CONTENTS PART I. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER II. THE ELEMENT OF FAITH IN CREATION CHAPTER III. THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION STATED CHAPTER IV. CREATIVE DESIGN IN INORGANIC MATTER CHAPTER V. THE CREATION OF LIVING MATTER CHAPTER VI. THE MARKS OF CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE IN THE EVOLUTION OF ORGANIC FORMS CHAPTER VII. THE DESCENT OF MAN CHAPTER VIII. FURTHER DIFFICULTIES REGARDING THE HISTORY OF MAN CHAPTER IX. CONCLUDING REMARKS PART II. CHAPTER X. THE GENESIS NARRATIVE—ITS IMPORTANCE CHAPTER XI. SCR

INTRODUCTORY Among the recollections that are lifelong, I have one as vivid as ever after more than twenty-five years have elapsed; it is of an evening lecture—the first of a series—given at South Kensington to working men. The lecturer was Professor Huxley; his subject, the Common Lobster. All the apparatus used was a good-sized specimen of the creature itself, a penknife, and a black-board and chalk. With such materials the professor gave us not only an exposition, matchless in its lucidity, o

THE ELEMENT OF FAITH IN CREATION. In the extract placed on the title-page, the author of the Epistle clearly places our conclusion that God "established the order of creation"—the lines, plans, developmental-sequences, aims, and objects, that the course of creation has hitherto pursued and is still ceaselessly pursuing, [5] in the category of faith . Of course, from one point of view—very probably that of the writer of the Epistle—this conclusion is argued by the consideration that the human min

THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION STATED . It will strike some readers with a sense of hopelessness, this demand for a reason in our faith. A special and very extensive knowledge is required, it seems, to test the very positive assertion that some have chosen to make regarding the "explosion" of the Christian faith in the matter of Creation. We are told in effect that every thing goes by itself—that given some first cause, about which we know, and can know, nothing, directly primordial matter appears on

CREATIVE DESIGN IN INORGANIC MATTER. I take as self-evident the enormous difficulty of self-caused, self-existent matter. And when we see that matter acting , not irregularly or by caprice, but by law (as every class of philosopher will admit), then it is still further difficult to realize that matter not only existed as a dead, simple, inactive thing, but existed with a folded-up history inside it, a long sequence of development—not the same for all particles, but various for each group: so tha

THE CREATION OF LIVING MATTER . We now come to Living Matter; directing attention, first, to that elementary form of life as exhibited in simple protoplasm and in the lower forms of organism, and then to the perfect forms of bird and beast. In each case, we shall find the same evidence of Design and Intelligence, the same proof of "contrivance" and purpose, which we cannot attribute to the mere action of secondary causes. The simplest form in which LIFE is manifested is in a viscid gelatinous su

THE MARKS OF CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE IN THE EVOLUTION OF ORGANIC FORMS . The heading of this chapter does not mark a new departure, for we have been tracing existing forms of matter from the first, and have already seen the necessity of believing in Creative Intelligence and Guidance. We have seen that inorganic matter, with what we call its molecular or atomic structure, cannot be reasonably regarded as self-caused; and we have concluded with Sir J.F.W. Herschell that the sight of such a well-arr

THE DESCENT OF MAN . We now approach a special objection which always, has been (and I shall be pardoned, perhaps, for saying always will be ) the crux of the theory of unaided, uncreated evolution—the advent of reasoning, and not only reasoning, but self-conscious and God-conscious MAN. Here again the lines of argument are so numerous, and the details into which we might go so varied, that a rigid and perhaps bald selection of a few topics is all that can be attempted. But I may remark that nat

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES REGARDING THE HISTORY OF MAN . There are, however, some other matters connected with the history of man on the globe, unconnected with psychological development, but which demand notice, as making the argument against an undesigned, unaided development of man a cumulative one. It is urged that whatever may be thought of the connection of man with the animal creation, at any rate the received Christian belief regarding the origin of man—especially his late appearance on the s

CONCLUDING REMARKS . It will naturally be asked, "If there is all this objection to some parts of the theory of Evolution, or to that theory in an extreme or absolute form, how is it that it has been so eagerly accepted in the ranks of scientific men?" The answer is, in the first place, because the theory of Evolution is to a great extent true. When men speak of controversy with the Evolutionist and so forth, they of course mean such as insist on carrying the doctrine to a total and even virulen

THE GENESIS NARRATIVE—ITS IMPORTANCE . We have now completed the first portion of our inquiry: there remains the second, which, to a large class, at any rate, will appear of not less importance. For the Scriptures, which they have been taught to trust, contain a brief but direct and positive statement regarding Creation, as well as numerous other less direct allusions to the subject, all (as far as I know) in unquestioned harmony with the first. Is the account in the Book of Genesis true? It is

SCRIPTURE METHODS OF REVELATION . Passing, then, to a consideration of the explanations of the narrative that may be or have been given at various times, I would first call attention to the fact, that it seems in many instances to have been the distinct purpose of Divine inspiration to allow the meaning of some passages to be obscure; perhaps among other reasons, that men might be compelled to study closely, to reason and to compare, and thus to become more minutely acquainted with the record. E

METHODS OF INTERPRETING THE NARRATIVE—ASSUMPTIONS OF MEANING TO CERTAIN TERMS. Returning, then, to the narrative in the Book of Genesis, I think we may take it as clear that the passage stands in such a concise and condensed form, that it is obviously open to be interpreted . Further, that we should not be surprised if the interpretation at the present day, with our vastly increased knowledge of Nature, is different from what it was in earlier times. I make no apology for repeating this so often

THE GENESIS NARRATIVE CONSIDERED GENERALLY. I.—THE FIRST PART OF THE NARRATIVE. § 1. Objections to the Received Interpretations . Taking the narrative as it stands, we find it to consist of two parts. First, a general statement, of which no division of time is predicated, and which is unaccompanied by any detail. Second, there is an account seriatim of certain operations which are stated to have been severally performed one on each of six days. As regards the first portion, we have no definite k

THE INTERPRETATION SUPPORTED BY OTHER SCRIPTURES. In interpreting the narrative before us, we have an important aid which has hardly received the attention it deserves. I allude to the other passages of Scripture which were written by men undoubtedly familiar with the Book of Genesis. Now, in more than one of them, I find the idea that the Creation spoken of is the Divine work in heaven , and not the subsequent and long process of its realization on the surface of our globe, fully confirmed. In

AND SUPPORTED BY THE CONTEXT. But a step further is necessary: if the conclusion that I have come to, by accepting "day" in its ordinary and natural sense, and by giving a hitherto overlooked (and so far a new) meaning to "creation," is sound, it must not only be rendered probable by reference to other parts of Scripture written when Genesis was much nearer its original publication than it is now; it is still (before all things) necessary, that the interpretation adopted should be conformable to

THE DETAILS OF THE CREATION NARRATIVE. §1. The Explanation of the Verses. It remains only now to go over the narrative, the general bearing of which I have thus endeavoured to vindicate, so that minor matters of detail, in which it is supposed (1) that some contradiction to known physical fact may still lurk, and (2) something that negatives the explanation suggested, may be cleared up. Let us take it seriatim:— "In the beginning God created the heaven (plural in the original) and the earth." As

PROFESSOR DELITZSCH ON THE GARDEN OF EDEN. The information here put together is a compilation from papers in "The Nineteenth Century," and other sources. It has no pretentions to originality, but only to give a brief and connected account of the subject, more condensed and freed from surrounding details than that which the original sources afford. Before entering on the subject, I would again call attention to the surpassing importance of these early chapters of Genesis. And, I add, that unbelie