The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-03-12


try all sorts Of subterfugc as TO fact.
or else by eyoking the odium theol-
ugicum.' In the same letter
Kingsley says: The state OF the
scientific mind Is most curious;
they find that now they have got rid
OF an interfering Coda master ma
gician. ~ | call it--thcy have 10
choose between the absolute empire
Of accident and a liying immanent.
cyer-wOrking God
Kingsley Describes himself nE
busy king out points OF natural
theology by the strange light of
Huxley, Darwin and Lyel | think
/ shall come to something worth
while before I have done" While
In the van OF the rel giOus thinkers
~ like time, Kingsley was not in
position to answer Mr. Bryan's main
question, Did God use evolution as
his plaH?' for evolution in 1868
rested on the indirect or Circumstan-
tial evidence presented by Darwin,
while In 1929 It is the most firmly
established truth In the natural uni
verse and, In MIR. Bryan's language,
we shall have to accept It, regard
less OF It's effect. Let US, therefore
glance at some of the effects.
am not writing 10 convince evo-
lutiunlsts. / am writing to convince
MIR. Bryan himself and his many
followers. That you may avoid all
religious doubts ana difficulties, let
us accept as the foundation of your
faith the creed which runs through
the Old aud New Testameuts alike
and Is best expressed in the grand
old Latin phrase, "pleni stunt coelh
ct terra tua Eioria,' Without this
creed you may be an atheist or an
agnostic, With the creed you are
in secure citadel OF faith, because
when discovery follows discovery
and you are obliged to surrender
the preConcCptions of man in his lg-
norance as to the sun moving around
the earth, as Joshua believed, as TO
the tlutness OF the earth, as to the
universe being formed in six days OF
"a hours, as to all the millions o!
species of animals and plants be ng
made within four days, as to man
being made In the image of God In
one day, as to woman being made
out of the rib OF man--you remain
serene, because you humbly accept
the universe and man as God willed
them. You may be convinced that
your misgivinss ana prejudices
against nature will all be resolved If
you simply repeat to yourself | ac-
cept nature as God made II; truth
Is truth and must prevail.
The Bible j. Proof.
Nothing should be more clearly or
more emphatiCally taught 10 our
youth than that the Bible is the
story OF the spiritual and moral
progress OF man, in less degree his
intellectual progress-in these senses
a perpetual source of Inspiration. OF
rel gious consolation, ana the most
permanent foundation OF conduct
We naturalists may accept as trgn-
Sccudent teaching that the universe
Is By no means the result Of acct
dent or chance, but ot an omnt-
present beauty and order, in the Old
Testament attributed to Jehovah, In
our language TO God. Evolution by
no means takes God out of the uni
verse. as Mr. Bryan supposes, but IL
greatly increases both the wonder
the mystery and the marvellous
order which we call natural law"
pervadiug all nature.
No child should be taught that
the Bible tells the story OF nature as
1t has been revealed to US through
1000 years of observation, and es-
pecially during the last 100 years
| There was no curiosity OF nature
among the writer's OF the Bible, as
there is little natural curiosity
among orientals today. 1t was not
until the Book Of job was written,
about 450 II. C., that we find the
guiding precept OF the naturalist,
Speak To the earth ana 1t shall
teach thee" When Mr.. Bryan OBJ
serves that evolution finds mo sup
port in the Bible" he is absolutely
right; just as no is absolutely wrong
when he maintains that evolution
ends In atheism, on this point ]
know l shall not convince him II
quote any scientific authority, but
| feel that ! may direct Mr.. Bryan's
attention 10 a writer that he has evi-
. IDENTIFY not studied, namely, the great
| tho ulogian or the fifth century, ~,
Augustine, 354-430 A. ID. may
quote 81. Augustine on two points,
| first, as TO the wisdom of leaving
nature to the uaturalists:
1T very often happens that there
Is some question as to the earth or
/ the sky, or the other elements OF
/ this world respecting which
one who is not Christian has
knowledge derived from most GER
| tain reasoning and observation, ana
| il is very dissraceful and mische-
ylous and OF all things to be care
I fully avoided. that Christian
/ speaking OF such matters as being
accorded to the Christ.ah scriptures,
should be heard by an unbelieyor
/ talking such nonsense that the un-
| believer perCCiying him to be as
wide from the mark as east from
west. can hardly restrain himself
| from laughing"
/ To Augustine also Mr.. Bryan may
I be referred for second and thor
/ oughly modern theistis conception
/ OF evolution. Augustine held that
lall development takes It's Hair@~'
/ course through the powers impaired
10 matter by the Creator, even the
/ bodily structure of man himself II
according to this plan and THEREFOR
a product OF this natural develop
/ mert' he taught that In The institu-
/ tiOn Of nature We should not look
/ for miracles. but FOR the laws Of ma
ture; he distinctly rejected the Mo
sale idea OF the siX-day creation, I'm
favor OF the teaching which, with
out violence to language, we may
call theory Of evolution; that all
things developed by casual energy