EVOLUTION THE MASTER-KEY 



Perhaps one hundred millions of years ago to 

 take an estimate of Lord Kelvin's the surface 

 temperature of the cooling earth became low 

 enough to permit of the existence of water in the 

 fluid state. Hitherto it had existed in gaseous 

 form in the atmosphere, but when the temperature 

 had fallen below that of the boiling-point of water, 

 life became possible. And here evolutionary theory 

 joins issue with the belief in creation. Of course 

 it is not meant that it has to argue the case against 

 the early chapters of Genesis. Time was when 

 certain aspects of the theory of organic evolution, 

 and especially that which concerns itself with the 

 origin of species, had to oppose themselves to 

 Genesis; but that time is forever past, and the 

 ancient Babylonian and Hebrew legends of the 

 creation may be studied beside other examples of 

 early mythology. But until living matter can be 

 produced in the laboratory, or, at any rate, until a 

 feasible theory of the natural origin of life can be 

 framed, the creationists will continue to maintain 

 that which the evolutionists must deny: that the 

 beginnings of life on our planet marked a unique 

 interruption in the action of the law of continuity, 

 that natural causes were insufficient for this new 

 birth, and that a creative fiat went forth, saying, 

 "Let there be life." We must therefore devote 

 special consideration to this question, which was 

 never discussed by Darwin, but which Spencer 

 considered at length, as, indeed, his universal theory 

 compelled him to do. 



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