54 EVOLUTION MADE PLAIN 
sciousness his idea of the camel, of which he 
had never seen even a picture, so man in 
olden times evolved his theories of the origin 
of the world and of himself, and the part he 
was to play in life. According to his primitive 
way of thinking, the earth—which he regarded 
as the center of the universe—was a very small 
affair, over which Nature presided as a sort of 
satrap whose rulership was subject to inter¬ 
ference at any time by the Great King. Ac¬ 
cording to his theory there were two sets of 
laws, natural and divine, and they were often 
in conflict with each other. But man always 
had the right to appeal his case to the higher 
authority when not satisfied with Nature’s 
rulings. She had neither part nor jurisdiction 
in the human mind or soul—that coming not 
by way of her but directly from God. 
This was essentially the belief of millions 
for thousands of years, and it is the belief of 
millions today. This is the soil in which nearly 
all the creeds of today are rooted. 
The old theologians made a distinction be¬ 
tween God’s works and Nature’s works, divine 
laws and natural laws. It is because of this 
dual idea of God and Nature that the most 
fruitful scientific discovery of all time is barred 
from the schools in some states and denounced 
as “atheism” from many a pulpit. Those who 
hold to the old theology do not realize how com¬ 
pletely science has destroyed the foundations 
of their ancient belief, nor have they any con¬ 
ception of what an incalculable service modern 
thought has been to religion in clearing it of 
its impediments. 
