EVOLUTION AND RELIGION 



thousands of years ago and that we have been able 

 to add nothing to them since, in spite of constant and 

 persistent effort*? To me, and I think to most others, 

 the highest civilization is one in which the highest 

 moral characteristics are displayed by the greatest 

 number of individuals. Would any one venture to say 

 that a community which was eager to enjoy and capa- 

 ble of criticising the artistic and moral exposition of 

 the Greek tragedies or the plays of Shakespeare was 

 not as near the goal of refined civilization as arc our 

 own communities'? Were not those citizens at least 

 comparable to ours whose recreations lie rather in the 

 automobile, the movies, and the magazines, although 

 these three are cited as marvels of science^ I should 

 consider little Athens, or little Florence, with its rec- 

 ord of eminent men, whose achievements were the 

 common property of its citizens, on a par with our 

 greatest industrial cities. Nor would the life and as- 

 pirations of the little band of early Christians com- 

 pare unfavourably with the Council of the League of 

 Nations. 



The Evolutionists may point to progress in many 

 things but none of them ventures to claim that the 

 standards of individual ability have been advanced. 

 Aristotle, Hipparchus, and Archimedes still rank 

 with Darwin, Galileo, and Newton in scientific acu- 

 men; Socrates and Jesus still stand unchallenged in 

 moral character. Professor Conklin and others who 

 have tried to reconcile biological evolution with so- 



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