I4O EVOLUTION AND SOCIAL PROGRESS 



self-existent of its very essence; as the origin of 

 life without this first cause /is not merely in- 

 comprehensible, but the very thought of the de- 

 velopment of living organisms from dead matter 

 is repugnant to our reason; so now there is no 

 other manner of accounting for the intelligent 

 soul of man except by a special creative act. The 

 same cause that called matter into being and gave 

 the force that impelled it into motion, directing 

 its development by laws which none but the maker 

 of them should ever be able to set aside; the same 

 cause that was able to bring into a world of dead 

 matter, "void and empty," the first spark of life 

 and fill it with the wonders of its animate creation; 

 that cause alone could now, by a new creative act, 

 call into being the intelligence of man which might 

 utilize, rule and direct the entire creation, and 

 lift up its song of praise and thanksgiving to the 

 supreme Creator. This great creative act the 

 sacred writer clothes in language beautiful and 

 poetical in its rich symbolism, picturing in delight- 

 fully human ways the invisible and pure spirit that 

 is God: 



And the Lord God formed man of the slime of 

 the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of 

 life, and man became a living soul. 



So we close our account. We have thus studied 

 the opening chapters of Genesis as recounting a 

 series of geological and biological events on the 

 earth's surface, viewing them from a purely scien- 



