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most carefully examined this point, and half of my life has been occu- 
pied in endeavouring to fathom the immense gulf that separates the four 
Gospels from the whole of the previous thought of the ancient world. Every 
one must concede to me, that there is an enormous interval separating the 
four Evangelists from the whole thought of the ancient world. I therefore 
draw attention to the fact, that although evolution does prevail in human 
history, yet in revelation it breaks, and, I may say, a new creation takes 
place. 
Mr. Reddie. — I do not know how Mr. Row reconciles the latter part 
of his views with what he said at first. He has failed to show that what 
is called the revelation of God in history is analogous to evolution in 
creation 
Mr. Row. — I assume it. 
Mr. Reddie. — To assume this is one thing ; to prove it is another. And 
I am surprised to find that Mr. Row appears almost on the other side 
to that he has previously occupied, and now as not advocating free agency. 
But I deny that we can properly attribute to God what is produced by 
human agents, and I hold that what constitutes the history of the world has 
been worked out by the moral agency of free agents 
Mr. Row. — I hold that God does overrule and does hold in His hands the 
free agency of man. I hold the doctrine of free agency, but I believe that 
God holds it in His hands in a way I do not comprehend. (Hear, hear.) 
No one believes more in human free agency than I do ; but yet there is some 
mode or other, beyond the reach of mankind to fathom, in which the Great 
Creator holds it and shapes it for the success of His own purposes. 
Mr. Reddie. — No doubt Mr. Row is in a difficulty, and I will try and 
help him out of it. He talked of the theories of evolution pushing the 
Deity to a great distance away from the minds of ordinary men ; and I 
must say, that he seemed to me, notwithstanding these qualifications of 
his theory of man’s history, to do very much the same thing. Now, I con- 
sider that man is a free agent, and that he does a thing because God has 
given him the liberty and power to do it. A man cannot fly, but he can 
walk and move within certain limits. He can knock another man down, or 
leave him alone, there is no doubt about that at all. But, then, God brings 
good out of evil. For instance, he may cut off one evil doer by death, 
and allow others to lead long lives, doing works which are most per- 
nicious to their fellow-men ; but all this is overruled for the best, without 
interfering with individual free agency. At our last meeting we discussed 
God’s absolute determination to sweep away a whole evil race of men by a 
flood ; and it is in this way that God, Who is not a God afar off, but Who is 
constantly present among us, overrules the evils of free agency. I do not 
believe at all in the views of the author of this paper. The tone of the 
paper I quite agree with ; but I think it a compromise, and a compromise 
— I do not say it discourteously — unworthy of those who take that view. 
We must learn to speak of evolution, which really means Darwinism and 
Pantheism in a straightforward way. There is one passsage in this paper 
