290 DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION 



we destroy the efficacy of the human arm when we study 

 its muscles and bones and sinews. The former, like the 

 latter, take their places among natural phenomena whose 

 history must be inquired into if there are any reasons for 

 supposing that they fall within the scope of evolution. 

 I would be the last to lead or to take part in an attack 

 upon any system of religion, but as a student who is in- 

 terested in the universality of organic evolution, I am 

 forced to scrutinize each and every authentic account 

 of a religion to see if such systems present objective evi- 

 dence of the fact of their evolution through the opera- 

 tion of purely natural causes. 



But before passing to a detailed treatment of the anal- 

 ysis, synthesis, and genesis of religious systems, let us em- 

 ploy our common-sense for a brief backward glance over 

 the known history of familiar facts. Every one is aware 

 that the Christian religions of our time and community 

 have not existed forever ; this, indeed, is indicated by the 

 way the passing years are denominated. We call the 

 present year 1907 Anno Domini, and this whole expres- 

 sion explicitly refers to the fact that less than two thou- 

 sand years ago the Christian systems of piety and wor- 

 ship collectively took their origin from their Hebrew 

 ancestor. The same parent has produced the relatively 

 unchanged Judaism of the present day. Judaism itself 

 evolved under the influence of the Prophets, of Moses, 

 and of Abraham. Turning to Asia, we learn how Bud- 

 dhism evolved from Brahmanism. The teachings of 

 Mohammed at a later time developed into the formu- 

 lated precepts of the Koran. Would any one venture to 

 assert that all or any of these systems of thought have 

 stood firm and immutable from the finite or infinite 



