306 ORGANIC EVOLUTION CONSIDERED 



he is, with the power of doing both right and wrong, 

 than he would be if he were not a moral agent? Sin 

 is the transgression of law. The power to obey im- 

 plies, in a free agent, the power to disobey. Man's 

 sole duty is to acquaint himself with the laws of the 

 Creator and to obey them. 



But it may be objected that man would have been 

 more perfect and elevated if he had been created 

 with less disposition to transgress. 



In answer to this it may be said that all of man's 

 powers are intended for good, and they serve good 

 purposes when properly used, and that it is possible 

 for him to govern them. 



The appetites and passions which stand on the 

 lower plane of human nature, when made the ser- 

 vants of reason and conscience, serve noble and neces- 

 sary purposes in human life. If, however, they be- 

 come masters, and the higher powers become their 

 servants, then human nature is debased. 



It is man's duty not to eradicate the appetites and 

 passions, but to subdue and govern them. There can 

 be nothing irretrievably bad in the works of God. 

 Our own moral natures tell us that there can be no 

 wrong which shall not be righted. It is not conceiv- 

 able that the moral qualities of the Creator are of a 

 lower grade than those of man whom he has created. 

 "To them that love God, all things work together for 

 good." 



It has been claimed that the struggle for existence 

 has determined the course of organic evolution, and 

 that this principle is one of selfishness, which causes 

 much suffering. The weak are destroyed in countless 

 numbers by the strong. Throughout the kingdom of 

 living things, organisms not only contend with each 

 other, but they destroy and devour each other as 

 food. A large part of the animal kingdom lives ex- 



