Gunnison news-champion., 1922-12-01

vas baby or child Nov the Bible
does not say that II was done 50. And
u vas most likely not done in tha,
way. The Bible narrative speaks Of
a process without describing IL, with
out giving Us the details. Is there not
: more WOTthy way 70 think Of God
than 70 image Him bodily being act
ing like = sculptor, carpenter, q me-
chanic from the outside Of His materi-
ais / am sure there Is. Is il not more
worthy 20 think that God made the
first man even as he is making man
today l. u not trGeT to the spiritual
conception Of God 20 think Of his
creative power as just a. much pres
eut and as complete IN the making Of
the last child Of Adam as Of Adam,
himself There Is 10 more degrada-
tIOn IN having God bring humanity in
% being from a long line OF plant and
animal aEUe tors than in having God
make man directly from the dust Of
IA. ground. Dust We are. and to dust
We return In any case, when the vital
divine spark 3f life once departs.
The theory that the Bible teaches
that God in a definite period Of six
days or. six periods Of longer time
created one by one the various anceEt.
0rz Of all the VARIOUS species Of life
upw in existence and that ever sinca
lhey have continued reproducing in
4ant-EillE theory breaks down from
the MOI common sense StauipoinC
Eteu the middle age tIgOiOgi4ns were
greatly lIHtTg rd with the problem in
s8.Ero IU LhIs theory. u hen the vast
numbers OF species lu .ZIstsuoe came
90 tl.I. attention they ~ once began
tu wonder lJU Adam. even IN his long
lie. had the time and the strength 70
Eama them all as they Paasgd BY. They
wondered huW such a small ark a.
huau could hold tao OF each OF 50
many animals, and devised schemes
fur I..P.ylHg the arE's dimensions
-u a. % take care Of all.
Set over against tins theory Of the
tT.glU Of plant and animal forms Is
tag theory Of evolution. In general
JHag theory Is that God is still Great
lur and that the method We observe
him Huw using he has always used.
Life began ara continues by the ere
atlsy power Of God. Gods creative
power was not merely 1t the begin
ming from the outside IN a carpenter
or aculpt0r fIshioH with life thereafter
-perprtuatiDg. But rather Coz
began ms creative activity from Tho
inside, IN the mysterious unanalysed
vital spark, the life force, Of an ex-
ccedInEiy simple organized living cell
This creative force Of God pushed IL
self outward and up by long process
Of gradual developing. evolving chan
ges from the simple unit cell TO simple
clusters Of cells. 10 simple plants, t.
compleSer plants. and from simple
units and clusters to simple animals,
% complexer animals, and finally 20
man.
All life forms, like a tree, started
from a common seed, and OUT of the
trunk went limbs and branches. plant
To one side. animals to the other side.
Each limb had many branches. Each
branch had many twigs. Each twig
had many leaves. But the pictured dia-
gram, the graph differs from that
of a tree in this-the trunk is a slend-
er pencil line, the limbs are a bit
thicker, the branches still thicker the
twigs and leaves thicker still. For,
of course, the farther away from the
parent simple unit cell, the more com
plex. the more highly organized are
the life forms.
One common fallacy that has eau =
ed many to shy at and to ridicule the
theory Of evolution is the statement
that II teaches man TO be descended
from monkeys or apes. As though
one were TO advance the theory that
a certain existing race of people were
descended from another now existing
race. Now both races. as all race 10
doubt. are descended from common au-
cestors, they are .'steenth" cousins.
So the monkey and the ape and hum
an beings and all other known animals
are descended from common ancestors.
And the monkey and the ape and the
man branched off from other forms
just bit nearer each other than did
man and the horse. The common am
cestor of man and monkey has ceased
to exist. He went out of existence
when a part of his descendants deyel-
oped into the animal that finally de-
veloped into man, and when the rest
of his descendants deteriorated intothe
animals that finally wound up By be-
ing monkeys and apes. Evolution is
downward, or sideways, as
well as upwards. The monkey and the |
ape represent what we might have
become had not some unusually enter |
prising, open minded ancestor of ours
taken advantage Of the glimmer, the |
first dim spark Of divine intelligence,
held out to him by God Our forty
second, or if we prefer, our ninety-
ninth or nine hundred and ninety
ninth cousin, the anthropoid ape, and
his thirty second cousin, the monkey
had the same ancestral opportunityI |
but there was failure to follow the
gleam.
am not biologist or even a scent-
list, but have studied enough TO eon-
clude that the evidences tend stronglyl
in favor Of the theory that God did use
some such process of gradual change
and variation in bringing man to be-
ing. Geology alone furnishes US link
upon link in the chain of the cons at,
events in the past to show US that God |
did once work in this way, creating |
higher out of lower forms of life. /
Biology. the study of plants and .n;-l