Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-12-11


Does Belief in the Principle OF Evo-
tuition Have Upon Our Conception
or tho Biblc?" the rector, Rev w.
Russell Bowie. u. D.. took up. AS part
or his subject. tn. question OF the
hrst chapters OF Genesis.
~ we frankly admit" he said
that the Book OF Genesis Is not an
unerring scientific record. what value
has IL None. the conservative the
oloEians uscd TO say. IL that be true.
This was TIA" reason for the passion
ate intensity OF their conflict against
the new science. once acknowlcdge
the book I" be fallible In any detail
ana you must ahnii, 1t Ia be vaiuelcss
in all. they said Either We must
believe II completely ar we cannot
belicve II At all. Adrni, one ques-
ZION ana the whole foundation OF re-
ligious faith is shattered.
But as 10 this We know better
now. We interpret the book in the
light OF it's origin. II was written In
mat far-on time of the childhood o.
Inc human race when men had no
concern for those scientific exacti-
tudes which are so much a part OF
thought today The very idea OF
science is the result OF an infinitely
patient process of observation TO
which the spirit OF God has led the
mind or man through the centuries
and the conclusions az which would
nave been utterly unintelliHible In
the centuries long ago. The early
chapters OF the Book OF Genesis are
poetry. not Science. They are the
mighty Intuition OF a spiritual truth.
NOT the plohdinE description Of the
natural sciences which could wait for
the discovery OF later years
The thing, therefore. which makes
tn" Book Of Genesis impcrishably
great is not those clements in /,
which science must correct and ann
I!i'y. II is its central message that
at the heart of all creation is the
bower of the Living Spirit whom we
can God. No, the method. bu, the
MTkcr--ths is the thing which we
learn authoritatIvely from those first
chapters OF the Bible. And is il not
plain that IL we learn this the i'm
mcnse value Of 1t is not affected by
the frani; recognition that the story
OF 'he creation Is poetic picture
and not scientific textbook? Sup
pose there are things which the
writer OF Genesis did not and could
not know. Does that dim the value
OF the thing which the spiritual in
stinct Of his soul did know Are
inc ten commandments any the less
"terhaliy true because Moses could
nave been ronpluscd by any modern
schoolboy in matters Of science? IL
TRANS any the less true In it's
message OF the miRhtiness Of love
because st. Paul thought that the
earth was greater than the sun? TO
ASK these questions thoughtfully II
10 see their obvious answer IL Is
pam that religious message may
he absolutely authentic. regardless of
the notifications OF the story I'm
which II is framed or the corrections
TO the general knowledge OF those
VINO proclaim ii. just as the diane
Ia not less diamond IL ii should he
hihccd in new setting as the years
80 on.
Nh but some one may saw. tina,
sounds very plausible. but il beys the
Who'll" question. How do W. know
That certain elements from the story
ui Genesis for example. can he taken
as authentic IL others cannot? What
NaIu" IS there in the testimony that
God created the earth. II we begin to
question the accuracy of the record
q! the way He created it? II the
book - subject to correction at one
point, who shall say IL must not he
corrected In all? How do we know
where the firm ground begins which
We can stand on?
THAT ts fair question: and II
shall have fair answer.
The way In which we come To he
of Genesis must he modified In our
conception, and that another Is cs-
tabitshed as truth which can never
he ouigrown. Is precisely the same
in both Instances. We test the old
record in all its points by the living
proof OF growing knowledge and
widening experience. We conclude
that the details of the story which
may have been insisted upon as being
accurate science are not science. be-
cause they do not square with scIcn-
THE facts. and we conclude that the
central message OF the story which
makes mems souls feel the renliy
and greatness of God is accurate re-
liEion. because those who nut that
message To a religious testing find
that the facts Of the soul corroborate
1t. Here are the records OF geology
as the vast universe makes them
plain: and here are the conclusions
OF the evolutionists. drawn with pa
tient thoroughness from evidences
which the open mind must recognize
as genuine; and these are not
reccncilable with that process Of
creation which n liberalis;ic reading
of the Book OF Genesis presents
Therefore. by that loyalty to truth
which is part OF the highest re-
lision we turn and say 10 our old
conceptions that on certain points
they are mistaken. We TT our inter
probation or the Book of Genesis to
III" reality OF facts. changing not the
hook. but the too dogmat.c Ideas we
had insisted upon reading out OF the
book. Then we take the message OF