failure. The first was the great astrO-
nOmieal discovery. Men disputed the
fact, but GalileO had the heavens above
his head. Men flung the Bible at the
heavens, but 1t fell back on their heads.
After him, separated by long space,
came Isaac Newton with his law OF graV-
ttatiOn. The greatest scientist OF the
time severely attacked him; nor was
NewtOn's published doctrines admitted
into the schools for fifty years.
within the last thirty years another
eithersOf the others. The doctrine of
evolution is not today popular, and yet
ninety-nine out of every hundred work
ing scientists believe Ii. What Is evO-
lutiOnT 1t Is simply the discovery Of
the Divine creation of the universe. Be-
fore this time. men took John Millions
books as their Bible. Men believe that
the world sprang into existence instan-
taneOusly. That GCd spake and the
world came FORTH. That lisa beautiful
rhetorical expressiOn,Of thought, but God
did not create the world In that way.
All these changes took place through
natural law. Now, / would not have
you believe that evolution Is a compile
ted science. There are yet many unex-
plOred heldsa We cannot trace the veg
etable now In direct line to its origin.
Every year, hOweV er, ie closing the gap.
Evolution, by any fair Judgment, Is not
opposed to Christianity, but an auxil-
iary. 10 produces a view Of Christian
ity that is very simple, and your chill
dren. 1 believe, will see the day when
evolution 10 universally accepted. The
question that lies nearest every wOman's
heart, 10 what will help me bring up
my chtfdren. She naturally says, "The
old way was good enough for me. and / do
not want him to follow any new notions
l honor that wOman's motive, but not
her sagacity. Hence l do not wonder
that ev0lntiOn Is not Immediately aecep-
ted. RfWJ EEHtN ~ ~
"A minister who has been educated in
the theological seminary, and who has
his sermons all arranged in shells, Is
not apt to jump at any new doctrine
that will cause complete revOlutioni-
zlngsOf his sermons. i am, not afraid
Of losing anything by the discussion OF
evolution. If it's the truth 1t win stand.
(Appla1se) There Is q great deal of sem
timent about this matter: Many men
say. 81 don't want to descend from q
monkey" Why, it's merely matter OF
aste, IL a man don't want to descend
from a monkey. he can stay there.
lGreat laughteT)
In tracing things back to their origin,
things that are utterly unlike to-day are
found coming together. The theory Of
the deseent 4Oe man Is that the great
greatAgreat grandfather OF man and Of
monfEey weFe one, and that they separat1
ed, onB growing up into bone and mus
Gle and the other into brains. The pri-
m1tiYe idea of man. was that he came
midiFtss Dust Is the term used, but 1t
is synonymous, Now, ,wOnld a good
deal rather have descended from a mon
key than from q mud heap, 1t isn't
where man originated but where he
will end that ought to concern us.
IGreat appIhuse.1 8k TIVE EF
rs the question of mans ascent from
!he animal kingdom going to hurt the
5ible2 There's drift In natural law.
from lower to higher, from worse to.
lettet; where does this drift come from =
We see now that the divine win becomes
Tander when we come to consider
evolution. There is q grander thought
In God speaking through, natural law
than in His speaking things into exist
ence.
Geology is now regarded as pretty
veil perfected science, and yet geology
lor years was q. great bundle OF hypO-
thesis. No one ever saw a mOlecule. and
yet on the hypothesis Of molecula stands
eSemtstEY.l There Is q still stronger
reason. know that my Creator liveth,
YOu sit In your window, and although
you feel no wind you see the branches
waving In the garden, you know that
there is a wind. SO that man that has
feat the goodness Of Gods grace knows
that his Redeemer liveth. I hold that
evolution Is going to better the Bible.
TAe old theory was that God spake to
men, and spoke out Genesis and eli the
books, and they wrote 1t down. That
theory. going pnders 7 his verbal the
orY-<of Conrse every word must be writ
ten Just as 1t was written. Now, take
the inscription over the cross Of the
erucified Savior. It's one way In Matthew
another way in Mark, another way In
Luke, and still another way in John.
The theory of verbal inspiration is iLa-
poe8ibia.s - - = ass1a aaaa3 -
II find that the books of the Bible are
years apart. Now, in regard to that
book my own belief is that not only does
the spirit of God actuate all that Is. but
that this same spirit creates history.
When the Bible said the sun rose, 1t
didn't When the Bible said the world
was created in six days, Geology said Ii
wasn't, and the pulpit had to shift QUITO \
another foot. The Bible. Is the hietory
of the primitive condition of men out Of
which Gods spirit has been conducting
them. First, this morning twilight;
then, che Son of Righte eonsness arose,
and the new doctrine God arose. God
lnspites the human race and not certain
penmen. IL men are as good as they
ought to be, preaching ia only tanning
them. What Is sin? Sin is transgressiOH
OF the law, but there are ten thousand
transgressiOns that are not sin. Every
man Is two men according to Paul. A
baby Is only, an animal. Every moral.
yentiment comes later.
"GOd never gave to another the right
to dOmineer over alOther'a cOnacfanea