The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-07-10
THE EVOLUTION OF MAN.

1
luton of man means essentially the
progress of man. 1t sets forth the
fact that mankind have come to be
what they are by slow process OF
development and growth. 1t opposes
the notion of sudden leaps or jumps
in mans advancement, and also of a
perfect creation in the beginning and
lapse therefrom and restoration
thereto. 1t expresses the doctrine
that man began very low down intel
lectually and morally, and has ad-
vanced to his present state by a long
slow process of intellectual and
moral improvement. This fact, or
doctrine, it may be used to express or
teach but nothing more. 1t cannot
be used to teach that man, as to his
spiritual nature, is development
from the lower order of animals, for
we have seen that this is not true.
The vital force cannot be changed
into the spiritual, therefore, the soul
of man cannot be the product of any
form of matter, living or dead. Ad-
NIT, if it seems necessary from the
facts in the case, that the human
body is such development, the hui
man soul is direct creation of God.
| Neither can the word evolution be
used when applied to human prog
ress, to set forth process precisely
like that which obtains in matter or
| in the lower order of animals. That
is, the evolution of the spiritual
| force is not the same as the
evolution of the mineral or vital
force. There may be some an
alogy between them, but the con-
trast is far greater than the resem-
blance. All movements, for instance,
below the spiritual are mechanical;
mechanical, we mean, in that large
sense which merely excludes intelli-
gent conscious choice.
Neither the mineral nor the vital
force ever chooses to do as it does.
1t acts without thought and without
choice, that is mechanically. This
will not be questioned as to the min
eral force. Matter acts as it is acted
upon. A ball never moves of its own
choice. 1t moves only when some
force is applied to it, and when this
force is applied, it moves until it is
withdrawn or exhausted. The pres
sure of gravity is never determined
by its will. A hundred pound weight
always presses just hundred pounds
Its action is mechanical.
So with chemical action. Acid and
alkali always produce the same effect.
They effervesce and no choice of
theirs can prevent it. Vital action
is the same. Plant the corn in good
soil and in favorable climate and it
will grow. Its growth is mechanical
in the sense that it is without intelli
gence or choice. The same is true of
animals. The animal acts from in
stinct, not from choice. He does not
consider all the circumstances in the
case and act from sense of the NOR
al fitness of things. He follows with
mechanical certainty the impulses of
his own nature. The dog kills his
brother in a contest for the bone, not
from any feeling of cruelty or sense
of moral iniquity, but because he
stands in the way of the qualification
of his own appetite. The lion pro-
tects her young, not from any feeling
of moral righteousness, but from the
instinct of reproduction. Neither has
any freedom in the case, and oneith
er experiences any sense of moral
approval or condemnation. So it is
with all below the human soul.
Everything below man acts mechani-
cally. There are different forms of
this mechanical action, but they all
have this one thing in common; they
all act without choice.
But when we come to man we find
radically different action. The hui
man soul never acts mechanically.
The human body often does, but the
soul never. When the soul acts it
acts from choice. External physical
force is excluded by its very nature.
You cannot convert man by knock
ing him down. Cutting off mans
head will not change his politics or
religion. You cannot strike soul
and make it do your bidding as you
can ball.
When you deal with souls you are
out of and beyond the mechanical
world. Mechanical force has no place
here. You are in the moral world
and nothing but moral force can be
used. You cannot drive; you must
persuade. The appeal must be to
the reason and conscience. You must
seek to move the will, that is, produce
a choice. There is freedom here.
All your efforts proceed on the con-
L. =