Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1908-09-16

matter and force existed, matter II
particles infinitely fine and each par
ticle separated from every other par
ticle by space infinitely great. Begin
ming with this assumption, force work
ing on matter, according to this by
pothesis, creates a universe. Well,
have a right to assume and l prefer
to assume Designer back of the de-
sign, Creator back of creation, and
no matter how long you draw out the
process Of creation, so long as God
stands back of it you cannot shake
my faith In Jehovah. In Genesis 1t is
written that in the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth, and
! can stand on that proposition until
find some theory OF creation that goes
further back than "the beginning"
do not carry the doctrine of eve
luton as far as some do. have not
yet been able to convince myself that
man is lineal descendant of the low
er animals. do not mean to find fault
with you II you want to accept it. All
l mean to say is that, while you may
trace your ancestry back TO the mon
key If you find pleasure or pride in do
ing So you shall not connect me with
your family tree without more evil
dence than has yet been produced. 1t
is true that man In some physical
qualities resembles the beast. but man
has a mind as we'll as a body and a
soul as well as mind. The mind is
greater than the body, and the soul is
greater than the mind, and object to
having mans pedigree traced on one
third of him only. and that the lowest
third.
One does not escape from mystery.
however. by accepting this theory, for
1t does not explain the origin Of life,
When the follower of Darwin has
traced the germ of life back to tn ,
lowest form in which it appears. a. id
TO follow him one must exercise U ore
faith than religion calls for, he finds
that scientists diffeA Some believe
that the first germ of life car ,e from
another planet, and others h@ Il that It
was the result of spontaneos IS genera
ton.
II ! were compelled to ccept one of
these theories, / would py .efer the first,
for if we can chase tb germ of life
off this planet and get It out into space
we can guess the rest of the way and
no one can contradict us. but II we &C,
cept the doctrine of spontaneous gen.
GRAFTON we caDIot e: plain why sponta-
neous generS'don eased to act after
the first ger NJ was created.
Go bact as far as we may, we can
not escape from the creative act, and
II is Just as easy for me to believe that
Coz created man, as he is as to believe
Gat millions Of years ago he created
q germ Of life. and endowed it with
power to develop Into all that we see
today. But ] object to the DarwiniaD
theory until more conclusive proof is
produced, because l fear we shall lose
the Consciousness 'of Gods presence ia
our daily life If we must assume that
through all the ag es no spiritual force
has touched the Ii fe of man or shaped
he destiny Of nations. But there is
mother objection The Darwinian the
'ry represents nan as reaching his
PRESENT perfection by the operation OF
he law of hate the merciless law by
INCH the stron crowd out and kill
81 the weak. II this is the law Of our
tbs n, if there is any logic
hat can bind the human mind we
'hall turn back ward toward the beast
n proportion as we substitute t'ae law
# love How an hatred be the law OF
development hen nations hive ad-
'anced in prop ortion as they Rave de
parted from tb at law and adopted the
aw Of love-
But while I do not accept the OAR
yinian theory shall not quarrel with
'ou about IT, | refer to it only to re-
mind you tn it does not solve the
MYSTERY Of IL or explain human prog
esS. l fear that some have accepted
in tina hg )e of escaping from the
liracle. butt why should the miracle
1t bothered me once. and
lam inclinia to think that it Is one Of
he test QUIZ ,tions with the Christian.
Why ShnuiR Mt Miracles Be Performed?
Christ car mot be separated from the
His birth. his ministra-
onss andl his resurrection all involve
le miraCn lous, and the change which
Is rei4giis 1 works in the human heart
Il; centdf luing miracle. Eliminate the
,ipaeleS and Christ becomes merely q
U nan HI ing and his gospel is stripped
G:dlsfns authority
The . liracle raises two questions,
Can. 6 cd perform a miracle| and
WfSuI1 he want to?" The first is easy
D. snsI ,er. A God who can make a
nEld an do anything he wants to do
nth it The power 10 perform mira
les is necessarily implied in the pow
z to G. -eate. But would God want to
,arforn a miracle? This is the Ques-
ion VIII ich has given most of the trou-
lie. The more | have considered 1t
he less in clined am to answer in the
negative To say that God would not
perform a miracle is to assume more
knowledge Of Gods plans and
purposes than / can claim to have. ]
Will not deny that God does perform
| miracle or may perform one merely
because do not know how or why be
Ices it. The fact that we are constant
Y learning of the existence of new
'Orces suggests the possibility that
God may operate through forces yet
Unknown to us, and the mysteries
With which we deal every day warn
ne that hath is as necessary as sight.
Who wo'uld have credited a century
ago the stories that are now told Of
re wonder working electricity? For
ages man had known the lightning.
but only TO fear it. Now this invisible
current is generated by a man made