DOCTRINE OF ORGANIC EVOLUTION = 481 
become definite units of classification, which although some- 
times difficult to separate in practice are in theory none 
the less absolute. 
Those who have studied plants and animals most closely 
have always marveled at the ways in which each kind fits 
its natural environment, that is to say all the conditions 
under which it naturally lives. Thus among plants the 
absorption of food materials and the making of food, its 
storage for future use and its protection from harm, require 
not only a perfect working together of parts within the 
organism, but a nice adjustment of all to the surroundings. 
The structural features and habits of behavior which enable 
any organism to meet the usual requirements of its life are 
spoken of as adaptations to its environment. 
Creationism views the wonderful adaptations of plants 
and animals as manifestations of the Creator’s wisdom in so 
forming the progenitor of each species that its descendants 
shall all fit well into the places they are to occupy. It recog- 
nizes kinship only among the individuals of a species. The 
resemblance among species of the same genus, or among the 
subdivisions of higher groups in a natural system, it regards 
as indicating merely similarities of plan which the Creator 
was pleased to follow, much as an architect uses similar 
features more or less varied in different parts of a design. 
165. The doctrine of organic evolution expresses a some- 
what different view, which, however, is not so fundamen- 
tally opposed to creationism as might appear from the violent 
controversies waged between creationists and evolutionists 
during the nineteenth century. Evolutionists have repeatedly 
confessed their faith in God as the Author of the universe. 
Nor; as we shall see, do they deny that the descendants of a 
given organism may continue essentially unchanged for an 
indefinite period. As to adaptations, evolutionists have re- 
vealed a wealth of marvelously perfect examples greater 
than the creationists ever dreamed of. 
What then was the need of a new doctrine of origins? One 
reason for dissatisfaction with the old view was that the 
more thoroughly plants and animals were studied, the less 
did species appear to have such definite limits as the crea- 
