DARWINISM AND DEITY. 



Darwin claims to have established the existence of a 

 law of nature, which regulates the progressive appear- 

 ance on earth of the diversified forms of life. I pro- 

 pose to say a few words about his theory, and to add 

 some suggestions about laws of nature in general. 



It is accepted by all, that the first forms of life were 

 the simplest; that higher forms appeared later, and man 

 last of all. Whether we read the written account in 

 Genesis, or try to decipher the fossil record inscribed 

 on the earth's strata, this general statement is equally 

 discerned. 



In trying to account for this progressive appearance 

 of diversified forms of life, the most obvious method 

 is, to ascribe it to successive acts of creative power. 



This theory of successive creation is upheld by some 

 men of science. 



They say that not only was the beginning of the 

 world a creation, but there is reason for holding that 

 the creative power is not in abeyance, but is still in 

 daily exercise. It is said that the spiritual part of man, 

 the soul, the Me, is not an aggregation of particles, but 

 is an absolute, indivisible unit. It is impossible to im- 

 agine the consciousness of a person to be divided into 

 separate consciousnesses. But an absolute, indivisible 



