THEISTIC AND ATHEISTIC EVOLUTION 29 



of the whole inorganic world and this to me 

 appears to be a very reasonable view to take. 



4. In order to account for the origin of the first 

 organisms, the theistic theory of life presupposes 

 a so-called act of creation to have taken place. I 

 say ' a so-called act,' for the fact that the first 

 organisms were produced from inorganic matter 

 is intimately connected with this theory. It 

 does not involve creation out of nothing, as the 

 creation of matter does ; it is a production of 

 organic bodies out of pre-existent inorganic 

 matter. Should science be in a position to prove 

 that spontaneous generation was actually possible, 

 and that living beings could proceed spontan- 

 eously from inorganic matter, theism would at 

 once surrender this fourth postulate, for it is merely 

 conditional and not essential to the Christian theory 

 of the universe ; in fact, science has forced it upon 

 us, in proving to us by biological facts the im- 

 possibility of spontaneous generation. For this 

 reason philosophy also denies its possibility, and 

 this denial necessitates the assumption of a higher 

 cause, of some particular action upon matter on 

 the part of the Creator, in order to explain the 

 origin of the first organisms. 



5. The earliest laws of evolution were laid down 

 for the organic world at the production of the 

 first organisms. These laws are often mis- 

 represented, as if they were little sprites hovering 

 over the atoms, pushing and pulling them in some 



