Darwmtsm 



Similar views were held by the church fathers. 

 Augustine speaks frequently of the laws of na- 

 ture.^ By these he explained the phenomena of 

 the physical world, not by constant divine inter- 

 ventions. He distinguishes sharply between the 

 work of creation and that of formation or de- 

 velopment. The former was direct and simul- 

 taneous, the later gradual and progressive, ac- 

 cording to the laws of nature. He says that 

 animals and plants were produced, not as they 

 now appear, but virtually and in germ. All 

 things were created originally in an elementary 

 condition and developed and assumed their pres- 

 ent form subsequently " according to opportun- 

 ity." Other even more striking passages might 

 easily be quoted from this old evolutionist. 



The earth was to all these men no mere clod 

 or mass; it pulsated with life, brought forth of 

 itself, and responded to divine commands or in- 

 fluences. In all the wheels of nature there was 

 a true spirit of life, while above was the firma- 

 ment and the throne. 



In the seventeenth century Suarez In Spain 

 and Milton In England propounded the theory 



^ Osborn, H. F., "From the Greeks to Darwin," p. 71. 

 8 3 



