About the Book

Table of Contents

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Part V



     

 Vol.4: Evolution or Creation?

    THIS VOLUME contains two Papers that are rather longer than usual, dealing with the earth's past geological history as it was being prepared for the introduction of man, and the unique constitution of man for whom the earth seems clearly to have been specifically designed. Three shorter Papers deal with certain aspects of evolutionary theory to which not much attention is generally given in the literature of Christian writers.
     In the first Paper, "The Preparation of the Earth for Man," I have re-examined an older view of the earth's early history, which was actually in the process of being developed by some of the best minds in America and in Europe, and with great skill and clarity, when Darwin published his Origin of Species. Thereafter, unfortunately, this view was eclipsed by evolutionary thinking, because it advocated the twin concepts of divine intervention by direct creation and of providential planning and purpose, concepts which the scientific method was -- and is -- quite unable to accommodate. As our knowledge of the distant past increases however, this alternative view is seen to have more and more that should commend it for serious reconsideration; it can account for many geological phenomena otherwise quite unaccountable. This view and these phenomena are examined.
     The second Paper, "Primitive Monotheism and the Origin of Polytheism," gathers together some of the evidence now available which clearly indicates that man's religious history has not been marked by a gradual purification of his faith from animism to polydemonism to polytheism and finally to a pure monotheism; but by a trend in the opposite direction, representing rather degeneration than upward evolution.
     The third Paper, "Convergence and the Origin of Man," is a discussion of one aspect of the evidence from the fossil record and from the living world that similar needs and similar environmental

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pressures act upon living organisms to mold them along similar lines so that they tend to converge in structural form, and that this takes place in such a way as to present the appearance of genetic relatedness where no such relatedness has ever actually existed. The bearing of this on the argument for descent based on similarity of form is obvious. The extent to which convergence can be shown to have occurred is proving something of an embarrassment to evolutionists.
     The fourth Paper, "The Survival of the Unfit," provides some information on the large number of cases in Nature where cooperation and even self-sacrifice are found to be by no means uncommon among animals in the wild, both between members of a single species and between members of different species. Animals are seen to feed the wounded, guide the blind, help the disabled, and upon occasion even to sacrifice themselves for those in need of care. In Nature the unfit, by Darwin's definition, do indeed very often survive. His view of Nature as a ruthless battleground was really quite unrealistic.
     The final Paper, "Is Man An Animal?" is important because it shows that man is not merely quantitatively different from all other creatures, but qualitatively different. The differences are examined in some detail from a large number of less familiar sources. The conclusion is that man was created a unique creature because he was to become a "house" for God Himself to be manifested in the flesh as man, without violence being done to His own Person as God. It is seen that the Incarnation really demands a uniqueness in the constitution of man, which puts him in a category by himself completely separated from all other animal forms.
     The final chapter of this last Paper is, in some ways, a summation of the whole series of sixty Doorway Papers. It shows that in the final analysis the universe must have been made for the world and the world for man, and man was made specifically for God -- not merely that he might worship and enjoy Him (because of his spiritual nature) but that God might redeem him by becoming one with him in his world of time and space (because of his physical nature), thus to demonstrate His love before the whole host of heaven in a way not otherwise possible.
     It is all of a piece: herein is the meaning of reality and experience. Truly we are far too wonderfully and fearfully made for any blind evolutionary process to prove a sufficient explanation.

      The reader will note that each of these Papers was previously published separately by the author, and thus there is some duplication of material.

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      Through faith, we understand that the worlds were planned by the word of God,
so that what is seen was not made out of things that do appear. (Hebrews 11:3)

     I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works;
and that my soul knoweth right well.
     My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously
wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
     Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in thy book all my
members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was
none of them.
     How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!                                                                                                (Psalm 139:14-17)

     I beseech thee, my child, to lift thine eyes unto heaven and earth; and to see all things
that are therein; and thus to recognize that God made them not of things that were, and
that the race of men in this same way came into being.
                                                                                              (2 Maccabees 7:28) 

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