EDITOR'S TABLE. 



499 



Since his death, Prof. Agassiz has 

 been much and ardently lauded as a 

 Christian scientist, and a champion of 

 the faith against scientific skepticism. 

 It is gratifying to be assured that he 

 was neither a Mohammedan, nor a 

 Buddhist, nor a Sun-worshiper, but a 

 good Christian, as he ought to have 

 been ; and here, perhaps, it would be 

 as well to let the matter rest. But, 

 when we are told that Agassiz was a 

 Christian because of his opposition to 

 Darwinism, we decidedly object. Prof. 

 Agassiz was a Theist, who ascribed the 

 universe to a Divine Mind ; Darwinians 

 do the same. That Prof. Agassiz has 

 attempted to show the incompatibility 

 of the Christian system of doctrine with 

 Darwinian ideas, we 'are not aware; 

 but, on the other hand, there are many 

 Christian theologians who take the op- 

 posite view. As we show in another 

 place, a literature of reconciliation is 

 springing up, and we are beginning to 

 hear of Christian evolutionists, as we 

 have long heard of Christian astrono- 

 mers and Christian geologists. But be- 

 cause Agassiz was a Theist, it by no 

 means follows that his theories of Nat- 

 ural History were specially religious, 

 and the attempt to make them so, so far 

 as influential at all, will be doubly mis- 

 chievous. It will prejudice scientific in- 

 quiry by favoring the idea that the re- 

 sults of investigation may be irreligious ; 

 and it will injure Christianity by iden- 

 tifying it with physical doctrines and 

 interpretations of Nature, which it is 

 the business of science to investigate, 

 and which investigation is liable to 

 change. He who insists upon linking 

 religion to any view of natural phe- 

 nomena, puts it in grave peril. The 

 attempt, long ago made, to identify it 

 with the belief in the flatness and fix- 

 ity of the earth was a serious error ; 

 and the subsequent attempt to identify 

 it with the doctrine of the recent crea- 

 tion of the earth was another mischiev- 

 . ous mistake. To try the experiment a 



third time, in the domain of Biology, 

 cannot fail to be. still more injurious. 

 It is believed by great numbers of the 

 most intelligent students of the subject 

 that the old opinions regarding the 

 origin of living things upon earth are 

 certainly doomed to pass away. At 

 all events, the subject is unsettled, and 

 it is therefore unwise to make Chris- 

 tianity a partisan to any of its theories. 

 It is well also to bear in mind that, if 

 Agassiz fights Darwinism, he accepts 

 Evolution. Forty years ago he wrote 

 of the life upon the globe, "An invisible 

 thread in all ages runs through its im- 

 mense diversity, exhibiting as a general 

 result the fact that there is a constant 

 progress and development ending in 

 man ; " and, in his very last article, to 

 the question, " Is there any such pro- 

 cess as evolution in Nature ? " he an- 

 swers, " Unquestionably, yes." He 

 was of opinion that little as yet has 

 been contributed toward the scientific 

 solution of this great problem; but, 

 however that may be, evolution in Na- 

 ture he conceded as a fact which be- 

 longs to the future of science. If, 

 therefore, Agassiz was a Christian, be- 

 lief in evolution is not inconsistent 

 with Christianity. This is the ground 

 now taken by many eminent theolo- 

 gians, who, like Dr. McCosh, maintain 

 that Christianity has no interest in 

 holding by the question one way or 

 the other. Dr. Peabody, in his sermon 

 at the funeral of Agassiz, took a simi- 

 lar position, and is reported to have 

 said: "His repugnance to Darwinism 

 grew in great part from his apprehen- 

 sion of its atheistical tendency, an ap- 

 prehension which, I confess, I cannot 

 share ; for I forget not that these theo- 

 ries, now on the ascendant, are main- 

 tained by not a few devout Christian 

 men, and while they seem to me un- 

 proved and incapable of demonstra- 

 tion, I could admit them without part- 

 ing with one iota of my faith in God 

 and Christ." 



