78 THE VEN. ARCHDEACON W. MACDONALD SINCLAIR, D.D., ON 
tures begin is as worthy of belief as it ever was: In the 
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. There never 
were, and there never will be, more than two great theories 
of the origin of the Universe; it is the product either of 
Chance or of Purpose. Between these two theories you must 
take your choice. That it is born of purpose is intelligible, 
reasonable, probable. That it grew by chance always was 
preposterous, but it is tenfold more preposterous to-day than 
it was fifty years ago. We are sure that the sublime move- 
ments of the planets over our heads, and the crystalline 
glories of the earth beneath our feet, and the. wonderful 
and beautiful forms of life about us, are not the outcome 
of any chance. The unity, the harmony, the progress that 
we see, disclose to us the working of an eternal Purpose. 
It is in that Purpose that Nature reveals to us the existence 
of that God who, in the beginning, created the heaven and 
the earth. It is not a demonstration, but the inference is 
clear and strong. Purpose means Intelligence, Purpose 
means Will; one Intelligence, one Will, one God.” 
Jl. THe OPERATION or Gop. 
1. The Purpose of God in Creation suggested in Romans viii. 
What is that Purpose? With regard to the final destiny 
of the Universe, a recent writer (W. W. Howard) says: 
“ Revelation here, as elsewhere, anticipates Reason. In 
Holy Scripture it is over and over again stated expressly, 
and nowhere with such fulness as in the eighth chapter of 
St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. And it turns out to be 
nothing short of the EVOLUTION OF ALL CREATION INTO 
RATIONAL FORMS, CAPABLE OF KNOWING GoD, PRAISING GoD, 
AND SENSIBLY ENJOYING His Favours. A most magnificent 
conception :— 
“Too bold to believe it true : 
If not far bolder still to disbelieve. 
... “The Creation and the Creator assumed, what would 
pure Reason conclude to be the ultimate object involved 
in the bringing of all things into bemg? Would not that 
final aim be the highest that Reason could conceive? In 
possession of a perfect Deity as the universal Creator, could 
Reason hesitate to ascribe to Him the very highest purpose 
in His creative efforts? And can any purpose above this 
