424 EVOLUTION AND DOGMA. 



Strictly speaking, Evolution, whether it progress 

 by saltation or by minute and fortuitous increments, 

 as we are wont to regard them, is, in the last resort, 

 a kind of special creation, and, reason as we may, 

 we can view it in no other light. The same may be 

 said of spontaneous generation, or the Evolution of 

 organic from inorganic matter. For secondary or 

 derivative creation implies Evolution of some kind, 

 as Evolution, whether rapid or operating through 

 untold aeons, demands, in the last analysis, the action 

 of intelligence and will, and presupposes what is 

 termed creation in a restricted sense, that is, forma- 

 tion from preexisting material. Our primary intu- 

 itions, especially our ideas of causation, preclude us 

 from taking any other view in the premises. As 

 reason and revelation teach, it was God who created 

 the materials and forces which made Evolution pos- 

 sible. "It was Mind," as Anaxagoras saw, "that 

 set all things in order" Trdvra dtexoffr^ffe v6os ; that 

 from chaos educed a cosmos and gave to the earth 

 all that infinitude of variety and beauty and har- 

 mony which we so much admire. 



But not only is Evolution a theory which is in 

 perfect accordance with science and Scripture, with 

 Patristic and Scholastic theology ; it is likewise a the- 

 ory which promises soon to be the generally accepted 

 view ; the view which will specially commend itself 

 not only to Christian philosophy, but also to Chris- 

 tian apologetics as well. We have seen some indi- 

 cations of this in the already quoted opinions of such 

 eminent Catholic authorities as Monsabre\ D'Hulst, 

 Leroy, De Lapparent and St. George Mivart. 



