30 



FACTS AND FANCIES 



and unscientific, being, for example, quite at 

 variance with the analogy of force and life. 

 Rightly understood, therefore, Spencer's alter- 

 natives resolve themselves into two — either the 

 universe is self-existent, or it is the work of a 

 self-existent Creator pervading all things with 

 his power. Of these, Spencer prefers the first. 

 Paul, on the other hand, referring to the mental 

 condition of the civilized heathens of his time, 

 affirms that rationally they could believe only 

 in the hypothesis of creation. He says of 

 God : " His invisible things, even his eternal 

 power and divinity, can be perceived (by the 

 reason), being understood by the things that 

 are made." Let us look at these rival proposi- 

 tions. Is the universe self-existent, or does it 

 show evidence of creative power and divinity ? 

 The doctrine that the universe is self-existent 

 may be understood in different ways. It may 

 mean either an endless succession of such 

 changes as we now see in progress, or an 

 eternity of successive cycles proceeding through 

 the course of geological ages and ever return- 

 ing into themselves. The first is directly con- 

 trary to known facts in the geological history 

 of the earth, and cannot be maintained by any 

 one. The second would imply that the known 



