Number 43
THE BIBLE VERSUS
THE EVOLUTION THEORY
Report of a friendly discussion, on board a crowded
“Lightning Express,” witnessing the fulfilling of Daniel 12:4.
Alpha.—Is this seat engaged?
Betha.—No, it is at your service, and I will be
pleased to have company—sit down. You are a minister?—Of what denomination, may
I ask?
A.—I am a Presbyterian minister, and now enroute
to a meeting of the synod of which I am a member.
B.—Ah! this affords me a good opportunity to
inquire how the Presbyterian ministry in this vicinity stands on the subject of Evolution.
My observation leads me to believe that the Evolution theory, which I consider quite
unscriptural, is becoming very popular in all denominations;— amongst the ministers
as well as amongst their parishoners. I will be glad to know the attitude of the
Presbyterians hereabouts. I know, of course, that Presbyterian doctrinal standards, like
the doctrinal standards of orthodox
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churches, uphold the Scriptural doctrine that man was
created perfect and fell from his perfection into sin and degradation: and my question,
therefore, in substance is,—Are Presbyterians in this vicinity holding to the Bible
and to their creeds on this point, or are they abandoning both in favor of the
speculations of Darwin, Huxley, et al?
A.—Not being authorized, I cannot speak for my
brethren of the Presbyterian ministry as a whole, but I can speak for myself, and I assure
you that I am a firm believer in Evolution: and I have every reason to believe that my
views on the subject are in full accord with the sentiments of the best educated people in
my own and other denominations.
B.—I concede the point that the tendency of
education for the past twenty-five years has been in the direction of Evolution and
against the Bible: I incline, however, to the opinion that the majority of the advocates
of evolutionary theories are not aware of the violent and irreconcilable difference
between these theories and the Bible. It appears to me that if it were generally known
that if evolutionary theories are true, the Bible doctrines are false, and that if the
Bible is of God, his inspired Word, evolutionary theories are absolutely false, many
Evolutionists would give the subject deeper study before accepting and advocating a theory
which gives the lie to the words of our Lord and of his Apostles and all the holy
Prophets.
A.—Oh well, I do not go to the extreme of some
Evolution theories—to claim that there was no divine interposition in the operation
of Nature, no life-giving at the beginning: that inert matter became vitalized without
supernatural aid I deny. Even Prof. Huxley
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on this subject says,— “At the present
moment there is not the shadow of trustworthy, direct evidence that abiogenesis (life
drived from the not living) does take place or has taken place within the period during
which the existence of life on the globe is recorded.”
B.—Yes, surely there are a few that go to the
extreme you mention. But I maintain that the entire philosophy of Evolution is opposed by
the plainest statements both of the Old and New Testament Scriptures. (1) The extreme
view, if it does not deny the existence of God, claims at least that he had nothing to do
with the creation of Man: but that Evolutionary processes began with inert matter. (2)
Also extreme hypothesis assumes that divine power did operate upon inert matter, but that
it began at the very lowest point of living organism, and created a microbe, or more
exactly speaking a “protoplasm” which became the parent of all living
things, including man, by a supposed process of Evolution. (3) The most conservative
theory of Evolution hesitates to go so far back as the “protoplasm,” and
ignoring the method by which divine power operated in the development of the lower
animals, begins its philosophy with man: searching amongst the lower animals, for the one
most nearly resembling humanity in structure and shape, its lights upon the monkey, the
baboon and the chimpanzee, and asserts that human nature represents a second step in
advance of these (for it is forced to admit many dissimilarities), and that “a
missing link” is still being sought—a grade or condition of life between the
highest monkey-developments and the lowest form of the human creature known.
Those who accept this last theory often strenuously
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object to tracing their genealogy back to a microbe,
a “protoplasm,” but feel less hesitancy about thinking of Adam’s
grandfather as a monkey, and Adam himself as but one remove from the monkey family, and
himself the very lowest and most degraded of his own species. This last is the thought, I
believe, that is the most prevalent throughout Christendom; and those who entertain it,
while somewhat abashed at the humble origin which they attribute to our race, nevertheless
pass over it lightly, to expatiate in glowing terms respecting the great progress that
mankind has made, and especially on the high degree of development attained in this
nineteenth century.
A.—Well, do you dispute the greater general
intelligence of the masses to-day, as compared with the past? And if you do not dispute
that, is it not an unanswerable argument in support of the Evolution theory?
B.—Assuredly I do not dispute the fact that we
of to-day are enjoying a higher degree of general knowledge and civilization than has ever
before been known to the world. But instead of accepting in explanation of present
conditions a theory which makes void the Word of God, I accept the explanation of present
conditions which the Bible,—stronger and sounder by far, and more reasonable every
way, than the Evolution theory.
The Bible foretold the present conditions, and
explained how they would come about, and how they are to result, with a detail and an
accuracy which evolutionary speculation knows nothing about. I call to your remembrance
the revelations given to the Prophet Daniel, concerning the things to come to pass in the
closing epoch of the present age. I remind you of the
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Prophet’s deep interest in the stirring scenes
of that vision, and how he prayed and fasted seven whole weeks, desiring to know of these
things—the purposes of God: and how then an angel was sent to him who delivered the
divine message, “Go thy way, Daniel, for the declarations [of vision] are closed up
and sealed until the time of the end.” This “time of the end,” you
will remember, is elsewhere in the Scripture spoken of as “The day of his
Preparation”—the day or period in which the Lord will be preparing the world for
the new dispensation, the Millennial Age.
Perhaps you will recall also the testimony of the
angel sent to Daniel respecting some of the peculiar characteristics of this “Day of
Preparation” or “time of the End”—he said: “In the time of the
end many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased—and the
wise shall understand , but none of the wicked shall understand.” (Dan. 12:4,
10.) This inspired statement, it seems to me, is most remarkably fulfilled before our eyes
to-day, and not only proves that we are now living in this period, “The Time of the
End,” the day of God’s Preparation, but also furnishes a much clearer and more
satisfactory explanation of the present day enlightenment and progress than any Evolution
theory extant. It begins by calling attention to what every one will concede is one of the
most notable features of our time, differentiating it from all past time, viz., the
fact that every body travels. The whole world seems to be “running to and fro;”
just as was revealed to the Prophet twenty-four hundred years ago. Here we are ourselves,
at this very moment running at the rate of fifty miles an hour and the car crowded full:
and we know that similar trains are rushing
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in every direction, similarly laden with people. We
wonder why there should be so much “running to and fro,” and yet it is on the
increase every year. And mark you, my friend, the railway, and the steamboat and the
trolley car, which permit this running to and fro, belong to this century.
Remember, again, that you and I have probably traveled over more miles of country within
the last twenty-five years than did all our ancestors back to Adam, during that period of
six thousand years.
Take the next feature of the Lord’s revelation
to Daniel respecting the present time: “Knowledge shall be increased.” I
hold, in harmony with this Scriptural statement, that the present wonderful increase of
knowledge is not the result of Evolution, but the result of divine interposition at the
present time: that it is one of the features of this “Day of His
Preparation”—making ready for the Millennial Kingdom. If the theory of Evolution
were correct, this increase of knowledge should have been gradual, during the past, and
not sudden, now, toward the close of six thousand years of man’s history—within
the present century, and particularly within the past fifty years.
I call your attention also to the fact the
increase of knowledge has accompanied and followed the running to and fro of the past
sixty years. In his own due time it has pleased the Lord to draw to man’s attention
the powers of steam and electricity, and to quicken him with intelligence for the handling
and harnessing of these to his service. (See Exod. 31:6; 36:1.) Pots had boiled and
kettle-lids had rattled for centuries before the mind of Watt was led to
reflection on the power of steam, and how it might be utilized in
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human affairs. Similarly simple were the first
thoughts respecting contrivances for making use of steam power, and subsequently
electrical power. But for those simple thoughts to which we believe divine providence led
in God’s time, these great factors in our nineteenth century awakening might have
lain unnoticed for centuries to come, as they did for centuries in the past.
But in his own due time God made these the bases, the
starting points, for the fulfilment of the divine prediction—”in the Time of the
End many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
As the discovery of the power of steam led to the
construction of engines by which, on boats and cars, the people by running to and fro and
commingling with each other gave fresh impulses to thought and action, so also the same
steam power was attached to printing presses; and as a result the world is flooded with
literature in every language, and thus again the world’s thinkers and writers are
brought in contact with the millions of its population, and increase of knowledge became
unavoidable—as God foreknew. Electricity coming in assists in the commingling of
mankind and their thoughts, throughout the world, by telegraph, telephone, etc. Very
evidently the all-wise God, the Author of the Bible, which he caused to be written by his
various instruments and agents, knew well what would be the result of letting in of the
proper light at the proper moment, to cooperate with all the features of his great and
wonderful plan of the ages.
Moreover, you will bear me witness that the stoutest
Evolutionists stand somewhat in awe of what may be the outcome of present conditions,
viewed along the lines of Evolution. They begin to fear that the increase
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of knowledge signifies eventually a danger of social
wreck and possibly of ultimate anarchy, or, to avert this a return to some degree of
restraint of education or of liberties. They see that the increase of knowledge of our day
permits a twelve-year old child to have before him the accumulated knowledge of centuries,
as well as of modern investigations and discoveries, gives him much more theoretical
knowledge at his command than had his grandfather (mainly of his own personal experience)
at seventy years of age. They see also that a century ago the educated were extremely few,
whereas to-day knowledge is so increased that in civilized lands education is compulsory,
and comparatively few are without its privileges and advantages. And yet they see, contrary
to all their Evolutionary expectations, that these hitherto undreamed-of blessings and
comforts of our day are not apparently favorable in the masses of the people to the
cultivation of happiness and contentment. On the contrary, it is manifest that the more
and greater the blessings enjoyed, the more and greater will generally be the discontent
in unregenerate hearts. Thus Evolutionists stand in dread of a retrograde movement,
the logic of which disputes their hypothesis.
On the contrary, all of these facts are in most
absolute accord with the Spiritual delineation of the cause, object and result of the
present running to and fro and increase of knowledge. The Scriptures indicate that the
present increase of general knowledge and skill is now due, in order to the preparation of
machinery, and the various mechanical arrangements and contrivances for the benefit of
mankind during the Millennial age; nevertheless, it points out also
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that this knowledge is premature, so far as mankind
in general is concerned—that mankind is not in proper condition to appreciate and use
with wisdom the knowledge and opportunities, liberties and blessings thus thrust within
his grasp, because of innate, inherited selfishness,—which left to itself would turn
blessings into curses. The Bible points out that unregenerate man needs a strong
superhuman government, which will give him practical lessons along the lines of wisdom,
righteousness and the spirit of God, Love: and it points out that God is preparing to
establish such a superhuman government, which will prove a blessing and an uplifting power
to all who will come into accord with it, after its establishment. This superhuman
government is the Millennial Kingdom, the kingdom or dominion of heaven, for which our
Redeemer taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.”
A.—Pardon the interruption, but I should have
considered you too logical a reasoner to hold the theory that Christ will come a
second time in “glorified flesh,” sit upon an earthly throne, hold earthly
court, etc., during the Millennium. It strikes me that is a very gross conception of
divine government—a retrogression as compared to the present spirit dispensation.
B.—I agree with much of your criticism of a
common view of Christ’s Kingdom. Such is not my view: I understand the Scriptures to
teach that our Lord Jesus is no longer a man, a human being in any sense, but a spirit
being, “the express image of the Father’s person.” And when his kingdom
shall come into control in the world, the heavenly king and his associates (the glorified
Church) will no more be visible to mankind
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kind than are the holy angels now. The coming Kingdom
will be a spiritual and invisible one, but will operate and rule through human
representatives. As an illustration of a spiritual ruler operating and governing
through earthly agents, take “the present evil world” or age, of which Satan is
the prince. A spirit being, he is invisible to humanity, and rules for evil through his
human servants. With the end of this age comes the binding of Satan and the
overthrow of his dominion—God’s due time for the establishment of the Kingdom of
Heaven having come.
Christ’s Kingdom will be the reverse of
Satan’s in respect to its character in that it will be a Kingdom of light, a Kingdom
of righteousness, but it will resemble it in that its King and his associates will
also be spirit beings of a still higher order, of “the divine nature,” and
equally invisible to men.
A.—I could not object to that view of the
Kingdom. Proceed, please, as before.
B.—The Scriptures point out that the present
blessing and preparation for the incoming Millennial age, will prove eventually a curse in
the end of this age—in that the increase of knowledge and of liberty, combined with
the innate selfishness of the depraved man, will eventually lead to the very condition
which our Evolutionist friends foresee and dread. But the Scriptures point out that even
this dread condition of anarchy, with which the present age will terminate, will be
overruled of Hod so as to make of it a practical lesson for mankind, humbling the power
and the pride of the great and of the small perfection is not attained through processes
of human evolution, but only through divine interposition for the uplifting of mankind,
through the
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agency of the Kingdom of God, long promised through
the Prophets and Apostles, and by our Lord himself, to be the divine agency—the Seed
of Abraham, in which all families of the earth shall be blessed.
The prophecy already mentioned calls special
attention to this. It will be as a result of the running to and fro and the increase of
knowledge, and the strange parallel increase of dissatisfaction, that the prophecy
declares—”There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a
nation”—and at that time, to intercept that trouble, and to save mankind from
self-destruction in anarchy, Michael, the great Prince (Christ) shall stand up, the leader
and the commander of the people. “And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not
hear [heed] that Prophet shall be cut off from amongst the people.”—Dan. 12:1,
4, 9, 10; Acts 3: 23.
A.—What you say is very interesting and
certainly does account for present-day enlightenment and progress in a manner different
from my previous thoughts on the subject. I do not yet see, however, what ground you have
for your assumption that the Evolution theory is in direct conflict with every teaching of
the Bible, and that the one gives the other the lie, so that whoever hold to the Evolution
theory must ipso facto deny the teachings of the Bible, and whoever holds to the
Bible must, to be logical, renounce all faith in the Evolution theory. I would be pleased
to have you substantiate your statement, if you can, with as keen logic as you have just
used in accounting Scripturally for our nineteenth century intelligence.
B.—I will be pleased to submit to you the proofs
that the hope set before mankind in the Scriptures is most radically opposed at every
point to the Evolution
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theory: but first let me call your attention to a few
other facts bearing upon the subject, aside from Scriptural declarations respecting the
divine purpose and plan for man. I would have you notice that the world’s history
does not accord with the theory of Evolution, as evinced by the following facts:
While conceding that this is preeminently the day of knowledge,
as the Scriptures foretold, I hold that it is nor preeminently the day of increased ability.
We do not find that the world is becoming greater in ability, as the Scriptures
declare, greater in knowledge, which is generally diffused as never before.
(1) In the domain of Art. Modern artists point us
back to Raphael, Michael Angelo, and others, as the masters whom they still copy, in the
matter of artistic skill.
(2) In Poetry, If we inquire respecting poets,
without disparagement to any of the able ones of recent years, we are, nevertheless,
pointed back to the greatest poets, and told that the poetry of the Book of Job has no
equal to-day in literature. We are pointed also to the Psalms of David. and to Homer,
Virgil and Shakespeare, all past-masters, whose works and style are studied and to a large
extent imitated to-day.
(3) As for Laws. It is well known that the Mosaic
laws have served as a basis, pattern and guide in the formation of the laws of
Christendom, special adaptations being made to harmonize with present conditions: and yet
there were features of the Mosaic law no incorporated into the laws of Christendom, which
it is generally admitted would be blessings, if adopted in some measure; for instance, the
law of the Jubilees, the cancellation of all debts every fiftieth year, the
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beneficial results of this law being attained in part
only, and for a limited class only, by modern bankruptcy laws.
(4) In the Sciences. Of present day art and sciences
special boast is made; and we are ready to admit generally the claim, accounting for it as
before explained. Nevertheless, it behooves us to remember that the people of the past
accomplished wonders without our modern appliances. For instance; the great pyramid at the
delta of the Nile gives evidence of having been oriented in harmony with late astronomical
deductions; and even in its mechanical structure implies a skill which causes modern
architects and builders to wonder, when they find some of its immense stones so closely
fitted at their joints that the dividing line is not thicker than a knife-blade. It is
admitted that it is doubtful whether such immense stones could be raised and thus
accurately placed in position even with the aid of modern mechanical appliances. We are
not to forget, either, that some of the valuable arts of the past were so thoroughly lost
that even with all our present-day enlightenment they have not yet been re-discovered: for
instance, the process of manufacturing flexible glass; and the process of tempering steel
which gave the swords of Damascus a world-wide fame for flexibility; and the process of
tempering copper so as to render it useful for tools.
And while considering these matters we are to
remember that the Scriptures indicate not only that the Children of Israel became much
degraded through their several centuries of bondage in Egypt, but also that among all the
gentiles there was a retrogression. This is particularly stated by the Apostle Paul
in his letter
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to the Romans(1:21-28), where he points out that the
degradation of the Gentile nations was not the result of their creation in a depraved
condition, but resulted from their not choosing to retain the knowledge of God in their
hearts—for which cause he gave them over, abandoned them to their own way, permitting
them to hasten and to increase their degradation, so that to-day throughout the world
there are some, indeed, sunken so low as to be only a few steps removed from the brute
creation.
A.—I thank you for this dissertation, but urge
that you come directly to the point of my question now, and mention specifically the
antagonism between the Bible and the Evolutionary theory.
B.—I will do so, and to begin with I call your
attention to the Spiritual account of man’s creation, as given in Genesis—that
man was created, not as a microbe or protoplasm, nor one step removed from a monkey, but,
as specifically stated,—”In the image of god created he him.” Man was
created a moral image of God (—not a physical image, because God is a spirit, while
man is another nature, human, fleshly, earthly). And this thought, of man’s original
perfection of being, is borne out by the context, which declares that God looked upon his
creature with approval, seeing him to be “very good.” It is borne out also by
the general testimony of Scripture respecting God as a Master workman— “His work
is perfect.” (Deut. 32:4.) It is borne out by the statement of the Prophet,
“Thou madest him [man, Adam] a little lower than the angels, thou crownedst him with
glory and with honor [his moral likeness to his Creator]; thou didst set him over the
works of thy hands,”—the beasts of the field,
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the fish of the sea and the fowl of heaven—
“and didst make him ruler over them all”—giving to man the rulership, the
dominion of the earth, with its lower orders of creation, in likeness of God’s
dominion over heavenly things. (Psa. 8:5, 6.) It is borne out again by the statement of
the Prophet, that God made man upright, but he sought out many inventions, and defiled
himself.— Eccl. 7:29.
Additional to all these evidences of man’s
condition, is the fact that he was placed on trial for eternal life. It is not supposable
that an imbecile creature, one remover from a monkey, would be in a fit condition to be
tried before the bar of Divine Justice for eternal life, with the assurance that he might
live forever in the condition then enjoyed, provided he maintained it by obedience.
Surely the fact of Adam’s trial implies that his
condition was then a good condition, that his abilities were then perfect abilities, and
that his only lack was in experience, in the use of his good abilities and the knowledge
which the use of those perfect abilities would bring. It would be thoroughly unreasonable,
inconsistent with divine justice, and out of harmony with expression of the divine Word,
to suppose the Lord would have given everlasting life to Adam, with the prospect of
maintaining it forever, and with the risk of losing it forever, had he been but one remove
from brute creation, or had he been even as low as are the majority of mankind to-day.
One the contrary, the facts that Adam is Scripturally
termed a “son of God,” and that he maintained that sonship and fellowship with
God while in the garden of Eden, prior to his transgression, and came under the penalty of
death, with its concomitants,
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sickness and pain (the results of mental, moral and
physical decay), assure us most unmistakably that the Almighty intended us to understand
by this genesis account of man’s creation that man was created perfect, and that
whatever has come upon the race since has been the result of transgressions against the
divine commands—has been the penalty of sin.
Furthermore, note the Scriptural consistancy, for
while the Apostle Peter tells us that “a day with the Lord is as a thousand
years,” Genesis tells us that the sentence upon Adam was that he should die “in
the day” of his disobedience, and that he did die within the limits of that
thousandyear day. Nevertheless, the record that the dying process in him lasted for nine
hundred and thirty years fully corroborates and sustains the declaration that God’s
creation was perfect, and possess powers of vitality, mental and physical, which since
have almost entirely disappeared— for the average of human life to-day does not
exceed thirty-five years.
This story of man’s creation in the image of
god, in sinlessness and perfection, the very reverse of the Evolution theory, is fully
confirmed by all the testimony of the Old Testament. The Prophets pointed out the fallen
condition of Israel and the world, and pointed forward to the coming of the Messiah as the
only hope of relief and blessing. Our Lord himself was announced by his Forerunner, John
the Baptist, as ‘The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”
These declarations that there are sins of the world
to be removed, and which would require the sacrificial death of Christ as the lamb of god,
a Messiah, a Deliverer, are in direct contradiction to the Evolution
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theory, which claims that man has been gradually and
grandly climbing upward into the likeness of God. According to Evolution, there is no sin
of the world, unless it be a sin to evolve, to progress, upward. According to Evolution
also, the world needs no Redeemer, for as it could not be claimed to be a sin to progress
upward to progress upward to perfection, neither could it be claimed that man was a sinner
while thus progressing upward, nor could it be claimed that Justice could require any
redemption price for that which had not fallen from grace, but which was approaching more
and more to the divine standard.
At our Lord’s first advent he found some
Pharisees “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous;” and in reproving
these he declared that he had not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance:
declaring also that those who feel themselves to be whole do not feel their need of a
physician, but that he himself, nevertheless, is the Good Physician. The Evolution theory
is in accord with the Pharisaical view of matters;—theorizing that it is progressing
grandly upward it does not recognize the necessity for the great sin-offering which God
has provided.
Again, we remember that our Lord declared that he
“came to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10.) According to
the Evolution theory nothing was ever lost, all that we have as a race is gain: according
to this theory, therefore, our Redeemer’s statement was worse than void of
meaning—a falsehood. But from the Scriptural standpoint, as presented in Genesis, and
confirmed by the Prophets and Apostles, the whole world was lost in father Adam; because
he came under the penalty of sin the impairment
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of his dying process extended to all his posterity as
yet unborn,—according to the laws of his nature. From this standpoint our Lord’s
words are full of meaning. They mean that he came to recover Adam and all his race from
the sentence of death, and to give to all an opportunity to attain eternal life through
him.
The Apostle Paul (Rom. 5:12-19) states this matter
most forcefully. He places himself, as a teacher and expounder of the divine dealings with
humanity, in absolute and direct opposition to the Evolution theory. He says: “By one
man’s disobedience sin entered into the world, and death by [as a result of] sin: and
so death passed upon all men, in that all are sinners [inheritors of their father
Adam’s blemishes],” The significance of this clear statement is unmistakable. It
tells us that there was no sin in the world prior to father Adam’s transgression. It
tells us that there was no death in our race until the divine sentence fell upon Adam as
the penalty for his sin. It thus accords with genesis, in showing us that father Adam in
the image of God occupied an exalted position, and not a low and almost bestial condition,
as the Evolution theory teaches. It teaches us that Adam fell from divine favor and
lasting life (which the Apostle assures us was not through ignorance—1 Tim. 2:14)
into sin, alienation from God, and under the sentence of death, with its associated
sickness, pain, decay and degradation: and hence that these evils are not our inheritance
through poor workmanship on the part of the Creator, but are our inheritance by heredity,
by reason of the father Adam’s transgression, disloyalty, disobedience to God.
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Nor does the Apostle leave the matter here, but
persuing the same thread of thought, he assures us that all hope of escape from this
sentence of death, and this alienation from God, centers in Christ Jesus our Lord. He thus
implies most distinctly that Evolution hopes are worse than useless, inasmuch as they
would frustrate and make void the very faith in Christ and his redemptive work
which is essential to the blessed condition of reconciliation with the Father.
Notice now how the Apostle contrasts the first man,
Adam, and his failure, and the blight which came through that failure upon all his
posterity, with the faithfulness of “the man Christ Jesus” who bought us with
his own precious blood, to release us from the Adamic penalty. He says “As through one
offence sentence came upon all men to condemnation [death]; so also through one
righteous act, sentence came upon all men to justification of life. For as through the
disobedience of one man the many were constituted sinners, even so through the obedience
of the One [Jesus] the many will be constituted righteous, . . . that as sin reigned
unto death, even so grace [favor] might reign unto eternal life, through
righteousness, by Jesus Christ our Lord.”—Rom. 5:18-21.
In harmony with this same thought the Apostle’s
expression in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:21, 22), “Since through man
there is death, through a man also there is a resurrection of the dead; for as all in Adam
die, even so all in Christ shall be made alive”—brought back from present dying,
imperfect condition to the perfection of life.
Indeed, all the Scriptural statements—that
“Christ died for our sins,” that he “suffered, the just for the
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unjust, that he might bring us to God,” that
“God was in Christ reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing our trespasses unto us [but
unto our substitute, our redeemer],” that God “might be just, and yet be the
justifier of them that believe in Jesus,” that “he is the propitiation [satisfaction]
for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world,” and
that “by his stripes we are healed”—all these and many other Scriptures of
similar import, which will occur to your mind, most positively contradict the Evolution
theory, and with equal positiveness uphold the Scriptural theory that man was originally
created perfect, “upright,” in God’s image,—and that he fell from the
exalted position into sin and degradation, mental and physical, from which he needs first
to be ransomed with a corresponding price, and secondly to be saved or recovered to
perfection of being and everlasting life.
Have you ever read the Plan of the Ages—the
first volume of the MILLENNIAL DAWN series?
A.—I have not; altho I have in my library four
volumes of the series which were presented to me by a dear Christian brother who
seemed very solicitous that I should investigate their teachings.
B.—Taking my own experiences as a criterion, you
have been missing a good thing. For while you might not at first or second reading agree
with all of the author’s presentations, it would be impossible for you to leave even
the first volume without some increase of knowledge respecting the divine Word and
character and plan of salvation. I assure you that the thoughts therein suggested have
brought a great blessing to me, and a much greater reverence for the Bible than was
23 The Bible verses Evolution.
before possible in my limited knowledge of it, and of
the lengths and breadths, and heights and depths of the divine character and plan therein
set forth. However little of it you may ultimately accept, I certainly urge upon you its
careful investigation.
The author begins with his subject at the very point
to be desired by thinking minds: viz., an examination of the Scriptures themselves
to see what proper claim they have as to credibility. In the light of the presentations
therein made, I have a deeper love and reverence for the Bible as the Word of God than I
ever before had, and was thoroughly forearmed against the form of modern infidelity known
as “Higher Criticism.” Otherwise the bold assertions of present-day scholarship,
that Isaiah wrote nothing beyond the twenty-eighth chapter of the Bible-book which bears
his name, and similar statements respecting other portions of the Word, might indeed have
unsettled my confidence in its divine authorship and inspiration: but armed with the
internal evidences of the truth of the Scriptures which MILLENNIAL DAWN presents, my faith
can rest secure and unassailable.
Now I can see that the claims of these worldly wise
professors, Higher Critics,—that our Lord and the Apostles in their various
quotations from the twenty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, and onward, erred in saying that they
were written by Isaiah, whereas they were written by some other and unknown
writer—these claims, so far from causing me now to lose confidence in the wisdom and
inspiration of our Lord and the Apostles, and in general in the Bible, have quite a
contrary effect: they cause me to utterly lose confidence in worldly wisdom, and the more
firmly to rely on the
24 The Bible verses Evolution.
wisdom which cometh from above, so that I am enabled
to see in this very matter of “Higher Criticism” a fulfilment of Isaiah’s
prophecy, “The wisdom of their wise men shall perish.”—Isa. 29:14.
A.—I think myself that much of the boasted
knowledge of self-styled higher critics is merely guesswork, and a desire to be highly
esteemed amongst men for their erudition. Some of their startling claims furnish cheap
advertising, and bring men into notoriety who would be little known in the world except
for these extravagant and unsustained and frequently unsustainable pretentious
claims,—assertions.
B.—As we still have a little time before
reaching your station, let me give you a little outline of the divine plan, as set forth
in the book I mention—MILLENNIAL DAWN. As you are a Presbyterian I will first give
you its presentations respecting the doctrine of Election, for I know that will be of
special interest to you.
A.—We Presbyterians are not preaching the
doctrine of Election, nor indeed holding it so stoutly as we used to do.
B.—Ah yes, I know—I know—not that you
are disciplined to be elected, nor that you wish to drop that feature of it; but because
the doctrine of an election implies the opposite doctrine of a non-elect class is a
“little flock,” composed only of the “saints,” implies that the
non-elect class is of terribly large proportions. The difficulty which confronts you is
that neither your own hearts, nor the hearts of intelligent worldly people, can any longer
countenance the thought that all the hundreds of millions of the non-elect were
predestinated before their birth to an eternity of torment;—as the catechism
25 The Bible verses Evolution.
puts it, “passed by” of the Lord, and not
“elected to salvation.”
A.—Yes, there are difficulties, insurmountable
difficulties there; and hence the matter is very rarely preached upon now. As you are
probably aware, an effort was made to alter the statements of our Confession of Faith
along these lines; but the majority did not favor a change, evidently fearing that any
tampering might shake confidence in the Confession as a whole, and deprive the
denomination of the prestige which attaches to others of its old, established and long
revered dogmas.
B.—Just so; and undoubtedly their course was
worldlywise. But now, seeing these difficulties in the calvinistic view of the doctrine of
election, yet remembering that the scriptures distinctly teach some kind of an
election, you will be all the more interested in noticing what a beautiful doctrine it
becomes under the light shed upon it by the book I mention — MILLENNIAL DAWN.
It shows that there was an election during the Jewish
age, by which that one nation, and it alone, was God’s people, the recipient of his
promises and providences, as says the Prophet Amos (3:2), “You only have I known
[recognized] of all the families of the earth.” The Apostle Paul also points out,
saying, “What advantage hath the Jew? Much every way, chiefly because to them were
committed the oracles of God.” (Rom. 3:1, 2.) But the writer of MILLENNIAL DAWN
points out that the Scriptures say nothing whatever respecting the damnation or eternal
torment of the other non-elect nations outside Israel. He points out, further, that
there was a system of
26 The Bible verses Evolution.
election in vogue to some extent before the Jewish
age, viz., that Abraham was elected or chosen to be the father of the faithful;
that his parents and relatives were not chosen, nor in any manner connected with him in
his election; that even his friend and nephew, Lot, was debarred from any share in that
election; that the elect line proceeded from Abraham, not to his firstborn son, Ishmael,
but to his second son, Isaac, and that the same election proceeded through Isaac, not to
his first-born son, Esau, but to his second-born, Jacob, surnamed Israel. The author of
DAWN points out that the Scriptures say nothing whatever respecting a condemnation of
Abraham’s non-elect relatives and friends and children, but on the contrary, mention
some of them favorably, and promise them other blessings, outside the special line
or purpose of the election.
Our author proceeds to point out (and to cite
abundant Scriptures in evidence) that the work of this Gospel age—the selection of
the Gospel Church—is likewise in the nature of an election, in that god during
this age is not attempting to bless the whole world, but merely certain portions of
it,—not attempting to save the whole world, but merely to elect a Church, a
“royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people,” out of it. But he
points out that no Scriptural statement either says or implies that all the remainder of
mankind not thus elected during this Gospel age are to be damned and tormented
forever, but quite to the contrary.
A.—Some of those thoughts are decidedly good and
helpful—but I am not prepared to endorse the thought that God has not been trying
to save the world, during this Gospel age.
B.—Yes, that thought strikes us peculiarly at
first,
27 The Bible verses Evolution.
because we have been inclined to decide for God what
he is to do, and how and when he is to do it, instead of humbly admitting that no man of
his own wisdom, knows anything about the divine arrangements. Rather, we should humbly and
teachably inquire at the divine oracle, respecting the divine program.
The Lord declares through the Prophet, “My word
that goeth forth out of my mouth shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish
that which I please, and shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isa.
55:11.) Since, therefore, “All his purposes shall be accomplished,” and since we
know it to be a fact that the Gospel has not in the past reached more than one-tenth of
humanity, and even to-day reaches very few more than that proportion, it follows that if
“All his purposes shall be accomplished,” it cannot have been the divine purpose
to have sent the Gospel message to every creature during this age,—thus far at least.
A.—That is sound enough logic, and it is
Scriptural, however, it may conflict with our prejudices.
But since the author you mention is such a stickler
for the Scriptures, how does he account for the breadth of the Gospel commission,
“Preach the Gospel to every creature,” and for the Apostle’s statement,
“The Gospel which is preached to every creature under heaven?”
B.—The answers are very satisfactory, I think
you will admit: the author shows that as the Law was given to Israel alone, and not to the
other nations, so the Gospel was preached “to the Jew first,” and to the Jew
only, up to the time they rejected the Messiah and their national favor ended. This
turning point is clearly marked in our Lord’s words, “Now I say unto you,
Your house is left unto you desolate.”
28 The Bible verses Evolution.
This statement was made just five days before his
crucifixion, at which time his work took on its larger proportions; for our Lord Jesus
died not only for Israel,— “to redeem those who were under the
Law,”—but the value of his death extended beyond that people, as it is written,
“Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man.” (Heb.
2:9.) And it was after he had thus “died for all” and had risen again, that he
gave his disciples the broader commission for the Gospel, to which you have referred.
Previously, when sending them out two and two to the cities of Israel, he said “Go
not into the way of the gentiles,” and his declaration after his resurrection, viz.,
“Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel,” was meant to contradict
their thought that the Gospel message was to be to the Jews only. He would have them
understand that henceforth the message is for any member of the human
family, because every member of it has been redeemed. Of similar import is the
Apostle’s statement, “This Gospel which is preached in all the world:” it
is no longer a Gospel restricted to one nation of the world, but is open to any who have
ears to hear and hearts to receive it— “even as many as the Lord God shall
call.”
A.—Even so, while accepting that as a
satisfactory answer to my question, I cannot see that God is a “respecter of
persons,” and that there is any special election now in progress, even tho my church
so teaches, and I have so confessed to believe.
B.—Let us look at that point. I will voice the
arguments of MILLENNIAL DAWN on this subject, and you shall tell me afterward whether or
not they meet the question fully, broadly, satisfactorily.
29 The Bible verses Evolution.
I call your attention to the fact that the Gospel
light arose in Palestine, which lies at the juncture, we may say, of three
continents—Europe, Asia and Africa. It would have been nearest to have sent the
Gospel southward into Africa, to its benighted millions; but Africa still lives in
darkness, touched with the light of truth only a little upon its northern borders. It
would have been almost as near to have sent the Gospel light eastward to India’s
hundreds of millions, and to China with its hundreds of millions: but India and China have
lain in darkness for eighteen centuries, except as little glimpses or flashes of the light
of truth have reached them. Europe lay further away, but to Europe, and through Europe to
America, the Lord has been pleased to send the light of the Gospel, “A light to
lighten the Gentiles.”
Nor are we to suppose that the coming of the Gospel
light to these lands that have been so greatly blessed by it was a matter of chance or
accident. Quite to the contrary, a few words recorded in the Acts of the Apostles (16:6,7)
relating to the mission of the great Apostle to the gentiles, St. Paul, shows us
unquestionably that the sending of the Gospel to Europe was of divine intention—
predestination—choice or election. The narrative is that, while Paul and his company
had purposed to go into Asia, the spirit suffered them not to do so, but
providentially hindered their going; and while they were thus perplexed and seeking the
mind of the Lord, the Apostle Paul had a dream in which he saw a man of Macedonia
beckoning to him and saying, “Come over and help us.” As a consequence of these
divine providences, and gathering from them the Lord’s will in the matter, the
Apostle and his co-laborers
30 The Bible verses Evolution.
laborers at once proceeded to Macedonia, there
beginning the preaching of the Gospel in Europe.
When Paul returned to Palestine, and apparently with
no thought of further prosecuting the work in Europe, divine providence permitted him to
be arrested and sent a prisoner to Rome: and there the same divine providence held him a
prisoner for a long time, but gave him sufficient liberty to preach the Gospel there for a
number of years. It was from these providential lightings of the gospel lamp in Europe
that all the great blessings which have reached us proceeded.
Now tell me, Do not these facts prove that divine
providence has had much to do with the progress and direction of the lamp of
truth?—Are they not a manifestation of divine election or selection? Mark you, I am
following the hypothesis presented in MILLENNIAL DAWN, that the non-elect and
non-enlightened are similarly and proportionately uncondemned. Nor am I claiming in
this that God is a respecter of persons. It is quite another thing that God may
have been, nay, evidently has been, a respecter of races, and has specially blessed
and favored certain branches of the Aryan race in Europe and America. But the fact, that
the white race has been more abundantly blessed with the light of the Gospel than others,
is not to be understood to signify that when members of other races heard and appreciated
the Gospel, they were repulsed or rejected by the Lord. This view is full harmony with the
suggestion that God is no respecter of persons, but that “In every land he
that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him.” In harmony with this,
the author of MILLENNIAL DAWN holds that, while the elect Church will probably be composed
chiefly of
31 The Bible verses Evolution.
the highly favored white race, nevertheless, it will
probably have in it representatives out of “every kindred, people and tongue.”
A.—The theory as you present it is certainly
consistent at every point with the facts of history, and the statements of Scripture; and
if our theological opinions have been at variance with these, it is high time for
correction.
B.—Let me interrupt myself to say that the
author of MILLENNIAL DAWN, in harmony with your last expression, claims that his
presentations are not the result of superior wisdom or ability on his part; but are
discernible now because God’s “due time” for their unfoldment to his
people has come. He points out that we are now in “the Time of the End,” spoken
of in Daniel’s prophecy, and evidenced by the running to and fro and general increase
of knowledge. He holds that the unfolding of spiritual and Scriptural truths is also
referred to in that prophecy, in the statement that “The wise shall understand.”
He is particular, moreover, to distinguish between the wisdom of this world (much of which
is at this time to be proved foolishness) and the wisdom from above; and holds that the
truly wise are those humble ones who are willing to be “taught of God” through
the Scriptures.
A.—Consistency certainly marks all the features
of the theory you are presenting; and I am glad to see that the author of MILLENNIAL DAWN
takes so humble a view of his own work, ascribing the merit and the wisdom of what he
presents to the great fountain of wisdom, Jehovah himself; but proceed with the outline,
please, for we are nearing my station.
B.—Our author holds that the election of the
32 The Bible verses Evolution.
Church, which is progressing during the present
Gospel age, is by the Heavenly Father, Jehovah, tho through his Son, our Lord
Jesus. He quotes our Lord’s statement, “No man can come unto me, except the Father
which sent me draw him,” and applies it and limits it to the present age,
and to this selection or election of the Church,—variously called the body of Christ,
the Bride of Christ, the Royal Priesthood, etc. He then quotes the word of our Lord Jesus,
“I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32), and applies this
to a future age—in which Christ and the glorified Gospel Church (in the glory of the
heavenly condition and power) shall both rule and bless the world of mankind, and bring
back into harmony with God and to human perfection all who will then accept God’s
grace, eternal life under the conditions of the New Covenant.
Thus seen, the election of the Church, so far from
meaning a damnation of the non-elect, implies a future blessing for the world of mankind
in general (the non-elect), in that a favorable opportunity for attaining eternal
life will be granted to all.
A,—But I see several objections. Let me put them
to you. Wherein would be the consistency of first making an election from amongst the
world, and subsequently dealing with all the remainder in exactly the same manner?
B.—I see your difficulty, which arises from the
fact that I am endeavoring to state the great divine plan very briefly, whereas really
what I am telling you fills four volumes. To answer your objection: Our author shows most
clearly, fortifying every point with Scriptural texts and citation, that the elect Gospel
33 The Bible verses Evolution.
Church is called to a “heavenly calling,”
to a change of nature,—from human nature, a little lower than angels in its
perfection, to be partakers of the divine nature, far above angels, principalities and
powers. But very different from this will be the blessing which God will offer to mankind
in general, through the elect Church, during the Millennial age, viz., an offer of restitution.
One of his proof texts on this subject I remember is Acts 3:19-23. Here the Apostle Peter,
speaking on the day of Pentecost, under inspiration, refers to the second coming of
Christ, and the blessings which then shall come to the world in general. He refers to the
complete Christ (Jesus the head and the Church his Body) as the antitype of Moses, the
lawgiver, declaring that this Great Lawgiver then raised up in power and authority
over the whole world shall bless those who hear and obey him, and shall destroy in the
second death all who will not then obey him.
And the Apostle speaks of this period of the reign of
the glorified Christ (Head and Body) as “the times of restitution of all
things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world
began.”
Restitution is the blessing which God has in
store for mankind in general,—for all who shall gladly accept this blessing at the
hands of the Redeemer when the due time shall come for it to be offered to them. And by
accepting it, we mean accepting the then to be proffered blessing of restitution upon the
terms or conditions of obedience which will accompany the offer. The word restitution is
simple enough and easily understood: it signifies neither more or less than a return to
primeval conditions. Those who shall ultimately receive
34 The Bible verses Evolution.
at the Lord’s hands this blessing of restitution
to the full, will have gotten fully back into the divine favor, and fully free from
all the blemishes and imperfections of humanity which have tainted the entire race to
putrefaction. It will mean, therefore, not only physical health, strength and perfection,
but also mental and moral ability restored. In a word, it will mean a return of that moral
image and likeness of god in which Father Adam was created, and from which he fell, and we
by him under the law of heredity.
The author claims that as god had already created
various orders of spirit being before creating man, he determined that as a further
exercise of his creative power, he would make an earthly creature in his own
likeness, and put him in possession of the earth for his home, adapting him
constitutionally to it, and providing the earth with various orders of animals, also
adapted to it, and placing man as lord of earth in charge, subject, however, to Jehovah as
his Overlord. He points out that the intrusion of sin was not unforeseen by divine wisdom,
and that its permission for six thousand years has not in any degree altered the
original divine purposes; and that, consequently, when the time shall come, there
shall be no more dying, no more sighing, no more crying, because the former things will
have passed away (Rev. 21:4); the condition of things which will be permitted to remain,
and that to all eternity, will be—this earth, a Paradise, fully peopled with a human
race, who, through knowledge and experience shall have learned to know their Lord and
creator, and to have absolute confidence in his wisdom, his love, his justice and his
power, having learned that his ways are ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are
35 The Bible verses Evolution.
peace;—a race which shall have passed through
experiences and tests which will have destroyed from amongst it all who in any degree are
in sympathy with unrighteousness; leaving only those who shall, of their own free will,
delight to do the will of the Father who is in Heaven.
He points out that in the divine plan God, foreseeing
and not preventing Adam’s disobedience, and thus the entrance of sin and death into
the world, decided to utilize that evil for the special trial, testing, proving, of
an elect Church, whose members, by a change of nature, will pass from being men, a
little lower than the angels, to be new creatures of the divine nature, far
above angels in glory and power. Calling these to so very high exaltation, even his own
divine nature, “to glory, honor and immortality,” it is appropriate that they
shall first be subjected to crucial tests, as to obedience to the Father, and be perfected
for that new nature through sufferings and disciplines, otherwise described as presenting
their bodies living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God through Christ and the merit of
his sacrifice. It is for this reason that the Gospel Church is called during the present
age, while sin abounds and the prince of this world, Satan, is permitted to have much
power through those who possess his spirit. Those who would make their calling and
election sure to a place in this Heavenly Kingdom, as heirs of God and joint-heirs with
Jesus Christ their Lord, are required to show their fidelity, their love, by such zeal for
God and for righteousness during the present time, when sin prevails, as will surely imply
to them selfsacrifice— the sacrifice of human interests. It is this class, now
being called, that is required to walk in the
36 The Bible verses Evolution.
“narrow way.” The way is narrow, because of
the prevalence and power of sin in the world: and this is permitted of God in order to
thus test the elect Church “whose names are written in heaven—regardless
of earthly denominational lines and systems.
On the contrary, as our author points out, the
Scriptures everywhere indicate that the Millennial age, in which the world will have
blessings from him, will be a period of blessing, of refreshment, of restitution, when
“the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his beams,” and “all
the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth as the waters cover the great
deep;” because “all shall know him, from the least unto the greatest.”
We get, in the words of the Psalmist, the strong
contrast distinguishing between the present age when evil holds sway, and the coming age,
when the Lord our righteousness shall assume control of the world, establishing his Church
with himself in glory as the Kingdom of God; comparing the Gospel age to a night, the be
followed by a morning of light and blessing, he says, “Weeping may endure for a
night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Psa. 30:5.) Again, the Scriptures represent
that the Millennial age will be introduced by the binding of all evil influences
represented by Satan, that the world may no longer be deluded, deceived, misguided by
Satan and his servants, willing or ignorant.—See Rev. 20:1-3.
A.—Your presentations have given me considerable
to think about, dear brother, and have answered several of my objections. And this thought
of restitution being the Lord’s promise for the obedient of the world of
mankind, which Peter declares is more or less
37 The Bible verses Evolution.
the theme of all the prophets since the world began,
certainly deals a death-blow to my Evolution theory: for nothing can be plainer than the
inference that the restitution to be inaugurated at the second coming of Christ is
in the nature of a blessing to mankind, a great blessing, whereas, if the Evolution
theory be in any sense the word true, restitution would be the worst thing that could
possibly happen to poor humanity. If our race began life as a protoplasm, or even as one
step removed from monkeys, “restitution” would signify a loss of all that
Evolution claims has been gained in human development: it would mean his return to bestial
conditions—the greatest curse that could come upon the race.
I see clearly, as I never saw before, that we must
decide between this human Evolution theory, and the teachings of the Divine Word. And as
one result of our conversation I feel my old love and reverence for the Bible springing up
again—indeed more than I ever had, because I am seeing new beauties, yea, grandeurs
in it, of which I have never dreamed. I now begin to appreciate the Apostle’s
expression respecting the lengths and the breadths, the heights and the depths of the love
of God, which passeth all human understanding.
B.—I am glad to hear you thus express yourself;
and glad to tell you that you but echo the sentiments of my own heart and mind: I urge
that you begin at once, not merely a reading, but a systematic study, of these
books which you say you have in your library. But before we par let me mention another
point of their teaching, viz., that the seed of Abraham meant the larger Christ,—not
Christ Jesus our Lord merely
38 The Bible verses Evolution.
(altho all the merit of salvation is fully accorded
to him, and his sacrifice), but also his redeemed, called chosen and faithful
followers of this Gospel age are members of this Seed of Abraham. This is supported by
Gal. 3:16, 29. The latter verse declares that, since we belong to Christ (as the
bride belongs to the bridegroom; or, as the body belongs to the head of the body by which
it is directed and represented), we are thus and therefore members of this promised Seed
of Abraham, and heirs of the promise made to that Seed.
That promise, you will remembered, reads, “In
thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” There can be no question
that the promise has never yet been fulfilled, and that it never can be fulfilled except
through such a resurrection and restitution process as our author points out;—for all
the families of the earth include not only the living families, but all who have ever
lived, from Abraham’s day to the present time, the vast majority of whom have gone
down into the great prison-house of death, without the slightest blessing or
enlightenment; and without any hope except as it is contained in this promise—that in
due time the whole world of mankind, justly brought back from under the death penalty,
shall be blessed with an opportunity of return to divine favor and the attainment of
everlasting life, by God’s grace, operating through the elect Church—Head and
Body.—Rom. 11:31.
A.—This is certainly a grand hope for the world,
as well as a glorious prospect for the elect Church. How strange it seems that Bible
students for so long have overlooked these gloriously bejeweled promises!
B.— “In due time” is the secret
which explains the
39 The Bible verses Evolution.
entire matter. We are to remember, too, brother, that
the six thousand years of earth’s experiences with evil seem long to us because of
the brevity of our lives and present conditions: from God’s standpoint, as the
Apostle points out, a thousand years are but as yesterday, or even as a watch in the
night, after it is past. The night of sin has only had six watches after this measurement,
and the morning of everlasting righteousness and blessing is just about to dawn.
A.—Another question: How about the day of
Judgment? What and when will that be?
B.—Our author shows conclusively from the
Scriptures that it is not one of our days of twentyfour hours, but “a day with the
Lord”—a thousand years that it will be the thousand years of Christ’s
reign,—the Millennium. During that Day of Judgment the world will be on trial
or on judgment for eternal life, as we, the called out ones of this Gospel age, are now on
the judgment or on trial; only that our trial is, as already pointed out, severer,
along a narrow “way.” The Apostle distinctly tells us that we, the Church, shall
not come into condemnation (trial or judgment) with the world in the next age, but pass
now from death to life, before the world’s day of judgment begins. (John 5:24; 1 Cor.
11:32.) He also declared— “God hath appointed a [future] day in which he
will judge [grant trial to] the world, in righteousness”—by Christ. And he
distinctly tells us that when the world of mankind will be on trial (during the Millennial
age), the overcoming elect Church then in glory, partakers of the divine nature, glory,
honor and immortality, will be the judges of the world, associated with their Lord.
He says,— “Know ye not that the saints shall judge the world?”—1 Cor.
6:2.
40 The Bible verses Evolution.
A.—And what about the finally impenitent at the
close of the Millennial age, and those who in this age sin against the holy spirit? What
will be their doom?
B.—God’s law changes not. As it was
expressed to Adam, and executed against him, so it still stands the same to-day—
“The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23.) The prophet, speaking of the
Millennial age, declares that then none shall die for inherited sins, as all die now, but
that it will be an individual trial, with and individual penalty against all who shall
then sin wilfully. His declaration is, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” He
reminds us of the proverb now in general application, viz., “The fathers ate a
sour grape [sin], and the children’s teeth are set on edge [all of Adam’s
posterity are fallen, depraved, dying, as a result of his transgression];” but
assures us that this shall not be true in the next age. None will die except for his own
personal wilful sin.
God willeth not the death of him that dieth, but
would that all should turn unto him and live.— Ezek. 18:23, 32; 2 Pet. 3:9.
The Apostle, speaking of wilful sinners, declares
that they “shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of
the Lord and from the glory of his power.” Whosoever will not have God’s gift of
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, cannot have life at all, for “All the
wicked will God destroy.”—Psa. 145:20.
A.—What then about hell, purgatory, etc., so
generally believed throughout Christendom?
B.—The general view is a great and serious error
which has done much to hinder many of earth’s best minds from careful consideration
of the Word of God; because they believed the Bible to teach the God-dishonoring
41 The Bible verses Evolution.
doctrine that the majority of his creatures, with his
foreknowledge, consent and predetermination, would be eternally tormented. The simple
teaching of the Scripture is terrible enough, without depraved human embellishments of
flame and agony indescribable. The great hell to which the entire human family was
consigned because of sin is the great prison-house of death,—the tomb.
The wages of sin is death; and there would
have been no resurrection, no future life, except for our Lord’s great sacrifice on
our behalf. Christ ransomed or bought us with his own life—he died for
our sins and thus secured for man legal privilege to be resurrected, restored. Thus it is
written, “I will ransom them from the grave.”—Hosea 13:14,
You are probably aware that the word translated
“hell” in our Old Testament Scriptures is in Hebrew sheol, and signified the
death state, and never in any sense or use of the word a place or condition of
torture. You probably have noticed also that the same Hebrew word has been
translated still more frequently “grave” and “pit,”—much nearer
its correct signification in our language. You have also noticed that the word hades of
the New Testament Greek is the exact equivalent of the Hebrew word sheol, and is
always used to translate it wherever a passage is quoted in the new Testament. Hades,
therefore, signifies the same as sheol, viz., the tomb or the death state.
In the New testament the word tartarus occurs once, descriptive of the place or
condition in which the fallen angels are reserved, waiting for their trial in the
Millennial age {for the glorified Church is to grant them also a trial for life).—1
Cor. 6:3.
The only other Greek word of the New testament,
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translated “hell,” is the word gehenna,
which, is all scholars recognize, is applied in our Lord’s parables to the valley of
Hinnom, outside the city of Jerusalem, where the offal of the city was destroyed.
It was used as a symbol of the Second Death in which all found unworthy of life shall be
destroyed from amongst men as offal. But I will take pleasure in sending to you gratis a
little tract, bearing upon this subject, entitled, Do the Scriptures Teach that Eternal
Torment is the Wages of Sin? It points out various misconceptions and
misinterpretations of our Lord’s parables, and of the Book of Revelation, in which alone
anything is found which has been a semblance of teaching eternal torment. The
punishment is death, and it will be an everlasting punishment in that there
will be no resurrection from the Second Death.
A.—But will there be no future retribution of
any sort for evil deeds, etc., of the present life? B.—Oh, decidedly yes! Future
retribution is distinctly taught in the Scriptures, but no punishment that will be
hopeless except the punishment of deliberate, wilful sin, the Second Death. All other
punishment will be reformatory in its character and tendency.
The Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory is evidently
a corruption or perversion of the Scriptural teaching respecting a future retribution
during the Millennial age, which will be not merely a time of blessing, but also a time of
retribution. All wilful sins against light and much knowledge will receive stripes in
proportion to their wilfulness, and the light and knowledge sinned against. Every such
transgression undermines character and debases the individual, and in the Millennial age
each will come forth from the
43 The Bible verses Evolution.
tomb in the moral condition in which he entered:
hence he will have that much more of a journey before him as he shall attempt to “go
up” on the highway of holiness—to return into full harmony with God. And his
corrections in righteousness, his chastisements, his stripes, will be proportionately more
than those who now, equally vile, were ignorant of the will of God, and hence did not
violate knowingly nor undermine their consciences and characters.
A.—Grand! Sublimely grand! Reasonable, just,
good, loving!—yet just what we should expect of him who declares, “My thoughts
are not as your thoughts, nor my ways as your ways, saith the Lord, for as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my thoughts higher than your thoughts, and my ways higher
than your ways.” Thank God that I have met you, dear brother, and that you so kindly,
yet pointedly and forcefully have brought to my attention the fact that I was on the wrong
track, and was fast losing whatever portion I ever had of the Gospel of the cross of
Christ, and was laying hold upon a false gospel of Evolution, which is not another gospel,
but merely a theory, a human speculation, and as I now see it, radically in opposition to
the divine revelation.
This is my station. Good bye! I am glad to hear you
say that you will preach the true Gospel, of which the Apostle Paul said that he
was not ashamed. (Rom. 1:16.) And, my brother, let me assure you that if you fulfil this
resolve it will doubtless mean that you are thus making your calling and election sure to
a place in the elect Church.
A.—How so? Is the Kingdom the reward of
preaching?
44 The Bible verses Evolution.
B.—Not exactly; the Kingdom is the reward of
faithfulness to the Lord through evil and through good report—the reward of becoming
dead with him to the world—the reward of suffering for righteousness’
sake—the reward of laying down our lives for the brethren. All the brethren are
preachers—declarers of the whole counsel of God to the extent that they have learned
it and have ability and opportunities for presenting it to others. This is their duty as
well as their joyful privilege now, as it will be, under more favorable conditions in the
next age—telling the whole world of the privilege of reconciliation to God, through
the blood of the cross.
But what I meant in your case is this: and I mention
it to forearm you, and to strengthen you when the trial time shall come. While your heart
is burning with the love of the Lord and the grandeur of his plan of salvation, you fondly
hope that your brethren in the ministry, and Christian people everywhere, will receive the
message of divine love which unlocks the Word of God, and is now “meat in due
season:” you even anticipate that they will receive it with joy and gladness. But you
are mistaken, dear brother. Only comparatively few have ears to hear the truth, or eyes to
discern the real beauties of the exceeding great and precious promises of the Scriptures.
To your surprise, they will not only reject these
“good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people,” as was announced at
our Savior’s birth, and prefer the horrible inconsistencies received through
tradition of the fathers, an utterly antagonistic to every proper idea of justice and love
and goodness,—but more than this, so blinded are they by prejudice that
45 The Bible verses Evolution.
they will hate you, just as the Jews hated our Lord
and the apostles in the end of their age, because they announced the truths of the Gospel
then being ushered in. Remember our Lord’s words, “Marvel not, if the world hate
you. Ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” Whosoever shall live godly in
this present time “shall suffer persecution.”
The master of our house was called Beelzebub, and we
must not hope to be treated more kindly. Remember, too, that it was the nominal professors
of the Jewish Church that opposed the Gospel, and that parallel requires that it should be
the nominal professors of the Gospel Church that will oppose the Gospel of the Millennial
Kingdom. But, dear brother, be faithful to the Lord and to his truth and he will be
faithful to you, and eventually say, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter
thou into the joys of thy Lord.” Remember too, if you want further reading matter
along these lines, and tracts for distribution, to address the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT
SOCIETY, at Allegheny, Pa. Good bye!
* * *
LATEST VIEWS OF EVOLUTIONISTS.
Professor Japp, a distinguished biologist, has
expressed as his latest conclusion that the decided difference between organic an
inorganic molecules precludes the possibility of the spontaneous evolution of life.
Herbert Spenser, in Nature, (Oct. 20th),
discussing the same question, declares as his latest opinion that “Life is
incomprehensible.”
46 The Bible verses Evolution.
RELIABLE AND CORROBORATIVE
EVIDENCE THAT THE HEADS AND BRAINS OF MODERN MEN
ARE SMALLER THAN WERE THOSE OF THE ANCIENTS.
Popular Science Monthly, for December, 1898, in
an article discussing “Brain Weight and Intellectual capacity” furnishes the
following items.
Discussing the average of brain weights
furnished by various doctors, some claiming 49 ounces and others as high as 55.4, it says,
“If we strike a balance between the highest and the lowest of these estimates, the
means will be 52.2” ounces. Then , after reminding us that the brain of Daniel
Webster was but 53.5 ounces and that of the celebrated Frenchman, Gambetta, weighed less
than 41 ounces, it quotes and comments thus:—
“The St. Louis Globe Democrat of November
13, 1885, gives an account of some excavations on the Mount Ararat farm, east of
Carrollton, Illinois, where the bones of thirty-two Indians or mound builders were
unearthed. ‘They were not a diminutive race, as some people have supposed, some of
the thigh bones being sixteen inches long, and some of the skulls twenty-four inches in
circumference.’ A skull having a circumference of twenty-four inches means a head
that measured from twenty-five to twenty-six and a half in life, when the cranium was
covered with skin and muscles. The average head of white men in New York to-day is only
twenty-two and a half inches round. So the culture of the white race for centuries has not
developed their heads to near the size of those of the uncultured builders who inhabited
America many centuries ago.
“The Engisskull is one of the most ancient known
to exist, and belonged to the stone age, or about the same time as the Neanderthal skull.
Professor Huxley describes it as being well formed, and considerably larger than the
average of European skulls to-day in the width and height of the forehead and in the cubic
capacity of the whole.
47 The Bible verses Evolution.
“These facts all conspire to prove that the
cultivation of thousands of years has not increased the size of human skulls. In 1886 we
measured many of the skulls unearthed at Pompeii, the remains of Romans who lived nearly
two thousand years ago, and we found them on the average larger in every way, but
especially in the forehead, than the skulls of Romans of this century.
“In the museums of Switzerland we measured in
1887 several skulls of the ancient lake dwellers of that country, and found them larger in
all respects, but particularly in the forehead, than those of the Swiss people of the last
fifty years.
“The average circumference of the skulls we
measured in the catacombs of Paris was twenty-one inches and a half, which is about an
inch more than that of Parisians who have died within the past fifty years.”
* * *
We submit that these evidences attested by the
savants of our day, very generally believers in the Evolution theory, do not uphold their
contention. Rather they agree with our view, the Scriptural one, that the original man had
greater capacity than to-day, while to-day we have larger education—knowledge
has increased, capacity has decreased.
