434 EVOLUTION AND DOGMA. 



quotidiana Dei miracula, of which St. Augustine 

 speaks, and through it we are vouchsafed a glimpse, 

 as it were, of the operation of Providence in the gov- 

 ernment of the world. 



Evolution, therefore, is neither a " philosophy of 

 mud," nor " a gospel of dirt," as it has been denom- 

 inated. So far, indeed, is this from being the case 

 that, when properly understood, it is found to be a 

 strong and useful ally of Catholic Dogma. For if Evo- 

 lution be true, the existence of God and an original 

 creation follow as necessary inferences. "A true de- 

 velopment," as has truthfully been asserted, " implies 

 a terminus a quo as well as a terminus ad quern. If, 

 then, Evolution is true, an absolute beginning, how- 

 ever unthinkable, is probable ;" I should say cer- 

 tain " the eternity of matter is inconsistent with 

 scientific Evolution." 



" Nature," Pascal somewhere says, " confounds 

 the Pyrrhonist, and reason, the dogmatist." Evolu- 

 tion, we can declare with equal truth, confounds the 

 agnostic, and science, the atheist. For, as an Eng- 

 lish positivist has observed : " You cannot make the 

 slightest concession to metaphysics without ending in 

 a theology," a statement which is tantamount to the 



une cause premiere, creatrice, legislative et directrice de la vie, 

 et inaccessible a nos connaissances ; ensuite une cause prochaine, 

 ou executive, du phenomene vital, qui est toujours de nature 

 physico-chimique et tombe dans le domaine de rexperimenta- 

 tion. La cause premiere de la vie donne 1'evolution ou la crea- 

 tion de la machine organisce; mais la machine, une fois creee, 

 fonctionne en vertu des proprietes de ses elements constituants 

 et sous 1'influence des conditions physico-chimiques qui agissent 

 sur eux." " La Science Experimentale," p. 53. 



1 Vid. Moore's " Science and the Faith," p. 229. 



