236 THE EEV. A. R. WHATELY, M.A., D.J)., ON 



by calculation that two pheasants would, by their extraordinary 

 multiplication, fill the earth in ten years; therefore it is an absolute 

 necessity that one animal, say a fox, should dcA^our the pheasant, 

 and a larger animal, in turn, should kill the fox. Again take 

 another view. Supposing the animals did not multiply to such a 

 degree, yet if they die — and if they did not, the earth would again 

 be over-full — then the earth would be filled with their carcasses, 

 which would be exceedingly unwholesome for all other creatures. 

 Therefore, there is in that again an adaptation of the creature to 

 the universe. The contention that Evolutionism has discovered the 

 mutual adaptation of the universe, is not necessarily true. 



Colonel Alves : In my judgment, the two great pre-requisites 

 of Philosophy are : Knowledge of all the relevant facts, and (if in 

 possession of insufficient or wrong knowledge) a readiness to learn all 

 truth and to renounce all error. 



There are two ways of obtaining knowledge, Observation and 

 Revelation. In worldly matters, whilst we should observe all that 

 we can, we are largely dependent on revelation, which is the recorded 

 result of the observations of others. 



The same holds good in spiritual matters. The Apostle Paul teaches 

 us that much may be learned of God through Nature, as does also 

 the 19th Psalm. Nature is sufficient to reveal to us that "the 

 wages of sin is [i.e., sin leads to] death"; but Nature cannot tell 

 us that " the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

 For that, revelation is necessary ; and such revelation we possess in 

 those writings which we call the Bible. 



We are dealing with pre-requisites. We cannot force men to 

 receive truth ; but we can make them responsible for willing ignor- 

 ance. A most important pre-requisite is, to my mind, a knowledge 

 of what man is, and what he is not. We can see that, like the lower 

 animate creation, man is male and female, with animal instincts, 

 affections, and passions. But between him and them, the lowest of 

 him, and the highest of them, there is a great gulf fixed. Is this 

 gulf spiritual and moral ? or is it bodily and mental 1 I maintain 

 that it is the latter, not the former. 



In Genesis i, 20, 21, 24, 30, and ii, 19, we are told that the lower 

 conscious beings are " living souls " [so in the Hebrew, Greek, and 

 Latin] as well as man in Genesis ii, 7. According to Genesis vii, 

 21, 22, man has, by nature, the same kind of energizing spirit as 



