88 REV. A. IRVING, B.A., D.SC, ON EVOLUTIONARY LAW 



Professor Orchard. — To me the title of this paper was in the 

 nature of a surprise, a surprise that the Rev. Author should attempt 

 to harness the evolution theory to the revelation of the Divine 

 record given us in Genesis, and this surprise, I am sorry to say, was 

 not diminished by the perusal of the paper. 



I notice, on page 75, that the author observes that the contention 

 of this paper is that the creation story in Genesis is an attempt to 

 unfold to primitive man the idea of an orderly procedure, whereby, 

 under the direction of a Power, which is not nature, the present 

 order of things has been brought to be what it is. I agree with 

 him : but he goes on to say that in fact the "scientific doctrine of 

 Evolutionary Law, dimly conceived," runs through it all. How do 

 these statements tally 1 Some sort of proof ought to be given. 



I agree with what the speaker who preceded me says with regard 

 to the history not being a poem ; the whole structure is that of 

 prose, not of poetry. Poetic figures implied do not make the 

 history a poem. We do not want poetical licence. All the six 

 days refer to completed acts. 



I am sorry to see on p. 79 we have this idea of the history being 

 a poem. It is nothing of the sort. I must protest against the 

 attempt of the lecturer to force upon the author a theory which he 

 almost in set terms disavows. On p. 77 Dr. Irving tells us that 

 the author of the history of Genesis believes that God created, not 

 evolved. It is rather strong to say that the author of this record 

 believes in evolution. Could he have used terms which more 

 emphatically were out of harmony with evolutionary hypothesis ? 

 \ A former member of this Institute, Dr. Samuel Kinns, pointed out 

 and proved that the history of creative events set out in that Divine 

 record in Genesis is in the order in which modern science believes it 

 . to be. 



Mr. Arthur Sutton. —May I ask the Lecturer if he would kindly 

 define what he means by the term " evolutionary law " 1 It is quite 

 possible we may have misunderstood him in the way in which that 

 term has been used. 



Dr. Irving. — Evolution is the idea which has taken hold so 

 extensively in recent years of the scientific mind, that the sum total 

 of the universe, so far as we know it, is the result not of chance, on 

 the one hand, or (I may venture to use the expression) of capricious- 

 iiess on the other ; that the Author of Creation has unfolded to us 



