Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1924-02-16
.F:HOLUTIOV AID BIBLE
Continued from page u


from race and species FROM species MAJ
he traced directly or indirectly to the
development of this wholesome inquis
tiveness implanted by Nature to SAFE
guard mankind from the tragedy OF the
too strange. A man finds basket OF II.
Piles On his back porch in the morning
Il thousand questions arse such as
where did they come from, are there
others there are they poison or were
they placed there by friends and so OF
I'd infinitum. A hog finding a similar
basket of apples asks no questions
whatever and straightway proceeds 70
eat and be merry. The hog lives in
pen and the man lives in the palace,
The cry of the human soul is to know
10 know and methinks this sound Is as
pleasing in the ears Of his Creator as
eLy that human lips can utter. Man Is
built on an interrogative plan he lvcs
IN interrogative Life and dies an inter
rogative death. The questions OF the
whence the why and the whittier of
E.ortals are of eternal concern Tor rs
all and cannot be ignored. for plain i
> that humanity is rtGing and orL'
bound train CT time and so far as NOR
.als know the schedule calls Tor no re
turn. All arts al sciences. all philosC!
phies. all re igions are the answers o.
r4ankind to the all-important questions,
fiom whence did we mortas' come!
Why are we here? And whittier are ~!
Icing? for few and short are the day>
II our pilgrimage in the earth.
The ceaseless questions OF men pre-
suppose some underlying truth OF hu
man existence. Some Of these are ques
sons of the head and some Of the heat
but they all are questions OF the hui
man soul and as such demand answers
in terms OF science or religion. TIRE
Bible is the answer to questions OF TIVE
soul and evolution in science is thN
answers to questions OF the intellect.
IN discussing Evolution and the Bib :
one is not bound to subscribe 70 The
iUctrine Of the fundamentals u
,iberalists for there is much good III
both and this good should he accept d
and at the same time there is muC II
wrong in both and this too should be
rejected We some times lose sight OF
ire truth in our alliance with CT
against certain schools of thought.
"Tne first hint we have of evolution IS
in the philosophy of Empedocles Il
physician poet, philosopher and re-
l.gious teacher who was born in Sicily
4e5 B. c. In attempting to solve the
iddle of the earth he decided that
there were four basic elements in Ma
ture name v earth, air, fire and watt:.
But Empedocles saw the need of Il unj-
flying principle and he thus pred icate S
Love as the basic positive force AM
principle behind all All life said lie
came up from the earth and IN this IS
SUMPTION he lays the foundation of the
theory Of evolution theory which, 20
scientists NEST competent to judge, is
10 longer Q theory but scientific fact
Il theory that was as revolutionary II
the rea ms of thought as was the INDUS
trial reyo luton in the realm OF eco
nomic development.
Ar stOt = elaborated on the theory S
.nted at in Empedocles and La Place
incorporated the idea IN his astronoml
cal researches and the nebular hypotea-
sis resulted. Lyell an English geolo
gist incorporated this evolution idea
IN his Investigations. Darwin employ
Ell the evolutionary hypothesis to
biology and zoology and popu 'ar!zed
the doctrine through the publication of
the Origin of the Species which was
written with evolution as basic as
sumption. We see thus that Darwin
was not tire originator of the theory
If evolution as is SO often enormously
supposed but the theory had influenced
thought two thousand years before the
coming of Darwin in 1909. So hostile
is much opinion to evolution because
CT an inaccurate understanding OF
what it means that it may be best &c
state what evolution is not.
1T is not a theory that men came
from monkeys. Although this seems TO
Da the arch reason for its rejection in
many quarters such conclusions are
let implied in the theory of evolution.
1t has been source of very rea' inter
est to me to decide just why some men
have such artipathy for kinship with
monkeys. If this kinship were definite
~ established we venture the assertion
that the monkeys in many instances
would be seriously embarrassed, for
after all it would be no more discredit-
able to be related to monkeys than to
G,}ny men we know. At any ate our
wishes in the matter have little effect
ou the ultimate truth of tine mat
ter Wichful thinking cannot long re-
'st the onrushing truth. Although the
assumption of evolution that the high
er orders are the result Of the lowers.
may be construed as meaning that man
descended from the monkeys it Is
not an implication in the theory; fol-
not only have men evolved but so have
monkeys as well. Again evolution is
cot an explanation of creation. AS we
s'taI 'oter see it begins after creation
and cannot therefore be posted as 4
'reative force in the sense of First
cause or Pr, me Mover. Evolution is not
Inherently anti-religi0Gs. 1t was first
sensed by EmNedocles religious teach
- and popularized by Darwin who
closed his eporh-making Origin of The
Species with these words "There is =
grandeur in this view of life with its
-oyoro1 = hoo,, oiy al.