EVOLUTION 



December, 1927 



A Battle Cry to True Fundamentalists 



thf Rev- Porphyry Lu,\ 



Brother Fundamentalists: 



It is with deep regret that it becomes 

 my duty to review a year of effort marked 

 by sad reverses and but few advances for 

 the Fundamentalist cause. We might as 

 well be honest with ourselves and face the 

 facts. Though science deny him, Satan 

 still is gaining ground and unless those 

 who feel deeply the danger for those who 

 are dear to them mobilize, a condition 

 eventually will come about in which a 

 Fundamentalist vrill be as out of place in 

 this world as an Angel of the Lord would 

 be in HeU. 



Bills which our supporters have intro- 

 duced in the Legislatures of West Vir- 

 ginia, Missouri, Connecticut, Arkansas and 

 Oklahoma all have been voted down, some 

 of them by a very slight margin, it is true, 

 but nevertheless a sufficient margin to 

 permit the continuation of the teaching 

 of subversive evolutionary propaganda de- 

 signed to pervert the youth of America 

 for the Devil's own purposes. When one 

 views the defeat of one measure after 

 another prepared to protect our youth from 

 blasphemy, who can doubt the existence 

 of a Spirit of Evil — a real Satan — as real 

 as he who once pointed out the pleasures 

 of the world from the mountain. 



Florida a Bright Spot 

 There was just one State in which 

 right triumphed in the Legislature. In 

 Florida the House passed a bill by a ma- 

 jority of 67 to 24 making it unlawful to 

 teach in the public schools of the State 

 "any theory that denies the existence of 

 God or divine creation of man." Here 

 is clearly the hand of God working 

 through his chosen agents, the legislators. 

 It is pitiful they do not also appropriate 

 more money for the improvement of the 

 schools, but perhaps we should not ex- 

 pect improvement in too many ways at 

 once. It is a crying shame, too, that more 

 is not done to protect the health of people 

 within the State. Where there are so 

 many ardent Fundamentalists we cannot 

 afford to have their ranks thinned by 

 disease which might be prevented. 



The tocsin was again sounded by our 

 great Dr. W. B. Riley, President of the 

 World Christian Fundamentals Associa- 

 tion, when that most important of our 

 American institutions met last May at 

 Atlanta- 

 Asleep too Long 

 "It is time for Fundamentalists to act. 

 We have been asleep too long," Dr. Riley 

 declared. I regret only his phraseology, 

 for being asleep too long is just what our 



opponents, the Modernists, charge us with. 

 Lack of success in our efforts. Dr. Riley 

 pointed out, has resulted chiefly through 

 lack of preparation. Sufficient of the 

 customary pressure was not brought to 

 bear upon the legislators by our associates 

 in practical affairs. 



As Dr. Riley pointed out, it is the idea 

 of trying to civilize the world rather than 

 to evangelize it which has cost us so dear. 

 It is this false idea of the real objective 

 of religion, this modernizing idea, which 

 caused the fall of the interchurch move- 

 ment and which brought into disrepute 

 the Federal Council of Churches. 



Nefarious Professors 

 I regret exceedingly to say that our 

 foes are beginning to organize. It was at 

 the American Association of University 

 Professors' meeting last winter in Phila- 

 delphia that steps were taken by that 

 society to bring our opponents together. 

 This organization is composed almost en- 

 tirely of rabid evolutionists — men who are 

 virtually sworn to uphold the nefarious 

 Darwinian doctrines. They are, perhaps, 

 the most serious menace the nation now 

 faces. 



The avowed purpo.«e of this group is 

 to take the initiative in organizing all 

 groups interested in defeating the bills 

 which we propose in the various State 

 Legislatures. These professors undoubt- 

 edly are subsidized by the liquor interests. 



One Scoundrel Less 

 There are a few encouraging signs, how- 

 ever, which point to opportunities for Fun- 

 damentalists. With Governor Richards of 

 South Carolina on the board of trustees, 

 Winthrop College has removed from its 

 faculty a snake in the grass^Professor 

 William Garner Burgin, who insisted upon 

 teaching evolution to his classes. What 

 diabolical influence men like this are able 

 to exercise was clearly shown when more 

 than eighty students repudiated charges 

 of improper conduct against Dr. Burgin 

 and virtually flouted the college authori- 

 ties. There could be no more striking 

 example of the manner in which the evo- 

 lutionary doctrine is undermining the 

 morals of our boys and girls. 



There is also hope in the establishment 

 of a Fundamentalist college in Des Moines. 

 With ringing words Dr. E. O. Kaserman, 

 head of the biology department, denounced 

 modernist science as narrow and intol- 

 erant at the ceremonies attending the tak- 

 ing over of the school by the Baptist Bible 

 Union. It is encouraging to note that over 

 twenty members of last year's faculty have 

 resigned since the Union has assumed 



control of the college. It seems that these 

 so-called teachers remarked in an attempt 

 at humor that they couldn't swallow the 

 story of the whale swallowing Jonah. 



You must realize, however, that to carry 

 on our effort requires money. I hate to 

 mention the subject, but it is one of the 

 hard facts of life, just like the existence 

 of Satan, that we must face. Neverthe- 

 less, it is comforting to realize that while 

 the evolutionists may be rich in ideas, 

 they are far poorer than we in the neces- 

 sary dollars, which are still powerful 

 weapons in the cause of richeousness. 



THE ENGLISH ROW 



QUOTH the Rev. Dr. E. W. Barnes, 

 Bishop of Birmingham, before the 

 youth of Westminster School: 



"Darwin's triumph has destroyed the 

 whole theological scheme. Man is not 

 a being who has fallen from an ideal slate 

 of perfect innocence; he is an animal 

 slowly gaining spiritual understanding. It 

 is quite impossible to harmonize this con- 

 clusion of scientific inquiry with the tra- 

 ditional theology of any branch of the 

 Christian Church. If, then, opinions 

 widely and even universally held turn out 

 to be wrong let us declare the fact, and 

 we need not blush as we make our con- 

 fession." 



That started the row. The Church of 

 England awoke to find itself split into two 

 camps. Said Dean Inge of St. Paul's 

 Cathedral: 



"The doctrine of evolution has long been 

 accepted in the broad outlines by all edu- 

 cated people, the clergy included. The 

 tendency of religious persecution has clung 

 to Christianity like a shadow ever since 

 the two apostles incurred the rebuke of 

 their Master by wishing Him to call down 

 fire from Heaven upon a village which 

 would not receive them." 



Wrote Bishop Barnes to the Most Rev. 

 Randall T. Davidson, Archbishop of Can- 

 terbury and Primate of All England: 



"No man shall drive me to Tennessee 

 or to Rome." 



Whereat the Primate of All England 

 replied: 



"You may dismiss the fear that any 

 one in England will drive you either to 

 Rome or to Tennessee. I believe you 

 overrate the adherence of thoughtful peo- 

 ple to creation theories of fifty to 100 

 years ago." 



But the fight is not over- There are 

 those who still cling to the idea of crea- 

 tion in a week, Adam and Eve in the 

 Garden of Eden and all of the ancient 

 oriental mythology. They are very serious, 

 earnest and sometimes forceful people. 



