222 THE PROBLEM OF EVOLUTION 



and we assume further action on His part only 

 where natural science or some other branch of 

 learning constrains us to do so. 1 



This evening various speakers have raised ob- 

 jections to three special points. 



1. The creation of matter. But matter cannot 

 exist of itself, and therefore we need to have a God 

 who created it. 



2. The existence of life. It is only a conditional 

 postulate which assumes the existence of God in 

 order to account for life. If science removes the 

 difficulty, and shows that living organisms can spon- 

 taneously proceed from inorganic matter, we shall 

 not need to assume any interference on the part of 

 the Creator. 



3. With reference to the intelligent soul of man 

 for there is no difficulty in admitting the possi- 

 bility of an evolution when we consider man only 

 with reference to his body. But on the intellectual 

 side psychology teaches us that the intelligent soul 

 of man constitutes the essential difference between 

 man and beast and we cannot avoid this conclusion. 



I may be allowed here to refer to the numerous 



1 There is no reference here to miracles, as Plate asserted in his speech. 

 A miracle is an exception to an already existent law of nature. The creation 

 of matter, the production of the first organisms, and the creation of the 

 intelligent human soul, cannot be called miracles ; to name them thus 

 would be philosophically senseless, because in these cases the laws of nature 

 governing these processes did not yet exist, but still had to be imposed by 

 the Creator. Moreover, the laws governing the lower stages of existence 

 are not violated by the laws of the higher stages, but the latter are the 

 complement of the former. 



