Оглавление
Chauncey 1813-1893 Giles. The True and False Theory of Evolution
The True and False Theory of Evolution
Table of Contents
Introduction
Lecture I The True And The False Theory Of Evolution
Lecture II The Origin And Nature Of Life
Lecture III The Descent of Man
Lecture IV Heredity
Lecture V: Environment
Lecture VI Degrees and Correspondences
Отрывок из книги
Chauncey Giles
Published by Good Press, 2020
.....
If we admit the premises that every step in the progress of creation is taken by causes which inhere in matter, and that the highest is evolved from the lowest, as power from inertia, life from death, there is no escape from the testimony of the facts. But we are not compelled to admit the premises or deny the facts. We admit, without hesitation or exception, that creation is a gradual process, in which natural means co-operate with other forces; that every step in it is connected and related as cause and effect; and still we emphatically deny the fundamental principle a Evolution. Gradual advancement by natural instrumentalities is not limited to any special theory of the first cause and origin of creation. It is valid against the doctrine of instantaneous creation by omnipotent fiat; but it applies with equal, if not more, convincing power to the idea of an intelligent, personal and Divine Author, who acts from the ends of infinite love, and creates and employs an infinite variety of means to accomplish His purposes. Those who believe in the Divine origin of the creation may frankly admit all the facts of the advocates of Evolution. They may even gratefully accept them as a most important service to religion, and beautiful illustrations of the methods of infinite wisdom, while they utterly repudiate the essential theory they are summoned to prove. The theory leaves out of account the most important factor, the constant presence and persistent action of the spiritual and Divine substances and forces from which matter itself and all its forces are evolved, and by which it is constantly moved to action and molded into form. Still we believe that the scientist has rendered an invaluable service to an intelligent and undoubting belief in the existence of a supreme, personal Being, by demonstrating the manifold, infinitely complex and orderly means by which He manifests His love and wisdom and attains His ends. The scientist himself is a most important agent in this work, and he is rendering a service to humanity of which he is wholly unconscious.
There is another principle which has led to man misconceptions and errors concerning the constant agency of the Lord in the creation; and that is, the nature and, functions of law. Law is regarded as a force in itself; as having some independent and self-derived power of creating and destroying. Men talk of the laws of nature as though they were independent powers which controlled and guided all the movements of material substances. Even those who believe in the existence of an intelligent and personal Creator, practically admit that He has committed the universe of matter and mind to the government of certain laws, while He stands, as it were, aloof, like an inventor from his machine, and only interferes to prevent its destruction when it becomes deranged, or to destroy it when it ceases to perform the use for which he made it. Law is endowed with intelligence and power; and, in the minds of those who regard everything from a material point of view, and measure everything by the appearances of the senses, it is put in the place of the Creator. The Lord is banished from the universe, and law is elevated to His throne.
.....
