Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-09-18

stanas PACK 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
I can stand on that proposition until /
find some theory of creation that goes
further back than "the beginning"
do not carry the doctrine Of evo-
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 If you want to accept 1t. All
I 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 eyi-
dence than has yet been produced. 1t
Is true that man in some physical
Qualities resembles the beast, but man
has a mind as well as body and
soul as well as a mind. The mind Is
greater than the body, and the soul Is
greater than the mind, and l object 10
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 tho 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 1t
was the result Of spontaneous genera
| ton.
If were compelled to accept one OF
these theories, would prefer the first,
Cor if we can chase the germ OF life
off this planet and get 1t 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 cannot explain why sponta-
neous generation ceased to act after
the first germ was created.
GO back as far as we may, we can
not escape from the creative act, and
! it is just as easy for me to believe that
God created man as he is as to believe
that millions of years ago he created
| germ Of life and endowed it with
power to develop into all that we see
today. But l object to the Darwinian
theory until more conclusive proof Is
produced, because I fear we shall lose
the consciousness Of Gods presence In
our daily life If we must assume that
through all the ages no spiritual force
has touched the life Of man or shaped
the destiny Of nations. But there Is
another objection The Darwinian the
ory represents man as reaching his
present perfection by the operation OF
the law Of hate-the merciless. law by
which the strong crowd out and XIII
off the weak. If this is the law OF our
development, then, If there Is any 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 be the law OF
development when nations have adj
vanced in proportion as they have de-
parted from that law and adopted the
law Of love?
But while / do not accept the OAR
winian theory shall not quarrel with
you about it. refer to it only to re-
mind you that it does not solve the
mystery Of life or explain human prog
| ress. fear that some have accepted
it in the hope Of escaping from the
miracle, but why should the miracle
frighten us? 1t bothered me once, and
am inclined to think that it Is one OF
the test 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 q continuing miracle. Eliminate the
miracles and Christ becomes merely q
human being and his gospel is stripped
Of divine authority.
The miracle raises two questions,
"Can God perform a miracleY and
"Would he want to-" The first is easy
to answer. A God who can make a
world can do anything he wants to do
with it. The power to perform mira
Giles is necessarily implied in the pow
err to create. But would God want to
perform a miracle? This Is the ques-
ton which has given most OF the trou-
BILE. The more have considered 1t
the less inclined / am to answer in the
negative. To say that God would not
perform a miracle is to assume more
intimate knowledge Of Gods plans and
purposes than 1 can claim to have. ]
will not deny that God does perform
a miracle or may perform one merely
because do not know how or why he
does it. The fact that we are constant
ly learning. Of the existence OF new
forces suggests the possibility that
God may operate through forces yet
unknown to us, and the mysteries
with which we deal every day warn
me that faith is as necessary as sight.
Who would have credited century
ago the stories that are now told OF
the 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
machine, imprisoned in man made
wire and made to do the bidding OF
man. The miracle is not more mystic
rious than many Of the things with
which man now deals. 1t is simply