232 HEREDITY AND CHRISTIAN PROBLEMS 



their life, the power to which they may be joined, 

 the goal toward which they are pressing, the 

 transforming power of the divine in their spir- 

 itual environment proves more than a match for 

 all the streams of evil inheritance, however far 

 they have come from the past. 



The facts heretofore considered suggest a 

 needed modification in the manner of presenting 

 the doctrines of sin, responsibility, and penalty. 

 Science now testifies positively to two tremendous 

 facts. On the one hand, it shows the all but 

 prevailing influence of inherited tendencies ; on 

 the other, the inevitable and remorseless result 

 of the violation of law. The problem of indi- 

 vidual human destiny, studied in tke light of 

 nature alone, is very complicated, and its out- 

 come is heavily shadowed. Heredity impels men 

 strongly and persistently to violation of law, and, 

 when they yield to their impulses, a law of 

 retribution takes them in hand and does not let 

 them go until they have paid the uttermost far- 

 thing. " Nature," says Professor Huxley, " always 

 checkmates without haste and without remorse, 

 never overlooking a mistake, or making the 

 slightest allowance for ignorance." The reign of 

 law makes the consequences of violation of law 

 (which is sin) apparently hopeless. It is a dark 



