THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 55 



if we regarded Him as constantly interfering with the work- 

 ing of the laws of nature. Let us imagine two billiard players, 

 each having a hundred balls to direct. The one needs a 

 hundred strokes in order to accomplish this end, the other with 

 one stroke sets all the balls in motion, as he wills. The latter 

 is undoubtedly the more skilful player. St. Thomas Aquinas 

 stated long ago that the force of any cause was the greater, 

 the further its action extended. God does not interfere 

 directly in the natural order where He can work through 

 natural causes. This is by no means a new principle, but a 

 very old one, and it shows us that the theory of evolution, 

 as a scientific hypothesis and theory, so far as it can be really 

 proved, is perfectly compatible with the Christian theory of 

 the origin of things. 



According to this view, the evolution of the organic world 

 is but a little line in the millions of pages contained in the 

 Book of Evolution of the whole universe, on the title page of 

 which still stands written in indelible letters: "In the beginning 

 God created heaven and earth."* 



There are, however, certain stages at which 

 Wasmann himself shows that a special act of cre- 

 ation is demanded by philosophy. Such is first 

 the original creation of matter, secondly the crea- 

 tion of life, and thirdly the creation of the mind 

 of man, of his intelligent soul. His statement, 

 however, must not be taken to imply that these 

 three were in fact the only direct creative acts 

 of God in the production of the universe with 

 all that it contains. Neither science nor theology 

 is empowered to tell us how many such actions 

 may have taken place. The data are contained 

 neither in the book of nature nor in the Holy 

 Scripture. There is, however, one remarkable 



"The Problem of Evolution," pp. 19, 20. 



