The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1908-09-04

non. BLU / CAllulucu lHcsc llcpi tCS
and found that they all assumed some
thing to begin with. The nebular by
potnesis, for Instance. assumes that
matter and force existed. matter in
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 Il universe. Well. |
have 4 right to assume and prefer
to assume Il Designer back of the tie
sign, Creator back Of creation. and.
no matter how long Eou draw ont the
process of creation. so long as Cod
stands back OF it you cannot Shake
NV faith in Jehovah. III GcacsiS ii Is
written that III the beglnnin" God
| created tie heavens and the earth, and
| can stand on that proposition until l
find some theory Of creation that goes
further back than the beginning
I do not carry the doctrine OF evo-
luton rs far as some do. l have not
yet been able to convince myself that
| man is lineal descendant OF the low
CT animals. do not mean to find fault
with you If you want to accept il. All
! mean TO say is that, while you may
trace your ancestry back to the mon
key il you find pleasure or pride in do.
ing so. you shall not connect me with
your family tree without more evi-
dcnce than has yet been produced. It
is true that man in some physical
qualities resembles the beast. but man
mas y mind as well as j b0!ly anu 4
soul as we'll as y 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
it does not explain the origin OF life.
When the follower of Darwin has
traced the germ Of life back to the
lowest form in which it appears. and
to follow him one must exercise more
faith than religion calls for. he finds
that scientists differ. Some believe
that the first germ OF life came from
another planet and others hold that it
was the result Of spontaneous genera
ton. lsr
II were compelled to accept one of
these theories I would prefer the fir$t.
for il we cuu chase the germ of life
off this planet and get it out into space
we can guess. the rest Of the way anu
no one can contradict us. but If we ac-
cept the doctrine of spontaneous grn-
eraton We cannot explain why sponrh-
neous generation ceased to act after
the first germ was created.
Go back as far as we may. We can
moi cscHpe frOm the creative act, anu
it is Just as easy for me TO believe that
God created man rs he is rs to believe
that millions of years ago. he created
i germ OF life and endowed 1t With
'powcr to develop into all that VIC sec
today. Eut object to the Darwinian
theory until more conclusive pr0oi Is
produced. because fear we shall lose
the consciousness of Gods presence lii
our daily life if we, must ASSUME that
through all the ages no oIspiritual force
has touched III: life of manor shaped
tho destiny II nations But, there IS
another objection. The Darwini;ln the,
orr represents man as reaching hls
present perfect ton by the operation OF
the law OF hare-the mercilesS law By
which the strong crowd out ana klll
off the weak. If this is the law OF our
DEVELOPMENT, then, il there is amy logic
that can bind the human mind, We
shall turn backward toward the beast
in proportion as we substitute the law
OF love. How can hatred he the law OF
DEVELOPMENT when nations have ad-
yanccd In proportion us they have de-
parted from that law,and adopted the
law of love:
But while l do not accept the OAR
winian theory I shall not Quarrel wbtu
you about It, | refer to it only to re-
mind YOU that it does not solve the
mystery or life or explain human prog
ross. l fear that some have accepted
it in the hope OF escaping from the
miracle. but why should the miracle
-frishtcn us? 1t bothered me once. anu
I am inclined to think that it is one OF
the; lest. questions with the Christian.
Why Shouldn't Miracles Be Performed?
Christ cannot be separated from the
miraculous. His birth, his ministra-
lions and his resurrection all Involve
the miraculous. and the change which
his religion works in the human heart
is i continuing miracle. Eliminate the
miracles and Christ becomes merely Il
human being and his gospel is stripped
or divine authority.
The miracle raises two questions.
"Can GMl perform 4 miracle: ana
Would he want to- The first is easy
TO answer. A God who can make
world can do anything he wants to GO
with 1t. The power to perform mira
cles is necessarily implied in the pow
er 10 creafe. But would God want to
perform miracle! This is the Ques-
ton which hcS given most of the trou-
bic. The more | have considered IL
the less inclined l am TO answer in tue
negative. To say that God would not
perform Il miracle IS TO assume Il more
Intimate knowledge OF Gods plans anu
purposes than | can claim to nave. !
will not deny that GM does perform
miracle or may perform one merely