'7 8 (34) 



Second : In Genesis ii. 7, the text reads, " And the 

 Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and 

 breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man 

 became a living soul." The fact that man js the result 

 of the modification of an ape-like predecessor nowise 

 conflicts with the above statement as to the materials of 

 which his body is composed. Independently of origin, 

 if the body of man be composed of dust, so must that 

 of the ape be, since the composition of the two is iden- 

 tical. But the statement simply asserts that man was 

 created of the same materials which compose the earth : 

 their condition as "dust " depending merely on tempera- 

 ture and subdivision. The declaration, " Dust thou art, 

 and unto dust thou shalt return," must be taken in a 

 similar sense, for we know that the decaying body is re- 

 solved not only into its earthly constituents, but also into 

 carbonic acid gas and water. 



When God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of 

 life, we are informed that he became, not a living body, 

 but "a living soul." His descent from a preexistent 

 being involved the possession of a living body ; but 

 when the Creator breathed into him we may suppose 

 for the present that He infused into this body the im- 

 mortal part, and at that moment man became a consci- 

 entious and responsible being. 



II. METAPHYSICAL EVOLUTION. 



It is infinitely improbable that a being endowed with 

 such capacities for gradual progress as man has exhib- 

 ited, should have been full fledged in accomplishments 

 at the moment when he could first claim his high title, 

 and abandon that of his simious ancestors. We are 



