THE PRE-REQUISITES OF A CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY. 239 



simply to shewing that the world of Nature had an intelligent 

 Creator, and the argument of Theistic Evolution would rather tend 

 to strengthen that. What does the Evolutionist mean by the 

 principle of the elimination of the unfit 1 How is it that Nature 

 knows what is unfit and can eliminate it How is it that Nature 

 is so constituted that it can discriminate between the fit and the 

 unfit 1 Surely there is a purpose in the elimination of the unfit. 

 I am not an Evolutionist, but Theistic Evolutionism is rather on 

 the side of Paley's argument than against it. 



Most cordially do I concur with what the able author says on 

 pages 232 and 233. The first great requisite for the effective pursuit 

 of Christian Philosophy is a real appreciation of the movement of 

 the human mind. He does not say a real agreement with the 

 human mind, and I do not infer that he himself is an Evolutionist, 

 but an appreciator. You must be able to appreciate the thought of 

 the day. That is very important indeed, so as to be quite fair to it 

 in your judgment. The second great requisite, as he well says, is the 

 Creed. It is most important in the pursuit of the investigation of 

 new truths that we should hold fast to the old ones, and not kick 

 away the old rungs of the ladder up which we are climbing until 

 we have proved the new ones to be strong. 



Mr. E. Walter Maunder, F.E.A.S., said that there Avas one point 

 that had come up to which he would like to refer, viz. the meaning of 

 the term " Evolution." The word covered, in common use, a great 

 number of different ideas, and it was well that they should be kept 

 distinct. We had a paper some time ago by Professor Fowler 

 on "Stellar Evolution," in which it was clear that "Evolution" 

 meant to him and to other astronomers simply the changes in 

 condition and spectrum of a star, consequent upon its decline of 

 temperature. These were parallel to the changes seen in a poker that 

 had been made white hot and then left to cool. The word " Evolu- 

 tion " was used in quite a different sense in speaking of the evolution 

 of a machine — say a bicycle. A hundred years ago it was the fashion 

 for young men to ride upon two wheels with a bar between them^ — 

 a dandy horse ; and little by little that very simple machine was 

 improved until the invention of the motor-bicycle, which was far more 

 powerful and convenient. That development was referred to as the 

 *' evolution " of the motor-bicycle. There was also organic or 

 Darwinian Evolution, by which we were given to understand that 



