YIII. 



WHAT IS DARWINISM ? ' 

 (The Nation, May 23, 1874.) 



The question which Dr. Hodge asks he promptly 

 and decisively answers : " What is Darwinism ? it is 

 atheism." 



Leaving aside all subsidiary and incidental matters, 

 let us consider — 1. What the Darwinian doctrine is, 

 and 2. How it is proved to be atheistic. Dr. Hodge's 

 own statement of it cannot be very much bettered : 



"His [Darwin's] work on the 'Origin of Species' does not 

 purport to be philosophical. In this aspect it is very different 

 from the cognate works of Mr. Spencer. Darwin does not specu- 

 late on the origin of the universe, on the nature of matter or of 

 force. He is simply a naturalist, a careful and laborious ob- 

 server, skillful in his descriptions, and singularly candid in deal- 

 ing with the difficulties in the way of his peculiar doctrine. He 

 set before himself a single problem — namely, How are the fauna 



1 " What is Darwinism ? By Charles Hodge, Princeton, N. J." New 

 York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co. 1874. 



" The Doctrine of Evolution. By Alexander Winchell, LL. D., etc." 

 New York: Harper & Brothers. 1874. 



" Darwinism and Design ; or, Creation by Evolution. By George 

 St. Clair." London : Hodder & Stoughton. 1873. 



" Westminster Sermons. By the Rev. Charles Kingsley, F. L. S., 

 F. G. S., Canon of Westminster, etc." London and New York : Mac- 

 millan & Co. 1874. 



