22 THE PROBLEM OF EVOLUTION 



in order to bring out clearly the points of contrast 

 in the various opinions on this subject. We shall 

 then proceed to a critical comparison of the doctrine 

 of evolution and Darwinism. 



In our last lecture we considered the doctrine of 

 evolution as a scientific hypothesis and theory, and 

 we found that it was applicable to the investigation 

 into the actual condition and origin of the genealogical 

 series of living organisms, which reach from the most 

 remote palaeozoic age to the present time, when we 

 find the living varieties of our own day to be the 

 latest offshoots of these stocks. 



It follows directly that this theory of evolution has 

 nothing to do with the theory of the universe as such. 

 One may be a monist or one may be a theist, and 

 still equally well support this doctrine of evolution 

 in the domain of natural science. 



A further consequence is that it is incorrect, and 

 not in accordance with the actual facts, to use the 

 doctrine of evolution as a kind of battering-ram 

 against Christianity. The monists do this, and, 

 for the last forty years, Haeckel asserts that he has 

 been using this theory, as ' heavy monistic artillery ' 

 against Christianity. The scientific theory of evolu- 

 tion is in itself absolutely unconcerned with any 

 theory of the universe, although the human intellect 

 feels a craving to bring this particular theory into 

 touch with one or other of the various general 

 views of the universe. 



