Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-31
QUESTIONS BIBLICAL
STORY OF CREATION

! Los ANGELES, July 27.-[Editol
Herald: Your correspondent In these
columns, basing their authority on the
Bible, have failed to give us a very
good account of the origin of evil II
seems evident that If we follow the
Bible story of creation to its logical
conclusion It places the Indictment for
the. creation of evil against God him
self, and this takes us back to the be-
ginning Of things. creation, so-called.
There are two propositions before the
world; you can take your choice. The
first is that the universe was Created
out OF nothing in a very short period
of time by an infinite, all wise, all
everything else, God, who always ex-
listed on nothing and that "all things
were created perfect" some eight OF
ten thousand years ago, more or less
and the forces then operating are nc
longer active.
The other theory is that matter al
ways existed, and through the great
laws of change the universe grew
evolved, and Is still changing, building
up and tearing down, the same forces
now operating as always. Science says
evolution explains the universe, or, in
other words, the universe explains it.
self if we study it's manifestations.
1t is more In accord with what we
know of life and matter to suppose that
| the mass of the universe-gas OF
solid-always existed, and that through
the great law of change II evolved intc
It's present form and condition, than II
| Is to believe that an infinite God who
| always existed on nothing should
create it out of nothing. If he existed
for all eternity, why did he wait unit
| 1000 years ago before creating things
What was he doing all this time? Now
| I challenge the whole creation theory
for the following reasons:
First-There is no evidence anywhere
in the universe of anything having
been created. All things, from the
atom to man, are evolved, developed OIL
born from the smallest divisions OF
matter.
! Second-Perfection, which is essential
to all orthodox conceptions of the uni.
verse, is not evident. If there were a
| perfect God, we would expect to see
| a perfect work, but such does not exist
| Take man, for instance, said to be
made In Gods own image" the high
est Of the Creations" etc. There 4:
nothing about any of them to suggest
| perfection. The eye, one of the most
acute organs, 1t serves the purpose
you say, but 1t is a prettye poor piece
| of mechanics. Why, a lense maker
who could not do better at lense max
! ing could not do business twenty-fouI
hours That is not ALL The creator
| is not only a poor mechanic but q
most extravagant one. In order tC
perpetuate the species of Goldfish it Is
necessary for the Goldfish to lay a mil
| lion eggs Is there infinite wisdom In
wasting .999 little lives to secure
one?
Third-If a creation occurred we
might expect to see a model or pattern
! or at least some sameness in the
"creations," but they are not there; nc
two of anything are identical; individ-
uality forbids.
I will not bore the readers with
further argument but to state that
anyone with working knowledge OF
| science and little comon sense ought
| to see the uselessness of a creator
! Our best scientists tell us there is nc
definite plan or purpose visible in the
universe Evolution does not need q
| plan. Conditions were not made fol
| life, but life means response to con-
ditions and the survival of the flttest
My purpose in attacking this ole
superstition, which is the mother OF
all our present evils, is not an idle one
| for the institutions of society today rest
on or at least are profoundly Influenced
by this old idea of origin and destiny
Of things I hold, therefore, that 1t is
| fundamental to human existence and
! happiness to have a scientific under
standing of life and existence the
which cannot be had by a belief in the
plan This is the ignorance which is
| the root of all evil" and the saddest
mart is that it is ignorance cloaked In
authority. DIR. HUMANlIAS.