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Studies in Theology. — IV

CREATION

GOD IN TIME AND SPACE

BY
RANDOLPH S. FOSTER, D.D., LL.D.
A Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church

IIPOZ TO <J>£2S

NEW YORK: HUNT & EATON
CINCINNATI : CRANSTON & CURTS
1895

Copyright by
HUNT & EATON,
1895.

Composition, electrotyping,
printing, and binding by
Hunt & Eaton.,
150 Fifth Ave., New York,

PREFACE.

The discussions conducted in the following pages are designed
to be of interest and profit to all thoughtful readers, and not
simply to those who are engaged in theological studies or more
general scientific investigations.
The treatise is a popular putting of scientific results rather
than processes and methods. As nearly as possible The treatlse
it is a comprehensive view of the universe in its p°i>ular-
known facts and laws as it protends in time and space. "Who
ever, whether learned or unlearned, is interested in the pursuit
of such knowledge will find here a profitable and fascinating
study. As he turns page after page, and the marvels of the uni
verse and the story of its unfolding passes before him, he cannot
fail to be entranced and lifted. He will find himself encom
passed with realities which, filling him with wonder, will also
transfigure him and clothe all being, himself with the rest,
with a new significance. The style is, of purpose, popular.
No reader will find himself troubled to understand any sen
tence, even where the subject is obscure.
All great facts are great thoughts of God. The facts here
given are the greatest known to man — the most Great faets
° D great thoughts
certain and, in some respects, highest revelation of God.
God has made of himself. Eevelation supplements creation
with more definite information with respect to his moral
administration over men and other intelligences, but in the vis
ible realm he is seen most manifestly in the greatness and glory
of his perfections.

Vlll

Pbeface.

This treatise is designed to serve as a text to the discussion
to follow on " The Nature and Attributes of the Supreme
Being," furnishing as it does the grounds for rational induc
tion of these profoundly mysterious themes.
It must not be classed among the treatises which attempt a
reconciliation between the ascertained facts of science and re
ligion or the teachings, doctrinal or historical, of " holy writ."
The facts and the writ, properly interpreted and understood,
are in perfect accord. The seeming of contradiction arises
from ignorant or perverse interpretation.
The object here proposed is to set forth the ascertained facts
Ascertained without reference to their bearings on any doctrinal
facts. teachings of any book or school of thought. Facts
must dominate any system, come from what source it may.
This is an inevitable law. The first and last demand of mind
is truth, which is but another name for facts, and involved
principles, which must always and necessarily be harmonious.
There is no contradiction between truths, and no demand for
reconcilement. They must be accepted, no difference what
goes down.
"When ascertained one set of facts or one truth may shed a
light which will put to flight preconceived notions, but will
not, cannot, discredit other truths, but, on the contrary, must
aid to a better interpretation and understanding of them, so far
as they are affected at all.
"We solicit ministers especially to the reading of these pages.
special bene- The benefits to be derived are various. It will take
fit to minis
ters, them out of their accustomed ruts into new depart
ments of knowledge and thought. It will supply them with
the richest illustrations of the great themes which they
are to elucidate and unfold. It will impart zest and variety
to their ministrations. It will broaden their view of the

Preface.

IX

divine method and operations. It will put them in possession
of the highest proofs of the infinite greatness of Help,ulIies3
the almighty Being whose servants they are. It t0 ministers.
will enable them to meet the demands of the hungry and often
distracted people to whom they preach, and will save them
from the crudities into which all must fall who are uninformed
on points which more and more engage educated thought.
The knowledge of the great facts of being which scientific
research is developing is indispensable to one who would hold
the attention of the age and command its respect.
The theology that will live and which can never die is that
which will harmonize with the facts of the universe. Tneology tnat
They must be sought and known, and the theological w111 live-
professor and preacher must show himself acquainted with
the facts and be competent to show that his teachings do not
require that they should be ignored. He must recognize them
and deal with them. He may not be required to preach science
from the pulpit or to become a lecturer in science, but he must
know the facts, and not preach or teach doctrines which collide
with them. More than that, in the tumult of thought which
every new discovery creates, and amid the roar and clamor
which is ever and anon raised against popular theological be
liefs and teachings, he must be able to satisfy himself first, and
then the people to whom he speaks with pen or tongue, that,
while some long-regnant ideas may require to be abandoned as
rubbish of ignorance, the citadel remains intact.
The strength of any system is the truth which it holds ; its
weakness is the errors which infest it. If it is all strengai of a
error it is utterly worthless and harmful. If it has system'
some errors of incidents and minor points they may be relin
quished without harm, and its power thereby be increased. If
its errors are shown to be not inherent, but the accidents of
misinterpretation merely, it is made stronger by the exposure

x Preface.
if its expounders and defenders show themselves pleased with
the discovery and glad to amend the mistake. Nothing can save
a system which shrinks from investigation, or attempts to build
itself on ignorance, or the impudent denial of facts, or refusal to
know them, or inability to show that it does not contradict them.
In the interest of theology we plead for the freest and largest
liberty. "We hail every new discovery. Every new truth, no
difference what old error or system of error it may shake down
and utterly destroy, is a harbinger of the millennium.
The word Creation, which stands as principal in the title of
this volume, is used in its proper sense as a noun, and is the
equivalent of all things that exist — the universe. It assumes
that all of whatever exists is product of creative energy except
the energy, or source of the energy, which creates, and which
is necessarily eternal.
The further words of the title, to wit, God in Time and
Space, are designed to imply that all created existence is prod
uct of divine energy exerted in a progressive method and
continuous forthputting of power to fill out the measure of
infinite thought.
The object of the discussion is to show the vastness of crea
tion in its space and time measures, and its method of advance
from the incipient material atom to the topmost result of
spiritual existence, from chaos to cosmos, from the inorganic to
the organic, and from the organic to the superorganic, and
from the superorganic, or merely sentient, to the higher super-
organic or spiritual realm.
The inorganic and organic, both insensate and sensate, are
assumed to be primary stages, or platforms, which have their
meaning in a service they render to the final outcome of a
spiritual and immortal universe.

Preface. xi
The author aims to show that there is a difference between
the inorganic and merely organic realms which requires spe
cific energizings of the divine Author equivalent to diverse
creative acts, and that the same is true between the insensate,
or vegetable creation, and the sensate, or animal creation ; and
that the same is true, also, between the sentient, or merely
animal, and the rational and higher spiritual forms of life.
Man is shown to be the final product, and the most recent in
the time order of existence, and the final cause, or end of the
entire creative movement, whose advent explains and puts
meaning in all the antecedent stages of the creative drama.
It is shown, not merely, that man is the most recent member
of the series, but more than that, that his advent is very recent,
at furthest not more than eight or ten thousand years ago,
while all other known living beings date back perhaps hundreds
of thousands of years.
The several theories of a more ancient humanity, possibly of
inferior qualities and type, and of plurality of origin, are ex
amined and shown to be without evidence to support them.
All the evidence points to one head of all the ethnic varieties,
and that head the Adam of revelation.
Finally, it is assumed as probable, but as unproven by any
facts within our knowledge, that the universe is peopled by
numerous intelligences of various grades of power and glory,
some of whom are superior to man, perhaps, in age and per
fection, others possibly as recent.
When we say unproved, we mean that there are no facts
within our absolute knowledge to establish the certainty that
there are personal beings other than those of our own race and
the infinite Author himself, but there are known facts which
render the conclusion highly probable, and therefore worthy of
faith ; indeed, such as render it quite irrational to doubt.

xii Preface.
One book whose authority we are compelled (we mean, of
course, by stress of evidence) to accept as divine testimony is
conclusive. The Bible speaks with no uncertain voice on the
subject. We accept without hesitation its testimony.
"While the popular but declining doctrine of so-called evolu
tion — the doctrine that one thing is by inhering forces the
source and cause of another and succeeding member of the
series, and so that all things are traceable to a primitive atom —
is discounted as unscientific and impossible, it is shown that
there is a true relation between all forms of existence, each
antecedent serving as ground and condition of each succeed-
ent — a close consecutive chain running through and binding
all together into a complete and united whole. It is shown
that this beautiful harmony is brought about, not by the un
intelligent working of so-called natural forces, but by a con
tinuous divine energizing in created substances of which each
specific force is simply a mode or result, the entire series being
thus an absolute effect of the forthputting of divine thought by
exercise of divine power.
As the universe itself in all its parts and as a completed whole
is a product of divine thought and power, we recognize that
all the forces which play in it as causative of the result are
simply direct modes of divine energizing, or indirect but pur
posed and inevitable results of established relations among the
things created. Things created do nothing independently of
their author.
Man is the only being known to us who by his Creator is
endowed with power whereby he becomes the author of his
own acts.
The author will have accomplished his highest aim if in the
mind of the reader he shall have awakened deeper reverence

Preface. xiii
for the great Author of the marvelous universe system by
placing before him a more adequate view of the mighty work
as it extends backward through immeasurable ages, and outward
over limited but semi-infinite spaces ; and especially if he shall
have been able to furnish him a proximately true clew to the
method of the great movement from the beginning to the
present ; and more especially still if he shall have aided him to
a discovery of the great end had in view — an end of ineffable
love. We stand in the middle of the process, and with our finite
powers we but dimly perceive its meanings, but we see that it has
profound meanings, and from the imperfect comprehension we
have we are able to discern something of the outcome. Ages
yet may be required to unravel all its mysteries, but we cannot
doubt that far on its revelations will not only make plain what
is now obscure, but will also bring to us new and higher mani
festations of the infinite love and wisdom which inspired and
directed it from the beginning to the end — nay, to the forever
progressing wonder that will have no end.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE
Preliminary Observations  *»
To Find the Method of the Eternal Cause  13
Space Measures op the Universe  37
The Inorganic Universe  41
Masses op Matter — Worlds  46
The Solar System  50
Vastness op the Solar Group  61
Economies op the Inobganic Universe  65
Mode op Making the Solar System   68
Beyond the Solar System  70
Time Measures op the Universe  92
Dawn op the Lipe System  166
The Organic Universe  171
Op Man  218
All Human Beings from One Pair  314
Are Other Worlds Inhabited ?  , . . . 341

THE UNIVERSE.

THE UNIVERSE.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.
Earnest minds cannot think of God without a sense of awe ;
and revelation in so many ways teaches of his greatness that a
mind filled with its exalted imagery and august doctrines,
even though its conceptions may be vague, must be impressed
with a profound sense of his majesty and glory ; but reflection
and enlarged knowledge of his works cannot fail to give added
dignity and substance to his conceptions. The universe of
reality will transcend that of imagination — the invisible things
of him, even his eternal power and Godhead, here come to light
and certainty. Wisdom, power, and majesty gleam from every
atom and from every organism. There is nothing any more
little or unmeaning, or that does not point to the one all-glorious
Founder of the mighty system ; nothing that does not tell of his
love and create confidence in his goodness and beget faith in
the beneficent outcome of his plan, however for the present it
may be enveloped in mystery and insoluble perplexities to our
finite and limited faculties.
For ages — indeed, until recently — but relatively little was
accurately known of the universe in any respect, untn recently
" the universe
but especially as to its constitution, laws, forces, uttie known.
order of development, and actual history. At last scientific re
search has replaced the crude conceptions of ignorance and blind
imagination with something approximating truth and reality,
and bids fair to still further unveil the long-hidden mystery of
its beautiful order and harmonies.

4 Studies in Theology.
The true conception of the universe has such manifold rela
tions to the true knowledge of its Author that in approaching
the study of his nature, attributes, and character it will be of
profit to us to refresh our minds with a brief survey of it. It
must, of course, be brief and suggestive in a treatise like this,
and general and popular rather than strictly scientific ; but it
should be sufficiently comprehensive to bring the universe pres
ent to our thought somewhat as it is in reality.
The survey in itself will be profitable without reference to
anything ulterior ; it is tonicful and broadening to the faculties
to grapple with vast things. The universe is, next to the In
finite as he reveals himself in his word, the best door of ap
proach to him. To what is to follow it is, if not absolutely
indispensable, exceedingly important, and will not fail to be
helpful to the reader, to consult the book styled Cosmic Theism,
in this series.
At the point where we enter existence we find ourselves
point where environed by a vast semi-infinite complex of beins
we enter the r &
universe. and change. The objects we behold on every hand
differ among themselves in almost infinite variety of form,
texture, habit, use, and power. They seem to have relations
to each other and a kind of unity. They come and go with
variable regularity. Some kinds and groups seem to depend on
other kinds and groups. A change here emerges in a change
yonder. Gradually it dawns upon us that we are in the midst
of a deftly arranged system. The multitude comes to unity,
and changes march to the rhythm of a plan. We ultimately
discern that, so far from an anarchic mass merely, there is not
an atom that is not held to a line by inexorable law. We
emerge out of what seemed at first a chaos into a deft and
beautiful cosmos. A multiplicity of forces play in and around
us, but they are all guided by intelligence, and without excep-

Preliminary Observations. 5
tion work to ends of harmony and beneficence. The reign of
law is discovered to be universal.
The discovery of orderly action in the wondrous system im
mediately gives rise to two questions, namely, Is the observed
order from within the system itself, or is it and the system itself
superimposed from without? and are we able from the ob
served operation of forces, or master force exerted and trace
able in past and present effects, to discern the trend and
probable outcome?
The first of these questions is fully discussed in Cosmic The
ism* of this series. The second is in part considered in the same
treatise, but will be more fully developed in the present dis
cussion. The discussion on which this volume enters is logically pre
liminary to the discussion of the nature, attributes, and charac
ter of God.f Recognizing the fact and fundamental principle
that the Bible is an authoritative and infallible teacher on these
great points, and as such must be court of last resort and final
appeal, it is assumed here that for its correct interpretation
and understanding the universe must be interrogated and its
facts elicited, as illustrative aud exponential. Here God is seen
in action.
Action is the deepest revelation of an agent. Better than
words, as giving meaning to words, it discloses what Actlou better
in truth the agent is. When the acts are obscure, or tnan words-
but imperfectly apprehended, word statements serve as guides
and helps, and when supported by adequate evidence determine
the significance of acts themselves, placing them in a clearer light,
and leading the weak and vacillating understanding to a dis
covery of deeper meaning than it, unaided, could reach. Thus
revelation usefully supplements manifestations and helps to
* See Cosmic Theism, by the author.
f See Nature and Attributes of God, by the author.

6 Studies in Theology.
right understanding. The two never do nor can disagree.
Each when properly used is helpful to the other. The knowl
edge of each, possibly not in the same degree, is essential to the
interpretation of the other, or if not absolutely essential is in
disputably helpful.
In any event, nothing is more certain than that facts of the
f ts must universe must have an important bearing on the na-
ruie. ture an(j character of its author. For this reason, be
fore entering upon the higher theme which lies more remote from
us and in the deepest obscurity, we propose in the present volume
to deal with the plainer facts which lie immediately about us.
The facts of the universe are multitudinous. Some lie upon
raets muititu- *ke surface and are easily discovered ; others are
dmous. concealed in the deepest obscurity and are difficult
of discovery, not alone as to their causes and significance, but
as to the facts themselves. No telescope has yet measured the
vast areas of the system ; no microscope has penetrated to its
minutest constituents. There are still unexplored realms, in all
directions and departments.
The survey we propose is of some of the more conspicu
ous and significant of the known facts, ascertained, not by
casual observation merely, but by the accredited methods and
most rigorous tests of science.
System, orderly processes, intelligible sequences, are the
manifestations of mind. A thought factor is intuitively dis
cerned in every arranged series. Any force expressed in the
series, or necessary to it, points to a personal agent as exerting
it— is directly or indirectly personal force.
The canon is, wherever plan or system is discerned as means
canon tost. to ends> and ths means are effective to the ends, intel
ligence is invariaUy and necessarily precedent, and
is efficacious cause of the plan, the force employed, and the out-

Preliminary Observations. 7
come, so that did no such intelligence exist, neither plan, nor
force, nor outcome could exist.
There must be, as antecedent, the personal planner in order to
the plan. The planner must exert the force or employ it mas
terfully in order to the end. The outcome shows first of all the
planner ; then the intelligent purpose ; then the force exerted
to effect it. This relation is absolute and necessary. This is
but another form of the maxim, "There can be no effect, which
means change of any kind, without a cause." This is a universal
canon. The effect in the case supposed is not merely an effect
of force resulting in a change of some kind, but of a force ex
erted or controlled by intelligence in order to a preconceived
end, and therefore a force which requires a personal agent. If
we could suppose the intelligence in the agent withdrawn the
effect could not take place ; the force, in fact, could not exist.
Every natural force which we call a law is itself invisible,
the idea of it in the mind arising, by way of neces- Natural
sary inference, out of an observed order of facts. And forces-
very often, if not always, in our conception of these forces we
are investing them with the attributes of intelligence and of
will, at the very moment, perhaps, when we are stumbling over
the difficulty of seeing in them the experiments of a mind
which is intelligent and of a will which is supreme. The
deeper we go in science, the more certain it becomes that all the
realities of nature are in the region of the invisible, so that
the saying is literally and not merely figuratively true that the
things which are seen are temporal, and it is only the things
which are not seen that are eternal. For instance, we never see
the phenomenon of life disassociated from organization. Yet
the prof oundest physiologists have come to the conclusion that
organization is not the cause of life, but, on the contrary, that
life is the cause of organization; life being something— a
force of some kind, by whatever name we may call it — which

8 Studies in Theology.
precedes organization, and fashions and builds it up. This was
the conclusion come to by the great anatomist Hunter, and it
is the conclusion indorsed in our own day by such men as Dr.
Carpenter and Professor Huxley, men whose philosophy cer
tainly has no bias toward either theological or metaphysical
-explanations, or toward belief in anything which cannot be
seen and weighed and handled.
But what is vital force. It is something which wo cannot
-see, but of whose existence we are as certain as we are of its
visible effects — nay, which our reason tells us precedes and is
superior to these. We often speak of material forces, as if we
could identify any kind of force with matter. But this is only
one of the many ambiguities of language. All that we mean
by a material force is a force which acts upon matter, and pro
duces in matter its own appropriate effects. We must go a
step further, therefore, and ask ourselves, What is force ? What
is our conception of it ? What view can we form, for example,
of the real nature of that force, the measure of whose operation
has been so exactly ascertained, the force of gravitation ? It is
invisible, imponderable. All our words for it are but circum
locutions to express its phenomena or effects.
There are many kinds of force in nature — which we distin
guish after the same fashion — according to their effects or
according to the forms of matter in which they become cogni
zable to us. But if we trace all our conceptions on the nature
of force to their fountain head, we shall find that they are
formed on our own consciousness of living effect— of that force
which has its seat in our own vitality, and especially with
that kind of it which can be called forth at the bidding of the
will. If we can ever know anything of the nature of any force,
it ought to be of this one. And yet the fact is that we know
nothing. If then we know nothing of that kind of force which is
so near us, and with which our own intelligence is in such close

Preliminary Observations. 9
alliance, much less can we know the ultimate nature of force
in its other forms. It is important to dwell on this, because
both the aversion with which some men regard the idea of the
reign of law, and the triumph with which some others hail it,
are founded on a notion that when we have traced any given
phenomena to what are called natural forces we have traced
them further than we really have. We know nothing of the
ultimate nature or of the ultimate seat of force. Science, in
the modern doctrine of the conservation of energy and the
convertibility of forces, is already getting something like a
firm hold of the idea that all kinds of force are but 0utunes 0l
forms or manifestations of some one central force astronomy.
issuing from some one fountain head of power. Sir John
Herschel has not hesitated to say that " it is but reasonable to
regard the force of gravitation as the direct or indirect result
of a Consciousness or a Will existing somewhere." And even
if we cannot certainly identify force in all its forms with the
direct energies of an omnipotent and all-pervading will, it is at
least in the highest degree unphilosophical to assume the con
trary — to speak or to think as if the forces of nature were either
independent of, or ever separate from, the Creator's power.
It follows, then, from these considerations, that whatever
difficulty there may be in conceiving of a will not exerted by a
visible person is a difficulty which cannot be evaded by arrest
ing our conceptions at the point at which they have arrived in
forming the idea of laws or forces. That idea is itself made
up out of elements derived from our own consciousness of per
sonality. This fact is seen by men who do not see the inter
pretation of it. They denounce as a superstition the idea of any
personal will separable from the forces which work in nature.
They say that this idea is a mere projection of our own per
sonality into the world beyond— the shadow of our own form
cast upon the ground on which we look. And, indeed, this in

10 Studies in Theology.
a sense is true. It is perfectly true that the mind does recog
nize in nature a reflection of itself. But if this be a deception,
it is a deception which is not derived by transferring the idea
of personality to the abstract idea of force, or by investing
combinations of force with the attributes of mind. *
The most stringent advocates of naturalism cannot free them
selves of personal cause without assumptions and presumptions
Personal so violent as to shock their own intelligence. The
cause nee- , t
essary. necessity which compels us to impute mind where we
behold an orderly arrangement is in the nature of mind — it is
universal, it is irresistible. If the order is discovered in the
arrangement of the parts of unliving matter we spontaneously
say, Who did it ? or, What is it for ? or, How ingenious it is ! If
it is a thing of life we instinctively attribute intelligence to the
source of life, in whatever form the life appears. This sponta
neous conclusion is supported when we submit the subject to
reflection. It is impossible for us to reason ourselves into the
chance im- belief that the orderly arrangements of nature are the
possible. igsues of ghan^ Nor do we find content wnen we
attempt to conceive that somehow nature built itself by blind
forces. We cannot rest until we impute personality to the
cause. It is forced upon us that there was and is a mind back
Mind back °f all. It holds us with 'the unrelaxing grip of a nec
essary truth, that the force which projects order is an
ordering and arranging agent or personal being. When we
conscious- translate nature from within we find three facts al-
ness in re
lation to ways in our consciousness. They are these : first, we
consciously feel that we have power and exert it
volitionally ; second, when we consciously exert force which
issues in orderly arrangement we know that a mental process
precedes volitional activity ; third, we know that when arrange-
* Reign of Law, pp. 119-121.

Preliminary Observations. 11
ment emerges in an orderly way the order was enforced from
without, under conditions of thought and will. We infer, and
the inference is a necessity of thought, that the same must be true
in every like case of orderly arrangement. If now we locate the
arranging forces in matter we do not get rid of this law. We
must still posit a thinking and volitionating agent in order to
the result. And- if we find, as we do, nature constituting one
ineffable, all-inclusive system, we are compelled to posit one all-
embracing force, exerted by one thought and will factor. That
force, be it what it may and wheresoever located, requires infi
nite intelligence and omnipotence as its source. If we locate it
in matter we simply impute personality to matter and clothe it
with infinite attributes, thus transforming it into God. But
this idea is beset with so many violent presumptions against it
that reason at once and unalterably rejects it. We are driven
by stress of necessity to seek the home of the agent manifest
ing itself in some extra immaterial being. There is no re
spectable thinker who any more doubts the presence and opera
tion of personal agency in the universe. Spirit is recognized
as a substance different from matter, and possessed of the very
attributes of thought and intelligence manifested in matter.
It is of the essence of effects that they should have a begin
ning : and, therefore, that there should be a time when Effects must
o ' > ' have begin-
all effects were nonexistent. It is of the essence of ning.
cause that it should be existent in order to the effect of which
it is cause. Ultimate cause must therefore be antecedent to all
beginnings, and must therefore be itself unbegun, self-existent
and eternal. No effect can have anything which was not
imparted by its cause ; therefore the aggregate of effects can pos
sess nothing which was not imparted by the ultimate ^"J1"*6
cause. The forces which are operative in the universe nai.
are therefore derived from, or manifestation of, the one original

12 Studies in Theology.
force factor — are but forms of his direct agency, and can in no
case transcend what he puts in them. All of which again is
but the maxim, " Every effect must have a cause." It thus ap
pears not only that the determinative factor in the universe is
mind, but that all forces emanate from the ultimate intelli
gent cause. For our purpose it is not necessary to enter fur
ther into the argument.

Method of the Eternal Cause. 13

TO FIND THE METHOD OF THE ETERNAL CAUSE.
Starting with this postulate, our aim is to find whether we
can so put ourselves into relations with the eternal Cause as to
discover his plan and method, and the ultimate end and out
come of his personal activity.
There are two ways by which mind communicates with mind,
whereby one mind detects the existence of other mind, Two ways
ii r • ii i -»«-. of dlscover-
and becomes aware ot its methods and aims. Mmd ing mmd.
itself is invisible. We can neither see it nor see its act. This is
true both of internal and external seeing. The mind does not per
ceive other mind or other mind acting, except as results occur.
The results are what are seen, and the cause is seen in them
and not apart from them. If we were dependent on direct
perception it would elude us entirely. Mind manifests itself in
words and acts, and in no case discovers itself directly. We
can only know that it is, and what are its thoughts, feelings,
purposes, and plans, by some word revelation of itself, or by some
external act which it causes. Even the consciousness of itself
emerges only when it is active.
The Infinite must possess methods of communication peculiar
to himself. Finite mind reads mind only through sym- Difference
bols. It has no power to intuit other minds — to gaze ^Zite&na
on them in their pure subjectivity— to read their quies- tne flnite-
cent states; indeed, it can only know itself in action. The Infinite
may — naV) must — have a power to read the inward states of mind
without the outward symbol, and may have the power to commu
nicate with and awaken and guide the thought powers of finite
minds without the aid of external phenomenal manifestations.

14 Studies in Theology.
The two methods, or ways, rather, in which finite mind is
Language a a^e *° detect the existence of and become commu-
means. nicant with other minds are : First, by means of
words, spoken or written. Spoken words are sounds addressed
to the ear. Written words are characters or forms addressed
to the eye. To these, as of the same kind, may be added mo
tion signs, addressed to the eye or touch. In order to the use
of this method the communicant minds must be so posited as
to employ these symbols ; that is, must be invested with some
kind of sensorium. There must also be a community in the
signs employed. Each mind must attach the same meaning
to, or must invest the same mentality in, the symbol, before one
can translate the other. These signs, in fact, are mutual for
mal thoughts, so that in employing them each discloses to the
other that he has the same thought. The language symbol may
be an impartation to both, or a creation by both.
The power of language — varied mental vocalization, as
Language evinced by man— is a special endowment conferred
bothagiltand _ _ -1
an invention, in creation, differing in scope and quality from the
inarticulate sounds of inferior living creatures — an instrument
intended for the use of mind and bestowed with .the gift of
intelligence. It is a spontaneity of mind, but there can be
little doubt that in quantum sufficit for immediate use it was
conferred at the beginning. But language is also a growth, keep
ing pace with mental development — an instrument first existing
in posse in the human mind and organs, and emerging into
reality as needs demand. It is an elaboration of human skill,
ever increasing, ever growing in compass, definiteness, and
perfection, but as yet inadequate to the perfect expression of all
mental states, needs, and wants. So far forth as the vocal or
written symbol is definite and comprehensive and significant
of the same thing to the various minds employing it, it serves

Method of the Eternal Cause. 15
as means of communication between them. That it may be
the servitor of truth it must have breadth, delicacy, flexibility,
fixedness, and the communicant minds must be
able to know that the meanings they attach are language as a
identical. An unknown word conveys no idea, or c^mmTnica-0'
misleads and confuses. Developed language is the in- tlon"
dispensable medium of accurate thought with reference to things
which lie outside of immediate perception, and, indeed, must
with relation to all matters of thought be forever the chief
means of mind communicating with mind. Bereft of the serv
ice of a common language, it would be impossible for minds to
compare their perceptions, and more impossible still to com
municate to each other their reflective processes and rational con
clusions. Language is not only the creation of mind for the
purpose of expressing itself, but it is the conservator of thought,
the medium of treasuring it up in imperishable forms. With
out it there could be no growth of knowledge, or relatively
but little. The whole inner world of consciousness would for
ever remain expressionless. So the Infinite, when he created
minds, endowed them with the versatile power of language,
both that he might communicate with them and that they might
be possessed of a common medium of intercommunication
among themselves, and that they might hold in permanence and
make common all acquired knowledge. But for this endow
ment it is difficult to conceive how the intelligence of man
could greatly have transcended that of the brute creation.
Even brute life is endowed with a measure of mentality and
corresponding linguistic capacity, by which adequate power of
correspondence between individuals may be maintained and the
ends of existence be secured. With man the endowment is
large, in proportion to the demands of the higher range of his
faculties and requirements of his more profound and varied
wants and experiences. Thus mind is able to communicate

10 Studies in Theology.
with mind not simply with respect to the objectives of sense —
external material forms and their qualities — but also with respect
to whatever is held in consciousness — thoughts, feeling, motives,
purposes, principles of action, emotions, volitions, and whatever
else characterizes mental and ethical states and activities.
Second, mind comes to know other mind by means of exter-
Acts as a nal acts or results of actions, when these are ob-
means of con- i rm a j? ¦ a m» a i •
veymg men- served. Ine proper act of an intelligent being is
p^ansUrP°and tnoug^tj feeling, and volition, which emerges in some
ideas. external effort, and thus represents and reproduces
itself in the mind of an intelligent observer. When we see
the external act, which is all that we can see, we intuit the in
ternal act in its two elements of thought and will, and at the
same time cognize the invisible agent. Acts and results of
acts are a kind of language the meanings of which we acquire
with great facility. As in the case of verbal symbols the me
dium may not be perfect ; no one mind may be able adequately
to translate another mind, but the laws of mind are so unique
that average mentality will be able to detect the significance of
a well-developed series of observed acts.
The interpretation will require faculty, and will depend on
Require fac- sufficient time, breadth, and continuity of observed
and'opportul facts, with close and thoughtful attention. If the
ntt?- acts are obscure or the connections uncertain, in
volved, conclusions will be correspondingly unreliable ; but if
the acts be clear and articulate and the opportunity full for a
complete examination, and, especially, if they are such that the
observing mind can view them in all possible aspects, the in
terpretation will be proximately certain.
The same intelligent agent may employ both methods or
but one, and either one of the two,; may put himself in rela-

Method of the Eternal Cause. 17
tions with other minds and unfold himself to them by acting
under their observation or by communicating in The samt
words, or both. Should he adopt the former method aptent may
i ,, . . employ both
alone, tlie interpretation would require more labor methods.
and might leave greater room for doubt of its meaning. Should
he adopt the latter alone, the information might be more exact,
but it might leave greater room for suspicion as to ,, , „
r Relations of
its truth. Should he adopt both, truth would re- eacb-
quire that there should be perfect harmony between them, and
content to the observing mind would require that the harmony
should be apparent, or at least that there should be no appear
ances of irreconcilable contradiction. When practicable the
greatest accuracy and the most perfect content would be attained
by the combination of both methods. The word explanation
might suggest some things which the most careful and able
observer would not detect from the act alone ; might relieve
points of obscurity by giving the clew ; might save expenditure
of time and force by immediate revelation, and in many other
ways might be beneficial.
We have the clear conviction that the great Mind discovera
ble in the universe has added a word explanation to God haa em
a work manifestation, and we cannot doubt that it Ployed botn-
has in many ways brought us to a clearer and more perfect under
standing of his thought and purpose in the things that are seen.,
The scientific spirit which has. come to such prominence to
day owes its existence to the progress which revelation inangu^
rated and brought forward ; and the discoveries it has made,
and will make with accelerated rapidity,, are the indirect prod^
act of the right direction and great quickening revelation has
given to human faculties and inquiries. Among the most
beneficent results is the mental enlargement it has produced.
This is a fact which all well-informed and great-minded in
quirers gratefully acknowledge. But, on the other hand, tha
3 «

18 Studies in Theology.
most devout and reverent Christians must admit that there is
an open door for scientific inquiry, and must rejoice in any aid
to a better understanding of nature which it may furnish, and
thus lead to a better understanding of the work. Written
language gives permanence to ideas and knowledge gained,
and so is the conservator of growth and progress.
The present discussion is partly scientific, partly philosophico-
The present theological. It undertakes to present, from known
whichft°nro- scientmc data anc* principles of philosophy, a view
poses. of the world-plan, or method and purposes of the
infinite in creation, deduced from grounds largely outside of
revelation. The object is not to establish a harmony between
the teachings of nature, scientifically and philosophically inter
preted, and revelation, but to present a rational view of the di
vine movement from the inception to the outcome of his work
by a study of the works themselves. Occasional biblical facts
will emerge, and it is believed the result of the inquiry will
show that a rational theory will be in substantial accord with
the word God has given, properly interpreted.
CANON.
It must he admitted that in case of collision an ascertained
s'eemtng coi- ^act must always prevail against a word statement,
Hsion. no matter how supported. A word statement can
never have proof that it emanates from the infinite Mind which
founded nature as strong as the proof is that nature is his
work And no teaching of the word, if it does emanate
from him, can contradict his own act. In case of a certain
contradiction the assumed word must go down. We lelieve
fat"™ word thisis a t™<> Principle, and must at any risk le fol-
and act. lowed. But the proof that a word communication
%s direct may le so great as to le inevitalle to reason on any other

Method of the Eternal Cause. 19
ground than that of absolute contradiction; and in the case
of a word which unmistakably contains a prophecy, in the lest
sense, or that is lacked ly miracle, if such a case can le
shown, the proof that it is of God is precisely of the same kind
as that nature is from him, and is entitled to the same right,
and in such a case contradiction is impossille, but it would
require that the miracle and prophecy le real, and not suppos-
alle merely.
The only difference in that case between the authority of the
word and the work would arise from the different degrees of
certainty that we are not imposed on by appearances on the one
side or the other. But the probability of deception in the case
of a miracle or prophecy might be always greater than in that
of a fact of nature ; and in case of an apparent conflict reason
would so decide. But it should be remembered, in trying the
case, that mere difference is not contradiction or conflict. A word
communication may add something not contained in a work
manifestation, and the absence of it in the former case would
not disprove the truth of the word. There may be thoughts
and purposes in the infinite which are not expressed Relative
in mere nature, and which could never be deduced spheres.
from any known facts or principles. A revelation containing
an account of such could not be discredited by the mere pau
city of nature. It might even reasonably be presumed that
in matters of morals, where great interests are involved, and
where reason, by reason of its slowness of action and the pau
city of data, might prove an insufficient guide direct infor
mation would be imparted. It could only be demanded, in
such a case, that suitable evidence should be furnished.
These are principles which every candid truth seeker should
keep in mind ; and, properly observed, they will save ^J^to
us from discarding the aids of a word communica- mind.
tion too hastily, and from accepting it too indifferently or im-

20 Studies in Theology.
perfectly ; and also from relying too exclusively on the teach
ings of nature in all matters. They may properly leave science
supreme in relation to some things, making it useful in correct-
science su- jng anv vagaries and dreams which we have has-
some cases, tily attributed to revelation, and the word be left
supreme in another realm which mere science cannot reach. No
fact of nature can furnish prima facie evidence against the pos
sible and actual fact of a revelation, and no assumed revelation
can discredit any fact of nature or limit the right of inquiry.
The most casual observer will directly perceive three lines of
Three lines of movement going on or being carried forward in the
divine move
ment, universe.
The three lines of movement are : (a) the processes going
forward in inorganic matter — azoic, particles and masses; (b)
processes of life in all varieties ; (c) processes in the realm of
mind or spirit. Throughout the movements are incessant and
correlated, but always differentiable in law and method.
We shall observe to little effect if we do not soon perceive
a common ^na* ™ eacu department there is at least one com-
characteristtc. mon characteristic, that of a progressive and well
articulated unfolding from seemingly insignificant beginnings
to grand and imposing outcomes. Nothing begins at per
fection : first rudiments or germs, then advance by process
to culminations ; each culmination serving but as fulcrum for
some grander advance; the entire evolution revealing the
matchless skill and inexhaustible resources of the mighty
worker, and the inconceivable and endless richness of his
design. In the first realm, the inorganic, the agent moves along the
The inorganic line of nis advance by simple efflux of volitional
realm. force, guidedby unerring skill, but even here never
to the end per solium, but in the use of well-adjusted means

Method of the Eternal Cause. 21
raised into second causes. But whether the end be reached
by immediate creation or by mechanical approaches and long-
drawn processes and indirections, in either case and alike his per
sonal agency is sole cause, and may be traced by the studious ob
server along the entire line, however it extends in time and space.
In the second realm, the department of life, it is the same
agent, but working in a different way. The results The organlc
and laws of the older processes are taken up and sub- realm-
ordinated to higher ends. Germ centers are created, and con
stituted fulcra of a unique and previously unknown form of
force which, under guidance of infinite skill, evolves an endless
variety of living organisms, which sustain various relations to
each other and to all inorganic existence in a multiform and
beneficent economy called life. Here again he is sole agent,
and the entire manifestation is manifestation of his power,
wisdom, and beneficence. As in the former case, the movement
is continuous and progressive, passing in vast measures of time
from the lowest to the highest forms, each taking up the in
ferior result already reached and advancing to a nobler type.
In the third and crowning realm progress is again the law,
but it is now a progress of the free individual along The realm of
an endless line of possible improvement and per- mlnd-
fection. The grade of being is different in essence and attri
bute. It is invested with new qualities and dignities, and the
law of its development is different and exceptional. The
creative purpose is indicated in its constitution and asserted in
its consciousness, but its attainment of its end is not enforced,
as in every other case, from without, but is commit- Afreeforce
ted to its own personality, and depends upon a free
power al intra. Here we encounter for the first time the
presence of a force that is independent and free in its action.

22 Studies in Theology.
We rise into the region of proper agency : though created, a
realm which is not under the divine force, but which is free
under the restraints of law — a moral realm.
To be able to deduce the purpose, method, and outcome of
Agency ai- this triune movement of a strictly invisible agent,
^nsequent6 with the obscurities which necessarily surround it,
difficulty. mustj confessedly, be extremely difficult. The data
must be gathered from a wide field, both of time and space,
and used with caution and care. Were we doomed to attempt
the work single-handed, nothing could be more hopeless. The
speck of time and limited space given to any individual observer,
with the small power possessed by any one human mind, would
render the task not simply hopeless, but absolutely impossible,
and brand the attempt as the grossest folly and presumption.
A clew to a mental movement, from observation, requires
Demands of a that a sufficient part of the evolution should be
clew- observed, not in isolated fragments, but in connec
tion and relation. Then it is not impossible or even difficult.
Once in the line we detect the meaning of each consecutive act,
and forecast with ease the next step, and see on to the end.
There is so much homogeneity in rational action that our mind
reads not only what has been written, but on beyond, the lines
that remain to be filled out.
In the city where we dwell, some morning, we hear the
au iiiustra- lieav7 tread of passing feet. Looking up we find it
tioa- is a gang of workingmen going on to their toil. Our
curiosity is excited, and we follow them to learn what it means.
On closer observation we find that some are supplied with spades,
others with picks, crowbars, drills, and powder cans. From
the merest glance at the equipments we at once know this
means excavation of some kind for some purpose ; we cannot
tell yet what. Now they come to a halt, adjust themselves,
and one begins to strike into the earth with a pick, another to

Method of the Eternal Cause. 23
remove the loosened parts, another drills a hole in the rock ;
already it is apparent what the implements are for. The work
progresses ; a great hole is made in the earth, and the rocks
and soil removed to convenient points of deposit. The sides
of the excavation are trimmed to a line, and the angles are
fixed. The blasted rock and other stone have been corded
around the edges. Now new workmen appear with trowels,
hammers, plummets, and other tools used in masonry. We now
know that all this means a structure of some kind. Different
kinds of dressed and undressed material are gathered. The
foundations are laid, and the walls begin to go up — cross walls
and openings. Long before the completion we are able to
determine what the finished structure is to be and to what end
it is built. The series of observed facts show the plan and pro
claim the design. Simply looking at these we find what was in
the mind of the worker at the start, and in what manner he chose
to accomplish his purpose. We need no word statement in
the presence of such facts, and any word statement could only
conform to the facts. The act series is simply a thought
series which emerges anew in the mind of the beholder.
It is obvious that in order to translate the act series back to
the thought series there must be homogeneity be- Tnetrend_
tween the worker and the observer. There must now obtained.
also be enough facts of the series drawn out and observed in
their exact order to constitute a trend. These conditions
being fulfilled, the induction is likely to be proximately correct,
and will not fail to be correct in its general character. The
act series will emerge in a thought series as surely as it
emerged from a thought series.
It matters nothing that the act series is from the infinite, and
that the observer and interpreter is finite. The finite may not
comprehend either the plan or the method of the infinite as
the infinite himself comprehends it ; but an act series of the

24 Studies in Theology.
infinite may translate the thought series which it represents to
The same the finite in a degree. The finite will see and think
rgentbeflnue the thoughts of the infinite so far forth, though he
or infinite. ma^ not comprehend the whole. Though we do
not rise to the height of the design or fully comprehend any
part of it, and though the working of the power be complete
May not com- and absolute mystery to us, we may be able to get the
prehend in
fuii. trend of the vast movement to its utmost outcome.
"Parts of his ways" we shall see though the greatness will
transcend us ; " the remainder will be past finding out." It is
a great undertaking "by searching" to find out God. It is
hopeless to attempt to know him to perfection ; but is it im
pious to hope that by diligent study we may at least learn
something of his ineffable character and inscrutable plan ?
The disadvantages are confessedly great. The worker, as to
Disadvan- essence of being, is absolutely unapproachable by us
tages. jn anv way. He hides himself behind an impene
trable veil. He is incomprehensible in character, and modes
both of being and action. In some way and for some rea
son, out over immeasurable areas of time and space he sends
vastness of signs of his existence. The field is so vast, and life
the new. js s0 s]10rt and our standpoint so narrow, that we
can only see a small part of these signals, and over all a vast
obscurity hangs. From these insignificant atomic facts we are
to undertake to interpret him. Necessarily much will be mean
ingless to faculties which cannot grasp the whole, and where ob
scurity is so profound some obscure facts will even be misleading.
Can we find a clew ? Can we by any possibility get the line ?
There are these encouraging circumstances with relation to
the matter in hand which we do well to note : If the case is
Encouraging beset with obscurity the obscurity is not so dense
circum- . u
stances. as it once was. We stand far along the line of the
movement. The plan is far advanced in its development, and

Method of the Eternal Cause. 25
a clew has been discovered. Multitudes of skillful workers
have preceded us and furnish ready to our use a great accumu
lation of materials. Their combined researches extend over
centuries of time and cover a large part of the field of observa
tion. We but construct out of the materials they have gath
ered and sorted to our hands. In fact, they have laid the
foundations and we but continue the walls which they have
reared so well. The amount of patient work already
done — quarrying in the earth, quarrying in the stars, '
quarrying in the mines of thought, blasting a way through the
dense darkness of ignorance and the thick walls of prejudice
and superstition ; work through midnight vigils ; work with fee
ble bodies and overtaxed brains ; work many times with no rec
ompense but derision ; work for the love of truth ; work that
now enriches the world and will continue more and more to fer
tilize coming ages — passes all estimation. It is thus by com
bined toil of noble minds the structure of knowledge is built.
Mere casual sense observation gives the fact of a great
mass of inorganic existence, which in itself, merely Materlaiex.
as observed, suggests nothing of a temporal order; istence mere-
nothing of an historic process ; nothing of changes, served gives
methodical or unmethodical, that have passed within temporal or-
or before it ; nothing, in fact, but present existence
and speculations. If we would know more we must linger and
take note.
That there is a temporal order we learn by research and ex
perience. Bv closer and continued observation we Temporal
r J order — how
find an ongoing in ourselves and in things — markde ascertained.
by sunrisings and sunsettings — by the succession of the sea
sons ; by growth and decay ; by birth and death ; by that change
which passes on things. The world, to casual observation,
seems to be permanent and abiding. That it also had a birth

26 Studies in Theology.
and history, and that there was any possibility of ascertaining
the date of the one and tracing the events of the other, was not
even surmised by the coming and vanishing generations of men
that dwelt upon its surface. Whether it was young or old none
could tell. Tradition made it young.
But it has now become well known that there were processes
going on from the beginning within the earth itself which
Earth rec- were recording its marvelous history and laying it
oras- away in the rocks forever. We have at last become
aware of the processes, and have learned to translate the record
with more or less accuracy. We know that any series must
have a beginning and a history connecting the whole. Having
found the clew, we are able to trace the successive changes to
the primal movement ; and to pass beyond that to the eternal
agent which gave it its start, and by successive effects to de-
determine what kind of a being the agent was and is.
From the study of these well-preserved records three things
Three things force themselves upon us as absolute certainties:
discovered, r^ tjiat tlie system ]ia^ a beginning ; (I) the lapse of
almost immeasurable time since its origination; (c) the con
stantly advancing dignity and worthiness of its ends and uses.
The first of these assumed certainties encounters objection on so-
called scientific grounds ; the second was long resisted by popular
prejudice ; the third is in one form or another admitted by all.
That the system had an absolute beginning is denied on two
The system grounds : (a) as not ascertained in fact, and (b) as im-
hadabegin- , ; \ /
nmg. possible in conception ; the first is argued by science,
which deals with facts ; the second by speculative philosophy,
which deals with principles.
The scientific objection rests upon these grounds in general :
that origins do not come into the view of mind at all, and there
fore cannot be made subject of scientific inquiry at all ; science

Method of the Eternal Cause. 27
deals with facts, and does not find origins among facts. It allows
of changes in things, and attempts to account for them Sclentifl0
by the things themselves ; but it denies that there is option.
scientific evidence that the things themselves or the substances
out of which they are composed have any beginning — that
there is any proof of the great fundamental change from non
existence to existence. It takes the universe as it now is, and
analyzes, classifies, and explores its component parts, and deter
mines the laws and forces by which its varied changes of form,
relation, and condition are effected. It deals also with the
changes which have taken place in its history, and those changes
which can and will take place under its known laws in given
relations and conditions. In this way it goes back over the
past, as it finds it chronicled in the system itself in visible facts.
It passes down through a long series of past changes, which it
proposes to account for by ascertained laws and forces, until it
comes to the ultimate components, when all changes cease, and
here it comes to a halt and says it can go no further, there is
no other more ultimate fact on which it can fix. It will not
raise the question, Whence come these ultimates ? It has sim
ply to do with the fact that they are, and with this to explain
how all, changes have been wrought.
If, stopping here, they assume that they have exhausted all
reality they must with these alone carry forward all Failure to ac-
the processes which they find going forward and all count-
the results of change with which they deal. This is the problem.
Can they do it ? They must find in these ultimates which go
into the composition of all things and changes — ultimates of
matter, law, and force as constituents of matter — " the promise
and potency of all things," as has been asserted by a prominent
devotee ; the ultimates must be able to do all that has been
done, or they cannot account for it. If they, the ultimates, are
impotent to the result, and if science has nothing more that it

28 Studies in Theology.
can do, then the mind, by a necessity of its nature, must posit
something, that is, some fact of being which science does not
and cannot reach back of its ultimates. And that something
must be the adequate explanation of origins, the source of the
facts with which science deals, the absolute Creator. Three
Three things considerations are fatal to the claim set up by the
uraiism. " devotees of the " dirt theory." First, by definition
of its advocates it is impersonal and nnf ree ; its forces necessa
rily act ; it fails, therefore, to be able to give account of itself
prior to the evolution of itself ; if by its nature it must act how
could it be eternal ? Every act must be in time. Second, by
confession it is not intelligent ; it fails, therefore, to account
for the apparently intelligent manner of its operations. Third,
by confession it is without life ; it fails, therefore, to account
for life. Its impotency is so great that any attempt to explain
the facts of the universe from it alone is conceded to be a fail
ure by the most eminent minds who deal with the problem.
The necessity of an agency outside of the material system
The supernal- to acc0unt for it, that is, of a supernatural cause, is
ural a neces- ' r '
sity. such that reason gives way and becomes unreason in
attempting to resist it. The impotence of science makes no
more against the doctrine of a supernatural cause than the im
potence of mathematics in matters of morals makes against
ethics. It simply lies outside of scientific inquiry, which deals
with the facts of nature and not at all with its cause. When, on
the ground that it has nothing to do with cause, it denies its ex
istence, science transcends its sphere and drivels into idiocy.
But at this point the question of origins encounters another
tocTcSve'of obJectio11 from a different quarter, namely, the " im-
origins. possibility of conceiving how being can be orio-i-
nated." This must be admitted without hesitation and without
reservation. The how of a properly creative act is an absolute

Method of the Eternal Cause. 29
mystery to human intelligence. But does it therefore follow
that it is impossible ? This would involve that our understand
ing of how a thing can be is the measure of possibility. This
will not be pretended. But is it then said that, at least, we
cannot rationally believe that a thing is possible and actual the
how of which we cannot conceive ? The answer is that this
would limit our believing to our understanding, not of the fact
which is matter of belief, but of how it became a fact. But
this, again, cannot be assumed, and by a law of our mentality
is impossible. We both necessarily believe and know the pos
sibility and certainty of multitudes of things the how of which
we do not comprehend — our own existence, for example. In
this case we know that there must, in fact, be a properly crea
tive act, since we know that we now are and that we once were
not, and that to pass from nonexistence into existence requires
a properly creative, causational exercise of power.
The second assumed certainty, namely, that there has been
a lapse of almost immeasurable time since the origi- The lapse of
nation of the universe, is confessedly a recent dis- almos"nflnite
•> time since the
covery, but a fact now well established. The popular beginning.
belief which long held undisputed sway, and which lingers in
some quarters, was that creation was a very recent event, to be
measured by at most only a few thousand years. There were
no known facts to contradict it. It was supposed to have the
highest sanction, the revealed testimony of the Creator himself.
Authentic history seemed to favor it, in that it carried back but
a brief period and seemed to reach to the infancy of things.
There were abundant traditions circulating among all people
to the same effect. The idea seemed to be an heirloom of hu
manity, and carried unquestioning conviction wherever it cir
culated. Not only history and tradition bore testimony to the
recent origin of man, but numerous facts established it beyond

30 Studies in Theology.
dispute. That the world itself was much older than its inhab
itants was not suspected.
Some strange facts were discovered in the constitution and
position of the rocks. Inquiry was started. The facts mul-
how discov- tiplied and became more and more curious and in-
ered- teresting. More careful attention was given, and
suspicion was engendered and expressed as to the truth of the
popular theory of the recent origin of the world. It is within
the memory of the gray-haired man, and need not be recited,
how great the commotion that ensued. The result is that pa
tient research has now established the fact beyond intelligent
dispute that the beginning of the world must be dated back
many, many millions of years.
The same science has discovered also that the popular theory
creation not 0f creation is not sustained by the facts, that is, as
instantaneous ' .
as a whole. long held and taught. That theory was that crea
tion was begun and concluded in six solar days of twenty-
four hours each. This also was supposed to be biblical and
intrenched itself in the sanctuary of faith. It is certainly
false. Better learning has discovered that such was not and
never is the divine method. His plan extends through eter
nity : why should he be in haste ? The examination shows
that his movement was in the order of a continuous and
systematic evolution or process extending over incompu
table eons.
The most primitive page records simply a vast accumulation
primitive of elements — impalpable atomic substances — an abyss
page. 0f vapor, of uncompounded gases, each discrete atom
of which was under law. This was the product of the only
properly creative act until we reach life and spirit, formative
processes being not properly creative but constructive. The
power which creates and that which constructs is identical, but
not coetaneous necessarily. These were the infinitesimal stones

Method of the Eternal Cause. 31
out of which in unrolling eons the creative agent was to con
struct sidereal arches and evolve living races.
Thus furnished with material it has been discovered that
slowly, in vast cycles of geologic time, the anarchic mass as
sumed spherical forms and condensed into flaming Growth of the
crystal orbs, and then into cooled and solid globes cosmos slow
..... => and progress-
Ihe granitic bases of the contiuents, and the vast J™.
accumulations of metamorphic and crystalline rocks the world
over, are the witnesses and ancient monuments of that length
ened era, proclaiming how long the fiery age continued and
how universal its reign. Here are no memorials of life.
Archaic suns and callow planets are but learning their centers
and orbits, and getting ready for ages of life.
We turn another page. The burning air has cooled, boiling
6eas have become tepid, cloudy vapors send down
i 1 • i c • -ii i . , . Second stage.
showers which form mto rills and rivers ; atmospheric
changes and descending floods decompose crystalline rocks and
spread out the loose and mellow soils and sands over the val
leys and rolling lands. Conditions for vegetable growths ex
ist. The azoic age gives place to the new era of life. Archaic
forms of vegetation clothe the earth with verdure, and tropical
seas swarm with primordial varieties of animal life. In ages
of snnrisings and settings Siluria passes into Devonia, and on
and on through successive eons the earth swarms with the succes
sive tribes and families of animate existence. Old races perish,
new orders are introduced. Carbonifera cords its wealth, and is
covered away to provide thermal material for the use of man yet
millions of years distant. Nutritious plants spring along the hills
and higher plains, succulent fruits and berries hang from freight
ed shrubs and boughs for populations of bird and beast and the
coming kingly race. Epochs come and pass, each pregnant with
prophecy and purpose of a world of life still in the future.

32 Studies in Theology.
Thus we read the record from the Laurentian rocks of the
first formed sedimentations to the Pliocene of the most recent,
from the Eozoon of the metamorphic deposits to the human age.
We know the laws and forces which have accumulated these
vast masses and piled them tier upon tier and stratum upon stra
tum to ten miles in thickness ; they are now working under our
gaze. We see the process still going on, doing for our time
what it did for those times, registering the chronology and his
tory of to-day with the same stylus and on the same kind of
page as was employed for those ages. The process is per
fectly plain. We know how the accumulations were made and
by what agencies. We know the forces which posited the
walls and the ratios of their working, and the forces which dis
turb and destroy. We see the result over all the surfaces of
the world — not perfectly, but proximately. We know that
Time for to make these vast deposits required inconceivable
changes. measures of time. We know that the mass of the
earth during that period has passed through great thermal
changes— from a highly heated, perhaps molten, condition to
Things its present temperature. We know that there was an
almost infinitely long azoic period. We know that
life has flourished through (probably) millions of years. We
know that there have been epochs of life— that typical forms,
characteristic of one period, have perished, to be followed by
another order of typical forms. We know that there has been
advance in the successive forms, each epoch introducing more
complex and perfect organization. We know that each ante
cedent condition furnishes something, not only in juxtaposition
and temporal relation to what is immediately to follow, but
something also essential to and prophetic of what is forthcom-
no breas in ing- There is a deft correlation as well as consecu
tion. There is no break in the chain from the first to
the last link; but there are various elements in its composition

Method of the Eternal Cause. 33
and progressive values in its parts. The first part is of iron,
the second silver, the third gold, as to relative degree.
The most ancient link in the still growing chain is, first, cre
ated, impalpable elements, in their discrete and uncompounded
forms — primitive atoms ; the second is the same ele
ments molecularized, separated into masses, and development0
raised into palpable compounds; the third is masses and construt
grouped into systems of cooled and compacted tlon'
worlds, with adjusted motions and fixed relations ; the fourth
is the appearance of low forms of vegetable and insensate life,
rooted in and extracting its aliment from inorganic
elements by a peculiar and unknown chemistry ; the
fifth is free locomotive and sensitive life, in organisms fashioned
from the common elements, but not rooted in them nor taking
nutriment from them, but receiving its aliment from the pre
viously formed vegetable fiber through a stomach, and in all
its almost endless varieties, from the lowest to the highest, ex
hibiting automatic mentality in greater or less degree ; the
sixth is a discrete essence, eluding sense, and known only by
effects it produces in the visible substance of matter — a spirit
ual entity shrined in a highest type of sensitive, free locomotive
organism, and exhibiting highest forms of mentality; a self-
conscious, self -knowing, and self-governing subject, with powers
of thought, feeling, and will purely subjective and personal. In
a fitting order life crowns azoic ages and mind crowns life.
Thus, with absolute diversity, there is pervasive and Divinity ends
real unity ; each part having relation to and depend- lu unlty-
ence on its immediate antecedent ; but at the same time each
several part being distinct.
Calmly, silently, slowly, magnificently the great work pro
gresses. There is no stir, no confusion, no mis- Majesty of the
direction, no hurry, no useless expenditure of force m0Tement-
anywhere ; but there is advance and improvement everywhere.

34 Studies in Theology.
The corner stone is properly laid, and in orderly tiers the mighty
walls are reared. We stand midway of the uncompleted edi
fice whose unfinished arches still point onward. Broad as the
rims of the sky and high as the cope of heaven it rises ; but its
pediment is yet Avanting, and its dome awaits eternity for its
final setting.
We mortals, whose life is a span, haste and chafe. He with
whom " a thousand years is as one day," one moment, need not
hurry. He posits a sun whose light will travel millions
Mortals haste. ,, . i i i ji i a-
of years across immeasurable abysses 01 space and time
before finding an eye to behold it. He plants a seed which holds
God never nve thousand years of growth in its tiny shell and pa-
hurries. tiently waits till it rears the giant trunks of the Cala
veras forests. He sets myriads of microscopic insects in mid-
ocean, to lay in infinitesimal stones of their own secretion the
foundations of continents for use a hundred thousand or a hun
dred million years hence, and is not disturbed by the delay. He
distills vegetable oils and lays down vegetable tissue, which are to
be converted into bitumen for the use of some Yulcan in far-re
moved centuries, and bides his advent without disappointment.
All might have been done iu an instant, we presume. A
Might have word would have been sufficient. Esto, with omnip-
been done in . .
a moment. otence to energize it, would have balanced the fin
ished spheres in a moment. But he did not so choose. He
would build in becoming grandeur for one whose power and
skill are infinite ; but he would take time and furnish a model of
Reasons for patient order to those finites who should afterward
patient order. Jearn wis(Jom f rom y8 p]ans an(j meth0(Js_ Invisi_
ble himself, he would concrete his power in atoms and make
them put his thought in visible forms. Centripetal and centrif-
secondary ugal forces, modifications of gravitation and mo-
causes. tjonj ghouls evolve worlds from anarchic masses ; ap
pointed affinities should select and arrange complex substances

Method of the Eternal Cause.

35

for ultimate uses; intangible ethers should become highways for
light and sound ; dense atmospheres should conduct heat and
support vapors ; chemistry should extract qualities from crude
matter out of which to build tissue for hungry germs ; pairs of
fecund animals should populate air and sea and land with sensa
tional life ; all forces should emanate from him and work out his
will. Generation should follow generation and order succeed or
der. New races and types should come as the more ancient re
tired. The great gateways of death should stand open Death and
for effete individuals and races, and the portal of life llfe-
should welcome advancing orders and kinds of living existence.
The series should not be that of unrelated parts, but a deft
and integrated whole. Each precedent should be con- Serles one
dition to each succedent. All the stages of progress wnoIe-
should be toward completeness. Beading down, or up, the line
we should see how each past prophesied each future. Thus,
final cause, proclaiming the Infinite worker, should pervade the
entire chain.
We are to treat of the universe — the earth and the stars,
worlds and their inhabitants, inorganic and organic exist
ences, their scope in time and space, originations and on
going, and the processes and laws discernible in the vast com
plex. The object is to find the facts which lie within our
reach and as far as possible get an intelligent comprehension
of them.
Strictly avoiding the technicalities and frequently, to the
common reader, obscure formulations which encumber the
pages of learned scientific treatises, and with purpose employ
ing a popular style, it will be our aim to give the last results of
learned research as accurately as possible, not in the dry naked
ness of a mere skeleton, but in tint and warmth of life. It
will not be for the want of purpose if the pages do not glow and
burn as they recite the wondrous story of the universe, itself

36 Studies in Theology.
aglow from base to finial with marvels which surpass the most
extravagant dreams of fancy.
The proverb, " Truth is many times stranger than fiction,"
finds its best illustration in the simple facts of being which
need but be known to ravish the thoughtful observer with won
der and rapture. For the want of knowledge and of language
we shall fail to tell the story, to reach the summit of the mighty
theme, but you, reader, will grow strong and great as you strive
to expand your thought and imagination to grasp it. It is
the wrestle with great facts and thoughts which broadens and
deepens mind and gives fiber to the best powers and possibili
ties within us. We open to yon here the loftiest ranges. Try
your pinions.

Space Measures of the Universe.

SPACE MEASURES OF THE UNIVERSE.
Before we take up the facts of the universe for examination it
may be well to note some perplexing questions foisted upon us by
speculative philosophy. The first of these perplexities is as to
reality of the alleged facts, or, perhaps, to be perfectly fair, the
determination of what the reality is. What are the facts ?
The common-sense view, and that which we accept, is that
the universe is an aggregate of real objects, as they
mi , Matter real.
appear to our sense. There is a real earth — we our
selves are real persons, and all the things about us, animate and
inanimate, are real things, composed of real hard and fast sub
stances, or having substance and reality of existence, objective
and not merely subjective.
Over against this so-called common-sense view is the theory
that there are no such realities, but only a power which sup
ports and renders permanent in our consciousness ideas to which
we impute, by a law of mind, real objectivity to what we sup
pose ourselves to perceive. The universe exists thus only in
the mind and in the eternal energy which creates and supports
the ideas.
We name this theory, which is supported by many of the
ablest and best men we know, not for the purpose of attempting
to ref nte it, but simply to say that it is not the view held in this
treatise. Nor do we denounce it as infidel or certainly not
true. It may be true. We find ourselves unable to receive it.
If true it makes nothing against the conclusions of this treatise.
The facts of the universe are the same whichever view we take.
In one case the facts are real as forms energized in the mind by
its Creator reducing the universe to ideas, but still making it

38 Studies in Theology.
real as a product. In the other case the facts are objects
external, corresponding with ideas. If we are unable to
comprehend the meaning or to suppose it is a correct ren
dering of reality, we will be excused from accepting the
ideal theory.
To us there is a real objective universe such as we all talk
about and imagine that we behold and touch and handle ; and of
this universe we write. As our rendering of the facts will
commit us to a temporal and spacial order we linger for a mo
ment to call attention to these terms.
The phrase, " the universe as it exists in space," demands that
we should explain what we mean by space. Space is
a relative term. It does not denote any real exist
ence or thing, but some relation merely, as relative position,
magnitude, figure, among real things. Were there no extended
objects the term would be meaningless. Ideas have no north
side, or east, or west, or south, no bulk or figure. Terms of
space do not apply to them. Space has none of the properties
of matter — as length, breadth, and thickness, extension, ponder
osity, impenetrability, figure, size, color, taste, odor, primary or
secondary qualities ; it has none of the attribute of spirits — no
essence, no faculties ; it does not feel, or think, or wish — is not
conscious. It has no properties of any kind — is nothing. It is
invented simply to denote certain kinds of relations among
figurable things.
When we speak of the universe as it exists in time or as to
universe in its temporal measures, the question arises, as it did
time. with regard to1 space, " What do we mean by time ? "
Again, we answer, " Time is a relative term." It denotes no
real thing, but simply a relation among real things. It is sim
ply an order of succession among changing realities. Begin
ning, past, present, future, all terms of time, denote a relation

Space Measures of the Universe. 39
among things which exist, have existed, or will exist, or imagi
nary things arranged under ideas of relation.
The universe in space means the magnitude and relations of
things as to position. The universe in time means the uni
verse as it has existed in and through an order of succession,
or series of changing phenomena, as sunrisings and sunsettings.
Were there no such phenomena of change the term time
would have no meaning, and all its uses would disappear;
there would be no past, no future, no sooner, no later, no long
time, no short time — no time. The term is relative. It does
not apply to the Eternal Being. It applies- to his acts which
result in effects, not to himself.
Time, like space, has none of the properties of matter and
none of the attributes of spirit. There are relations of
sequence among realities — order, succession. The term is
invented to denote these relations — nothing more. Having
no properties, it is nothing but an idea of order and suc
cession. By the universe we mean the whole aggregate of things —
whatever exists under conditions of time and space. universe—
The definition of purpose excludes God. His rela- wliat?
tion to the universe has treatment in another discussion.
The universe may be viewed under three cardinal aspects, and
must so be treated in order to get any proper conception. These
diverse aspects sustain both a logical and actual re- Three aspects
• ii • of the uni-
lation to each other, a relation of temporal order verse.
and conditioning grounds. They emerge in limina — one ante
cedent to the other, and serving as the basis of the other. Thus
the universe is discovered to be not merely an aggregation, but
a system, all the parts of which cohere in an ultimate unity — a
cosmos.

40 Studies in Theology.
1. We have first: The universe as mass of inorganic sub
stance, called matter.
2. The organic universe. This comprises all forms of mat
ter in which life appears — vegetable and animal.
3. The spiritual universe. This comprises orders of being
who are endowed with personality.
These divisions are natural, real, logical, and exhaustive.
Each opens up a field of profitable study ; and we may venture
the assertion, without which the proper understanding of the
great theological problem — the problem of problems — the prob
lem of the character of God and his end in creation — can never
be solved or intelligently construed.
Nature is God's highest exponent. The things which exist
and are known to have existed, and facts with relation to them,
furnish the most direct information we have as to the attributes
and aims of the infinite Author. These are the subjects of our
present inquiry.

The Inorganic Universe. 41

THE INORGANIC UNIVERSE.
Our investigation begins with the study of the inorganic uni
verse. Logical propriety determines this order. The inorganic
antedates and conditions the organic. . The full significance of
this statement Avill soon appear. The inorganic exists for the
organic. The inorganic universe comprises the vast masses of mere mat
ter builded into worlds, and excludes all living beings.
The mere word " masses of matter," or the other word " world,"
conveys no adequate idea of the inorganic realm of existence.
If we pluralize the terms and add millions of worlds Masses of
we still gain no real concept. If we vary the state- matter.
ment into suns and moons and stars, and swell them into vast
est number and spread them over what we are pleased to call
infinite space, we still make no approach. Reality is definite.
To get at reality the mind demands that terms have definite
meanings, and that the exact meanings be perceived.
Matter is one of the terms here employed. What is its
meaning? It might seem unnecessary to pause over so simple
a term where the meaning is supposed to be so manifest ; but
simple terms are not always most easily apprehended, and, be
guiled by their familiarity into the idea that we have their-
meaning, we often employ them without any definite idea.
at all.
Matter is earth and rocks, water and air, the solids and fluids^
and gases which we touch and handle and inhale —
" . Matter— what?'
a something which has substance — is extended and
imperishable; has weight and form and occupies space; has.
the reality of existence and is not a mere idea.

42 Studies in Theology.
Ultimately all matter — that is, all compounds or kinds of
matter — is reducible to infinitesimal atoms, indivisible units ;
each unit has the property of extension or so-called occupancy
of space.
There are but few persons outside of the ranks of the biolog
ical students that have any idea of what is meant by the ex
pression " an atom of matter." When the microscope is applied
to the examination of living tissue, whether that tissue be of
animal or vegetable life, it is soon observed that all living
things are made up of minute bodies called " organisms." Ex
perts in the various branches of biological research will also tell
you that no essential difference can be distinguished between
those cells which go to make up the sum total of animal life
and those which give the vegetable its existence. These life
cells, although wonders within themselves, are made up of mi
nute particles called "atoms," which are so small that they
must ever remain invisible to the human eye. Some critical
reader will say, " If this last remark be true, how can it be
proved that such infinitesimal particles as your so-called ' atoms '
exist? " To this query the reply would be that it is only when
an untold number of these atoms unite themselves so as to form
a single body, like the grains in a popcorn ball, that they be
come at all visible, and then only by the best appliances that
optical science has been able to furnish.
This being the case, it is not an exaggeration to say that every
little piece of matter which we are able to see is built up of
millions upon millions of these atoms, which are so small that
no mind can comprehend their minuteness, even when taken in
aggregations of thousands. There are, of course, many differ
ent kinds of atoms, such as atoms of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen,
etc., each of which is believed to have its own particular size
and weight. Then, too, they probably differ in shape as well
as size. According to the specialists in this line they combine

The Inorganic Universe. 43
together by mutual attraction, which is in some cases called co
hesion and in others chemical affinity, according as the atoms
are of the different elements. This being the case, it is easy to
understand why myriads of these atoms of all sizes and shapes,
fitted snugly one against the other, combine together in varying
degrees of intensity to build up structures possessing all the va
rious degrees of stability and solidity. . Some of the most won
derful theories ever advanced on the atomic theory are by Sir
William Thomson, the English scientist. In one of these arti
cles he proves by three different trains of arguments that an
atom cannot be greater than the one one hundred and fifty mil
lionth of an inch nor less than one five billionth of an inch.
Bishop Warren beautifully says : " Science finds matter to be
capable of unknown refinement : water becomes steam, full of
amazing capabilities ; we add more heat, superheat the steam,
and it takes on new aptitudes and uncontrollable energy. Zinc
burned in acid becomes electricity, which enters iron as a kind
of soul and fills that body with a kind of life. All matter is
capable of transformation, if not transfiguration, until it shines
by the light of an indwelling spirit. . . .
" When God made matter, so far as our thoughts permit us
to know, he simply made force stationary and unconscious."
(The best definition of idealism yet rendered.)
" Join in the long and microscopic hunt for the atom, and if
found, or if not found, to a consideration of its remarkable pow
ers. Bring telescope and microscope. . . . Make the first search
with the microscope ; we can count 112,000 lines ruled on a glass
plate inside of an inch. But we are here looking at mountain
ridges and valleys, not atoms. Gold can be beaten to the ii0\00
of an inch. But the atoms are still heaped one upon another.
" Take some of the infusorial animals. Alonzo Gray says
millions of them would not equal in bulk a grain of sand. Yet
each of them performs the functions of respiration, circulation,

44 Studies in Theology.
digestion, and locomotion. Some of our blood vessels are not
a millionth of our size. What must be the size of the ultimate
particle that freely moves about to nourish an animal whose
totality is too small to estimate ? A grain of musk gives off
atoms enough to scent every part of the air of a room. You
detect it above, below, on every side. Then let the zephyrs of
summer and the blasts of winter sweep through that room for
forty years, bearing out into the wide world miles on miles of
air, all perfumed from the atoms of that grain of musk, and at
the end of the forty years the weight of musk has not appre
ciably diminished. Yet unaccountable myriads on myriads of
atoms have gone.
" Our atom is not found yet. We will pass in review the
properties with which materialists preposterously endow it. It
is impenetrable and indivisible, though some atoms are a hun
dred times larger than others. Each has definite shape — some
one shape, some another. They differ in weight, in quantity
of combining power, in quality of combining power. They
combine with different substances in certain exact assignable
quantities. Thus one atom of hydrogen combines with eighty
of bromine, one hundred and sixty of mercury, two hundred
and forty of boron, three hundred and twenty of silicon, etc.
" The atoms of luminif erous ether are infinitely more diffused ;
its interactive atoms can give four hundred millions of light waves
in a second. And now, more preposterous than all, each atom
has an attractive power for every other atom of the universe." *
Masses of matter are accumulations and collocations of these
minute substances until they acquire bulk and size, become vari
ously compounded and take on specific conditions,
and are differentiable as solids, liquids, gases, clay,
sand, rocks, metals. When they acquire great proportions and
are separated from other masses, so as to take on an economy of
* Recreations in Astronomy, pp. 241, 256-268.

The Inorganic Universe. 45
motion peculiar to themselves, these large masses are called
worlds, and collectively they are the inorganic universe — the all
of matter.
The immediate object we have now in view is to put our
selves in possession of some idea of the vastness of these masses
of inorganic substance. Having gained this point, vastness of
our next effort will be to find out the economies per- tne universe-
vasive of them and determining their constitutions and the ends
for which they exist, thus discovering the powers of the Being
who has made and ordered them, and yet deeper, in their ends
or uses discovering the character of the mighty Maker. It is
thus we study and measure men. Why shall we not bring the
same method to the study of the Maker of men and of the
universe ?

46 Studies in Theology.

MASSES OF MATTER.
Worlds : How shall we get hold of the idea of a world ? Not
bv ringing the changes on the word. We gain noth-
Worlds. J ° ° TO . , Al
ing by this. We must examine and measure the
thing itself — see it on all sides, measure it in detail, build it
inch by inch until it stands forth in our thought as a whole, as
some city or monument that we visit does. Until we are at
the pains to do this we delude ourselves with mere sounds with
out ideas, and fail of grasping meanings.
In studying worlds as inorganic masses let us begin with the
world we know most about — the world on which we live and
from which we make our observation of other worlds.
The single object we aim at now is to get a concept of the
bulk or mass of world matter of our own world and other
worlds known to exist.
Take the earth as a primary study. The earth is now known
to be a spherical body — an oblate spheroid, not com-
pletely round. Its longest diameter is proximately
eight thousand miles. Its substance is wrought together in solid
mass, that is, contactual or continuous mass, of hard and fluid
matter reaching from its external surfaces inward to the center.
Its surfaces present to the eye the appearance of a continuous
plain, furrowed by river beds and ocean basins, and corrugated
by ranges of hills and mountains, and measuring two hundred
million square miles of surface, the greater part being water,
only fifty million, or one fourth, land.
Try to think of this mass. Tax your faculties. Ascend some
highest mountain and get a wide view. Take passage on one
of the great steamships. Travel half a thousand miles each

Masses of Matter. 47
day for many days to cross from shore to shore. Take the
train on the great railways and travel the continents for Aveeks
and months together. Pass from kingdom to kingdom and
country to country. Spend years at it in continuous going ; ex
haust life itself in the pursuit. At the end you have seen but
little" narrow ribbons of its surface. The amazement grows
upon you. When yon return you talk of the great cities you
have visited, the vast cathedrals and temples and tombs you
have seen, the lands you have passed through, the seas you
have navigated, but you have not seen a thousandth part of the
surface which turns to the sun every twenty-four hours ; no
man ever did or could in the longest lifetime.
Take Pike's Peak, that atomic feature of a single range of
mountains, only a speck in the landscape ; shave it
Pike's Peak
off at the base, as you would remove a mole from
the face or a wart from the hand ; there is more material in
that single speck than has been used in all the constructions
of man from the beginning of the world to this day ; yet com
pared with the globe itself it is less proportionately than a
mustard seed upon its summit is to its mass. If there were
not another Avorld in space the earth itself would be the ever
lasting wonder of men and angels, viewed simply as a mass of
inorganic matter, the only aspect in which we are now studying
it. Further on we shall see its deeper lessons.
Standing upon the earth and anchored to it by a fatality
which we have no power to overcome, we look upward How tne uni_
^ ' A verse appears
and away from it. What do we behold ? To the in daylight.
seeming, in the daylight hours, Ave gaze out into an infinite void.
From horizon to horizon there is but a single speck to arrest
our gaze, a small luminous object, round in figure and dazzlingly
effulgent, but less than the dome on our capitol, not larger
than a carriage wheel, a disk of burnished gold, twenty inches
in diameter; we name it the sun. It is a fixture. Each day it

48 Studies in Theology.
appears on the eastern horizon at a given minute, passes over
our heads and disappears behind the western horizon. Night
shuts in. A figure of similar form and size, attended by a
multitude of brilliant points, comes out to view. The sky is full
of them ; we name them moon and planets and stars. What
are they ?
Let us keep in mind that for the present our sole inquiry is,
What are they as objects, specifically as to their dimensions ?
We do not now raise questions as to their relations, functions,
and economies. These points are in abeyance for the present.
That they are real objects and not mere illusions we know.
They are given merely to the sense of sight. We are separated
from them by impassable space. They seem to be merely
luminous disks of small diameter and smaller points. So for
ages and until a recent date they were thought in reality to be.
The discovery that they are not such is one of the most won
derful achievements of the human mind.
They are now known to be vast masses of matter-worlds,
Night won- some smaller, many of them, indeed, all of them,
but less than half a score, almost infinitely larger
than the earth which Ave inhabit, and composed of precisely the
same substance which our feet press and our hands handle.
In considering them as masses with reference solely to the ex
tent of the universe, Ave must think of them as to the measures
of space which they occupy, which involves the distances they
are asunder, as well as the spaces which they fill.
So long as men were dependent on mere unaided vision
these were problems of impossible solution. Ages of specula
tion left the mystery untouched. It is the wonder of wonders
that it did not forever remain so. The magnificent concep
tion of Copernicus, formulated by Kepler ; the discovery by
Newton of the great law of gravitation, possibly first suspected
by Kepler, but finally formulated by the great astronomer

Masses of Matter. 49
whose name it bears, and ascribed to an accidental discovery ;
the similarly accidental discovery of the lens ; finally, the spec
troscope, have jointly furnished the key by which the mystery
of the sidereal universe has been resolved. Newton gives us
the law which lias been found to determine and regulate the
relations and motions of all worlds. Copernicus has given us
the solar system.
The lens multiplies the power of the eye so that we can carry
our observations many thousand times further into space than
was possible to unaided vision, and so discover universes- a
thousand — many thousand — times greater than that before
known. With the aid of these clews we begin our investiga
tion. Some mention has already been made of our earth home, as
to its magnitude. Of it we have a tolerably clear conception as
a vast globe but measurable by imagination. It is found to be
a member of a system, or small group of worlds which takes the
name of the central body around which it and the other mem
bers move, the solar system.

50 Studies in Theology.

THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
It is natural and proper that we should begin our investiga
tions with a more careful survey of this system. The study will
prepare us for the more extended survey of other systems out
beyond to the rims of the universe as noAV known.
The solar system comprises our sun and its retinue of nine or
ten planets and their satellites, with a group of asteroids, sup
posed by its location to be fragments of a disrupted planet,
numbering two or three hundred, not visible to the eye, or
possibly minute bodies never massed into a greater globe.
THE SUN.
The sun is the fixed center of the system around which other
members revolve in periods of definite but longer
The sun. , . ~ .
or shorter time. It is proper that we should begin
the survey by first calling attention to that amazing body. To
the eye it seems to be infinitely small compared with the earth ;
in reality it is discovered to be almost infinitely large. As
stated already, it is found to be a fixed body ; that is, to be sta
tionary Avith respect to the other members of the group, and
indeed relatively to the other stellar systems. If it has any
orbital movement that fact is not ascertained with certainty, and
if a fact, it does not change its relation to other stellar bodies, but
must be in some vast revolution through periods of unimagina
ble time, in which all other bodies of the universe move in har
mony around some as yet unascertained center. It is known,
hoAvever, to have an axial motion, to revolve about its OAvn
center in the same direction Avith the other members of the
group, completing a revolution in every twenty-six days, about
six times the velocity of our axial movement.

The Solar System. 51
We have already hinted at the magnitude of this amazing body.
It is important that we should further ponder this
r The govern-
point on many accounts. It is the center of the sys- Ins b0<&-
tem. It has sovereign relation to the other members. Its at
traction governs them all and determines their movements, an
chors them in bounds which they cannot pass. It is king over
a vast region of space where it holds absolute dominion, not sim
ply over its own planetary children and subjects, but against the
invasion of all other world systems. There, rooted fast in the
infinite void, it holds absolute empire. There it burns and
shines forever with undiminished splendor. Nothing is more
amazing than this fact. Neither its brigthness nor fervors ever
appreciably vary or wane ; the emblem of its Author, " the same
yesterday, to-day, and forever," or until its appointed time ; its
flame so dazzling that no eye can gaze upon it for a moment,
flooding immeasurable realms of space through immeasurable
ages with unfading brilliancy. Matchless monarch ! But we
were to speak of its magnitude. It seems not larger than a
carriage wheel — hardly so large. We wonder at its shining.
Let us try to get some idea of its real size. It has been meas
ured and weighed. There is no uncertainty about the accu
racy of the result. We have but to try to grasp it. We have
alluded to the planets, satellites, and asteroids, or worlds like
our earth, most of the planets larger, the others smaller ; we have
some conception of the earth. The sun is seven hundred times
larger than all of them put together, or 1,300,000 times larger
than the earth taken alone.
How shall we grasp this amazing magnitude ? We must re
sort to illustration ; mere statement fails to give any Earth magni.
idea. The earth is 8,000 miles in diameter; the tude-
sun is 880,000 miles in diameter. Still we fail to get an idea
except that one is much larger than the other. Let us try
again. Suppose the sun a hollow sphere with a 1,000-mile

52 Studies in Theology.
thickness for the shell. Imagine an opening into it 8,000
miles in diameter, a great auger hole 8,000 miles across, further
than from San Francisco to the Bosporus or Constantinople,
across the continent of America, the Atlantic Ocean, and the
continent of Europe. Now collect 1,300,000 worlds the size
of ours and drop them into this immense cavern, and they will
only fill the void ; or, instead of this, drop our earth in and
sun magm- ^ ^ settle at the center of the cavity, and then drop
tude. our moon in and let it take the precise position with
relation to the earth which it now occupies, 240,000 miles from
it, and now let it commence its accustomed revolution ; the orbit
it will describe will be equidistant from the earth and the
inner surface of the shell.
" There is no point on the surface of the globe that unites so
many awful and sublime objects as the top of Etna, and no
imagination has dared to form a description of so glorious
and magnificent a scene. The body of the sun is seen rising
from the ocean, immense tracts of both sea and land interven
ing ; the islands of Panara, Alicudi, Lipari, Stromboli, and "Vol
cano, with their smoking summits, appear under your feet, and
you look down on the whole of Sicily as on a map, and can
trace every river through all its windings from its source to its
mouth. The view is absolutely boundless on every side, so that
the sight is everywhere lost in immensity. Yet this glorious
and expansive prospect is comprised within a circle about 240
miles in diameter and 754 in circumference, containing 45,240
square miles, which is only ^^^ part 0f the surface
of the sun; so that fifty-three million seven hundred and
seventy-six thousand six hundred and eight landscapes, such
as beheld from Mount Etna, behooved to pass before us be
fore we could contemplate a surface as expansive as that of the
sun ; and if every such landscape were to occupy two hours in
the contemplation, as supposed above, it would require twenty-

The Solar System. 53
four thousand five hundred and fifty-four years before the
whole surface of this immense globe could be in this manner
surveyed." *
It has been already stated that the solar system which we are
now considering comprises a definite group of worlds under one
group of economies, constituting a system within it
self. The sun belongs to the greater universe sys- ° ar sp m"
tem. The other members of the group are called planets. There
are nine of them, varying in diameters from Vulcan, which is the
least, to Jupiter, which is the largest. Besides there is a cluster
of very small bodies, occupying a place where there ought to
be a tenth planet. These are known as asteroids or planetoids.
There are several hundred of them already known, and they have
an economy of motion among themselves. They are supposed to
be fragments of a disrupted planet, and collectively would make
a body about the size of Mars, which is the planet next them.
The planets revolve about the great central member of the sys
tem — the sun — in fixed orbits of various dimensions, and with
varying velocities and on shorter and longer periods. I lfl.HGtS.
They also have an axial revolution in varying time.
The orbital revolution determines the length of their year, while
the axial determines the length of their day. The extremes are
great — reducing the day in some cases to ten hours, and carry
ing the year up to two hundred and eighty of our years$ and in
some cases reducing it to two thirds of ours.
The planets in turn become 'centers of inferior groups, called
satellites. The number varies. One, at least, is known to have
eight. Our earth home has one. Of these subsidi- pianet3 Be-
ary bodies between twenty and thirty have been dis- come oenter3,
covered ; some of them only inferior in size to some of the
smaller planets.
The entire solar system — sun, planets, satellites, and asteroids
*Dick, Celestial Scenery, p. 214.

54 Studies in Theology.
— comprises several hundred bodies, or if we call the planetoids
one, about forty, which must be classed as lesser and greater
worlds, under economies peculiar to the system, and amid ex
treme complexity of motions, orbit within orbit, maintaining
absolute harmony and subserving various functions of useful
ness and grace to the life which pervades the system — a beauti
ful and sublime universe within itself. In fact, it is but one of
innumerable similar systems overspreading illimitable spaces,
making the vast system of worlds of unknown extent.
As this system, best known to us, may serve as a key to all
other outlying systems, it will be of advantage if we linger for
its yet more particular study.
Keep in mind that the one thing we have in view now is to
get a clear concept of the space measures of the universe ; and
in order to that we now seek to get an idea of the space meas
ures of our own solar system.
It has been already stated that the planets are grouped about
the sun at various distances, and that they describe orbits of
Ararious diameters in regular but differing periods of time about
their common center. Our search now is to find their respec
tive distances from the sun. VULCAN.
Vulcan, of whose existence even we had no knowledge until
recently, and which is even yet in dispute, is the innermost and
smallest of the planets. It is located and has its mean orbital
vuican, dis- path about fifteen million miles from the sun. Its
tancefrom . ,
the sun. motions, orbital and axial, are both still undeter
mined. Its distance only is proximately ascertained. It is the
shortest distance in celestial measurements except in the case of
satellites. But it will be of service to endeavor to form some
concept of this amazing distance before we approach the larger
measures of the solar system, but especially before we grapple

The Solar System. 5£
with the still greater spaces in the sidereal systems. Fifteen
million miles — nothing to infinite space ; but yet all that we
know of measurement is as nothing compared with it. Eight
een hundred and ninety of our world, if placed in line, would
find room between Vulcan and the sun, or seventy-five moons,
each separated from the other as far as our moon is separated
from us, could stand in line to cover the enormous space.
mercury.
Mercury, next in order, is better knoAvn, and yet it is seldom
seen without special search Avith an instrument. Its place and
habits are familiar to astronomic science. Its orbit lies about
thirty-seven million miles away from the sun, or twice gize ai8tanee
and proximately a half as distant as Vulcan. Its from the sun.
motions and magnitude are measured and determined. It is
thirty-one hundred miles in diameter, and its orbital revolution
requires eighty-eight days. Its axial revolution is about the
same, but only minutes less than that of our earth.
VENUS.
Pursuing our course outward, we next come to Venus. This
planet is universally regarded as the most beautiful venus the
of the group, and, indeed, unsurpassed in the entire
celestial scenery, competing with our moon for the title " queen
of heaven."
Our nearest neighbor, it is also nearly of the same dimen
sions of our earth, having a diameter of seven thousand seven
hundred miles. Its position is about sixty-eight million miles
from the sun. Its orbital revolution is accomplished in tAVO
hundred and twenty-five days, a little less than two thirds of
the time required by our planet, while its axial revolution
occupies twenty-three hours and some minutes, making its day
practically the same as our OAvn. It is now known to have an

56 Studies in Theology.
atmosphere of volume nearly equal to that of our earth, and
its light is radiantly beautiful. earth.
The earth comes next in the order of distance. It, as is well
known, is about eight thousand miles in diameter, and moves in
an orbit of proximately ninety-two millions of miles
from the sun and about twenty-five millions exterior
to that of Venus, with an axial movement nearly identical with
that planet ; its day being twenty-four hours and its year three
hundred and sixty-five days and about one quarter. We have
become so well acquainted with the facts and economies of our
earth home that it makes easy many matters concerning the
general universe system that otherwise might have remained
insolvable. For the first time we encounter the satellite fea
ture of the universe system in the moon which attends our
earth, and which, because of its near neighborhood, is so charm
ing a companion. It, like the planets, shines with a reflected
light. Its distance from us is only an average of two hundred
thousand miles, and its size is only about one fiftieth that of
the earth, or only about two thousand miles in diameter.
MARS.
Next us and exterior is the planet Mars. The distance which
separates us from it is, as we would expect, greater, being about
Mars the erst forty-seven million miles, and placing it remote from
exterior °
planet. the sun more than one hundred and forty million
miles. The observed order in the interior planets of increasing
size here is not sustained, the diameter of Mars being only four
thousand one hundred miles, just more than one half that of
the earth. Its axial motion is nearly identical with that of the
earth and of Venus. Its day is a few minutes longer than ours,
being twenty-four and a half hours ; but there is a great leap

The Solar System. 57
in its orbital movement, its year being six hundred and eighty-
seven days, nearly twice the length of ours. As we would ex
pect, it is attended with two satellites to our one ; but they are
less than our moon. ASTEROIDS.
Still further outward, next to Mars, and at the distance of
about two hundred million miles from the solar center, where
according to the analogies of the system, a planet A ruPtured
should be found, we come upon a large group of planet.
several hundred planetoids of very small size — only a few miles
in diameter the largest of them, and not collectively, so far as
yet knoAvn, equal in mass to the smallest planet. They are
generally assumed to be fragments of a disrupted world, but
with no certainty of the truth of the conjecture.
JUPITER.
Jupiter the magnificent is next in order. His position with
relation to other bodies in the system is midway between the
asteroids and Saturn, the asteroids being scattered Tnemagnin-
over a space between two and three hundred millions cent-
of miles from the sun, and Saturn being eight hundred and
eighty-one million miles. The place of Jupiter is four hundred
and fifty-seven million miles. He is justly styled the magnifi
cent, being the largest and most brilliant of the solar group.
His diameter is about one tenth that of the sun, being eighty-seven
thousand miles — ten times that of the earth ; and his volume
being equal to one thousand three hundred of our world. He
is attended by four moons of varied dimensions, which are eas
ily seen through a telescope of moderate power, some of them
being visible at times to the human eye. One of the moons is
larger than the planet Mercury.
Bishop Warren, in his captivating and most suggestive and
instructive volume, liecreations in Astronomy, says: "If

58 ' Studies in Theology.
the Jovian system were the only one in existence it would be a
surprising object of wonder and study. A monster planet,
eighty-five thousand miles in diameter, hanging on npthing, re
volving its equatorial surface forty-five miles a minute, holding
four other worlds in steady orbits, some of them at a speed of
seven hundred miles a minute, and the whole system carried
through space at five hundred miles a minute." *
Of this amazing body one of the most amazing facts is the
rapidity of its axial revolution, which is accomplished in less than
ten hours, making its day but tAvo fifths that of the earth, and
requiring its equatorial surface to move twenty-four thousand
miles an hour. Its orbital revolution is accomplished in about
twelve years, and its motion is at the rate of nearly five hundred
miles a minute. SATURN.
Continuing our journey outward from the great solar center,
Ave find ourselves, at the end of eight hundred and eighty million
miles, four hundred and twenty-three million miles away from
Jupiter, counting Vulcan as one, and the asteroids, an eighth
satum the group — the Satiirnian. Saturn, with his rings, has
unique. eyer keen regarded as the only rival of Venus for
beauty. Seen through a great telescope it is the most fascina
ting and wondrously beautiful body in space. To the eye it
lacks the brightness of Jupiter and does not compare with
Venus. It is only less than Jupiter in size, being in mean diam
eter about seventy thousand miles. For a minute description of
this unique body see any Avork on astronomy. The history of
research on the subject is exceedingly interesting, but is not
in the line of our object in this discussion. The Saturnian
body, as stated, is proximately seventy thousand miles in
diameter. The rings are separate from the body at distances
ten thousand miles first ; ring second, eighteen thousand miles ;
* Recreations in Astronomy, p. 167.

The Solar System. 59
then a gap of near two thousand miles ; then a third ring of ten
thousand miles wide ; then the eight moons in exterior orbits.
The whole presents the most sublime spectacle imaginable.
The axial revolution of Saturn is nearly the same as that of
Jupiter, being a few minutes more than ten hours. Its year
is about twenty-nine and a half of our years.
URANUS.
Still continuing our journey outward at a point beyond Sat
urn nearly a billion miles, and from the sun 1,800,000,000, or
one billion eight hundred million miles,* we come to Uranus,
more than double the distance of Saturn, by far the largest
interval between any of the planets. It was long The wonder
J r ° ofitsdiscov-
supposed to be the outermost planet of the solar ery.
group. It lies too deep in space to be seen by the unaided
eye, but is easily seen by the aid of an ordinary telescope. It
is known to be attended by four, with probability of six, moons.
Its ascertained diameter is about thirty-two thousand miles, four
times that of the earth, and not quite half that of Saturn. Its
distance is too great to furnish data for calculating its axial
revolution, but its orbital movement is well known. It requires
eighty-four of our years to complete one revolution. Its orbital
velocity is proximately — exactly, in fact — two hundred and
fifty-two miles per minute throughout its long and solitary
journey round the solar center. We have reached a distance,
the measure merely of a radius of an amazing circle, which
makes the mind reel and stagger in the contemplation.
NEPTUNE.
Once more we start on our outward journey. Phenomena
discovered in Uranus — disturbances of motion — lead to the
conjecture that there must be lying out beyond it still another
* French method of enumeration.

60 Studies in Theology.
planet, so accurately has science calculated the laws of motion
The outer- hi these remote spaces. Careful calculation deter-
most planet. mine(j aD0Ut at what point in the immense periphery
of space the disturbing body must be located. Turning the
telescope to that point the unknown stranger was soon discov
ered, and Neptune was registered in the brilliant galaxy. He
retains his heraldic honor up to date of being the eldest of
the solar progeny — the outermost and most ancient of the
planets. His place is found to be 2,775,000,000 miles from the
sun, about 1,000,000,000 miles from his nearest neighbor and
next of kin.

Vastness of the Solar Group. 61

VASTNESS OF THE SOLAR GROUP.
Three points deserve special attention : first, the magnificent
scale of the system as to spatial extension or domain. The do
main of the solar system, as described by the orbit of Nep
tune, is an area of 5,550,000,000 miles in diameter, or, if we
allow it a share of one half the space between it Measures of
the solar sys-
and its nearest solar neighbor, a domain of tem.
40,000,000,000,000 miles in diameter. The planets under its
immediate control are within the first-named inclosure in the
space circumscribed by the orbit of Neptune. Within this
inclosure we have seen that the planets describe orbits within
orbits. Within this area these great globes perform their
wonderful evolutions. How shall we get a concept of these
amazing distances and amazing magnitudes ? To do so we
must employ a measure of which we have some conception.
We might employ the velocity of a cannon ball — twelve miles
in a minute — but it would scarcely help us. Let us use a more
familiar measure, the average speed of an express train or a
locomotive — thirty-eight miles and a fraction in an hour. This
measure has two advantages : it is perfectly comprehensible, and
it requires just three years to make one million miles. Now
we seek to get an idea of the domain inclosed in the orbit of
Neptune or of the solar system. To do this let us in imagina
tion project a railroad from the sun to Neptune, and place our
locomotive on it and start it from the sun at a speed of thirty-
eight and a half miles an hour, and suppose it to run continu
ously ; we should have this result : at the end of forty-five years
we should cross the orbit of Vulcan, that is, the path the planet
travels around the sun ; at the end of one hundred and eight

62 Studies in Theology.
years we should cross the track of Mercury ; at the end of two
hundred and four years we should cross the track of Venus ;
at the end of two hundred and eighty-five years we should
pass outside the orbit of the earth ; at the end of four hundred
and twenty-six years we should cross the track of Mars ; at the
end of one thousand four hundred and fifty years we should
pass beyond the orbit of Jupiter ; at the end of two thousand
six hundred and seventy years we should cross the path of
Saturn ; at the end of five thousand four hundred years we
should pass the orbit of Uranus ; and at the end of eight thou
sand three hundred and twenty-five years we should come to
the orbit of Neptune. Had Adam started on the journey at
his birth he might now, according to the most liberal chronol
ogy, just be coming to the end of his ride ; and if now he
would reach the nearest of the fixed stars he must extend his
ride sixty million years more. Such is the measure of the em
pire of our solar system as determined by science.
If now we consider the magnitude of the bodies composing
the system we have this result : of the whole number two are
only about half the size of the earth, two are nearly its size,
and four are many times larger, the largest being one thousand
three hundred times as great.
Who can reflect on the effulgence of solar bodies without feel
ing aAve of the wondrous power which feeds their fires through
infinite ages, so that their luminosity remains undiminished,
shining on and flooding the infinite abyss while generations and
eons come and go as transient dreams ; ever the same, keeping
their silent vigils while decay and death destroy all sublunary
existence ; suns sending messages to kindred suns over spaces
so remote that the fleet courier reaches his destination only after
the flight of millions of years ; lighting up the way of planets
and their freightage of life as they revolve in their great circuits

Vastness of the Solar Group. 63
at a velocity a hundred times greater than the flight of a cannon
ball ! And these amazing velocities, who can think of them
without terror of the power which impels and guides them,
rushing along their unstaked paths so that they do not deviate
an inch in all their course, and coming to their time to the
fraction of a second in a million years ? Surely, " The heavens
declare the glory of God ; and the firmament showeth his
handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto
night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language,
their voice is not heard [they have no voice — make no sound],
yet their line is gone out through all the earth, and their Avords
to the end of the world."
It is a curious fact of planets that there seem to be fixed ra
tios with respect to their distances, volumes, and densities, and
that this should have been discoATered. "The pri- Facts of the
mary planets show a progressive increase of bulk Planets.
and diminution of density from the one nearest to the sun to
the one most distant. With respect to density alone we find,
taking water as a measure and counting it as one, that Saturn
is |f, or less than half ; Jupiter, 1-fa ; Mars, 3^3T ; Earth, 4J ;
Venus, 5-fi-; Mercury, 9-fa, or above the weight of lead. Then
the distances are curiously relative. It has been found that if
we place the folloAving line of numbers,
0 — 3 — 6 — 12 — 24 — 48 — 96 — 192,
and add 4 to each, Ave shall have a series denoting the respect
ive distances of the planets from the sun. It will stand thus :
4 — 7 — 10 — 16 — 28 — 52 — 100—196
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Asteroids, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus.
It will be observed that the first row of figures goes on from
the second on the left hand in a succession of duplications or
multiplications by 2. It was remarked when this curious rela-

64 Studies in Theology.
tion was first detected that there was the want of a planet cor
responding to 28 ; the difficulty was afterward considered as in
a great measure overcome by the discovery of a group of plan
etoids revolving in the space between Mars and Jupiter. It is
a still further curious fact that the distances bear an equally in
teresting mathematical relation to the times of their respective
revolutions round the sun. It has been found that, with respect
to any two planets, the squares of the times of revolutions are
to each other in the same proportions as the cubes of their
mean distances — a most surprising result for the discovery of
which the world is indebted to Kepler. Sir John Herschel
Avell observes : " When we contemplate the constituents of the
planetary system from the point of view which this relation
affords us it is no longer mere analogy which strikes us, no
longer general resemblance among them, as individuals inde
pendent of each other, and circulating about the sun, each ac
cording to his own peculiar nature, and connected with it by its
own peculiar tie. The resemblance is now perceived to be a
trne family likeness ; they are bound up in one chain ; inter
woven in one web of mutual relation and harmonious agree
ment ; subjected to one pervading influence which extends
from the center to the furthest limits of that great system, of
Avhich all of them, the earth included, must henceforth be re
garded as members." *
A better knowledge of the constitution of the sun, which
may some time be obtained, may explain the curious phenom
ena ; at present they must be viewed as remarkable facts. The
orbital velocities of the planets have a similar proportion. The
motion in miles per second is as follows: Mercury, 29.55; Ve
nus, 21.61 ; Earth, 18.38 ; Mars, 14.99 ; Jupiter, 8.06— here Ave
perceive the gap occasioned by the absence of a planet replaced
by the asteroids— Saturn, 5.95 ; Uranus, 4.20 ; Neptune, 3.36. f
* Taken from Vestiges of Creation, pp. 8, 9. f Warren, p. 105.

Economies of the Inorgahic Universe. 65

ECONOMIES OF THE INORGANIC UNIVERSE.
The economies of the inorganic universe are not less amazing
than the magnitude of the bodies which compose it and the
semi-infinite spaces Avhich separate them. If we are drowned
in wonder in the contemplation of this, Avonder and awe are
lost in admiration and reverence as we think of them. If mere
bulk and brilliancy and breadth overwhelm us, what shall be
our emotions as we behold the harmonies of the heavenly
bodies ?
There are four aspects in which they are to be contemplated
under the general concept of economies : (1) They are hung
upon nothing out, in, and over the empty spaces — Economies of
founded not even upon air, but upon emptiness — the system.
void. Every building hath foundation, but what upholdeth
the pillars of the sky ? Above, beneath, around, infinite void
— neither bracket, nor brace, nor support; ponderous with
infinite weight, but suspended on nothing. (2) The seeond as
pect is their absolute fixity. We refer now to the stellar bod
ies — the great solar centers, and with reference to their relation
to each other. We do not know that they have any motions
except axial. They are known to revolve, and they all
move in harmony with unchanging relation over immeasurable
fields of space. But we do know that, whatever their motions,
their special relations to each other are fixed. The " bands of
Orion " are not broken, and the constellations are not variable.
Each star occupies its exact place, more absolute than if spiked
in framework of steel. (3) The third aspect is that of the motions
of the planetary bodies. If the stellar bodies are fixed the planets.
are in perpetual motion. Two things amaze us, the unalterable

QQ Studies in Theology.
courses they pursue and their velocities. They are endowed
with two motions, one axial, the other orbital; one through
space, the other in space. To these we call attention. These
motions, both one and the other, are known to be absolutely reg
ular ; but each body has its own rate of motion, both axial and
orbital. For the illustration we select one or two examples.
Our first example is taken from our own earth home. It
makes a complete revolution once in twenty-four hours, which
The earth mo- makes our day and night. If this were its only
tions on its .
axis. motion it would be as fixed in space as the sun
itself, and would never, except in its surfaces, change its rela
tions to its sister planets or to any of the fixed solar bodies ; there
would be no wandering stars. The velocity of its
revolution is such that we are borne along through
space at the rate of nearly seventeen miles in a minute, or once
and half the speed of a cannon ball, yet never feel the motion.
Its orbital motion, which makes our year — that is, its motion
around the sun— is still more wonderful, being at the rate of a
fraction over seventeen miles in a second of time, or nearly
seventy times faster than a cannon ball. All the planets have
corresponding but less and greater velocities both axial and or
bital. Their motions are absolutely regular, passing in their
courses over the same spaces in precisely the same time. These
amazing velocities transcend imagination. In our system, whieh
is doubtless in general features similar to all solar systems, the
planets have their satellites, which in turn revolve in their or
bits around them as they revolve around the sun. Each mem
ber of the system has its fixed place and absolute orbit, orbit
within orbit. Each pursues its strict and invariable course
with strict and invariable velocity, never crossing the path of any
other or trespassing on its domain ; each attracting every other,
but producing no disturbance ; all moving in absolute harmony.
Could we occupy a fixed position, and were we endowed with

Economies of the Inorganic Universe. 67
power of vision that would command the entire area occupied
by the Avhole universe, and could we see each world in its act
ual size and precise relations of distance to every other, how
amazing the spectacle we should behold ! — the immensity, the
vastness, the complicate but absolute harmony ; the great suns
motionless or changeless in position ; the planets careering in
countless orbits Avith varied but inconceivable velocities in every
direction, course cutting course ; their satellites rushing on their
ways in lesser spheres in reverse and counter courses, like a
chaos of burning wheels, but all working with the harmony of
a perfect machine in which no wheel is astray and no cog dis
placed ; the great clockwork of the universe measuring out its
time to the thousandth part of a second in millions of ages.
(4) The next aspect we note is the permanence of the com
plicate system, the undiminishing persistence of the mysterious
force which holds them in existence and conserves their relations.
Atoms have formed new alliances, have been compounded and
recompounded, have now been collocated in one way, now in
another ; may have changed places and relations by the breadth
of the globes which they compose ; but thWe is no evidence
that a single atom has perished or of any power which works
to their destruction. There is evidence of an economy of
growth and development, but not of increase of substance.
Planets have their bulk and evolutions from one stage to an
other, their changes from chaos to maturity and decay, but as
far as is known do not disappear. Their changes indicate other
uses and are for ulterior ends. It is supposed that as the universal
system had in some remote past a beginning, which is among
the demonstrable facts, there will come a time when it will have
an end or transformation into anew and higher form for new and
higher uses, and that there are signs of such a change ; but if
such a change shall come it must be at some far distant future
and by the same power which started it on its amazing career.

68 Studies in Theology.

MODE OF MAKING THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
Before we leave our survey of the solar system for the wider
sidereal um- survey of the universe we ask attention to the proc-
yerse- ess of its erection. It is now certain that the great
Builder has consumed immeasurable ages in its construction ;
that not only is it built on a scale of inconceivable vastness and
with consummate skill, but also that the work has been carried
forward according to a perfect method pursued through infinite
reaches of time. First the suitable material, then the structure.
Geology discloses the fact that at an inconceivably distant pe
riod the foundations of the earth were laid. There is abun
dant evidence that with respect to the earth, which serves as
a clew to the whole process of world building, its first condi
tion was that of a molten mass, or, earlier still, mere primor
dial elements. In ages — how long cannot be ascertained — it
assumed the form of a molten mass refrigerated and solidified
or crusted over on the surface with probably a yet remaining
molten interior.
When the solid crust was formed a secondary surface began
to appear in the form of stratified deposits. By means of
these we are able to trace with scientific certainty and proxi
mate accuracy its subsequent history up to date. The agencies
at work in producing superficial deposits over the earth's sur
faces are well known, and the rate at which the deposits are
made is proximately ascertained. No one who has studied the
problem doubts that millions of years have been consumed in
piling up these immense stratified accumulations.
But if now we push our researches further back, as we are
able to do, to the period when the earth was a molten ball,

Mode of Making the Solar System.

69

who shall tell us of the eons which elapsed during the process
of the formation of its refrigerated crust ? And if, again,
adopting the nebular theory, to which all the facts seem to
point, Ave push our researches back to the universal fire mist
during which solar foci were determined which divided the
infinite mass into segregated parts, and watch the process by
Avhich worlds were evolved, how infinitely our line is extended !
By supposition we have reached the point when the mass of
which our solar system is formed was disseminated over the
space which extends midway to neighboring solar foci — half
way to Cygni. Then, atom by its law rushing to its kindred
atom, the process commenced. The law of attraction drew
the atoms toward a common center, imparted rotary motion,
developed the law of centrifugal force. Condensation, in
ages how long, reduced the as yet undivided mass, revolving
around the point which is now our sun, to a globe the
dimensions of the orbit of Neptune, when the increasing
velocity threw off or dislodged from the parent mass a portion
sufficient to make that planet, the oldest and first born of our
planetary sisters. Then again, in ages how long, when the
mass had condensed to the orbit of Uranus, by a similar dis-
lodgment that planet commenced its orbital movement, held
like the other in its orbital path by the two forces, centripetal
and centrifugal, which forever determine its place, and so down
through till each planet in turn assumed its place and the
system was completed — the solar center still reducing to its
present compact form. If this rational but undemonstrated
theory be true the dawn of creation, which is the birthday of
time, is pushed back to a date compared with which geological
eons are but transient moments.

70 Studies in Theology

BEYOND THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
But this rough sketch of the solar system is but the first
page of the marvelous revelation. For the solution of the
matchless problem we must extend our researches into remoter
regions of space.
Looking up into the heavens, we discover beyond the domain
of the solar system, by unaided vision, innumerable other bril-
Numherofthe liant objects, now known to be worlds. There are,
visible stars. in(jee^j ^ut aDOut six thousand of them visible to
the eye — less than half that number visible from any one point
at one time. These are discovered to be absolutely fixed bodies,
that is, to maintain unchanged relations to each other and to
our solar center. This fact, together with their self-luminous
character and vast magnitudes, determine them to be of the
order of suns and not planets, and warrants the idea that they,
as our sun, are centers of groups of worlds resembling our solar
system. Science determines with accuracy that these vast solar
centers are distributed at points proximately equidistant over
the field of space, the measure of separation being from twenty
to thirty millions of millions of miles. The depth to which
the eye carries us is found to be through twelve of these side
real measures, that is, the remotest star visible to the eye is
determined to be about twelve times as far as the one nearest
to us by actual measurement. It is found that the light and
apparent size of the bodies diminish in the ratios of their dis
tances, until they finally fade out and we find ourselves in a
pale milky zone in which no individual objects are discernible,
beyond Avhich is darkness. Whether these remoter depths are
inhabited by farther away suns and systems the eye fails to

Beyond the Solar System. 71
tell us — the dim light discoverable beyond is suggestive merely.
But let us now return to examine more carefully what we
have thus briefly stated.
The area described by the penetrating power of the eye is seen
to be a sphere the radius of which is, say, 360,000,000,000,000
to 500,000,000,000,000 miles. This, of course, transcends all
power of conception ; illustration may aid us. Light, at a speed
of 12,000,000 miles in a minute, would traverse the Distance
. measured by
radius in 80 years or less, or the diameter of the sphere light.
in about 160 years ; but a velocity of 12,000,000 miles a min
ute simply stuns us and conveys no idea. Let us return to the
locomotive, and fix the rate of motion at 38 miles in an hour,
or 1,000,000 miles in three years, we do understand the rate of
motion. Our journey is from our sun outward to the rims of
the visible universe. By a former calculation in describing
the solar system we found that at the above rate of speed,
without stopping for a moment, we should pass beyond our
outer boundary, the orbit of Neptune, in about 8,000 years,
and now pursuing our journey we should reach our nearest
solar neighbor in about 60,000,000 to 100,000,000 years, and
at the end of about 1,080,000,000 years should reach the outer
boundary of the visible universe.
But as yet we have but contemplated the universe as given
to the eye. Until within a recent period that would UniVerse of
seem to have been the whole extent. That other and tbe telescope.
incomparable heavens existed and would at some future time be
revealed scarcely entered the dreams of men. But the diligent
research which finally disclosed what those visible heavens Avere
developed the fact that out beyond there were still greater
wonders awaiting discovery. There were stray hints in unex
plained phenomena. The eye had exhausted its power, but gen
ius, unsatisfied, busied itself with invention. The lens, in part
by a happy accident, was discovered. It was found to be able

72 Studies in Theology.
to double them to thousandfold the eye which God *hM given.
In addition to magnifying and making more plain and beautiful
the visible heavens, and thus aiding in deciphering them, it was
found to have another more important power, that of extend
ing the vision, penetrating into new and more distant regions
of space. The result Avas the discovery of a new universe so
much more wonderful than the old that the old dwindled into in
significance. To the six thousand suns it added millions. Out
beyond the dim stars of the sixth magnitude which aforetiiiie
were supposed to be the frontiers of the universe it brought to
view phalanx upon phalanx, galaxy upon galaxy, rank behind
rank whose light had required half a million years to pass the
mighty interval. The Milky Way cast away its cloud robes
and flamed into a score of million suns ; and yet on and on were
piled unresolved nebulae of still more distant outposts of crea
tion. STARS OF DIFFERENT MAGNITUDES.
" Of the stars of the first magnitude, which include all the
Number of brightest and supposably the nearest stars in the
eighth magnt- heavens> there are about twenty. Of this number
tude. Sirius is so incomparably the brightest as almost to
constitute a class itself. The stars of the second class are those
in which there is one distinct step dowmvard from the brilliancy
of those of the first magnitude. The brighter stars in the con
stellation of the Great Bear (the Dipper) may be taken as exam
ples. In the entire heavens we have about sixty-five stars of
the second magnitude. Immediately below the second magni
tude Ave have the stars of the third magnitude to the number
of 190. Next come' the stars of the fourth, 425 ; the fifth,
1,100 ; and so on down to the sixth, 3,200, which complete
the stars visible to the naked eye. In stars of telescopic mag
nitude we have the seventh, to the number of about 13,000,
while the eighth has 40,000, and the ninth 142,000.

Beyond the Solar System.

73

" It will thus be seen that the number of stars increases when
we approach the lower magnitude, and when we come to those
magnitudes below the ninth the number speedily reaches from
thousands into millions. The minutest stars visible in powerful
telescopes are usually stated to be of the fourteenth or fifteenth
magnitude, while in the very greatest instruments magnitudes
two or three steps lower can be observed, or to the eighteenth
magnitude." *
Thus it appears that as we penetrate the heavens from one
magnitude or depth to another the wider disk or area Ratioof m-
of vision increases the number of stars at the rate of creaseaswe penetrate the
about threefold. Were that the exact as it is the heavens.
proximate ratio, the number of stars discernible at the greatest
depth yet reached by the most poAverful instrument would be
the enormous sum of about one thousand seven hundred and
twenty-one millions two hundred and twenty-one thousand two
hundred (1,721,221,200). But actual count up to the stars of
the ninth magnitude sIioavs the rate of increase to be much
greater as we penetrate to the deeper depths. It is estimated
that there are stars visible to the eye whose light has required
one hundred and twenty years to reach us. A telescope which
penetrates six thousand times that depth Avould still see a
star of the first magnitude were it carried back to that distant
point. It thus appears that we reach stars whose light has
been tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years reaching
our planet.
Chalmers says : " What is seen may be as nothing to what is
unseen ; for what is seen is limited by the range of our instru
ments. What is unseen has no limits ; and though all which
the eye of man can take in or his fancy can grasp were
swept away, there might still remain as ample a field over
which the Divinity may expatiate, and which he may have peo-
* Stars of the ffeavens, by Ball, p. 390.

74 Studies in Theology.
pled with innumerable worlds. If the whole visible creation
were to disappear it would leave a solitude behind it, but to
the infinite mind, that can take in the whole system of nature,
this solitude might be nothing — a small unoccupied point in the
immensity which surrounds it, and which he may have filled
with the wonders of his omnipotence. Though this earth were
to be burned up, though the trumpet of its dissolution were
sounded, though yon sky were to pass aAvay as a scroll, and
every visible glory which the finger of the Divine has inscribed
on it were to be put out forever, an event so awful to us,
and to every world in our vicinity, by which so many suns
Avould be extinguished, and so many varied scenes of life and
of population would rush into forgetfulness — what is it in the
high scale of the Almighty's Workmanship ? A mere shred,
which, though scattered into nothing, would leave the universe of
God one entire scene of greatness and of majesty. Though this
earth and these heavens were to disappear there are other worlds
which roll afar ; the light of other suns shines upon them, and
the sky which mantles them is garnished with other stars. . . .
The universe at large would suffer as little in its splendor and
variety by the destruction of our planet as the verdure and
sublime magnitude of a forest would suffer by the fall of a
single leaf." *
Before we take our leave of the inorganic universe there
are still other aspects in Avhich it must be studied. We have
viewed it simply Avith respect to its magnitude and extent
in space. Amazing as the results of investigation are on this
single aspect of the subject, truth compels the confession that
outer bound- we have not reached the utmost facts. The outer
aryunex- - - ... .
piored. boundary still remains unexplored. Any instru
ments yet made leave unresolved nebulae on all the horizon.
The vast realms beyond, for aught we know, immeasurably
* Astronomical Discourses.

Beyond the Solar System. 75
transcend all that has been brought under observation.
But there is a limit ; somewhere in the illimitable expanse
there is a boundary beyond which no world revolves, an outer
space where no sun or star lights up the infinite void. The in
organic universe is finite. Besearch has not come to the bor
der, but there is such a border of creation.
Postulate : Even the Infinite cannot create an infinite uni
verse of matter. Whatever has figure or extension However
must have a limit ; and as all collocations of ulti- be unite."3
mate atoms are reducible by compression into still smaller di
mensions the largest dimensions are different from the smallest
in size ; and all size is finite. Each atom has an identity of its
OAvn, which, however compounded with others, it cannot lose.
It might forever exist apart and in its own space, and would so
exist uninfluencing and uninfluenced but for a force imparted
to it or exerted in it which imparts to it influence on every other
atom. The atom, in fact, is never found without influence or
force of some kind. Within the realm of space in which mat
ter exists there must be a medium for such influence. There
is no absolute vacuum.
When we suffer the idea of the universe to unfold itself in
the mind the first thought, perhaps, is that of immense extent
in space. But this conception is found to be incomplete. An
other element in the great idea is found to be demanded. Thus
we are led to think of the world in time. A great time is con
ceived of as corresponding to great space ; still the mind is not
satisfied. As we have the three dimensions in geometry, so
there would seem to be demanded three aspects of the universe,
each as the complement of the others, and all entering into
the ideal perfection. Thus there comes in still another concep
tion. It is that of degree, of rank, of a rising higher in the or
der of being. The three dimensions are now complete and the
mind is satisfied. We have breadth, we have length, we have

76 Studies in Theology.
altitude. We have what we have called the time aspect of the
universe. When the thought has taken full possession of the
mind we cannot lose any part of it without feeling that the
ideal harmony of the whole has been impaired. There is dis
cord, deformity, and irrationality in the conception of immense
worlds in space, having an almost infinitesimal brevity in time.
It is the thought of vast breadth without length. There is the
same discord, the same unsatisfying incompleteness, when Ave
think of the universe as length and breadth without altitude.
As we are not satisfied to regard our world in space as the only
space occupied by rational personalities, so neither are Ave satis
fied to regard our world in time, or our world-time (welt-2ei£)
as the only world-time to the exclusion of all similar past or to
come. And when we have come thug far, equally inharmoni
ous is felt to be the supposition that our OAvn level is the high
est altitude of the created universe, or that there are not above
us orders and ranks of beings ascending to multiples bearing
6ome ratio, at least, to the descending grades, which we regard
as existing below us. It is hard to think that the world ends
with our space, that it began with our time, or that its upward
growth is bounded by what we may ever so boastingly style
our progress. In either of these directions the conceiving
faculty stretches on to infinity or toward infinity ; and the man
of science, in his claim for the human dignity, has no more
right to limit it in one aspect than he has to change his theo
logical view with an attempt to amend it in another. We do
not say that this feeling is the measure of truth, or that there
are these world-spaces, these world-times, and these world-alti
tudes of being because the mind has a tendency thus to con
ceive them ; yet still we regard it as worthy of consideration in
our mental history as we trace its effects in modes of thinking.
Now, to make an application of the general thought, we may
say that the first, or space aspect, is the favorite field of mod-

Beyond the Solar System. 77
em science, although she has lately entered upon the second.
The third she has, as yet, almost wholly ignored. Scientific
men have either said nothing about it or they have shown a
tendency, at least, to make man the highest thing in creation
next the Deity, and the present state of our world the measure
of universal growth.
On the other hand, this first or space aspect is far from being
the prominent one in the Scriptures. The Bible tells us noth
ing about suns and systems and other space worlds like the one
in which our own habitation is assigned. Its expression, " the
heavens and the earth," comprehends the universe. By the
former is meant the visible round mundus which seems to roll
overhead. And yet in those reduplications of the terms to
which we have alluded, and in such expressions as we find in
Psalm viii, 1, "thy glory above the heavens," there might
seem to be an aiming at an idea beyond ; though whether this
world came under the aspect of space or degree — that is, in alti
tude of supposed upward extent, or of altitude in rank of being
— cannot, perhaps, be certainly determined from such passages
alone. In respect, however, to this space aspect of the worlds, and
the silence of Scripture about it, there are two common falla
cies on which we would briefly dwell. One is that such aspects
come wholly from science— that is, modern science. To this
it is said we are indebted for our enlarged view of the universe.
Now, it requires no great amount of learning or thought to
show the falsehood of such an assertion. The idea of the plu
rality of worlds is full as much an a priori as an a posteriori
judgment. It belongs to all thinking souls, whatever their
amount of either positive or hypothetical science. Such a soul
of its own promptings asks the question, Has not God made
other worlds than this, and made them to be inhabited? We
find unanswerable evidence of such thinking among the medi-

78 Studies in Theology.
tative men of the olden time. The idea of the plurality and
even the infinity of worlds can be shown to have been among
the speculations of the earliest philosophy. It may have had,
with some, more of a metaphysical than of a physical aspect ;
and yet the thought, in its simplest and most obvious form,
comes most naturally to the human mind. Infinite or vastly ex
tended space we long to fill up in some way, if not with worlds
like this, at least Avith exhibitions or exercises of divine poAver.
Why should not God have thus filled it ? Why should he not
thus have filled one part of space as well as another ? If crea
tion is the manifestation of his glory is there not a demand for
the thought that this manifestation must have been in spaces
and times exceeding our own visible spaces and our OAvn com
puted times by measures to which no human arithmetic can
even make an approach? It may be thought, perhaps, that
there is a dangerous tendency in such speculations or in the
admission of such a law of thinking as either necessary or nat
ural to the mind. It tends to pantheism, it might be said. It
would seem to involve a necessity of creation. But to this
there is a prompt and easy answer. Carry our thought to the
furthest conceivable extent, and the universe' is still finite. We
are compelled to admit a time when creation is not, and spaces
where it is not. Carry the objection boldly out to the very con
clusion it affects to draw, and such conclusion furnishes its OAvn
perfect refutation. If God must create, he must create every
where. There could be no vacuum anywhere. And so in
respect to time and degree. The idea that the universe is finite
in one aspect is no more difficult than the idea of its being
finite in the other.
The other fallacy to which we alluded as connected with the
space aspect is found in the common opinion that not only the
intellectual notion, but the devout feeling, of God's greatness
is vastly enlarged by the discoveries of modern science, or what

Beyond the Solar System. 79
may be called the mathematical or nnmerical idea of the uni
verse. Now, in reference to this it may be said, in the first
place, that our emotional conceptions are very little dependent
upon our speculative or scientific knowledge, as expressed in
numerical or quantitative formulas. The reason may follow
these to any extent, but the power of conceiving cannot go
beyond a certain limit. We have no higher, no greater con
ception of a million worlds than of a thousand, no greater con
ception of a thousand Avorlds than of a hundred ; yea, the image
or conception Avhich one man has of one hundred worlds may
be far inferior in grandeur, in vividness, in power of emotion,
to that which another soul has of one. David and Socrates,
with no knowledge of the numerical distances or magnitudes of
the stars, may have really had a wider, a loftier, a more rever
ent feeling of the greatness of God's kingdom than Laplace.
So may Ave say one soul may have a more lofty as Avell as a
more devout vieAV of God's greatness at the sight of a mountain
than another in the contemplation of planets and comets and
nebulae and double stars, Avith all their merely numerical or
scientific estimations. The reason is that the latter has merely
numbers and mathematical formulas. His soul is upon his cal
culus instead of the heavens. It Avould be equally upon it em
ployed to measure the most microscopic distances. We aston
ish ourselves Avith long toavs of decimals, but no delusion could
be greater than that which would make these immense numbers
the measure of ideas, much less of the moral emotions connected
with them. He Avho praised God for making " Orion and
bringing forth Mazzaroth in his seasons " may really have had
a more awe-inspiring view of the universe than the modern
lecturer avIio talks to us of millions and billions and trillions
and the wondrous human intellect that can make such tran
scending calculations in arithmetic. Yet still the stars remain
but points for the conception as well as for the eye. The

80 Studies in Theology.
fancy, too, that peoples them is only a repetition of the world
in which we dwell. It is only a numerical enlargement, and
even this, instead of being habitually with the mind like the
sense of grandeur which has always been connected with the
visible firmament, is only fully present while the mathematical
formulae are before it.
The third, or rank, aspect, we have said, is peculiar to the
Bible. Science has little or nothing to say about it. The
Scriptures, both Old and New, give us no obscure intimations
of ascending ranks of being — of angels, of archangels, thrones,
dominions, principalities, powers, seraphim, kedoshim, or holy
ones, rising higher and higher until the mind is lost in amazing
altitude of conceived power and intelligence. See Lewis's Six
Days of Creation, pp. 338-342".
appalling depths of space.
In a recent lecture Sir Robert Ball said that a telegraphic
message would go seven times round the earth in a second,
and if a telegraphic message could be sent to the moon it
would reach its destination in a little more than a second. It
would take something like eight minutes to arrive at the sun ;
but how long, think you, would it take to get to Alpha Cen-
tauri, traveling thither 180,000 miles a second? Seconds,
minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, would not be long enough ;
it would take no less than three years, traveling all the time at
that tremendous pace, before it would reach its destination. If
that is the case with respect to the nearest of the stars, what
must be said of those which are farther off ? There are stars
so remote that if the news of the victory of Wellington at
Waterloo had been flashed to them in 1815, on that celestial
telegraph system, it would not have reached them yet, even if
the message had sped at the pace indicated, and had been trav
eling all the time. There are stars so remote that if, when

Beyond the Solar System. 81
William the Conqueror landed in England in 1066, the news
of his conqnest had been dispatched to them, and if the signals
flew over the wire at a pace which would carry them seven
times round the earth in a single second of time, that news
would not have reached them yet. Nay, more, if the glad tid
ings of that first Christmas in Bethlehem, nineteen centuries
ago, had thus been disseminated through the universe, there are
yet stars of which astronomers could tell us, plunged into space
in depths so appalling that even the eighteen hundred and
ninety-four years which have elapsed since that event would not
have been long enough for the news to reach them, though it
traveled 180,000 miles in every second. We add, there are
now knoAvn stars so remote that half a million years would not
suffice to convey the message to them.
We cannot better conclude this survey of the inorganic uni
verse than in the eloquent words of our own most eminent as
tronomer, distinguished alike for his learning, patriotisnij and
piety, O. M. Mitchell. The excerpt is from his treatise on
Planetary and Stellar Worlds — a book which deserves a place
in every student's library. We know of no more elevating
and soul-expanding discussion :
" Having now succeeded in gaining a knoAvledge of the dis
tance which separates our sun from its remote companions, we-
are prepared to extend our explorations of the universe. The*
question naturally arises, how are the stars distributed through
out space? — are they indifferently scattered in all directions, or
are they grouped together into magnificent systems ? A cur
sory examination of the starry heavens Avith the naked eye
shows us, that so far as the larger stars are concerned they do-
not appear to have been distributed in the celestial sphere ac
cording to any determinate law ; but on applying the telescope
that luminous zone which, under the name of the Milky Way,
girdles the whole heavens is found to be composed of minute;
7 *

82 Studies in Theology.
stars, scattered like millions of diamond points on the deep blue
ground of the sky.
" Sir William Herschel conceived the idea that it might be pos
sible to fathom this mighty ocean of stars, and to determine its
metes and bounds ; to give to it figure, and to circumscribe its
limits. It will not be difficult to explain, in a few words, the
general outline of the plan adopted by this extraordinary man in
the prosecution of this wonderful undertaking. In case we admit
that the stars are of equal magnitudes, and at equal distances
from each other, it would not be difficult to ascertain how far
they extended in any given direction, the one behind the other.
It is manifest that, in examining the heavens with a telescope
of given power and aperture, we shall be able to count more
stars in the field of vieAV in those regions Avhere they are soar-
ranged as to reach farthest back into space ; and in case we knoAV
their absolute distance from each other, the number counted in
any field of view will determine with certainty the length of the
visual ray reaching to the most remote star visible in that field.
" Now, although the hypothesis that the stars are of equal mag
nitude, and are uniformly distributed through space, may not
be rigorously true, yet doubtless the mean distances are not far
from this hypothesis ; and although our results may only be ap
proximate, yet as such they are to be relied upon, and they
become the more interesting as they carry us to the utmost
limits of human investigation. Armed with his mighty tele
scopes, Sir William Herschel commenced the stupendous task
of sounding the heavens, with the purpose of ascertaining
Avhether the stars composing the Milky Way were unfathoma
ble, or were bounded and circumscribed by definite limits.
" Sweeping a circle round the heavens which cut this grand
stratum of star in a direction nearly perpendicular to its circum
ference, he directed his great telescope to a certain number of
points along this circle, and as he moved slowly onward

Beyond the Solar System. 83
counted all the stars visible in each field of view. It was fair to
conclude that, wherever most stars were to be seen, there was
the stratum deepest. Having gone entirely around the heavens,
along the circumference of his circle, he had sounded the depth
of the stars along a section of the Milky Way, and to obtain
the figure of the section thus cut out was not a difficult matter.
" He assumed a central point on paper to represent his point
of observation. He then drew from this point lines radiating,
and in the actual directions which he had given to his telescope
while engaged in his explorations. On each of these indefinite
lines he laid off a distance proportioned to the number of stars
counted in the field of view in the direction which the line
represented, and by joining these points thus determined he
formed a figure which represented the relative depths to which
he had penetrated into space ; and in case he could be certain
that he had gone absolutely through the stratum in every instance
and had grasped every star, even where the extent was mo^t
profound, the figure thus constructed would represent the form
of the line cut from the outside boundary of the Milky Way
by the plane of the circle in which the explorations had been
made. " Did he then actually penetrate the deepest portions, or any
portion, of the Milky Way ? This was now his grand question,
and to its decision he gave all his power and ingenuity. As a
unit Avherewith to measure the space-penetrating power of his
telescopes, he assumed the power of the human eye, and know
ing that stars of the sixth magnitude are within the reach of
the unaided eye, he concluded, from the law regulating the de
crease of light, that these minute stars were twelve times more
distant than the nearest or brightest stars. Now, a telescope
having an aperture such as to concentrate twice as much light
as the eye would penetrate into space twice as far, or would
reach stars of the twenty-fourth order of distances, and so on

84 Studies in Theology.
for telescopes of all sizes. In this way he concluded that his
great forty-foot reflector, with a diameter of four feet, would
penetrate 194 times as far as the naked eye, or that it would
still see a star of the first magnitude if it were carried back
ward into space 2,328 times its present distance !
" Such, then, was the computed length of the sounding line
employed in gauging these mighty depths. Suppose, then, it
was required to determine whether this line actually penetrated
any given region of the Milky Way. Even with a single tele
scope, a series of experiments may be performed which go very
far to determine this great question. As the space-penetrat
ing power of a telescope depends on the diameter of its aper
ture, it is easy to give to the same instrument different powers,
by covering up, by circular coverings, certain portions of its
object glass. Take circles of pasteboard, or any other suita
ble material, and in the first cut an opening one inch in diam
eter, in the second an opening of two inches, and so on, up
to the diameter of the object glass. These diaphragms, being
successively applied to the object glass, give to the telescope
space-penetrating powers proportioned to the diameter of the
opening. " In this way Herschel prepared himself to explore one of the
deepest portions of the Milky Way. The spot selected was a
nebulous or hazy cloud in the sword handle of Perseus, in which,
to the naked eye, not a solitary star was visible. With the lowest
telescopic aid many stars are rendered visible, surrounded by a
hazy light, in which minute glimpse points are occasionally to
be seen. As the space-penetrating power was increased, the
bright spots of light were successively resolved into groups
of brilliant stars, and more nebulous haze came up from the
deep distance, indicating that the visual ray was not long
enough to fathom the mighty distance. At last the full power
of his grand instrument was brought to bear, when a count-

Beyond the Solar System. 85
less multitude of magnificent orbs burst on the sight, like so
many sparkling diamonds on the deep blue of the heavens.
There was no haze behind ; the telescopic ray had shot entirely
through the mighty distance, and the clear deep heavens
formed the background of the brilliant picture.
" Thus did Herschel penetrate to the limits of the Milky Way,
and send his almost illimitable sounding line far beyond, into
the vast abyss of space, boundless and unfathomable. And now
do you inquire the depth of this stupendous stratum of stars ?
The answer may be given, since we have the unit of measure
in the distance of stars of the first magnitude. Light, with its
amazing velocity, requires ten years to come to us from the
nearest fixed Stars, and yet Sir William Herschel concluded, from
the examinations he had been able to make, that in some places
the depth of the Milky Way was such that no less than five
hundred stars were ranged one behind the other in a line, each
separated from the other by a distance equal to that which di
vides our sun from the nearest fixed star. So that for light to
sweep across the diameter of this vast congeries of stars would
require a period of five thousand years at the rate of twelve
million of miles in every minute of time !
" The countless millions of stars composing the Milky Way ap
pear to be arranged in the form of a flat zone or ring, or rather
stratum, of irregular shape, which I shall explain more fully
hereafter. Its extent is so great as properly to form a universe
of itself. If it were possible, to-night, to wing our flight to any
one of the bright stars which blaze around us, sweeping away
from our own system, until planet after planet fades in the dis
tance, and finally the sun itself shrinks into a mere star, alight
ing on a strange world that circles round a new and magnificent
sun, which has grown and expanded in our sight, until it blazes
with a magnificence equal to that of our own — here let us pause
and look out upon the starry heavens which now surround us.

86 Studies in Theology.
"We have passed over sixty millions of millions of miles. We
have reached a new system of worlds revolving about another
sun, and from this remote point we have a right to expect anew
heavens, as well as a new earth on which we stand. But no.
Lift up your eyes, and lo ! the old familiar constellations are
all there. Yonder blazes Orion, with its rich and gorgeous
belt ; there comes Arcturus, and yonder the Northern Bear
circles his ceaseless journey round the pole. All is unchanged,
and the mighty distance over which we have passed is but the
thousandth part of the entire diameter of this grand cluster of
suns and systems ; and although we have swept from our sun
to the nearest fixed star, and have traveled a distance which
light itself cannot traverse in less than ten years, yet the change
wrought by this mighty journey in the appearance of the
heavens is no greater than would be produced in the relative
positions of the person filling an ordinary church near its cen
ter who should change his seat Avith his immediate neighbor !
" Such, then, is the scale on Avhich the starry heavens are built.
If, in examining the magnificent orbits of the remoter planets,
and in tracing the interminable career of some of the far-sweep
ing comets, we feared there might not be room for the accomplish
ment of their vast orbits, our fears are now at an end. There
is no jostling here ; there is no interference, no perturbation of
the planets of one system by the suns of another. Each is iso
lated and independent, filling the region of space assigned, and
within its own limits holding on its appointed movements.
" Thus far we have spoken only of the Milky Way. In case it
be possible to pierce its boundaries and pass through into the
regions of space which lie beyond, the inquiry arises, What
meets the vision there? What lies beyond these mighty limits ?
Does creation cease with this one great cluster, and is all blank
beyond its boundary ?
" Here again the telescope has given us an answer. When we

Beyond the Solar System. 87
shall have traveled outward from our own sun, and passed in a
straight line from star to star, until we shall have left behind us
in grand perspective a series of five hundred suns, we then
stand on the confines of our own great cluster of stars. All
behind blazes with the light of countless orbs, scattered in wild
magnificence, Avhile all before us is deep, impenetrable, un
broken darkness. No glance of human vision can pierce the
dark profound.
"But summoning the telescope to our aid, let us pursue our
mighty journey through space ; far in the distance we are just
able to discover a faint haze of light — a minute luminous cloud
which comes up to meet us — and tOAvard this object we will
urge our flight. We leave the shining millions of our own
great cluster far behind. Its stars are shrinking and fading ;
its dimensions are contracting. It once filled the whole
heavens, and now its myriads of blazing orbs could almost be
grasped with a single hand. But now look forward. A new
universe of astonishing grandeur bursts on the sight. The
cloud of light has swelled and expanded, and its millions of
suns now fill the whole heavens.
"We have reached the clustering of ten millions of stars.
Look to the right, there is no limit ; look to the left, there is
no end. Above, beloAv, sun rises upon sun, and system on sys
tem, in endless and immeasurable perspective. Here is a neAV
universe as magnificent, as glorious as our own — a new Milky
Way, whose vast diameter the flashing light Avould not cross in
thousands of years. Nor is this a solitary object. Go out on a
clear, cold winter night, and reckon the stars which strew the
heavens, and count their number, and for every single orb thus
visible to the naked eye the telescope reveals a universe, far
sunk in the depths of space, and scattered with vast profusion
over the entire surface of the heavens.
" Some of these blaze with countless stars, while others, occu-

88 Studies in Theology.
pying the confines of visible space, but dimly stain the blue of
the sky, just perceptible with the most powerful means that
man can summon to the aid of his vision. These objects are
called clusters and nebulae— clusters when near enough to per
mit their individual stars to be shown by the telescope, nebulae
when the mingled light of all their suns and systems can only be
seen as a hazy cloud.
" Thus have we risen in the orders of creation. We com
menced with a planet and its satellite ; we rose to the sun and
its revolving planets, a magnificent system of orbs, all united in
one great family and governed by the same great law ; and we
now find millions of these suns clustered and associated together
in the formation of distinct, universes, whose number, already
revealed to the eye of man, is not to be counted by scores or
hundreds, but has risen to thousands, while every increase of
telescopic power is adding by hundreds to their catalogue.
" Let us now explain these ' island universes,' as the Germans
have aptly termed them, and attempt approximately to circum
scribe their limits and measure their distances from us and from
each other. Sir William Herschel, to Avhom we are indebted
for this department of astronomy, conceived a plan by which it
Avas possible approximately to sound the depths of space and
determine, within certain limits, the distance and magnitudes
of the clusters and nebulae within the reach of his telescopes.
To convey some idea of his method of conducting these most
wonderful researches, imagine a level plane, of indefinite ex
tent, and along a straight line, separated by intervals of one
mile each, let posts be placed bearing boards on which certain
words are printed in letters of the same size. The words
printed on the nearest board we will suppose can just be read with
the naked eye. To read those on the second, telescopic aid is
required, and that poAver which suffices to enable the letters to
be distinctly seen is exactly double that of the unaided eye.

Beyond the Solar System. 89
The telescope revealing the letters at the distance of three
miles is threefold more powerful than the eye, and so of all
the others. In this way we can provide ourselves with instru
ments Avhose space-penetrating power, compared with that of
the eye, can be readily obtained.
" Now to apply these principles to the sounding of the heavens.
The eye, Avithout assistance, would follow and still perceive the
bright star Sirius, if removed back to twelve times its present
distance. After this, as it recedes, it must be followed by the
telescope. Suppose, then, a nebula is discovered Avith a tele
scope of low poAver, and it is required to determine its charac
ter and distance. The astronomer applies one power after an
other, until he finally employs a telescope of sufficient reach to
reveal the separate stars of which the object is composed, which
shows it to be a cluster; and since the space-penetrating power
of this instrument is known, relative to that of the human eye,
in case the poAver is one hundred times greater than that of the
eye, then Avould the cluster be located in space one hundred
times farther than the eye can reach, or twelve hundred times
more remote than Sirius, or at such a distance that its light would
only reach our earth after a journey of one hundred and twenty
thousand years !
"Such Avas Herschel's method of locating these objects in
space. Some are so remote as to be far beyond the reach of
the most powerful instruments, and no telescopic aid can show
them other than nebulous clouds of greater or less extent. It
was while pursuing these grand investigations that Herschel
was led to the conclusion, that among the nebulae which were
visible in the heavens there were some composed of chaotic
matter, a hazy, luminous fluid, like that occasionally thrown out
from comets on their approach to the sun.
" Among these chaotic masses he discovered some in which the
evidences of condensation appeared manifest, while in others

90 Studies in Theology.
he found a circular disk of light with a bright nucleus in the
center. Proceeding yet farther, he found well-formed stars
surrounded by a misty halo, which presented all the character
istics of what he now conceived to be nebulous fluid. Some
of the unformed nebulae were of enormous extent, and among
those partially condensed, such as the nebulae with planetary
disks, many were found so vast that their magnitude would fill
the space occupied by the sun and all its planets, forming a
sphere with a diameter of more than six thousand millions of
miles. Uniting these and many other facts, the great astronomer
was finally brought to believe that worlds and systems of Avorlds
might yet be in the process of formation by the gradual conden
sation of this nebulous fluid, and that from this chaotic matter
originally came the sun and all the fixed stars which crowd the
heavens. This theory, extended, but not modified, in the hands
of Laplace, is made to account for nearly all the phenomena of
the solar system.
" For a long time this bold and sublime speculation was
looked upon, even by the wisest philosophers, with remarkable
favor. The resolution of one or two nebulae (so classed by
Herschel), with the fifty-two feet reflector of Lord Bosse, has
induced some persons to abandon the theory and to attempt to
prove its utter impossibility. All that I have to say is that
Herschel only adopted the theory after he had resolved many
hundreds of nebulae into stars ; and if there ever existed a
reason for accepting the truth of this remarkable speculation,
that reason has been scarcely in any degree affected by recent
discoveries. " I have examined a large number of these mysterious objects
floating on the deep ocean of space like the faintest filmy clouds
of light. No power, however great, of the telescope can ac
complish the slightest change in their appearance. So distant
that their light employs (in case they be clusters) hundreds of

Beyond the Solar System. 91
thousands of years in reaching the eye that gazes upon them,
and so extensive, even when viewed from such a distance, as to
fill the entire field of view of the telescope many times. Sirius,
the brightest and probably the largest of all the fixed stars,
with a diameter of more than a million of miles, and a distance of
only a single unit compared with the tens of thousands which
divide us from some of the nebulae ; and yet this vast globe, at
this comparatively short distance, is an inappreciable point in
the field of the telescope. What, then, must be the dimensions
of those objects which at so vast a distance fill the entire field of
view even many times repeated ?
"Herschel computes that the power of his great reflector
would follow one of the large clusters if it were plunged so
deep in space that its light would require three hundred and
fifty thousand years to reach us, and the great telescope of Lord
Rosse would pursue the same object probably to ten times this
enormous distance."

92 Studies in Theology.

TIME MEASURES OF THE UNIVERSE.
The mind does not rest with the discovery of these vast
masses and their vaster distances from each other in space, and
their interrelations of motion and harmony, amazing as these
discoveries are. One set of facts discovers another.
Pushing its inquiries still further, it discovers, not simply that
they are composed of similar substances, and what these sub
stances are, but, deeper yet, what their primordial condition
has been, and by what process they have been brought into their
present condition.
In conducting the inquiry it returns to the study of the
objects immediately about it, the study of the earth itself. It
has given the name matter to the substances of these marvelous
masses it has been contemplating ; it now returns upon its track
to find out what this matter is and the variety it manifests.
Here we begin our study, and that we may not fall into aber
rations of fancy we will call to our aid the definitions supplied
by the ablest scientists, and the conclusions now universally ad
mitted to be true and reliable.
Matter is a substance which has form and Avhich occupies
space and which is impenetrable, that is, which precludes any
other substance from occupying the same space which it does.
In its final forms it is an atom.
The earth is a body which consists of innumerable atoms.
All masses or worlds are simply accumulations of atoms, held
in fixed relation to each other, so as to constitute a unit in
space marked off by distance from other similar masses, and so
as to have an economy of its own.

Time Measures of the Universe. 93
From these accredited facts of science we postulate as the
primary stage and most primitive form of matter the
ether which is found pervasive of the entire universe, The ether'
a simple and uncompoundable substance, which, as an ocean
whose boundaries extend to the inclusion of all other material
substances, touches and relates every other atom of every other
substance, connecting the interstellar spaces and all spaces of
the universe together.
This most primitive form of matter is also the most attenu
ate ; the atmosphere is gross compared with it. It bathes the
sides of all atoms in the densest solids and interpenetrates the
atoms of impalpable gases themselves. It is the universal frame
in Avhich all atoms are set, parting every one from every other,
and binding all together. All Avorlds revolve in it; it is the
highway for light and the electric fluid, and for gravitation
itself ; the invisible and imponderable forces travel it as they
bind the spheres together and exert their power upon them. If
there is such a substance as ether it has no resemblance to any
other of the sixty-two substances of matter except occupancy
of space and figures as a whole. It is not ponderable ; it is not
compoundable with other substances ; it is not drawn toward a
center by gravitation ; it exerts no influence ; it has no affinities ;
and yet it may furnish the condition of the existence of every
other substance and of the forces exerted by them or in them.
The primordial condition of all other grosser matter was that
of atomic severance, each atom existing apart by itself in its
own place, neither compounded with nor affected by its neigh
bor, any more than if it were alone the universe.
An atom, though reduced to infinitesimal dimensions, so as
neither to be palpable nor visible, is a reality — has the quality
of individual being in it ; and if there be collocations and com-

94 Studies in Theology.
pounding of atoms into masses they must first exist as distinct
and separate entities. The one involves the other. Atoms are
antecedent to masses, and masses are resolvable into atoms.
All atoms, that is, all matter in whatever state, are character
ized by a certain number of common properties,
The atom. which, being universal, are essential. No atom does
or can exist without them ; no atom can be deprived of them.
Where they are not found matter does not exist. These uni
versal properties are extension, figure, impenetrability, inde
structibility, inertia, where atoms become massed ; divisibility,
paucity, compressibility, expansibility, mobility, and gravita
tion are also discovered to have been potential properties of all
atoms. In mass matter assumes one of three possible forms : solid,
liquid, or aeriform ; solid when the atoms cohere so that they
cannot move among themselves ; liquid when its particles do
not cohere, but move freely among themselves, as water ; aeri
form when it exists as atmosphere, or gases, or vapors.
There are known to be sixty-two differentiable kinds of
atomic substances possessed of these common properties. Of
these fifty are distinguished by a peculiar luster and are called
metals. The others are distinguished as nonmetallic. The non-
metallic elements are oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, chlorine,
iodine, bromine, fluorine, selenium, sulphur, phosphorus, car
bon, and boron.
These original substances are called simple, for the reason
that they cannot be resolved into more than one element,
though they may be compounded with some of the others.
Matter as we know it is rarely found in the simple form ; the
atmosphere is compounded of twenty-one parts of oxygen and

Time Measures of the Universe. 95
seventy-nine parts of nitrogen. Water is also a compound sub
stance, having one part of oxygen to eight parts of hydrogen.
These sixty-two differentiable substances are not all equally
distributed over the surfaces of the earth or in the masses of
matter in world forms. Many of them are extremely rare, and
discoverable only by most careful and delicate processes of
investigation. Of the Avhole number ten or fifteen only are
found in the great bulk of the objects or collocations with Avhich
we are familiar. We have already stated that the atmosphere
is compounded of but two of them, and also that the same
is true of water. The great masses of rocks and earth are
mainly composed of eight, and easily reducible to them, namely,
oxygen, which is the principal constituent of universal matter,
silicon, aluminum, calcium, potassium, sodium, chlorine, and
iron. These original or simple substances, which in the ultimate
form are all alike atomic — that is, exist as atoms — are found to be
undergoing incessant changes — changes of place and relations ;
changes of composition and decomposition ; changes ChanKes of
of condition from hardness, or solids, to fluids, and atoms'
from fluids to gases, and back again ; changes of temperature
from hot to cold, and the reverse ; changes of motion and mass,
of texture and form, of taste and odor and color.
The changes are traceable to causes to which we give the
name of forces — we call them natural forces, and mean thereby
that they somehow belong to the nature of these substances,
and must therefore under given conditions occur. When the
conditions are found under which they are sure to exist we call
them laws.
Forces are not substances. They have none of the properties
of substances, as length, breadth, and thickness, or form or
divisibility. They do not occupy space. They act in and
on matter, but are not matter or essential to the existence of

96 Studies in Theology.
matter, though always appearing in matter. Ultimately all
forces are a mode of agency. Forces are differentiable modes
of action. It is possible to conceive of matter— that is, atoms-
existing without affinities or motion of any kind ; but it does
not so exist. If atoms existed without the forces it would be
simply as an infinite expanse, a useless immensity of mere
stuff. It would exist to no end.
The forces are few and simple : they are attraction of gravi
tation and molecular forces.
The name gravitation is applied to that force by which all
the bodies or atoms of the universe attract or tend to approach
each other. It differs from all molecular forces in that it is
universal and constant under all conditions ; acting at all times,
upon all substances, and at all distances. It is that master force
which binds all atoms together and regulates the motions of
worlds, from which there is no escape — that force by which all
atoms are drawn toward some center. It acts instantaneously.
It treats all matter alike. Its only variation is that it increases
with the increase of the mass, and diminishes as the square
of the distance increases. Formulated it reads : a force which
acts in proportion to the mass, and which becomes less as the
square of the distance.
Molecular forces differ from gravitation in that they act in
ternally upon particles of matter when the particles are in close
proximity, and only under such conditions. They are modes
of interaction among contiguous atoms. The forces developed
through the agency of heat (which is a state of some
material body) and light, electricity and magnetism,
are diverse in their nature and affect different forms of matter
differently. They differ from gravitation inasmuch as their
influence is not universal and constant, but local and limited
both in time and space. They differ also from molecular

Time Measures of the Universe. 97
forces inasmuch as their influence is exerted at measurable
distances, though not at great distances.
Molecular forces are found under four manifestations or
varieties : cohesion, adhesion, capillary attraction, and affinity.
Cohesion is that form Avhich binds together atoms of the
same kind to form a compact or uniform mass, and differs from
gravitation, which draws all kinds into a common mass ; the
force which holds together atoms of iron, stone, or other co
herent masses. By cohesion the constituent atoms are not de
stroyed, but united, cemented.
Adhesion is another form of molecular force which causes
unlike substances to adhere, but not unite, as smooth surfaces
cleave together.
Capillary attraction is a form of molecular force. It mani
fests itself variously between the surfaces of solids and liquids.
Affinity is a mode of molecular force precisely the reverse of
cohesion, and next to that most efficient to the conversion of
atoms into masses. As cohesion binds together atoms of the
same kind into solid masses, so affinity binds together and unites
into solid masses unlike substances. The resultant is not mere
mass, but a compound which manifests different qualities from
any discoverable in either part separately. The compound is
thus seen not to be a mere mixture of different parts, but a>
transfusion or interblending, making a third something not in
bulk merely, but in a different class of properties. Water is not
oxygen, nor yet hydrogen, nor a mixture ; but a substance Avith
new properties belonging to neither. Thus it appears that the
action of gravity and the several molecular modes of force differ
in their manifestation and results. The force of affinity binds
together the atoms of the elements oxygen and hydrogen to
constitute a molecule of water. Cohesion unites the molecules
thus formed into a drop or an ocean. Adhesion causes the
union of water with the surfaces; of different substances. Capil-

98 Studies in Theology.
lary attraction causes water to rise above its level ; while the
force of gravity causes coherent quantities of water to descend
in rain from the clouds, or to move down inclined planes as
rivers until they find their level.
Having now possessed ourselves of the knoAvledge of the
vast masses of inorganic substance aggregated in worlds, and of
their distribution through immeasurable regions of space ; and
having discovered that these masses are composed of innumera
ble atoms of such infinitesimal dimensions as to require the aid
of the microscope to render them visible ; and having found that
these atoms are of sixty-two kinds of differentiable substances
variously impacted and compounded ; and having ascertained
the forces which act in and upon them to produce the various
changes through which they have passed and are passing to
bring them to their present conditions and relations, Ave are
prepared to consider another aspect of the inorganic universe,
namely, its temporal measures, or the method by which it has
been brought to its present state and the length of time con
sumed in bringing it to its present condition.
By the essential properties of the atom we were enabled to
determine with the utmost certainty that, illimitable as it is,
space occupied by matter is nevertheless finite, boundable, and
Theuniverseactuallv bounded> though its utmost bounds are not
bounded. ascertained or ascertainable by any poAvers within
our possession or reach. No certainty of knowledge is greater
or more secure than this, that out beyond whatever is figur-
able or has figure as its essential property there is an unfig-
urable immensity or infinitude of space where matter might
exist. There is a center and circumference of all matter sub
stance, and its diameter, though unmeasured, is measurable.
This we postulate as a necessary truth, reached not by observa
tion but by intuition.

Time Measures of the Universe. 99
The question Avhether it is also finite or limited in its time
measures is that which we now raise. It is confessedly the
most difficult problem in the whole range of scientific investi
gation, and also the most important in its theological bear
ings. As a scientific question it must be treated in the light
of known facts, and must be subjected to the tests which deter
mine facts to be facts. A class of thinkers arrogating to them
selves the appellation of scientists assert that all original inor
ganic substances are eternal, and that all subsequent changes are
products of their inhering forces. Another class as positively
affirm that all such substances had a beginning and were created,
and that all subsequent changes are outcomes of the agency
which produced them. The first position leads to atheism ; the
second affirms theism.
What are the known facts in the light of which these antago
nistic affirmations are to be tested ? It were an easy Light.
thing to appeal to the Bible and say that it settles it,
and so to refuse further inquiry. But this summary method,
however it might satisfy some minds, fails to give content to
others, who imagine that facts contradict it. Facts must be the
court of last appeal, since no assumption can stand against them.
The first fact to which we need to attend is this : that we
have no knowledge of the actual origin of any atom BeglimiI1g
of matter. This is a universally admitted fact. Of of matter-
the beginning of matter as a whole, or of any part of it, we know
nothing, either by observation or induction or intuition.
The second fact we call attention to is this : whether inorganic
substances had a beginning or not, we know as a fact that it
does exist, and has existed through immeasurable ages of time,
and we are able to trace the history of changes in it throughout
these vast eons to what seems to be its most primitive — actually

100 Studies in Theology.
primordial — condition. This we affirm to be a fact, and one of
great importance in its bearing on the question under considera
tion, and now ask attention to its proofs. The first proof we
submit is drawn from the observation of the heavenly bodies.
It is established by indubitable evidence deduced by many
actual experiments of the most unquestionable accuracy that
light is subject to the law of motion, if it is not in fact a mode
of motion, and hence that it occupies appreciable time in its
passage through space. If any fact is absolutely determined,
this is. The existence of the sun is not more certain than that
it requires about eight minutes for its light to pass over the
space which separates it from the earth. The movement is
determined at about one hundred an d ninety thousand
Time meas- rf
ures of light. mjles in a second of time. This is not the place to re
cite the evidence which supports this fact ; nor is it necessary.
The eye discerns stars whose distance has been measured Avith
mathematical accuracy, whose light requires a hundred and
twenty years to cross the space separating them from the observer
who beholds them. The telescope, with a penetrating power
many thousand times that of the eye, reveals stars whose light has
required two hundred and fifty thousand years to reach the eye of
the observer, and unresolved nebula out beyond whose light has
required double that time to make the transit. No one who is in
formed will doubt these facts. They fall far within the limit of
reality. The ablest and most devout astronomers have affirmed
that the inorganic universe, under actual observation by means
of instruments, is of such extent that its diameter would require
millions of years for light to traverse. The processes by which
these conclusions are reached are open and within the reach of
all studious observers.
The fact thus established by careful scientific method deter
mines that the universe as existing with developed solar bodies
has been as it now is for not less than a million years. How

Time Measures of the Universe. 101
much longer we do not conjecture, nor does astronomic science
give any clew.
Nor does the fact here adduced simply prove the measureless
antiquity of those distant stars, or, more properly, suns. The evi
dence is that our own sun, whose light comes to us in eight min
utes, has been sending forth its beams to these far-off worlds dur
ing the same period — is, in fact, of the same antiquity with the
most ancient of its compeers. It matters nothing what the theory
of light is — the result is the same. This appears from two facts :
first, the harmony of the spheres and their fixed relations, and the
great universal law of gravitation which determines their rela
tions. Second, from the fact that its existence is Harmonyof
traceable in its effects on our planet, both as to its the spheres.
inorganic changes and its organic phenomena, to a period much
more remote than that required for the transit of light across
the longest diameter of the known stellar universe. Nothing
is more certain than that it was needed to be in its place con
temporaneously with the existence of our planet itself, and that
its solar function was needed in the earliest ages of organic
existence. Our next proof is deduced from the science of geology.
This science treats of the earth. It is relatively recent, but it
has rapidly grown into one of the best understood branches, and
now takes rank almost as one of the exact sciences. Its facts
lie so within easy reach that they fall under immedi- Ages 0l
ate observation, and -cannot be disputed. It deals geology.
with forces and agencies, and the effects which they produce,
which are now in full play under our direct cognizance. Its
facts are numerous and open, and the knowledge of them is in
creasing with every sun rising and setting. We now call atten
tion to some of those well-known facts which point to the
immense antiquity of the earth as an inorganic mass, or prior to
the ages of fife.

102 Studies in Theology.
Had the earth from the beginning been as we now find it, and
remained a perfectly unchanged body, it is difficult to see how
it would have been possible to get at any clew to its age ; indeed,
it would have been impossible. The immutable gives no note
of time. Changes denote time and forces which produce them.
When the forces are known, and the conditions under which
they act, and the relative time consumed in the effects, we are
able to arrive at a proximate estimate of the whole period during
which all the observed effects were wrought.
To ascertain the changes through which the earth has passed
we have to begin our researches with those which we observe
and the causes which produce them. These changes are those
which take place immediately upon its surface, extending to but
a few inches beneath. Below that by actual observation Ave
know absolutely nothing. But while we do not see below the
surface so as to note what is passing there, we shall be able to
show by many indubitable evidences that changes have been
passing there through immeasurable ages of time. We shall
find the same forces Avhich are now working changes under our
eyes were working long ago just as now, when portions of
the earth which are now miles deep below the surface were the
then surfaces of the world.
The agencies now working changes upon the surface may be
named: gravitation, cohesive attraction, chemical affinity,
changes of temperature, the heat of summer and cold of winter,
erosion of rocks by chemical and mechanical agents, action of
the atmosphere, organic growth and decay, rains, snows, cur-
Agencies of rents of rivers and streams, the beating of ocean tides
changes. and waveg on their shoregj c]0U(jbursts and inunda
tions, earthquakes and volcanoes, uplifts and depressions of con
tinents, windstorms, mechanical attrition, glacial slides and
movements, geysers, springs, organic agencies, solar influences
of light and heat. These forces are now at work uninter-

Time Measures of the Universe. 103
mittently about us on every hand, often unnoted and always
unappreciated, except by the few who carefully study their
operations. The crust of the earth reveals evidences that the
same forces have been busy along all the ages of earth's history,
in more active and terrific forms as we descend to the period of
their earlier and earliest manifestations. Most conspicuous
among them is gravitation, chemical affinity, cohesive attraction,
fire, and water.
There have been periods extending through ages in which
they Avere intensely active, producing the mightiest changes,
ruptures of the earth's surfaces, cataclysms, and upheavals, evi
dences of Avhich, as Ave shall see, remain to this day.
Their operations are now quiet and orderly, and their effects
only observable in local and transient changes. From year to
year and generation to generation, and indeed throughout his
toric time, there has been scarcely any marked change in the
visible condition of the earth. The mountains and oceans and
rivers and continents and islands are essentially the same as
when man first made observation of it. The climatic changes
are small ; the contour of land and water, the vegetable and
animal tribes, the mountain ranges and river courses, the for
ests and lakes, are the same our most ancient ancestors looked
upon. The same birds sing in our groves, and the same fishes
SAvim in our seas, and the same animals roam in our forests. It
is the same earth our ancestors back to our primogenitor
inhabited in all essential respects, modified only by the touch
of man. The same stars shine above us in their exact places
that guided and cheered the shepherds of Chaldea as they
herded their flocks on the same slopes and in the same vales
where their descendants live and toil to-day. Kingdoms have
risen and passed away, civilizations have come and gone like
shadows over the rocks, man's works and monuments have per
ished, but the earth remains in its old orbit and turns its surfaces

104 Studies in Theology.
to the sun unchanged through these human ages ; and yet great
changes have been going forward even during this period, some
of which will be noted.
Changes are the records which the earth makes of its history.
They tell the story of its age and of its experiences. The rec
ord is often blurred and parts totally effaced, but enough is
preserved to enable us to trace the story from its beginning to
the present, and read backward and forward the romance of
its youth and middle age all through from infancy to majority
without the loss of a single chapter. " It is lead in the rock
forever ; " more marvelous than the wildest dream of fancy,
yet as real as the rocks in which they arc traced and as deter
minable in the agencies which produce them and in their chrono
logical order as the pages of a written history. As to read a
book one must master the alphabet, so to read this ancient
volume one must acquaint himself with the facts.
Having observed the forces working about him and looking
full upon the varied surfaces of the world all abroad, he begins
to inquire the relations of the one to the other. Here is a vast
region broken up into mountains ; adjacent is half a continent
of rolling lands and stretches of plain ; here are great gorges
and ancient beds of living or extinct rivers ; here are conical
shafts thousands of feet high with dead craters in their sum
mits and clay and lava accumulations along their sides and out
into the plain about their bases leagues in extent ; over half a
continent are scattered great bowlders and immense rocks weigh
ing thousands of tons, separated from their congeners or native
habitat. Everywhere over all the world are beds of gravel and
rounded pebbles and bowlders piled up into hills hundreds of
feet high ; along the sides of the mountains are striated rocks
laminated in regular layers piled one upon the other ; along
the ocean and lake and river shores are beaches, one, two, three,

Time Measures of the Universe. 105
of accumulated rocks and soil, pointing unmistakably to ancient
sea levels; there seem in some places, hundreds of miles in
extent, substructures of walls laid as if in masonry ; the mate
rials of which the walls are built are filled with casts of organ-
isms which resemble creatures which now live ; here are vast
measures of combustible rocks, many feet in thickness, and lower
down, separated by other rocky strata, another and then still
another and then still another ; doAvn beneath all is a vast
crystalline base upon which the mighty accumulations are piled.
The outcome of research is this, that these facts discover
changes which have been passing in this outer crust of the
earth through infinite ages, by the operation of the forces
which are still, but more quietly, carrying on their processes
to-day ; forces building and destroying the continents.
Let us see if the history can be deciphered and the time,
orders, and measures be determined.
How were the mountains piled ? By the agency of internal
fires. Hoav were the plains formed? By sedimentation in
ancient seas and lakes and the attrition of the elements level
ing elevations and filling up depressions, and by the deporta
tion of comminuted substances by wind and water. How were
the pebbles and rounded bowlders fastened ? By being rolled
in currents and waves. How Avere the stratified rocks piled ?
By deposits in ancient seas, lakes, and oceans deported from
the dry land. How were the bowlders deported from their
ancient homes and sown broadcast over the continents? By
emptyings of frozen oceans over the continents. How Avere
the coal measures corded under the rocky strata which hide
them away ? By uplift of continents which grew the prolific
vegetation of Avhich they are composed, and then by depression
under shallow seas and ocean waters until superincumbent
rock strata Avere laid down upon them, and so by repetition

106 Studies in Theology.
until the series was complete. There is now no question
among those who have patiently studied these phenomena about
the correctness of these findings.
That the mountains Avere reared by the agency of heat has,
I believe, never been questioned. They are either volcanic in
their origin and simple accumulations of substance spouted
from internal depths, or ruptured masses, lifted and piled in
jagged ridges and peaks by continental upheaval. Both agen
cies are perfectly apparent and differentiable. If we add to
these the agency of water floods poured from the clouds, and
through the ages dashing down their sides in torrents and rivers,
cutting deep gorges therein, Ave have a full account of their
origin and outline.
That the stratified rocks were made by sedimentation is
proved by their structure and fossil contents, and by the visible
operation of the same cause now. That the great bowlders
were floated to their places by rushings of emptying oceans and
by masses of icefloes is evident from the fact that striae and
moraines show that they were dragged or driven along lines of
movements. That pebbles were factured by being rolled in currents and
waves of water is proved by the fact that the process is going
on to-day in all river and lake and sea beds and shores, and
from the fact that no other method of their formation can be
assigned, and from the further fact that their snrfaces show
that they were ground from other shapes into their rounded
form. The force which formed the mountains is less capable of
being measured, and less calculable as to the time required for
the effect, but there are not wanting means of proximate calcu
lations. Volcanic agency, though rapid Avhen in highest activity,
requires time for its effects. Upbursts may be instantaneous,
but Avhen we consider the vast ranges of mountains on all the

Time Measures of the Universe. 107
continents, and beneath the oceans as well, apparently breaking
up the entire crust of the globe, we are compelled to locate the
agency causing such effect long anterior to the age of life on
the planet, and during the formative period, antecedent to the
secondary, or sedimentary crust, or to any subsequent upheavals,
breaking the strata piled upon them, and in no way active in
the formation of the secondary rocks.
The force which has been operative in the production of the
secondary rocks, or rocks made by sedimentation, is secondary
almost, if not entirely, aqueous. The mode of its roeks-
operation is gradual, and, though at times violent, usually rela
tively quiet. It acts in the form of solution, or decomposition,
and deportation. The loose or decomposed elements are taken
up by it and deported and deposited in thin and proximately
equal horizontal layers along the courses of rivers and their over
flowed banks, and out in basins, lakes, and seas, into which the
rivers empty, or in which they are held in solution from the
bottom of the ocean. Before there were continents of dry land,
but after water had formed, sedimentation may have commenced
building at ocean bottoms. When portions of the crust were
lifted above the watery enswathement a decomposing agency
immediately began to grow upon the solid crust, just as at pres
ent. Chemical and atmospheric action began to weather the
crystalline mass and loosen its particles, and the descending
rains forming into rills and rivers caught up the portable parts
and carried them in solution, dropping them in the flow, but
carrying their more portable or finer parts out into the basins
where the water emptied itself, and dropping them over its floor.
Thus the stratified rocks were made ; they are being so made now.
The general cause of mountains (as indeed of all igneous phe
nomena) is the reaction of the earth's hot interior Mountain
upon its cooler crust. Mountain chains seem to changes.
be produced by the secular cooling and therefore contracting of

108 Studies in Theology.
the earth, greater in the interior than the exterior, in con
sequence of which the face of the old earth is become wrinkled.
Or, to express it a little more fully, by the greater interior con
traction the exterior crust is subjected to enormous lateral
pressure, which crushes it together and swells it upward along
certain lines, the strata, by the pressure, beiug at the same time
thrown into more or less complex foldings. These lines of
upswelled and folded strata are mountain ranges. The first grand
forms thus produced are afterward chiseled down and sculptured
to their present diversified conditions by means of aqueous
agency.* Now it remains to examine the result and calculate the time
occupied in bringing it about. Our only search now is after
the time measures of the process. We are not at all preparing
an examination of other questions which pertain to geology.
For this the reader must refer to scientific treatises such as
Dawson's Earth and Man, Winchell's Walks and Talks in
the Geological Field, Elements of Geology by Le Conte. This
latter book is exhaustive and most able.
A word before we trace the process, that we may be prepared
for the examination. We have been so long accustomed to
imagine that the earth and heavens were made and completed
in a brief time, and by direct agency, that we need to remember
a few facts which have been already hinted at before we
advance to the consideration of matters now to be introduced.
We have already called your attention to positive proof that
instead of a brief time millions of years have been employed in
the formative Avork of the universe. This point is established
already by the discovery of the time consumed in the transit of
light from the remotest nebula brought under observation by
the telescope. It is no more a question.
* See Le Conte's Elements of Geology.

Time Measures of the Universe. 109
We now adduce other facts which require the supposition in
order to their explanation. You are prepared, therefore, to
admit vast ages of time, to explain phenomena, and will not be
disturbed when we assume it as already established, Avhile at
the same time we point out processes which not only require
such immense periods, but also demonstrate the fact. When
we are freed from the delusion that time history is short, and
are ready to concede an immense period to it, we shall be
able to deal with the facts which we encounter in the study of
the earth. When we discover phenomena that under the
normal operation of the forces by which they were apparently
produced required millions of years, having found absolute proof
that the history has been developing through such measures, we
Avill not find occasion to reduce the period to a less measure.
Had the earth been created a globe of matter substantially
as we find it in respect of distribution of land and water, and
in the elements which compose it, so that the ancient seas had
always maintained their places and the dry land had also occu
pied the same position it at first held, the principal phenomena
in its crust, could they be discovered, could not be explained, nor
would it be possible for many of them to exist, and also there
Avould be no means of arriving at its probable age, or even to
determine that it had existed more than a brief period as com
pared with geological eons. Its dry land, which can alone be
examined, would have presented no such appearance and no
such facts as are now presented. There might, indeed, have
been mountains lifted by internal fires, and deep gorges and
river beds cut through soils and rocks by the action of rains,
and slight surface changes produced by chemical agents and
other surface effects, but there would have been no accessible
stratified rocks to tell the story of the ages of their formation
and varied conditions under which they Avere made ; or fossil con
tents revealing the history of life ; or coal measures serviceable

110 Studies in Theology.
to the uses of man ; or indeed any of the phenomena which we
now perceive, except possibly those of volcanic origin and those
produced by atmospheric, organic, and aqueous agency in form
ing the soils and in furrowing the surface into river beds. All
stratification would have been carried on under the oceans and
seas, and we should not, perhaps, even have dreamed of their
existence; the supposition itself, though long entertained, is
beset with other insuperable difficulties. The proof, as we shall
see, is that the history has not been that. The earth is, indeed,
the same as to its substances and forces, but the proof is that in
respect of size and surface phenomena it has been the scene of
perpetual changes, dry land and oceans often changing places,
and inorganic and organic changes chasing each other over im
measurable ages.
But had the two portions remained unchanged, land Avhere
the land was first placed, and water where the water was first
placed, and the quiet forces left to work their effects, this would
have been one of them : the dry land would have been con
stantly loAvered until it came to the water level and became
submerged, or it must have been constantly uplifted so as to
preserve its relative level. In either case we should have found
it impossible to determine anything of the probable duration of
the process, and carbonifera would have been impossible.
This further result would have followed : there would have
been a perfect series in their exact order of stratification under
the oceanic waters, each geological period depositing itself upon
that which immediately preceded.
Allowing, as we now find it, that there was a long period
during which there Avas no life upon the planet, could we get
a cross section of the deportations into the sea, or sedimentation
by the sea, we should have a corresponding stratum, in Avhich
there would be no fossils, there being no life or organic
remains. AlloAving the history of ages of life to have been just

Time Measures of the Universe. m
as it has been, we would then find overlying this forty thousand
feet of unfossiliferous rock the complete series of strata up to
date. Following the unstratified igneous foundation would
have been the metamorphic deposits, formerly known as the
primary azoic period, but now, as more comprehensive, the lau-
rentian system and archaean era ; ascending into the first forms
of life, called by Darwin and others the eozoic age. Then Ave
should find without a gap or break the complete paleozoic era ;
comprising in their order the silurian system — lower and upper 
the devonian, the carboniferous, the permian. We should then
have what was formerly knoAvn as the old tertiary, but mod-
ernly called mesozoic age, comprising cretaceous, Jurassic, and
triassic formations. Then, rising to the most recent geological
period, we should find neozoic deposits, eocene, miocene, plio
cene, postpliocene, modern — the quaternary group.
But, as we shall see by irresistible proof, such has not been
the history of the earth. The continents have not always been
continents, or the oceans and seas always oceans and seas. They
have many times changed place. Present seas and oceans roll
over many buried continents, or parts of continents, whose
memorials we cannot reach. Present continents have been
many times and for long ages submerged. It may be allowed
as probable that the present continents and oceans occupy sub
stantially their primitive position, the oceans often engulfing
parts of the continents and uplifting other parts that had been
submerged. It is this series of changes that puts us in posses
sion of the earth's story. The records Arere made under the
waters for the most part. We are able to trace the writing by
having the once submerged page lifted up and spread out on
the dry land, portions of it being found here and portions
yonder, and possibly large portions entirely lost.
Let us see how this is ; and that it is. We have already
' A.

112 Studies in Theology.
referred to the stratified rocks and to the fact that these Avere
laid in the waters. Before we proceed more particularly to
examine the story they relate Ave now call your attention to the
fact that there are more ancient unstratified rocks,
upon which they are built. Of these more ancient
rocks we shall speak further on, and how they came and the
story they tell. For the present we assert that all stratified rocks
are laid down on unstratified bases. Stratification, therefore,
marks a line of new facts in the history of world growth, and
like the annular rings of trees, or physiological changes in
animals, records growth and age.
Stratified rocks, we have said, are made in water by deporta
tion of material and by sedimentation found in solution in situ,
but chiefly by the former. This is a well-known and universally
conceded fact. The sedimentation is affected by the extent and
force of agitation and volume and SAviftness of currents, and
coarseness or fineness of material deposited. In quiet waters
the texture is attenuate and the laminae fine grained and evenly
laid ; in turbulent waves or currents coarser and more irregular
in volume and form. The growth is constant and gradual, and,
as to age, determinable by measurable agencies employed in
their production, and by their nonfossiliferous or fossiliferous
contents. Any portion of the earth's crust that may at the time
be submerged either under shallow swamps or lakes or estuaries,
or under deep seas, may be recipients of sedimentation, and the
sediment is determinable whether laid in fresh or saline waters.
No portion of the earth elevated above water becomes stratified,
but is always subject to Avaste and denudation, both by the
action of wind and rainfalls and other causes. Wind waves
over naked plains and higher lands transport loose and fine
sands and pile them in heaps which simulate stratification, but
are easily distinguishable ; but this effect is mainly confined to

Time Measures of the Universe. 113
seashores Avhere immense drifts accumulate. The overfloAvin*
of rivers, inundating vast marginal bottom lands, leave deposits
Avhich in the course of ages increase into many feet of earth.
In these various ways stratified accumulations are piled on
the primitive foundations of the world. The extent of these
changes indicates the time measures of world growth since the
solid crust was formed.
But now, before we come to examine the result in this direc
tion, let us turn to examine how the primitive crust itself is
formed, and see what light it sheds on the question of the time
measure of world growth.
If the unstratified under floor on which the stratified rocks
are piled may be supposed to have been made instantaneously,
the age of the world would be simply the time con- Vostnaaea
sumed in the piling up of the stratified deposits ; but un(ler floor-
if time was also consumed in making the primitive substructure,
that must also be considered, and it may appear that an im
measurably greater time was consumed in this first stage than
in the second.
It is entirely certain that the unstratified antedate the stratified
rocks, and that the latter are made out of the former by dis
integration and deportation. This needs no proof. Is there any
way by which we can determine how these older forms; were
produced, and whether instantaneously or by long process-?-
There are abundant facts which give light on this subject,.
and to some of these we now call attention.
The unstratified are distinguished from the stratified' (a) by
position ; (I) by the absence of true stratification ; (c) by a crys
talline structure ; and (d) by a total absence of fossils.
They give evidence that they have been consolidated from a
fused or semifused condition, and are hence called igneous
rocks. This origin is clearly shown by their structure and by

114 Studies in Theology.
the occurrence in them of dikes and tortuous veins, and by the
effects produced on contactual stratified rocks, and by their like
ness to lavas. They underlie the strata wherever found over the
whole globe, and reach as far down as can be penetrated toward
the interior of the globe ; they form the peaks and apexes of
mountain ranges, and fill the fissures and veins of fractured
overlying stratified rocks, into which they could only be intro
duced in a state of fusion. These universal characteristics lead
to the conclusion that the globe itself was primitively a molten
mass, of whicli the exterior was formed into a solid crust by
radiation of heat and refrigeration.
This theory finds support in these further facts : (a) by the
oblate spheroidal form of the earth ; (I) the baked, wrinkled,
contorted, and semicrystalline condition of the stratified rocks
immediately overlying the unstratified base all the earth over,
except when the strata is of a much later age — the oldest
strata are invariably transformed by evident heat agency;
(c) the volcanic phenomena found in all parts of the globe even
to this day ; (d) the increase of temperature as we descend in
the crust, showing that at a fixed depth all substances would be
reduced to a molten or fluid state ; (<?) earthquake phenomena ;
(/) the known constitution of the sun ; (g) but more than all,
the elliptical form of the globe itself.
For a more complete examination of this subject the reader
is referred to any respectable scientific treatise in geology, but
especially for its fullness and fairness to Le Conte's great
work, in which all theories are stated and all related facts
considered. Whether the earth is or is not at present a molten mass to
its center, it is certain that it has been from the beginninc-
and is now, greatly affected on its surface by igneous agency
from within, and that its most primitive floor was consolidated
.from a molten state.

Time Measures of the Universe. 115
But we are not permitted to suppose that we have reached
the real beginning of earth history when we find it a molten
globe of the dimensions it had when it began to form its solid
crust. There is abundant evidence that even after it had come
to such a density as to begin to solidify at the surface, it
continued to shrink ; and we are pointed back to a time when
it Avas a much less compact mass than Avhen it received its rela
tively fixed form and size. While the nebular hypothesis can
not be put forth as absolutely scientific, it is supported by so
many agreeing probabilities as to justify its acceptance as a
working theory ; we cannot pass, therefore, without stating it
and pointing to its bearings on the problem of time as involved
in universe or Avorld making. It has the earmarks of truth, and
in no way diminishes, if it does not augment, the glory of the
creative method. The least that can be said of it is that it
seems more rational than any competing view, while no fact can
be alleged against it.
It assumes, and with certainty of correctness (so far), that the
primary condition of world substance was the atom of which
worlds are composed. Nothing is more certain than this pos
tulate. Its next assumption leaves room for doubt, since it is
not absolutely proven, but only reduces to probability; that
assumption is, that the atoms to become the future constituents
of worlds were primarily diffused through the space which was to
be the future place of the worlds to be built of them, and now
occupied by them. It assumes then, third, that these widely-
disseminated atoms, under laws concreated and concreted, were
drawn together around innumerable foci, and the process of
world making was thus commenced.
It is not claimed for the theory that it is established ; but it
is claimed that it so answers all the demands of the problem
of world making, and is so without objections, and finds so
much support from many well-known facts not otherwise

116 Studies in Theology.
explicable, that it deserves to take rank as highly probable ;
and is accepted by many eminent specialists as almost demon
strably true ; or, if not that, at least a rational deduction from
the most accredited facts of science. Many theories take rank
as scientific without a tithe of the evidence in their support.
No other theory on the subject ever broached competes with it
in rationality ; indeed, it is impossible to allege any real
ground of objection against it. The only ground for hesitancy
named is that it seems to collide with certain statements of the
Bible, and appears to make too little account of a personal
Creator. But both of these allegations are pure fictions, as we
shall see. If the nebular theory rested on or implied the eternity
of the atom and its inhering forces, which some of its expound
ers have assumed, it would be open to these fatal objections.
But that is precisely what it does not do, and what if it did do
would be fatal, not simply as adverse to the Bible and as
strictly atheistic, but on the more radical ground that it would
thereby be reduced to absurdity and absolute impossibility.
The theory attempts to account for the universe not as unmade,
but as a product, and points out the method of its making, or
the process by which it has been brought to its present con
dition. It is not guilty of the folly of alleging either that it
is self-made or unmade ; but by scientific method shows that it
was made and in what manner the Maker proceeded. Its entire
insistence is that it is a growth from a beginning, and it begins
with the first stage and traces each stage of the movement to
the present ; every step requiring and demonstrating the pres
ence and volitional agency of a personal builder as really and
more impressively than if it were made in an instant and
by direct efficiency. It starts with the assumption that the
substances wrought into world structures were first origi
nated in atomic severance. This is its corner stone, its absolute
postulate.

Time Measures of the Universe. 117
Beginning thus with the atom, it affirms that it was not a
simple extended something, but that it was a something endowed
with a force by which it attracted, and was attracted by, every
other substance or atom, or pervaded by a force Avorking to the
end now reached. The theory does not suppose the force in
the atom to be of the atom, but a mode of the energy by which
the atom itself exists.
These substances so originated and so endowed or pervaded
were infinitesimally minute, and without collocation, „ ,. ,
J ' ' Nebular
and were diffused over illimitable space, the very Hypothesis.
space in which they were to be wrought into a history, ulti
mately culminating in worlds.
Portions of the space so filled were assigned (by the power
which created and endowed these infinitesimal points) to a
certain number or part of them as the theater of their action
for world construction. The worlds to be built within the
allotted space were to be built out of the atoms therein placed.
The conditions were thus laid for the process to begin.
We take now for illustration, of the process which it assumes
immediately began unfolding over the whole realm of space
which had been filled with atoms, our own solar system, as
suming that what took place here also took place wherever
worlds were made. We have seen that the area assigned our
system — that is, the solar system — was one definitely fixed,
which we have occupied with absolute exactness always — that
portion of space which divides midway between us and our
nearest stellar neighbors ; that each star and any members that
may belong to its system have a similarly fixed area.
We know as a fact that the sun and its planets, and all other
suns and their planets, are composed of exactly the same sub
stances in number and kind.

118 Studies in Theology.
We know that within the definite area all the included atoms
are held by and tend to a local center by an immutable law, to
wit, as the mass and inversely as the square of the distance ;
and that under the sway of this law the atoms would become
massed, increasing in density toward the center as they were
drawn inward.
We know that, attendant upon the operation of this law,
there is discoverable another universal motion of the atoms
within the solar area, a rotary motion, which is still discoverable
in the central body and all the planets around it.
We know that this motion of the mass is parent of another
tendency in the mass, that of tangential motion — centrifugal
force or tendency, offspring of rotation. We have thus cen
tripetal force, or force of gravitation, and centrifugal force,
offspring of rotary motion. We know that as a resultant of
these two forces the planets are held aloof from the sun at a
fixed distance, and are carried around it in a fixed orbit, and
thus the system is preserved in perfect harmony of relation.
We know, further, that the motion of the atoms under the
laws of affinity and gravitation brings them into closer contact
or constantly growing compactness or density, and that when
thus brought together they discover affinities, chemical attrac
tions and repellences which interact upon them and produce
intensity of motion among them, uniting them into colloca
tions and compounds.
We know that such interaction and motion create heat, and
intensified heat produces igneous fusion, or a molten condition
of the mass, and evolves electricity and luminosity. These are
well-known facts, and as we shall see, they go far to explain
the phenomena of world building, and show how the result of
the solar system as noAv found was brought about.

Time Measures of the Universe. 119
Keep in mind that we are seeking the time measures dis
coverable in the past history of the universe. This is the only
thing at present aimed at. The question of method is intro
duced only, for the present, as it bears on this point.
We have already pointed out the evidence which demon
strates that the universe has existed in substantially its present
condition as an inorganic system for millions of years. We wish
now to sink the plummet into a still deeper depth, and study it
in the time measures of its development to its present condition..
We need not say that this is not the only aim we have in
view. Our real object is to reach a rational explanation of the
process of world making, and by this means to interpret the
grandeur of the universe and the greater grandeur of its
builder. If we can put ourselves in possession of the facts that
are and have been, we shall find out more of God and his great
ness than in any other way. It is not honoring him to limit him
in space or time, except as he limits himself, or to appoint to
him a method which was not the method he chose. It is a great
truth to ascribe the universe to him ; but it imparts meaning to
the ascription if we can have some adequate idea of the great
ness of the thing which we ascribe to him ; and if we can see
how, through immeasurable ages, he has been carrying forward
his work ; and if, yet further, by both method and extent we
can discover the goal to which all his movement tends. This is
our ultimate aim in this discussion.
We return, then, to the point of departure in the process of
universe building.
First, the material. This we have said was the creation of
the atoms. That Ave knoAV is true. We have further said that
these were probably diffused through the whole area of space
in which worlds Avere to be built out of them.

120 Studies in Theology.
The space allotted to our solar system was that in which it
is, and in which it is held in absolute fixedness, and has been so
held from the first.
This space we have defined to be that sphere which would be
space of the described by a boundary midway between our sun
solar system. antj j^g nearest neighbors on all sides. It is found
to include an area about 20,000,000,000,000 miles in all
directions from the central point, or that Avhich our sun noAV
occupies and has always occupied. The area, as you perceive,
is a sphere about 40,000,000,000,000 miles in diameter. Within
that sphere our sun, which is only a name for the center, had
power of attraction over all included atoms such as to hold them
from being drawn away, and such as to draAv them away from
the point Avhich they occupied inward toward the center of the
mass. This process of motion toward the center immediately com
menced with the existence of the atoms, under the operation of
a fixed law. In unknown time, but of necessity a very long
period, measured by millions of years, the mass had shrunk
from its outer rim till it filled what is now the orbit of Nep
tune. Under the operation of the various forces known to have
existed and acted on it from the first, though yet not condensed
to a solid mass, it had become relatively compact and dense —
the whole mass reduced from 40,000,000,000,000 miles in di
ameter to not more than a six thousandth of that bulk, and
with a corresponding increase of intensity of interaction among
its particles. The result Avas a globe of compact molten matter
6,000,000,000 of miles in diameter.
Centrifugal force, intensified by greatly accelerated motion,
acting upon the now denser mass, threatened its allegiance to
the centripetal force which still bound it together, and ulti
mately triumphed over it, and an outer ring rushed off at a
tangent, but could not escape, nor yet be restored, and so by

Time Measures of the Universe. 121
a resultant force moved in an orbit of its own around the
central mass, and, forming a secondary center of gravity in itself,
became a globe and revolved on its OAvn axis. The incipient
Neptune took its place a newborn planet, the first of the solar
group. The same forces worked in -the new as in the old,
and it commenced its growth toward complete planetary con
ditions. The same forces also still continued their play in the old mass.
Still shrinking toward its center, there came a time, ages how
long there is no means of knowing, but necessarily immense,
when it was reduced to the size of the orbit of Uranus, when
again centrifugal force overbalanced centripetal energy, and
another recusant mass was thrown off and, passing through the
same process, was developed into a planet, with its fixed orbit
around the original mass.
Thus through indefinite, or to us undeterminable, time, but
doubtless appointed by infinite wisdom, one after another each
of the planets was parted from the original mass and took its
place in the solar system — after Uranus, Saturn, then Jupiter,
then a planet which was broken into hundreds of fragments, but
which are still found in an orbit ; then Mars, then our earth
home, then Yenus, then Mercury, then Yulcan, youngest born ;
reducing the central mass — all that remained of it as we find it
to-day, many thousands of times larger than all its planetary
offspring, still held in absolute subjection to it.
If the nebular theory be true for the solar system it is true
for all the universe, and we are required to push our time for
origins back to a point Avhen the entire universe existed in a
state of thin, attenuated substance filling the entire Nebular tne-
space Avhich it now occupies, each atom of which gldereaI sya.
existed apart by itself, by an immediate creative tems-
act ; or, if not that, a time when force was first imparted j;o it.

122 Studies in Theology.
There was a beginning to the changes which have taken place
in the relation of the atoms; for any change necessitates a
beginning. The universe began to be in the primary movement
of the atoms toward their present condition, or by the creation
of the atoms. The movement was necessarily simultaneous
throughout all space and all atoms. So all worlds, as to their
beginnings, are of the same age, and all movements identical
throughout — the universe is a unit. The process Avas regulated
and uniform. One stage f olloAved another in exact order. The
harmony throughout and the interdependence of all the parts
determine this, and are impossible to be explained in terms of
law without it. As all parts of an organism are carried for
ward together, so all the parts of the vast system of systems pro
gressed pari passu. Nothing was left to accident. There are
no accidental atoms in accidental spaces, and no accidental
forces appearing at accidental times, or working in accidental
Avays and measures.
Of these preliminary stages of world building Ave have no
means of determining the time measures, but avc know what the
processes were, and that they could not be without the con
sumption of almost infinite time. It answers no purpose to say
that the Infinite could have brought it about in a moment.
This is not doubted, had he so chosen, but the proof is that he
chose to bring it about by a process, and that choice required
time to work it out, and time of immeasurable length — not
counted by millions of years, as time is now measured into
years, but by eons which transcend human computation. And
why not, since the worker has eternity to carry it to completion ?
Why suppose haste when we are able to detect deliberation ? A
single revolution of the solar constituents would have required
a thousand years, its periphery moving at a velocity greater
than the present rotary motion of the sun. The shrinking of
the mass toward the center, and all chemical combinations.
4 '

Time Measures of the Universe. 123
require time. Think of the ages before the birth of Neptune,
the ages more before the second entry was made in the family
record, and so down to the entry of the earth's name and date
— millenniads count nothing.
But if all this should be counted a dream, we come now to a
time when we reckon Avith certainty. Whether or not the
nebular theory is true, Ave know that our earth was at one time
a fused mass. The evidence of this is conclusive. If we begin at
this point to reckon its age Ave shall find, it ancient enough. Sir
William Thomson calculates that the time which elapsed from
the first formation of a solid crust to the modern period may
have been from 70,000,000 to 100,000,000 years, and the whole
time from the vaporous condition of the solar system to the
present must have been of course immeasurably greater.*
First, we must provide for its refrigeration and its consolida
tion into a solid crust. Who can give us the length of time
required? We are in the reign of law. We have seen the
evidence of its fused condition and of the intense heat which
lingered for ages in the baked condition and metamorphism
which characterizes immense thicknesses of overlying deposits.
We know that immense time must have been required, and that
some such phenomena as the following must have occurred.
Chemical forces must have been intense. The gases must have
formed the atmosphere by immense energy of union. Oxygen
and hydrogen must have loaded the atmosphere with vapor as
they struggled to form future oceans. The vast volumes of
water to be in future time were then in elements seeking to con
stitute it. The oceans were then in vaporous embryo. Hoav long
they hung in clouds before they could condense and fall upon
the burning mass, to be returned to burning vapor, who can con
ceive ? That it was immeasurable time we are forced to believe.
* Dawaon'a Earth and Man, p. 14.

124 Studies in Theology.
The earth was a vaporous globe, the oceans hung in the
clouds. Then there came a time when the crust was tempered suffi
ciently to tolerate a boiling envelope, wrapping it over without
a shore, and " darkness was upon the face of the deep."
The conditions of stratified deposits had come. From this
period, the dawn of the second earth age, data become more
certain and time measures relatively determinable ; and we are
able to perceive both the exact processes and the comparatively
reliable chronology of world growth. The new rocks tell the
story. It is impossible to determine whether any portion of the
Ancient eartu ancient earth crust, after cooling so as to receive and
surface. retain its watery envelope without returning it to
vapor, appeared as dry land, or sedimental continent, or was all
submerged for a time, until portions were uplifted into high
table-lands. The amount of Avater in the globe is a fixed portion
of it. It is sufficient to cover all its surface since it formed its
solid crust, on the supposition that its surface was of uniform
elevation, about or nearly two miles in depth, or nine thousand
feet. The extreme height of land above the sea level is five
miles ; the extreme depth of the ocean is about the same. The
mean heights of continents are given by Humboldt as follows :
Europe, 671 feet ; North America, 748 feet ; South America,
1,151 feet ; Asia, 1,132 feet. The mean height of all land is
not far from 1,000 feet. The mean depth of the ocean is put
from 12,000 to 15,000 feet.
The general surface of the earth, beginning with its earliest
solidified crust, or immediately subsequent, is uneven and
irregular ; some portions depressed, others elevated. The de
pressed parts are beds of oceans ; the protuberant, higher table-

Time Measures of the Universe. 125
lands, existing as continents or smaller islands. The elevated
portions have frequently been depressed, and some of the
submerged portions have frequently been elevated. The oceans
of one era have been the dry lands of another, and vice versa.
The age of stratified rock commenced early after the solid
crust was formed.

All stratified rocks were made in Avater by sedimentation or
the precipitation of earthy matter held in solution or stratified in
deported in currents, and, as a rule, soon acquire water"
a consolidated form. The process of consolidation is always
progressing before our eyes, and has been through all the ages.
The evidence is perfect that all stratified rocks were once
mere earthy deposits gradually made, but with somewhat vary
ing ratios of amount in a given time. Earth deposits, in fact,
in geological terminology, are rocks.
Stratified rocks are laid horizontally, in obedience to the law
of gravity, but conformably in a degree to the surface on which
the sediment is precipitated. When tilted or highly inclined
there is evidence of disturbance subsequent to the original
placement, or of previous irregularity of the subocean surfaces
on which they were placed.
The original position of strata indicates their respective age.
Superposition, if not by displacement, is always more recent.
If, therefore, the original position of any series of strata be re
tained, or be not misplaced by some subsequent disturbance, the
relative age 'of the strata which compose the series may be
determined with absolute certainty. Belative age is also de
terminable by other signs, as constitution of the strata as to
material and fossil contents.

126 Studies in Theology.
Metamorphism of strata as a rule indicates the most primitive
members of the family, but not always. Local agen-
Metamorpmc J ' m
strata. c;es iJaVe produced metamorphism in recent strata.
Disturbance of strata is common; but few sections present
any extensive series in their original horizontal position. They
are usually contorted, broken up, and variously dislocated, and
great care is required in unraveling their exact history.
It is estimated that the series of strata, commencing with the
most primitive and reaching to the present, could they be placed
„ „ . in the exact order of their original formation, would
Order of ~ '
strata. show an aggregate of not less than ten miles in
thickness ; that is, there has been laid down upon the floor of
the unstratified crust, if they could be gathered in their time
order, a sedimentation of that extent.
There are several lines by which to estimate the extent of
stratification over the earth's surface.
The elevated portions of continents and high mountain districts
show how much denudation has taken place in several
Denudation. ways. The horizontal strata of isolated mountain
peaks correspond to each other as they appear in different peaks,
pointing to the fact that at a time the intervening valley was
cut away and removed by erosion. The process noAV going for
ward in depressing the gorge requires only to be pushed back to
a time when it commenced on a surface equal or greater to the
elevations still remaining to show what amount of erosion has
taken place, and also how long it has required. This calculation
makes no account of the fact that probably, almost certainly,
the peaks themselves have been lowered by erosive agency,
which would of course show the actual erosion to have been
much greater than the apparent, and would also show a corre
sponding increase of time.

Time Measures of the Universe. 127
Where strata have been bent upward by heat agency, and the
ridge has been cut away by denudation, the strata on the two
sides of the mountain are found to agree, and by strata utted
measuring across their outcrop, that is, the ends anduPturnei-
which are upturned and disclosed by denudation, Ave are able to
see that the cap over which they once lay has been removed to
a height or depth equal to their thickness, or greater. The pres
ent elevation in such a case has been reduced from as much
higher a level as the restored cap Avould carry it. The effect
is to show as much deportation of matter as if it Avere a corre
sponding gorge cut in a horizontal plain.
By these and other facts it is shown that the amount of
erosion over wide regions is enormous beyond power of compu
tation. To this must be added another method of proving the result.
The debris of erosion is carried down into seas, lakes, and oceans,
and then laid down in strata, and the amount of
, Sea deposits.
stratified rock thus made becomes a proximate meas
ure of the matter removed, minus the amount that failed to reach
the point where the accumulation took place. The erosion could
not be less than the stratified rock, but might be more. If the
matter so removed were spread over an equal area to that from
which it was deported it Avould sIioav the exact amount of ero
sion, or if it could be returned it would show what the original
elevation was over the entire area.
Noav, it is a fact that the stratified rocks over vast districts,
even continents, are from 10,000 to 50,000 feet Deptll 0l
thick. " It is certain, therefore," Le Conte says, that strata-
"the average thickness of strata over the whole knoAvn surface of
the earth is not less than several thousand feet." Beplace the
entire amount of all sedimented rock to its original situation,
and it would show what the whole amount of erosion has been.

128 Studies in Theology.
The two answer exactly to each other. Taking the average
thickness of 2,000 feet, he says : " We therefore return to our
estimate of 30,000,000 years, with the greatest confidence that
it is far within the limits of probability."
This seems to be an enormous statement, but before we so
pronounce it let us remember that it falls far within the limits
fixed by other eminent authorities, and let us be at the pains to
consider the several grounds for the conclusion. That the time
is immense we know.
The order of the" series is well established by an amount of
painstaking labor absolutely amazing. No one can make him-
o d r w n se^ acquainted with the facts without being im-
estabiished. pressed with the honesty and thoroughness of the
work. Scarcely a portion of the earth's surface has been un
explored. The soils and rocks and flora and fauna of all the
ages have been interrogated and rifled of their long-withheld
secrets. The result has been tabulated and summed up Avith the
utmost scientific precision. The whole series has been subdi
vided into eras, and the reason for the division assigned, in
some change, which marked a new and distinct departure — the
opening and bounds of a new age well defined.
If Ave begin at the beginning, the most primitive era lying
on the original floor of the earth's crust, which is the natural
and proper order, Ave have as the result :
First, The Archaean age. The group is called Laurentian
primitive era an(^ Huronian. Second, Overlying it, the Paleo-
paieozoic. zojc agG) comprising the Cambrian, LoAver Silurian,
Upper Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous groups, distin
guished by specific characteristics by which each member of
the group is known, and together constituting an era of geo
logical history. Third, The Mesozoic era, comprising the

Time Measures of the Universe. 129
Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous groups. Fourth, The Cenozoic
era, comprising the group formerly better known as the Terti
ary series : Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene group. Fifth, The
Quaternary era. This reaches to our own age. Noav Ave will
return and consider the eras separately and note their bearing
on the chronology of the earth's growth.
As an example of the effect of erosion and the manner of its
occurrence, and to show the carefulness of the methods adopted
in reaching the conclusions Avhich have been arrived at by stu
dents of the science, we give one or two illustrations.
" An hydrostatical basin of a river, lake, or gulf is the whole
area of land, the rainfall of Avhich drains into the river, lake, or
gulf. Thus the hydrographical basin of the Mississippi Biver
is the whole area drained by that river. It is bounded on the
east and west by the Allegheny and Bocky Mountains, and on
the north by the low ridge running from Lake Superior west
ward. The whole area of continents, with the excep- Hydrostatical
tion of rainless deserts, may be regarded as made up basln"
of hydrographical basins. The ridge Avhich separates hydro-
graphical basins is called a watershed. It is evident that every
portion of the land, with the exception of the rainless tract
already mentioned, is subject to the erosion of water and. is be
ing worn away and carried into the sea. There have been various
attempts to estimate the rate of this general erosion.
"This is usually estimated as follows: some great river,,
such as the Mississippi, is taken as the subject of experiment.
By accurate measurement during every portion of the year the'
average amount of Avater discharged into the sea per second, per
hour, per day, for the year is determined. . . . This amount,
divided by the area of the river basin, will give the average thick
ness of the layer of insoluble matter removed from the basin
in one year. To this must be added the amount of the soluble-
matter, which is about one sixth the amount of the insoluble..
10 4

130 Studies in Theology.
'/Estimates of this kind have been made from two great
rivers, namely, the Ganges and the Mississippi. The whole
amount of sediment annually carried to the sea by the Ganges
has been estimated at 6,368,000,000 cubic feet.
" This amount spread over the whole basin of the Ganges
(400,000 square miles) would make a layer y^ of
a foot thick. The Ganges therefore erodes its basin
one foot in 1,751 years. The area of the Mississippi basin is
1,244,000 square miles. The annual discharge of sediment,
according to the recent and accurate experiments of Humphrey
and Abbott, is 7,471,41 1,200 cubic feet, a mass sufficient to cover
an area of one square mile 268 feet deep. This, spread over the
whole basin, would cover it 4 6\ 0 of a foot. Therefore this river
removes from its basin a thickness of one foot in 4,640 years.
The cause of the great difference in favor of the Ganges is that
this river is situated in a country subject to a very great annual
fall of water, the whole of which falls during a rainy season of
six months. The rains are therefore very heavy, and the flood
and consequent erosion very great. The erosive power of this
river is still further increased by the greater slope of the
basin, as it takes its rise in Himalaya, the highest mountain in
the world.
"Now, since continents may be regarded as made up of
hydrographical basins, the average rate of their erosion may be
determined either by making similar experiments on all the
rivers of the Avorld, or, since this is impracticable, by taking
some river as an average. We believe the Mississippi is much
nearer an average than the Ganges. It can hardly be less than
the average, for a considerable portion of the earth — as rainless
deserts — is not subject to erosion. It is probable, therefore,
that the whole surface of continents is eroded at a rate not
exceeding one foot in 4,640 years. For convenience we will
call it one foot in 5,000 years. We will use this estimate when

Time Measures of the Universe. 131
we come to speak of the actual erosion which has occurred in
geological times." *
We take another illustration of the same point from the same
author to show another phase of the calculation. The case
selected is that of the Niagara Falls. Of this he says : " The
plateau on which stands Lake Erie is elevated about
300 feet above that of Lake Ontario and is terminated
abruptly by an escarpment about 300 feet high. From this
point a narrow gorge with nearly perpendicular sides, and 200
to 300 feet high runs backward through the higher or Erie
plateau as far as the falls. The Niagara Biver runs out of Lake
Erie and upon the Erie plateau as far as the falls, then pitches
167 feet perpendicularly, and then runs into the gorge for seven
miles to Queenstown, where it emerges on the Ontario plateau.
Long observation has proved that the position of the falls is not
stationary, but slowly recedes at a rate which has been variously
estimated from one to three feet per annum. The process of
recession has been carefully observed, and the reason why it
maintains its perpendicularity is very clear. The surface rock
of the Erie plateau is a firm limestone. Beneath this is a soft
strata. This softer rock is rapidly eroded by the force of the
falling water and leaves the harder limestone projecting as table
rock. From time to time these projecting tables are loosened
and fall into the chasm below.
"Now, there is every reason to believe that the fall was
originally situated at Queenstown, the river falling over the es
carpment at that place, and that it has worked its way backward
seven miles to its present position by the process we have just
described. These reasons are as f oIIoavs : 1. The general con
figuration of the country as already described suggests such an
explanation to the most casual observer. 2. A closer examina
tion confirms it by showing that the gorge is truly a valley of
*Le Conte, p. 11.

132 Studies in Theology.
erosion, since the strata on the two sides correspond accurately.
3. As already seen the falls have receded in historic times at a rate,
according to Mr. Lyell, of about one foot a year. The portion
of the gorge thus formed under our eyes does not differ in any es
sential respects from other portions further down the stream." *
" All attempts to estimate accurately the time consumed in
excavating Niagara gorge must be unreliable, since we do not
know yet the circumstances which controlled the rate of reces
sion at different stages of its progress. Among these circum
stances are the volume of water, and especially the hardness of
the rock, and the manner in which hard and soft are superposed.
The present position of the fall, is apparently favorable for a
rapid recession. Mr. Lyell, thinks from personal observation
that the average rate could not have been more than one foot
per year, and probably less. At this rate it would require about
36,000 years, but, whether more or less than this amount, this
period must not be confounded with the age of the earth. The
work of excavating the Niagara chasm belongs to the present
epoch, and the time is absolutely insignificant in comparison
with the inconceivable ages of which we shall speak in subse
quent parts of this work." f
It should be said in this connection that the Niagara Biver
commenced its flow since the tertiary deposits, as it cut through
them in wearing its channel.
The age of rivers, and therefore the time during which they
make their contribution to strata, is an important
Age of rivers. . , ' r
matter m ascertaining the time during which given
strata have been created. The age of a river is determined by
the strata existing at the time when it begins to flow and by
the character of the deposit it makes, and that is determined by
finding first the strata eroded by it, and the characteristic sedi-
*Le Conte, pp. 12, 13. f Ibid., pp. 14, 15.

Time Measures of the Universe. 133
ments it carries to or contains in its currents and deposits in its
deported matter. When its banks show that it has cut through
strata, as in the case of Niagara, it is proof positive that the
strata were already placed Avhen it commenced its erosions. In
the case referred to the proof is that the Niagara was started in
its work of erosion during or at the end of the tertiary de
posits or of much later date. In the case of the Mississippi the
proof is positive that its erosions commenced — that is, that the
river was born, not earlier than the modern era, and all its
effects of denudation and sedimentation must be since that
period. Al uno disce omnes.
The same set of facts determine the age of mountains and all
continental upheavals. When a series of strata are A o( mmam
found to be superfixed upon high plateaus, or to be Uins-
twisted and disturbed along the sides and to the denuded summits
of mountains, the proof is that the uplift was after the dis
turbed strata had been placed. They could not otherwise
be found crowning the plateau or summit, or be distorted by
the upheaval. The time of volcanic mountains is determined
by the same obvious principles.
With these perfectly obvious principles in view we are now
prepared to study the story of the earth as recorded in its strati
fied rocks, rivers, and mountain ranges.
The general principle on which the science works is this :
that the unstratified floor of the earth crust was first -rune order 0I
in the time order of its existence, whether recent or ep0S1 s-
ancient ; and also superimposed deposits have been subsequent
in the order of their superposition, and that, could we obtain
the unbroken series at any point, that series would tell the
proximate age and order of the world's growth. But since
that cannot be done, for the reason that no known portion has
been under the sea continuously from the first, we can only

134 Studies in Theology.
arrive at the fact proximately by taking the respective members
of the series where we find them and are able to determine their
position now by underlying, and now by overlying members,
and thus create the series ; and by finding the extent of the
individual members and the probable time required for their
making, adding the series together, find the extent of the whole
and the probable time of the whole.
Adopting this method, we may fall below, but cannot rise
above, the entire thickness and entire age of the process.
There is a valuable article in the Independent, February 2,
1893, by Professor G. Frederick Wright, on " Geological Time
Batios and the Antiquity of Man." He shows, by numerous
citations from various eminent authorities, a tendency to abbrevi
ate the time measures assumed by the earlier geologists ; but he
also shows that it is impossible from all the data to reduce the
time of the appearance of life on the earth to a period more
recent than 20,000,000 years, while the advent of man may
possibly not exceed 10,000 years. It appears that in the last
thirty years more than a score of earlier geologists have in
various ways made calculations from ascertained data carefully
considered. Naturally they differ, but all substantially agree
as to the vast extent of time absolutely demanded. Five hun
dred million years was the least amount of time Lyell would
admit to have elapsed since the beginning of life upon the world.
He may be said to be the father of scientific geology. Darwin,
in his first edition of The Origin of Species, thought 306,-
662,400 years (which was the period assigned by him, reasoning
from the extent of their erosions to the age of the Wealden
rocks) was a " mere trifle in comparison with the time required
in many other instances of erosion."
The calculations of Sir W. Thomson, approaching the sub
ject from another point of view, that is, from a consideration of

Time Measures of the Universe. 135
the earth's physical condition and the rate at which it is losing
heat, led to the result that the earth Avas in no condition for the
beginning of life earlier than 100,000,000 years ago, and that
probably the limit of life's beginning must be set considerably
nearer the present time. George H. Darwin thinks he has prac
tically demonstrated that only 57,000,000 years ago, and certainly
not over 100,000,000 years ago, the birth of the moon took
place, amid conditions that were utterly incompatible with the
existence of organic life upon the world. Professor Newcomb,
the astronomer, from another standpoint, comes back from his
prolonged study of the sun's heat with the confident assertion
that, at the present rate of radiation, the supply of heat could
not endure more than 18,000,000 years, and that previous to
10,000,000 years ago the sun's heat must have been so great
that water could not have existed on the earth in a fluid state.
Professor Tait also comes by independent calculation to almost
the same conclusion. Professors Young and Croll admit the
difficulty, but Avould gain more needed time for the geological
facts from possible modes of increasing the diminishing heat of
the sun, possibly giving 100,000,000 years of time for the reign
of life. The latest calculation drawn from physical considera
tions is that of Mr. Clarence King, in an article in the American
Journal of Science, who thinks it well-nigh demonstrated that
24,000,000 years is all the time that can be granted to the geo
logical history of life.
The astronomers seem to require less time than the geol
ogists, but it is only a difference, and both demand enormous
periods. Mr. Wallace made a calculation a feve years ago on
the time requisite for the deposition of the sedimentary rocks
on Professor Houghton's estimate that their total thickness
was 177,000 feet. He attempts to get the rate of accumu
lation by estimating the amount of denudation which takes
place at the present time, and the area over which it is being

136 Studies in Theology.
deposited on the present sea bottom. By combining all the
data concerning erosion it appears that the present land surfaces
of the world are being worn away and carried into the sea to
the extent of one foot of their superficial area in 3,000 years.
The main agents of these erosions are the countless rivulets,
each contributing its mite toward carrying the loosened material
of the highlands into the valleys and thence into the rivers,
which are continually disgorging their conteuts into the waters
of the ocean. This is a fair estimate. The total length of coast
line of the world is 100,000 miles, and Wallace estimates that
the dirt carried into the sea by the rivers and washed from the
shores by the waves is all of it deposited on the bottom within
thirty miles of the shore, or upon an area of about 3,000,000
square miles, a quantity about one nineteenth as large as the
total area of the land surfaces of the world. According to this,
therefore, one foot of sedimentary deposit represents the work
of one hundred and fifty-eight years. Taking this as a multi
plier, and Professor Houghton's 177,000 feet as the multiplicand,
we obtain 28,000,000 years as all the time required for the
accumulation of the sedimentary rocks. This is the lowest esti
mate having any probability, or even possibility, of a proximate
truth in it.
In apportioning out this time to the different geological
periods all agree that the earlier demand a much larger period
than the later. According to the estimate of Dana and
Winchell the ratios are of twelve for the paleozoic, three for
the mesozoic, and one for the cenozoic. That is, the time since
the beginning of the tertiary would be one sixteenth of the
whole, which, upon Wallace's basis of results, Avould allow less
than two millions for the tertiary and post-tertiary periods.
All the authorities agree that the age of life on the planet
cannot be less than twenty millions of years, and almost unani-

Time Measures of the Universe. 137
mously, deducing their conclusions from varied astronomic and
geologic data, and from all lines of approach, fix the period as
more probably more than double that time.
The subject of geological time continues to interest a Avide
class of investigators. The most recent attempt at the solu
tion of the problem was made by Mr. Cliarles D. Walcott, of
the United States Geological Survey, in his vice presidential
address before Section E of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. Mr. Walcott's estimates are wholly
made from geological data, so that whatever truth or error
there is in his calculations rests upon a basis entirely independ
ent of that of the calculations of astronomers and physicists, of
which we have had so many in recent years. On this account
the substantial agreement with the moderate figures of Sir
William Thomson, George Darwin, Professor Young, and Clar-
.ence King is the more significant.
Mr. Walcott bases his estimates upon the sedimentation of
the Cordilleran area in the United States, which lies between
the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.
The paleozoic rocks of this area are composed both of me
chanical and chemical sediments. The mechanical sediments
(that is, sandstone and shales) of this area are estimated to have
an average thickness of 10,000 feet for the lower division and
5,000 for the upper. The area of the sea in which this depo
sition occurred Avas about 400,000 square miles. The area of
land draining into the sea was, however, nearly three times
greater in the earlier period than in the later. The character
of the sediment indicates a rapid rate of erosion and deposition.
Mr. Walcott estimates the probable rate of erosion from the
land surface to have been one foot in 200 years, and the rate
of deposition to have been, for the earlier period, one foot
in 50 years, and for the later period one foot in 132 years,
which, with some minor allowances which are to be made, gives

138 Studies in Theology.
1,200,000 years as the time requisite for the deposition of the
mechanical sediments occurring in this area.
But the chemical deposits (chiefly limestones) in the Cordil-
leran sea of this same period are the most important. These
Mr. Walcott estimates to have been contributed at the rate of
128.000,000 tons per year, and that the total amount of calcium
is 2,000,000,000 tons, which at the rate given would require
16,300,000 years. Add to this the 1,200,000 years estimated
for the deposition of the mechanical sediments, and " we have
a total of 17,500,000 years as the duration of paleozoic time."
Dana's time ratios are 12 for paleozoic, 3 for mesozoic, and 1 for
cenozoic. Walcott would " increase the comparative length
of the mesozoic and cenozoic periods, so that the time ratios
would be : paleozoic, 12 ; mesozoic, 5 ; cenozoic, including
pleistocene, 2." According to him, therefore, the total length
of geological time from the beginning of the paleozoic, that is,
from the beginning of life, would be for paleozoic 17,500,000
years, mesozoic, 7,240,000, and cenozoic (since the beginning of
the tertiary) 2,900,000 years, giving to the entire series of fos-
siliferous sedimentary rocks 27,650,000 years. Adding to
this a liberal estimate for Algonkian (17,500,000) and archaean
(10,000,000) rocks, he concludes that eArery attempt at calcula
tion which he has made " that was based on any reliable facts
of thickness, extent, and character of strata," reached " a result
that does not pass below 25,000,000 to 30,000,000 years as a
minimum, and 60,000,000 to 70,000,000 years as a maximum
for postarchaean geologic time. . . . Geologic time is of great,
but not of indefinite, duration. ... It can be measured by tens
of millions, but not by single millions or hundreds of millions,
of years."
For purposes of comparison we give the following estimates
by recent authorities : Sir William Thomson, within 100,000,-
000 years; George H. Darwin, probably 57,000,000 years;

Time Measures of the Universe. 139
Professor Tait, apparently 10,000,000 years ; Professor New-
comb, 10,000,000 years ; Clarence King, only about 24,000,000
years ; Sir Archibald Geikie, a minimum of 73,000,000 years ;
J. D. Dana, oldest fossiliferous rocks, 48,000,000 years ; Alfred
Eussel Wallace, only about 28,000,000 years; T. Mallard
Reade, 95,000,000 years ; Mr. Warren Upham, about 100,000,-
000 years.
Students of earth history, its growth and development as
recorded in the Silurian strata, have, as previously noted, divided
the whole history into five epochs or eras.
" These grand divisions, with the exception of the last, are
founded on an almost universal unconformity of the rock sys
tem and a very great and apparently sudden change of the life
system, a change affecting not only species, but also genera,
families, and even orders.
" Unconformity is the result of deposit of new strata on old
eroded land surfaces, and therefore always indicates an oscilla
tion of the crust at the time, and an immergence and submer
gence of land. In every such case a portion of the record is
lost which may or may not be recovered elsewhere."
Ages are sometimes substituted for eras, of which there are
seven noted. These are distinguished by the prevalence of
organisms : 1. The Archaean or Eozoic age, in which eozoon,
a most rudimental form of life, is supposed to appear. It was
parallel with the Laurentian, the most ancient system of rocks.
2. The molluscan age, or age of invertebrates. It was parallel
with the Silurian series. 3.. The age of fishes, which rises
with the Devonian system. 4. The age of acrogens, sometimes
called the age of amphibians, and dawning first in Carbon-
ifera and extending throughout the system. 5. The age of
reptiles, appearing in the Permian or secondary rocks and reach
ing up through the mesozoic series. 2, 3, 4, 5 make the paleo-

140 Studies in Theology.
zoic era. 6. The age of mammals, dawning and extending
through the tertiary up . into the quaternary. 7. The age of
man, characterized as modern or most recent.
Each of these ages, while characterized by definite and spe
cific types of life, has something in common with those of
other series. The same species carry up to a greater or less
extent, but new orders immerged which in their variety denote
a new age.
Thus it is seen that from the dawn of organic existence
there has been an ascending series. Of this, whatever its sig
nificance, there can be no question. There is a noticeable
advance, not merely changes, in the types and orders of life,
but never a total abolishment of life. There have been periods
when there was a Avide destruction of organisms, but there is
no absolute gap.
It cannot be questioned that there have been great climatic
changes and other variations in the general conditions of the
earth running through these vast epochs, for it will appear
that each of these ages represents immense measures of time.
We shall have more to say on the subject further on.
We return to note these eras and ages more particularly, to
find what they give us as to the time measures and growth of
the world separately. We begin with the Laurentian series.
For a long time and after much research this series Avas sup
posed to be absolutely azoic. It is even now doubted whether
throughout almost the entire era there was any organic exist
ence. Of course, during vast measures of time after sedimenta
tion was commenced, it was impossible that any form of life
should exist. The evidence of igneous intensity, if not absolute
fusion, is proof. The under crust was too thin and heated
and much exposed to violent disruption to furnish the condi
tions for even initiating life in any form. If that condition had

Time Measures of the Universe. 141
passed during any part of this system, it has left very imperfect
records. Almost the entire series appears in the subarctic regions, but
extending far southward toward equatorial regions. It underlies
the paleozoic strata, and with good reason is supposed to be the
most primitive formation. It is of immense thickness and
always highly metamorphic, and destitute of the semblance of
fossils almost universally. It is more contorted than any other
series, and shows violent disruptions and dikes and veins in a
conspicuous degree, and is signally unconformable to Siluria,
which immediately overlies it. It is found extending over all
the regions north of Canada, runs to Labrador, and up to the
farthest north accessible, probably to the Arctic Ocean, and
through portions of the United States bordering on the
provinces from the west to the east, reaching far into Lau H
New York, and westward extending over all the era-
States and Territories of Nebraska, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming,
Colorado, Utah, Nevada, down into New Mexico, Texas, and
Arizona. It appears also in the northern parts of Central
Europe, conspicuously in Scotland. It is schistic in consti
tution, marked by the predominance in one section of gneiss
and granite, and in another of gneiss, hornblende, syenite, and
sandstones, passing into quartzites and marbles. _ It is inter
larded with immense beds of iron ore and great quantities of
graphite. The Laurentian era has been studied with great care by Lay-
ard, and especially Dawson. They agree that it cannot be less
than 40,000 feet — about eight miles — in thickness. It is doubt
ful if any older land surface is known on the globe. Proof
that it was laid in boiling oceans on heated crust is clear,
and the crust from which it derived its material and more
ancient land surface is either hidden away or has not been
discovered.

142 Studies in Theology.
Le Conte agrees with the eminent authorities above cited
that the series is not less than 40,000 feet in thickness. The
peculiarly contorted condition of the formation, arising from
its nearness to igneous agency and the shrinkage of the inner
molten mass during the immense time of its making, furnishes
the means for discovering its thickness. Upheavals, breaks,
denudations of the summits through ages, lay the strata bare
to observation and measurement.
The time required for the deposit is variously estimated at
from 3,000,000 to 6,000,000 of years. Le Conte thinks, and
Time for the "with reason, as shown by the thickness of the series,
deposit. ^at the Laurentian era is longer than all the rest of
the recorded history of the earth put together. But he calcu
lates that the Carboniferous age alone requires between one
and two millions of years. According to this calculation the
Laurentian era must have consumed many millions. Le Conte
estimates that the actual erosions measured over the entire earth
required more than 30,000,000 years.
No one can examine the data without being impressed with
the feeling that great caution has been observed in arriving at
these seemingly extravagant conclusions. That enormous time
passed during the positing of this archaic and azoic series is
beyond the possibility of doubt, and there is no other rule to be
observed than that of allowing sufficient time for the effect.
There is no reason for limiting the time measure below what
the facts seem to demand. And it should be taken into the
account that only a part of the facts are in. If the known facts
require such amazing time, the chances are all that other un
known facts would increase the demand. The actual deposits
may be much greater than any known, since denudation may
have carried away in such immense periods as much as has been
left. In any event, there is abundant proof that immense time
passed between the hardening of the crust over a molten globe

Time Measures of the Universe. 143
and the time when it was fitted to receive the paleozoic strata
corded from lower base to upper stratum with memorials of
life, and preceded as it was by azoic sedimentation from
30,000 to 50,000 feet thick.
Following the Laurentian and preceding the lower paleozoic
era was a period of upheaval and great disturbance. The Lau
rentian deposits in the older ocean were lifted into the skeleton
of a continent over the regions already described, and were again,
in. portions, submerged, and in greater portions remained land
surfaces ; so that the new paleozoic deposits were largely made
by the erosion of the Laurentian strata, by their denudation and
deportation into paleozoic basins. The superposition of this new
series of deposits is proof positive of the fact, and disconformity
marks, but gives no account of, the interval as to extent of time.
A new age began, and its chronological beginning and after
history is written in the paleozoic series from the Cambrian
preface to the Permian finis, with the intermediate pages of
Siluria, Devonia, and Carbonifera. The pages are not complete,
for there were many uplifts during its progress where blanks
occur. But recessions by the overflowings of seas and oceans
resumed the record, and it appears with wonderful fullness, if
not completeness.
The different ages in the series are distinctly marked : first
came the Cambrian primordial group, then the marvelous Silu
rian series, then the Devonian, then the Carboniferous, over all
the Permian. The orders of life in the series mark their limits.
The entire series is next in thickness, and by consequence
next in time measures, to the Laurentian, reaching not less than
40,000 feet. The Silurian and Devonian and Carboniferous are
especially interesting geological fields.
For the present Ave have in view the single point of determin
ing the probable time measures of the series. We therefore

144 Studies in Theology.
make no note of the organic or fossiliferous contents which
characterize them, with the exception of the Carboniferous
group, and in this case only as it bears on the question of time.
The paleozoic system has distinct characterizations, and has
claim to be a distinct rock system, revealing a new
order and stage — a distinct time-world — being uncon-
formed to the series below and also to the series above, or the
under and overlying systems. Distinct, as if not the absolute
dawn of the world of life, its first notable manifestation, and its
manifestation in marvelous profusion and characteristic types.
Twenty thousand species have been already catalogued and
described. Le Conte says : " Of all this teeming life there is
not a single species similar to any found in any other geological
time. And not only are the species peculiar, but even the
genus, the families and orders, are different from those now
existing." A new age with it clearly begins and runs a long
and continuous history.
As stated already, the entire series shows not less, probably
much more, than 40,000 feet in thickness. The subdivisions
are distinguished chiefly by types of life regnant at the period
of their formation. North America, and particularly the United
States, is the most noted for the entire series, but they appear
in Europe, and indeed in all great divisions of the world, with
greater or less fnllness of representation.
The paleozoic era is divided into three ages, characterized by
the dominance of great classes of life. They are (1) the Silurian
system, known as the age of invertebrate animals — molluscans ;
(2) the Devonian system, or age of fishes — superimposed ;
(3) the Carboniferous system, or age of land vegetation and
amphibians. The systems are conformable as a rule, and show no other

Time Measures of the Universe. 145
disturbances than those of successive uplifts of ocean beds and
submergences of land surfaces ; no such oscillations as break
up the reigning system and introduce a new era.
At the beginning of the Silurian age the land surface was
Laurentian, from Avhich deposits were made. The first or oldest
deposits were in seas bordering on the Laurentian shores, which
extended, perhaps, far south, followed by further subsidences as
the age progressed, until the shore line reached to the bases of
the Laurentian ranges in the far north, and the Silurian sea
rolled over all the regions from the Bocky Mountains in the
Avest, northern boundaries in Canada, and the Appalachian chain,
reaching far south beyond Virginia into Georgia. In this great
basin the age made its deposits, as is shown by the facts now
open to examination. The Silurian age is marked by the two
limits — so much of the sea bottoms as received the earliest
deposits, and the uplifts of these deposits into land surfaces — so
that the land became Laurentian and Silurian. The uplift
was gradual from the north southward. The more recent or
newer, called upper Silurian, deposits are found on the southern
border. These facts are distinctly marked and well known by
all practical geologists. As our only aim is at present to reach
a proximate estimate of time, we are not concerned with the
life system, except as it bears on that point..
That Siluria occupied a vast period during which its- peculiar.-
life flourished and its immense deposits were made is SUurtoD,
beyond dispute. No age has left more abundant me
morials or is more distinctly marked. There is reason to be
lieve that Silurian seas washed the bases of Laurentian shores
many scores of thousands of years before the Devonian age was
in its dawn.
The Devonian age, or age of fishes, followed the Silurian
age, or age of mollusks... SilnriaJiad. been, lifted, and the shore
11 4

146 Studies in Theology.
line pushed seaward. The deposit overlaps Siluria ; and is dis
tinguished from it chiefly by new types of life, both sea and
land. We can only note the fact that land plants were now first
introduced, except a few club mosses which appeared in the
last days of the Silurian age. The abundance and kind of land
plants which appeared were the harbingers of the next succeed
ing age — Carbonifera. Fish life also now for the first time
appeared in a variety of forms. Thus both land and sea enter
upon a neAv order or new orders of life. Yertebrates are added
to the animal varieties.
Devonia occupies a briefer time than Siluria, but its char
acteristic formation must have required a period not limited
to less than scores of thousands of years, measured by the
known processes of sedimentation. The life of these ages might
have been suddenly introduced at any time, but the rocks in
which its history is recorded could not be produced by the
known laws of sedimentation in a brief period. There was an
age limited by Siluria in the front and Carbonifera in the
end, and the rocks piled stratum upon stratum, denoted by
the life of the time, mark a lengthened era, not as compared
with greater divisions, but as compared with thousands of years
in human annals. During the Devonian age the seas swarmed
with fishes, and vegetation became prophetic of the age imme
diately following.
To anyone informed of the facts, and standing at this epoch
at its close, and looking back over the line of earth growth from
the cooling of its primitive crust through Laurentian deposits
and Silurian formations and Devonian developments, the de
mand for immeasurable time becomes an inevitable conviction.
The age immediately following is, on many accounts, the
most interesting in the whole scale of geological history, both

Time Measures of the Universe. 147
on account of its marvelous character and its peculiar interest
to man. If not more wonderful in its life and the agencies
which produce it, it more than any other indicates forethought
and purpose in the ordering of the Infinite mind. The iron
lodes of the Laurentian system and the carboniferous deposits
of the paleozoic system point unmistakably to the demands of
an age yet far in the future. But we will not anticipate or
deflect from the sole purpose Ave now have in view, namely,
to find the time measures of earth growth. Other matters
will come in their proper places.
The carboniferous age is more perfectly understood in some
respects than any other. Its practical relations to man carbonif-
have brought it more completely under his observation . erous'
It lies on the top of more than seven, perhaps ten, miles
of preceding deposits, thousands of feet of which contained
the casts of vanished generations and orders of life long
since abolished from the earth. It was laid down in the same
seas in which other formations had been deposited, but as we
shall see in successive periods of submergence. The age is
divided into three periods: (1) Sub-carboniferous, (2) Coal
measures, (3) Permian or overlying and transition rocks.
The first of these periods may be said to be preparatory or
prophetic, the second the period of realization, the third the
period of decline or finis.
The entire thickness of the deposit varies from 15,000 feet
in some districts to not more than 5,000 in others. But a small
part of this great thickness is proper coal deposit, perhaps not
more than one part in fifty. The coal seams are interloded
with superimposed strata of various rocks. There are only five or
six workable veins, but scores of smaller deposits. A seam is
not considered workable if less than three or four feet thick.
Occasionally a vein is sixteen to twenty feet thick. Taken
together, thin and thick seams, there are in Belgium 100, and

148 Studies in Theology.
in Westphalia 117. The aggregate thickness of all seams in
Lancashire is 150 feet ; in Pottsville, Pa., 113 feet ; in Western
coal fields, 70 feet.
On the estimate of time for these deposits Le Conte says :
"We have said that it is important that the mind become
familiarized with the idea of the immense time nee-
Time meas- _^
ures of the essary to explain geological phenomena. We there
fore embrace this opportunity to make a rough esti
mate of the coal period. The estimate may be made either by
taking the whole amount of coal in a coal field as the thing to be
measured, and the rate at which vigorous vegetation now makes
organic matter as the measuring rod, or else by taking the
whole amount of sediment in a coal basin as the thing to be
measured, and the rate of accumulation of sediments in large
rivers as the measuring rod. We will give both, though the
latter is probably the more reliable.
" From aggregate amount of coal. A vigorous vegetation,
as, for example, an average field crop or a thick forest, makes
about 2,000 pounds of organic matter per annum per acre, or
200,000 pounds, or 100 tons, in a century. Becent researches
considerably increase these numbers. But according to Bisch-
off vegetable matter in changing to coal loses on an average
four fifths of its weight by the escape of C02, and CH4, and
HaO, only one fifth remaining. Therefore, vigorous vegetation
at present could only make about one eighth of an inch of
coal specific gravity 1.4 per century. To make a layer one
foot thick would require nearly 10,000 years. But the aggre
gate thickness in some coal basins is 100 feet and even 140 feet.
This would require the former near 1,000,000, the latter
1,400,000 years. It is probable, however, that coal vegetation
was more vigorous than the present vegetation. Our measur
ing rod may be too short ; we will try the other method.
" From amount of sediment. We are indebted to Sir

Time Measures of the Universe. 149
Charles Lyell for the following estimate of the time necessary
to account for the Nova Scotia coal measures. This coal field
is selected because the evidences of nonsediment are very clear
throughout. The area of the coal basin is given as 18,000 square
miles; but the identity in character of portions now widely
separated by seas — for example, on Prince Edward Island, Cape
Breton, Magdalen Islands, etc. — plainly shows that these are parts
of one original field that could not have been less than 36,000
square miles. The thickness of South Joggins is 13,000 feet.
At Pictou, one hundred miles distant, it is nearly as great. We
shall certainly not err on the side of excess, therefore, if we
take the average thickness over the whole area as 7,500 feet.
This would give the cubic contents of the original delta deposits
as about 51,000 cubic miles. Now the Mississippi Biver, ac
cording to Humphrey and Abbott, carries to its delta annually
sediments to cover a square mile 268 feet deep, or nearly
exactly one twentieth of a square mile. Therefore, to accumu
late the mass of sediment mentioned above would take the
Mississippi about 1,000,000 years.
" It may be objected to this estimate that it is founded on a
particular theory of the accumulation of the coal measures.
The answer is plain. Any other mode would only extend the
time, for this mode is more rapid than any other.
" We therefore return to the estimate with increased confi
dence that it is far within limits. But the coal period is not more
than one thirtieth of the recorded history of the earth ; beyond
which, again, lies the infinite abyss of the unrecorded." *
That incalculable time has elapsed since the paleozoic de
posits is evident from the superimposed strata.
The next ensuing era is now knoAvn as the mesozoic — old
secondary series — cretaceous, Jurassic, and triassic periods in the
*Le Conte, pp. 367, 368.

150 Studies in Theology.
named order. The age is characterized by the appearance of
saurians, birds, and mammals, and peculiar flora, and
Old secondary ' ' l
or mesozoic. deposits of rock salt.
Our object being simply to find time measures does not re-.
quire a more particular consideration of this series, except as
it bears on that point. The fossil life of the combined periods
is exceedingly interesting both as to its fiora and fauna ; but this
must be reserved for future consideration. The mesozoic
strata measure several thousand feet in thickness. On the
probable time required Dawson {Earth and Man, p. 195)
says :
" Was the length of the mesozoic time equal to that of the
paleozoic (which we have seen could not have been less than
millions of years) ? Measured by recurring cycles it was. In the
latter period we find five great cycles, from the lower Silurian
to the Permian inclusive. So in the mesozoic we have five
also, from the triassic to the cretaceous inclusive. We have a
right to reckon these cycles as ages or great years of the earth ;
and so reckoning them the mesozoic may have been as long as
the paleozoic. But if we take other criterion the result will
be different. The thickness of the deposits in the paleozoic as
compared with the mesozoic, where these are severally best
developed, may be estimated as at least four or five to one ; so
that if we suppose the beds to have been formed with equal
rapidity in the two great periods, then the older of the two was
between four and five times as long as the latter, which would
indeed be only a little greater than one of the separate ages of
the paleozoic. Either, therefore, the deposits took place with
greater rapidity in the paleozoic, or that period was by much
the longer of the two." For an exhaustive examination of the
subject in a masterly scientific handling see Dawson, pp. 195-
199. The probable fact is that the mesozoic period was less
than that which immediately preceded, perhaps not more than

Time Measures of the Universe. 151
a fourth ; but this on the most liberal scale of calculation would
give it several hundred thousand years.
It was the age of the great reptiles, whose gigantic and gro
tesque form and corresponding power must have been the terror
of ancient seas and lands as Avell. Their remains are exhumed
and found in all the great museums in remarkable perfection.
" There are now on the whole face of the earth only six large
reptiles over fifteen feet long — two in India, one in Africa, three
in America — and none over twenty-five feet long. In Wealden
clay of the mesozoic eras and the lower cretaceous of Great
Britain alone there are five or six dinosaurs twenty to sixty feet
long, ten to twelve crocodilians and enaliosaurs ten to fifty feet
long, besides pterodactyls, turtles, etc. Again, in the cretaceous
of the United States alone, the fullness of the reptilian life was
even greater, for one hundred and forty-seven species have been
found, most of them of gigantic size. Among these were fifty
species of mosasaurus, some seventy to eighty feet long ; many
dinosaurs twenty to fifty feet long." See Dana and Le Conte.
Next follows what is now named the cenozoic era — old ter
tiary — or age of mammals.
We are still far back in earth's annals. We have ascended
through the corded archives of rock records miles in thickness.
We have seen ages counted by millions of years come and vanish.
We have climbed up stratum by stratum along whose corridors
were piled the memorials of long since extinct species and genera
of life. We have seen eras following eras and eons chasing eons ;
but we are still but approaching hints of yet undeveloped ages
prior to the era in which we live. But we are advancing toward
a climax. What it all means will be matter of future considera
tion, and how it bears on problems with which our Normal ^
age is rife. The cenozoic era, or age of mammals, is ot cenozoic.
divided into two periods : (1) the tertiary and (2) the quater-

152 Studies in Theology.
nary. Of the tertiary all the then existing mammals are now ex
tinct, but some of the invertebrates of that period are still found.
In the overlying quaternary most, though not all, of the mam
malian species are extinct ; but a large per cent of the inver
tebrates are now living. But long ere we reach the tertiary all
of the most ancient life has disappeared. Thus the record shows
how the reign of death has extended over all eons, and how not
only generation has followed generation in the march of mil-
lenniads, but orders themselves have after hundreds of thousands
of years of regnancy succumbed, and new orders have come to
take their places. It is an amazing record over which uncounted
millions of sun risings and sun settings have watched, but with
only the stencil of erosion to keep the account.
The tertiary era is divided into the eocene, mioceue, and
pliocene or pleistocene ages, characterized by varieties of mam
malia and new species of flora over the regions where it pre
vails. Its chief seat in North America Avas the sub-
Tertiary. merged portions of the continent south of the bases of
the Appalachian chain and the basin below the mouth of the Ohio
bending northward to the bases of the Bocky Mountains, includ
ing New Mexico, Arizona, and basins in Utah and along the Pa
cific coast line. Tertiary appears on the Atlantic shore in NeAV
Jersey and southward, but not further north, except on Martha's
Yineyard Island, in all of which marine life is represented. In the
Bocky Mountains are large deposits in fresh water basins. Some
of these latter are very remarkable, notably those of the Green
River basin, where the deposits are several thousand feet thick.
They appear also in Oregon and other sections. The whole
group is fully represented in different parts of Europe. The
Mississippi probably during that period emptied into the great
inland sea and lake basins in the interior plain region, as its
present outflow cuts the deposits southward. There is but

Time Measures of the Universe. 153
little reason to doubt that the time of this era was much
less than that of both the laurentian and paleozoic which
preceded, but on the most liberal scale of discount it cannot
have been less than scores of thousands of years. The climatic
conditions were favorable throughout, and life was developed
on an ascending scale and in great varieties, both vegetable and
animal. Keeping in mind that our object is not a treatise on geology,
but is simply to take note of the era in sufficient fullness to give
some idea of time measures, we dismiss the further consideration
of this interesting era and refer the reader to any respectable
work on the science for further and fuller information.
The upper pleistocene age in the series brings us to near
proximity to the present, relatively to all the preceding forma
tions. Finally we come to the latest era, the quaternary. By slow
uplifts, as indicated in shore lines on the sides of all mountain
ranges, the tertiary seas and immense lakes in the Quaternary or
basins of the continents, the seas and lakes which re- suPerflciaL
ceived the tertiary deposits, were emptied of their waters, and
the present contours of continents and oceans were established
and have remained substantially as we find them to this day.
North America has undergone but little changes of surface since
that period, but has been nevertheless the scene of great and
peculiar geological history.
The quaternary period is one whose changes are not indi
cated by marine sedimentation, but by superficial abrasions,
erosions, and deportations by rivers, and by Avhat is known
in geology as drift, or glacial, agency. There have been local
and marginal subsidences and uplifts, but not such as to note
any great variation in the general contour of the earth —
continents and oceans have retained their respective places.

154 Studies in Theology.
Had a visitor come to our planet at the end of the tertiary
era and made observation, and should he return now, he
Avould detect similar shore lines and leading ranges of moun
tains and plains, and much the same flora and fauna, but with
notable differences in all these respects. But we must not,
therefore, infer that a small time has elapsed, or that the inter
vening history has been one of monotonous sameness. On the
contrary, an age of marvelous changes has transpired and a
wonderful chapter of history has been recorded.
The uplift Avhich added the tertiary seas to the continents
marked the beginning of a history of great oscillations of the
earth's crust in both hemispheres, attended with extreme
changes of climate in the higher latitudes, pushing arctic regions
far toward the equator. To this fact may be traced the chief
characteristics of the period. " The invertebrate fauna was al
most identical with that still living, but the mammalia fauna Avas
almost wholly peculiar, differing both from tertiary, which pre
ceded, and from the present, which followed it." *
The period is divided into epochs : (1) glacial, (2) postglacial,
Giaciai and and modern or recent. These epochs were doubtless
postglacial. brief ag compare(j with eariier eras.
It is not possible to fix precise lines of demarcation between
the postglacial and recent. Dawson groups the whole series as
postpliocene. Quaternary is sufficient as noting the period
between the tertiary and the present.
Geikie says : " We have now arrived at the last main division
of the geological record, that which is named post-tertiary, or
quaternary, and which includes all the formations accumulated
from the close of the tertiary period down to the present day.
But no sharp line can be drawn at the top of the tertiary
*Le Conte, p. 513.

Time Measures of the Universe. 155
groups of strata. On the contrary, it is often difficult, or indeed
impossible, satisfactorily to decide whether a peculiar deposit
should be classed among the younger tertiary or among the
post-tertiary groups. Accordingly, a classification of the qua
ternary strata has been adopted in which the older beds, con
taining a good many extinct mammals, have been formed into
what is termed pleistocene, postpliocene, or glacial group, Avhile
the younger beds, containing few, are termed recent.
" Ultimately the northern part of the northern hemisphere
Avas covered with snow and ice, which extended into the heart
of Europe and descended far soutlnvard in North America.
The previous denizens of land and sea were in large measure
driven out or even in many cases wholly extirpated by the cold,
while northern forms advanced southward to take their places.
The reindeer, for instance, roamed in great numbers across
southern France, and arctic vegetation spread all over northern
and central Europe as far as the Pyrenees.. After the cold had
reached its climax the icefields began to retreat and the north
ern flora and fauna to retire before the advance of the plants
and animals which had been banished by the increasingly severe
temperature ; and at last the present condition of climate was
reached. The story of this ice age is told by the pleistocene or
postpliocene formations, while that of the change which imme
diately led to the establishment of the present order of things
is made known in the recent deposits.
"The evidence from which geologists have unraveled the
history of the ice age, or cold episode, which came after the
tertiary period in the northern hemisphere, may here be briefly
given. All over northern Europe and the northern part of
North America the solid rocks, where of hardness sufficient to
retain it, are found to present a characteristic smoothed, pol
ished, and striated surface. Even on crags and rocky bases that
have remained for long periods exposed to the action of the

156 Studies in Theology.
weather this peculiar worn surface may be traced ; but where
they have been protected by a covering of clay these markings
are as fresh as when they were first made. The groovings
and fine striae do not occur at random, but in every district
run in one or more determinate directions. The faces of rocks
that look one way are rounded off, smoothed, and polished ;
those that face to the opposite quarter are more or less rough
and angular. The quarter to which the worn faces are directed
corresponds to that to which the striae and grooves on the rock
surfaces point. There can be no doubt that all this smoothing,
polishing, grooving, and striation has been done by land ice ;
that the trend of the striae marks the direction in which the ice
moved, those faces of rock which looked toAvard the line being
ground away, while those which looked away from it escaped.
By following out the direction of the rock striae we can still
trace the march of the ice across the land.
" As the ice traveled it carried with it more or less detritus, as
a glacier does at the present day. Some of the material may
be left on the surface, but probably most of it was pushed
along at the bottom of the ice. Accordingly, above the ice-
worn surface of rock there lies a great deposit of clay and
bowlders, evidently the debris that accumulated under the ice
sheet, and Avas left on the surface of the ground when the ice
retired. The deposit called bowlder clay, or tile, bears distinct
corroborative testimony to the movement of the ice. It is
always more or less local in its origin, but contains a variable
proportion of stones which have traveled for a greater or less
distance, sometimes for several hundred miles. When the
stones are traced to their places of origin, which are often not
hard to find, they are found to have come from the same quar
ter indicated by the striation of the rocks. If, for example, the
ice-worn bases of rock show the ice to have crept from north
to south, the bowlders will be found to have a northern origin.

Time Measures of the Universe. 157
The height to which striated rock surfaces and scattered
erratic blocks can be traced affords some measure of the ice
sheet. " From this kind of evidence it has been found that the
whole of northern Europe, amounting in all to probably not
less than 770,000 square miles, was buried under one vast ex
panse of snow and ice. The ice sheet was thickest in the north
and west, while it thinned away southward and eastward. Upon
Scandinavia it was not improbably 6,000 or 7,000 feet thick.
It has left its mark at heights of more than 3,000 feet in the
Scottish Highlands, and over nortliAvestern Scotland it was
probably not less than 5,000 feet thick ; Avhen it abutted on
the range of Harz Mountains it appears to have been still
not short of 1,500 feet in thickness.
" This vast mantle of ice was in continual motion, creeping
outward and downward from the high grounds to the sea. The
directions taken by its principal currents can still be followed.
In Scandinavia, as shown by the rock striae and the transport
of bowlders, it swept westward into the Atlantic, eastward into
the Gulf of Bothnia, which it completely filled up, and south
ward across Denmark and the Ioav grounds of northern Ger
many. The basin of the Baltic was completely choked up with
the ice ; so also was that of the North Sea as far south as the
neighborhood of London. . . .
" Northern Europe must have presented the aspect of North
Greenland at the present time. The evidence of rock striae and
ice-born rocks enables us to determine proximately the southern
extremity to which the great ice crop reached. As even the
southern coast of Ireland is intensely ice-worn the edge of the
ice must have extended some distance beyond Cape Clear, ris
ing out of the sea with a precipitous front that faced to the
south. Thence the ice cliff swung eastward, passing probably
along the Bristol Channel and keeping northward of the valley

158 Studies in Theology.
of the Thames. That the northern ice moved down the bed of
the North Sea is shown by the bowlder clay and transported
stones of the eastern counties of England, among which frag
ments of well-known Norwegian rocks are recognizable. Its
southern margin ran across what is noAV Holland, skirted the
high grounds of Westphalia, Hanover, and the Harz, which
probably there arrested its southward extension, for there is
evidence that the ice swept round into the low lands of Saxony
up to the chain of the Erz-Biesen and Sudeten Mountains,
whence its southern limit turned eastward across Silesia, Po
land, and Galicia, and then swung round to the north, passing
across Bussia by way of Kief and Novgorod to the Arctic
Ocean. "In Europe no distinct topographical feature appears to
mark the southern limit reached by the ice sheet ; this limit can
only be approximately fixed by the most southerly localities
where striated rocks and transported blocks have been observed.
In North America, however, the margin of the great ice crop
is prominently defined by a series of mounds of detritus
which seem to have been pushed in front of the ice. These
mounds, beginning on the coast of Massachusetts, run across the
continent with a wonderful persistence for more than 3,000
miles. They form what American geologists call the ' terminal
moraine.' " The detritus left by the ice sheet consists of earthy, sandy,
or clayey material more or less charged with stones of all sizes
up to blocks weighing many tons. For the most part it is
unstratified, and bears witness to the singular way in which it
was tumbled down by the ice. In some districts it has been
more or less changed in water, and this assumes a stratified
character. The stones in the detritus, more especially when
they are hard and are imbedded in a clayey matrix, present
smooth striated surfaces, the striae usually running along the

Time Measures of the Universe. 159
length of the stone, but not infrequently crossing each other
the older being effaced by a newer set. This character of stri
ation points unmistakably to the slow, creeping motion of the
land ice.
" But the boAvlder clay, earths, and gravels left by the great
ice sheet are not simply one continuous deposit. On the con
trary, they contain intercalations of stratified sand, clay, and even
peat. In these included strata organic remains occur, for the
most part those of terrestrial plants and animals, showing that
the ice again and again retreated, leaving the country to be
covered with vegetation and to be tenanted by land animals,
but after longer or shorter domination it once more ad\'anced
southward over its former area. These intervals of retreat are
known as ' interglacial periods.' Probably they were of pro
longed duration." *
We have been at the pains of presenting this somewhat ex
tended extract from one of the most careful specialists for the
purpose of shoAving both how the quaternary era is vieAved by
men who have made it a life study, and to show the grounds of
their conclusions. On the general facts there is almost perfect
harmony and accord among all who have given the subject at
tention. At present there is general agreement in the theory
of the drift age. The facts seem to be plain and easily
interpretable. For a more extended study, any who are inter
ested in the subject can read to profit Le Conte, or indeed any
respectable text-book in geology. As our object is simply to
ascertain time measures we can pursue the subject no further.
With the facts before us we are constrained to admit that
the data for computing the time of this period are not so satis
factory as are found in the earlier eras. The erosion and sedi
mentation by which the older strata were formed convey a more
exact idea of the time employed. But no one can doubt that
*Geikie, pp. 456-461.

160 Studies in Theology.
an immense period was consumed in the ice age ; to say how
long would be mere conjecture ; many assert Avith confidence
hundreds of thousands of years, and not without alleged
facts to support them. It was a long period.
Since the recession of the ice age and the establishment of
the present climatic conditions the earth over, there have been
no oscillations to disturb or affect the general contour of the
continents and oceans of the globe, and but slight local changes
of its surfaces. There have been local marginal depressions
and uplifts, modifying shore lines, elevations and depressions
of land surfaces, volcanic eruptions covering large areas with
lava and other erupted matter, drying up of small inter-con
tinent bodies of water, erosion and deportation of rivers forming
deltas and shore deposits, etc., etc., but no great epoch-making
changes. The rocks and soils have Aveathered and the fauna
and flora been more or less prevalent in sections, but all things
remain substantially as they were — the rivers and even rivulets
flow in the same channels, and the hills and mountains cover
the same areas.
We have reached the modern age, the recent geological con
dition. It is impossible to measure its time limits. There are
absolutely no data determinative in the premises. We cannot
tell when the period began, when the glacial epoch ended, or
how long the transition took. There are no facte, however,
which demand, much less require, more than a few thousand
years comparatively since the beginning of postglacial times.
We are acquainted with all the forces which effect present
modifications. They are the same forces Avhich have been
always operative. The changes which have been wrought in
the modern era have been slow and regular, and not sufficient
to indicate more time than the age of man on this planet, or
but little beyond it. This subject will be considered farther on.

Time Measures of the Universe. 161
We have thus cursorily, but with sufficient fullness for our
purpose, surveyed the processes of universe construction as re
spects inorganic substances and phenomena as knoAvn to us.
We have found that the Avhole is not within our reach by any in
struments Ave have been able to employ, or any research possible
to be made ; that possibly the unknown is immeasurably vaster
than the known both in time and space. Possible universes
may have antedated the present ; the present may be a recon
struction of antecedent creations. Other unsurveyed realms
may reduce the knoAvn to an infinitesimal part of the whole.
Of these things it is impossible to affirm anything ; and mere
conjecture is unprofitable. We are compelled to fall back on the
admission that we can know but in part ; but of one thing we are
certain, that, making due allowance — the largest that can, in any
reason, be demanded — for mistakes and exaggerations, the uni
verse as we are able to know it is semi-infinite, by which we
mean inconceivably vast both in measures of time and space ;
but at the same time that it is finite in both of these respects.
It is a created and not an eternal something. There was a time
when it began, and there is an outer void where it is not. Two
things are inseparable from it : It has form. Form is finite. It
exists in process. Process is finite ; no series can be infinite,
either in space or duration.
The nebular hypothesis may be a mere fancy. It is impossi
ble to demonstrate its truth. It seems reasonable and may be-
true, but, whether true or not, it in no way unsettles the con
clusions forced upon us of the tAVO great facts established
beyond question, that the history of the universe extends back
ward over a depth of time incomputable in years, and out over
spaces immeasurable in extent.
We have found, taking our own earth-home, proof absolute-
of a history written in its rocks which began many, many
12 *

162 Studies in Theology.
millions of years ago. The record, though blurred and effaced
on many pages, is nevertheless decipherable with more or less
clearness from beginning to end. It is continuous and coherent.
There is the ante-preface in the unstratified under floor. Each
leaf of the overlying strata recites its story until we reach its
latest page to-day. We begin Avith the dawn and march with
the growing day. There are epochs and ages, each having its
own story of wonders ; birthdays of rivers and mountains and
oceans and continents, and graveyards in which they were
buried ; beginnings and ends of races and dynasties, which rose
and flourished in ancient seas and over ancient continents, and
which perished long before coal measures were piled away in
the mountains ; races of animalcules so diminutive as to be dis
coverable only by the microscope, and races of monsters of the
sea and land; species and genera which have no living repre
sentatives. As we survey these ancient halls and corridors,
hung thick with the memorials of extinct empires of life which
came and reigned and vanished millenniads before our day, we
are filled with awe and wonder, and close the enchanting vol
ume with a feeling of reverence of the almighty Power which
is manifest in all and through all, with whom millions of years
are but as a passing moment. These are parts of his ways, but
the remainder is hidden from our view. Our survey is in the
realms of time and space — a fraction of each ; but eternity,
infinity — who can speak of these ?
It remains, before we take leave of this study of the inorganic
universe, that Ave give more direct attention to the forces, or
modifications of force, which are found to be at work in it,
Avhich have made it what it is. As yet Ave have but contem
plated it in the two aspects of extent in space and time,
magnitude and age, with but incidental references to other
aspects.

Time Measures of the Universe. 163
We now turn attention to the forces which have f actured it, and
which are now manifested in its processes and ongoings. Forces.
It has been shown that it did not always exist — that it has
come by long process to its present state. Force is that energy
by which the processes and changes of state and relation among
the elements of the inorganic universe are effected. It is dis
coverable, not as physical entities are by immediate sense per
ception, but by changes wrought in the collocations and apparent
in the motions of material entities or substances. It is thus
defined lexically : " Any action between two bodies ; or, more
fundamentally, the energy exhibited in any action between two
bodies which changes, or tends to change, or might change their
relative condition as to rest or motion ; or, more generally, which
changes, or might change, any physical relation between them,
Avhether mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, magnetic, or
any other kind, affecting their state and condition ; as, the force
of gravity, cohesive force, centrifugal force, etc."
The most primitive and fundamental form of iorce is that
energy by which material atoms were themselves created or
raised into existence, but for this the term poAver is usually
employed. That such a force is manifested in the existence
of the inorganic universe is the necessity of rational thought ;
but as it is not among the observed facts it is not here
treated. Of that amazing power we can form no conception —
it can be nothing less than eternal and infinite. Its home is
in the unfathomable depths of the divine nature. We behold
proof of it in the existence of the atom no less than Creative
in the existence of the vast aggregates of the created Iorce-
systems as we have described them in the foregoing pages.
To create an atom implies the same measure and mode of
energy which is demanded to build the universe in its utmost
extent. The entire inorganic system is found to be the resultant of dis-

164 Studies in Theology.
crete modes of force exerted in the atomic elements — an ener
gizing in the infinitesimal components— arranging, combining,
collocating, positing, relating, and moving them in every variety
of way in which they interact together and upon each other —
which might be properly styled the building forces of the uni
verse, or, more properly still, the modes of energizing for the
production of the elements, and in the elements employed by
the master builder in bringing it to its present state. For the
fuller discussion of these matters the reader must give himself
to the study of some treatise in physics for the facts and the
modes of energy called forces by which they are wrought to
gether into the marvelous system. It is aside from the object
of this discussion to pursue the subject farther here.
There are some broader facts of the system, as exponential of
the power operating in it, which deserve special attention. We
have already seen its vastness, the amazing magnitude of its
bodies, the incalculable extent of space which they occupy.
Incidental allusions have been made to other aspects which
deserve some more particular attention. We refer specially
to the motions and harmonies of these bodies in their space re
lations, exponential of the wondrous skill and power manifested.
Among the wonders deserving special mention is the sus-
Harmony of tained harmony of the vast system — balanced on
the universe, emptiness, that is, in absolute void, with no supports
or foundations but the will of its Founder — its exact relations
maintained through infinite ages — held by unseen power so
that the parts do not vary or collide or interfere.
If they were absolutely motionless, each occupying the same
precise space, in the same exact position of fixedness immutably,
the marvel would then be great ; but it is infinitely greater
when we consider their complex motions together with
their sustained harmony, careering over wide areas, circle

Time Measures of the Universe. 165
within circle, orbit within orbit, with varied velocities yet sus
tained harmony amid the complexity. Think of some of these
velocities which are known — that of our own planet, for instance
— a compound motion of 1,000 miles on its axis every velocities ot
hour without variation through all eons of time, twelve the system-
times faster than the velocity of a cannon ball ; then its still
more wonderful velocity in its orbit of more than sixteen miles
each second of time, more than seventy times the speed of the
cannon ball maintained with perfect exactness through un
counted ages. Al uno disce omnes.
The entire universe is alive with similar activities, the great
globes and central suns rushing through space at such inconceiv
able rates of motion forever, yet maintaining exact and undis
turbed orbital relations, and as to each other fixity of position.

166 Studies in Theology.

DAWN OF THE LIFE SYSTEM.
In the survey which we have made our chief aim has been to
bring vividly before our minds the facts and processes of the
inorganic universe. Frequent allusions have been made to
another and totally different and distinct system — the universe
of life, or the organic universe.
We now return to a brief statement of this realm. The
recital will bring us to an entirely new set of facts. The
organic universe interblends with the inorganic. Beginning
much later, it runs along with it, and its memorials are built
into and with it. The strata in the inorganic, piled up through
the ages, determine the exact period when the organisms lived
whose casts are found therein, and so the time when life
was introduced into the system ; and the medallions of its low
est and ever-advancing forms show the exact point of time when
they were successively introduced ; the period through which
they existed, and the time when they vanished and new orders
took their place. Thus the entire history of life is written and
preserved in the rock-built crust of the earth itself.
The marvels of this new order (relatively new, for life dawned
millions of years after the inorganic realm was initiated and not
until it had been fashioned into orderly groups of worlds) will
be found to be conditioned on the old and built out of its ma
terial, the one preparing the way for and necessary to the
other, in a multitude of economies. The new order demanded
new creative forces. There was nothing in the old to produce
the new. The new was in no sense an evolution from or of the
old. There was not a tendency in the one to the other, and
never is or can be.

Dawn of the Life System. 167
This is now admitted even by avowed evolutionists. We
emerge upon a new order of existence not simply as to fashion
but as to kind, in fact a new creation, in manifold degrees su
perior to all that preceded it, and but for the purpose of Avhich
the old would never have existed. It is the new which inter
prets the old and puts in it all its meaning.
Had the creative process stopped with the building up of the
inorganic universe as we have found it, it would have been a
sublime manifestation of skill and power. The proof would
have been complete of a great Being who possessed these attri
butes. It would also have furnished proof of the eternity and
spontaneity of the great Artificer. To discover more of his
nature and find in him other attributes he must do more:
the scene of creation must be extended so as to include other
kinds of products than unliving atoms — azoic Avorlds, however
magnificent in scope of space and time. He may begin and
linger myriads of eons in laying foundations and building
world structures, but some time, if there be in him more than
mere power and architective skill, he must advance in the
quality and kind of creative products. The outcome must be
waited to reveal his deepest nature, which will come more and
more into view as the work nnfolds and advances.
We have seen on unquestioned grounds of scientific discovery
that immeasurable ages passed before creation indicated any
thing but lifeless worlds, magnificent in design and spread, but
tenantless — a house without an inhabitant, a vast exhibition of skill
and power without a mind to behold it or enjoy it save its great
Author. The order is natural — the house before the inhabitant.
We have seen that the antecedent universe, that is, the inor
ganic, did not produce itself ; that the vast and matchless forces
that play within it, and are constructive of it, are forces exerted
by a living agent in free spontaneous output ; that entire, it had

168 Studies in Theology.
beginning, and of necessity is traceable to an eternal Being whose
product it not only probably is, but necessarily must be.
It may be matter of wonder and to our finite intelligence
beyond comprehension, that the World-builder should have
occupied such immense ages in mere inorganic proc
esses ; but it is clear that he did. He unquestionably
built the worlds, no less than the curious and diverse orders of
life, and vice versa. The facts all show his handiwork in dif
ferent ways, but no less explicitly, and are utterly inexplicable
without him. It is no part of the purpose of this treatise to dis
cuss that point. It is certain that he did occupy immeasurable time
in the construction. The facts already alleged demonstrate this.
The arrangements and processes in the inorganic show clearly
that they were not an end, but a means to a far distant end.
The advancing ages all through unfold new conditions to which
the old and older and oldest were preparative. The atom
prophesies worlds hidden in the womb of the future. Each
unfolding stage works to one to follow. One end and a deft
plan mark each succeeding era — each was indispensable to that
which immediately succeeded. If ages were consumed in pre
liminary work the temple of life to be builded Avas in such
grandeur of reach and purpose as not only to justify almost
infinite time, but such that, considering the eternity of the
Builder and the coming eternity for which he built, haste, or
even less time, would have been unseemly and out of proportion.
We have been contemplating semi-eternities ; let us not lose
6ight of the fact that the building in process of erection, yet
incomplete, is for eternity, and each part essential in some way
to the eternal edifice — the inorganic for the organic — the
organic, as we shall yet see, for another and higher dome in the
process of erection, but only begun and never to end. :
There is absolute contradiction in the supposition that a force

Dawn of the Life System. 169
which necessarily acts is or can be eternal, and therefore the
supposition is necessarily false. If this postulate is true it
demonstrates that all active force is temporal, and also that its
source is eternal and also free, or nonnecessitated. That the
postulate is true, and that the contrary of it cannot possibly be
true, is apparent for the reason that exerted force is cause of
effect ; but effect is temporal, or something which has origin or
beginning. But if the effect begins the action Avhich causes it
must also begin. Action, in fact, is effect, which can only
occur in time. But as no action can begin without an actor
the prime cause must himself be unbegun or eternal, and must
also be free, since if the act were necessary there never could
have been a time when it was not. Force exerted to produce
change is, therefore, of necessity temporal, and the agent
thereof is of the same necessity eternal and capable of free
spontaneous action. Thus it appears that all the forces opera
tive of change in the universe are forces put in action by a free
eternal cause, or forces which have their source in God and are
free and spontaneous energizings of his inherent power, that is,
of his will. If these reasonings and postulates be true — and we
cannot see how they can be doubted — it follows that evolution
reduces to a series of changes or effects, all of which are prod
ucts of a free exercise of power by God himself, by which one
effect follows another, the entire series forever tracing to him as
prime cause, or as so cause that they could not exist without him,
and that they do exist by him — by an exercise of his power.
Nothing is more certain than that the entire inorganic universe
system is traceable to one omniscient mind as conceiver or in
ventor, and one omnipotent will as creator, constructor, and ad
ministrator. Whole and complete it emanates from one source.
There are no forces in any entities that are not derived, or that
operate to any ends that are not determined and directed or
energized by Him Avho planned it. There is nothing in it of

170 Studies in Theology.
which he is not author. The things made set up no new
lines on their own account by any independent powers which
they possess. There are not two or an infinite number of
masters in the universe system each carrying on business on its
own account— evolving results from itself. Anything and every
thing Avhich created things seem to do are but effects wrought
by their Author through them by modes of energy exerted in
them, not by them without him. He created and he destroys.
All ends are his ends, and all means are his means. Take him
away, nothing would remain. Apart from his will no powers
or forces or entities exist. By his will entities exist. By his
will entities are operated to uses and ends. By his will the
system rolls on through the ages in a consecutive and progress
ive unfolding, one stage serving as condition to another and as
medium of a new mode of energy thereto. From base to finial
he is the pervasive agent and the only. It is his universe, and
all that is within it is his product.
His fiat brought forth the atoms and spread them out over
the infinite void. He collocated them and massed them into
Avorlds and world systems. By him the innumerable stars
hold their places and forever shine in the vault of heaven.
By him the oceans have their tides and rivers have their
courses. By him the elements are compounded and transmuted
and set in order. The storms and lightnings are his messen
gers. He holdeth all in his hand that they may be the servants
of his will. From the beginning through all the ages he guides
and directs all motions and all changes in all worlds and in
every element, being forever present with and in all upholding
them Avith his poAver, and never apart from any of them for a
single moment. Nothing is left to run wild or loose, the sport
of accident, to mar his plan or introduce confusion into the
works of his hands. His decree is la\v ; his will the energy
Avhich compels obedience thereto.

The Organic Universe. 171

THE ORGANIC UNIVERSE.
We have in the preceding pages passed under review some
of the more conspicuous and well ascertained facts of the inor
ganic universe, more especially of its extent in space and time,
and of the method of its development from the atom to its present
condition. Of the general correctness of the statement of facts
therein set forth there remains no more any doubt among inteh
ligent and informed people, however they may, by reason of
the recency of their discovery and their opposition to long reg
nant opinions, excite astonishment. The evidence on which
they stand it is not probable will ever be shaken. Newly dis
covered facts and increasing light will no doubt improve our
knowledge and modify some of our conclusions, but the main
facts will admit of no dispute or correction.
One]3oint remains open to debate: how to account for these mar
velous facts. There are two theories competing for the mastery.
They are respectively called Evolutionism and Creationism.
Sheer evolutionism renders the following explanation, which
is supported by an array of great names, namely, that the crass
matter substance of the universe has existed eternally, and by
virtue of inhering forces, excluding any purposing agent, the
universe as it now exists has been evolved, each antecedent
phase accounting for that which immediately follows until the
finial is reached, sufficient time being all that is required to
transmute the crass stuff into the topmost result.
Creationism posits an eternal intelligence at the starting
point, and makes the universe from its beginning, throughout

172 Studies in Theology.
all its stages, a product of his energizing as a will, each succes
sive stage serving as a condition to a higher end or final pur
pose. It denies that any one thing in the series is cause of any
other thing, but holds that there is a relation between the
catenated parts such that each preceding part is means to that
which follows, or medium for energy exerted in it thereto, the
agent being the same throughout the series, and the whole
constituting an ineffable unity, purposed in all its parts —
the cause immanent in all the parts forever ; so that there is no
energy but his, and nothing exists or does anything apart from
him. There are no so-called natural forces of which he is not
source. The theory of evolution is especially put forward as explan
atory of the organic universe. For a full discussion of the
principle as applied to that end we refer the reader to our
second volume in this series, Cosmic Theism. It will be found
on pages 298-358 inclusive.
As our aim here is mainly to present the facts of the uni
verse in its threefold form, the inorganic, organic, and higher
spiritual, it would be aside from our plan to further notice the
subject of evolutionism here.
By the organic universe we scarcely need say is meant the
universe of life in material forms ; life being simply a word
to describe that specific kind of energy which is displayed in the
origination of the individual form, whatever that may be, and
in the method of its propagation and preservation.
In the merely organic no new entity is created, but simply a
new mode of force is exerted by the builder of the organism
out of previously created substance. Creative agency is mani
fested, not in every new adjustment or construction of matter,
but then only when a new entity is posited. Mere energizing

The Organic Universe. 173
is not necessarily creative. This delicate but real discrimination
is clearly made in the scriptural account of creation. Energy
in things constructive of their fashion, and energy productive
of substances themselves, describe radically different modes of
activity and different methods of bringing about results. The
one is originative, the other is simply constructive ; but the
energy in both cases is traceable to the same source. Whether
the energy exhibited be originative of a new being or entity,
or merely a fashioning of previously created substance, it is in
both cases alike attributable to the same agent Avorking in di
verse ways to diverse ends.
No term plays a more important part in the scientific and
scientifico-theological discussions of to-day than this term force.
We constantly hear of matter, spirit, force, law. It is impos
sible to discuss the problem of the universe without them.
They have appeared all along the ages of thought. They can
not be dismissed or ignored.
By the term force, as stated in a former page, is meant a
mode of agency which is exerted when changes of any kind
take place, by whose action the change is effected. It is thus
not a thing in itself, but is exertion of power possessed by a
being or by that which exists in order to an end. In God it
is the original and nnoriginated power which he possesses, by
the exercise of which he creates and conducts the universe, and
takes the name in theological thought, and philosophical as
well, of Omnipotence. It is seen to be a reality by seeing the
things which appear to sense and by consciousness. All observed
changes declare it as cause. There is no dispute on the point
that God only possesses creative force. In consciousness man
knows that he has this endowment, so far as working changes
in things is concerned, namely, that he has power by which he
produces changes in the movements of his body, and indirectly

174 Studies in Theology.
on surrounding things using his body instrumentally. Now we
perceive changes passing on and in the things Avhich we be
hold which we know that we do not produce, and we know that
they are produced by some agent or being who exerts force just
as we know that the changes which we produce are effected by
an exercise of power which we possess and exert.
The question is, Whence the force, or what or who is it that
exerts the force, which we discover in the ongoing or changes
Avhich we behold \
This is the fundamental question around which all the con
tests of to-day are being waged.
Certain effects are attributed to force or forces apparently
existing in and exerted by things, and these are called natural
forces. Certain other effects are attributed to personal agency
— man or God ; and these are called personal, or by some super
natural effects, or effects not caused by natural forces. It is
easy to point out the grounds of this distinction.
Dr. Miley has Avritten with the usual carefulness and learning
which distinguishes all his utterances in his recent work,
Systematic Theology :*
The question of natural forces, such as we call mediate or
secondary causes, deeply concerns the doctrine of providence.
Of course, the question here reaches beyond matter as being,
and specially respects its orderly forms. It is only in these
forms that forces emerge for rational treatment. If there be
Relation of natural forces, then the mode of providential asrencv
the question J ° J
to providence, is in their support, in determining the collocations
of matter for their efficiency, and in co-Avorking with them for
the attainment of chosen ends in the cosmos. If there be no
such forces, then God is the only cfficience within the physical
realm. No exception can be made in the case of human agen
cy. It is true that man has greatly changed the face of the
* See vol. i, pp. 318-326, <whick we quote in part.

The Organic Universe. 175
physical world, but he has no immediate power over material
nature, and can work only through existing forces, which, on
the present theory, are purely modes of the divine energizing.
If this theory be true, then all the forces operative in the
physical universe, and none the less so the forces through
which man Avorks, are the power of God. There is a profound
distinction between a divine agency working through natural
forces and a sole divine efficiency Avhich determines all move
ment and change in the physical universe. So profoundly
does the question of natural forces concern the doctrine of
providence. There is no unity of view on this question. Not a few deny
all secondary causality and find in God the only ef- Present tend-
ficient agency in material nature.* Seemingly the thought.
present tendency of theistic speculation is toward this vieAV.
There is, however, no determining principle. The names given
in the note represent widely different schools of religious
thought, while among them are theologians, philosophers, and
scientists. But others of the same schools hold just the opposite
theory. It thus appears that neither theology nor philosophy
nor science necessarily determines one's view on this question.
It is here that the treatment of providence is implicated with
questions of physical science. This implication rather obscures
than clears the question. Nothing is more loudly trumpeted
than the very great, and recently A'ery rapid, advancement of
physical science. Its achievements are specially noteworthy.
After all, the uncertainty and diversities of view on the ques
tion of physical forces deny us all light on the question of
providence. Physical science Avithin its own limit is purely
* " Dr. Samuel Clarke, Dugald Stewart, John Wesley, Nitzsch, Miiller, Chal
mers, Harris, Young, Whedon, Channing, Martineau, Hedge, Whewell, Bascom,
Professor Tulloch, Sir John Herschel, the Duke of Argyll, Mr. Wallace, Proctor,
Cocker, and many among the ablest recent .writers have defended this view."
— McClintock and Strong, Cyclopaedia, art. " Providence."

176 Studies in Theology.
empirical, and therefore cannot reach the secret of force. Sea
son imperatively affirms an adequate force for all the move
ments and changes in physical nature, but what that force is,
whether intrinsic to matter, or extraneous and acting upon it,
or purely of the divine energizing, empirical science cannot
know. We think that the question is beyond the reach of
metaphysics. It is not clear to our reason that physical nature
is in itself, and under all collocations of material elements, ut
terly forceless.
The theory which denies all secondary causality in material
in principle nature, and finds in God the only agency operative
occasion-aiism. in the physical realm, is knoAvn in philosophic specu
lation as Occasionalism. The principles were given in the
philosophy of Des Cartes, but were more fully developed and
applied by his followers. Primarily the doctrine was more
directly applied to the bodily action of man. The mind could
not act upon the body. A volition to move the arm was not
the cause of its moving, but only the occasion on which the
divine poAver determined its movement. In its broader appli
cation the doctrine denies all interaction between material
bodies. No one can determine any change in another. The
implication is the utter powerlessness of physical nature, and
that all changes therein are from the divine agency.*
This question is entirely above the plane of empirical science.
implications Metaphysics cannot resolve it. The Scriptures are
ple. silent as to any decisive judgment, though seemingly
against the doctrine. Yet the question is open to rational
treatment in view of its contents. The doctrine is the utter
forcelessness of physical nature, and that God is the only force
operative therein. We think it open to weighty objections-
We need not urge what others have urged, that it imposes an
immense drudgery upon God. The force of this objection is
* Morell, History of Modern Philosophy, p. 120.

The Organic Universe. 177
only seeming. There can be no drudgery for that which can
not weary ; hence there can be no drudgery for omnipotence.
This occasionalism must not be alloAved any office Avhich the
doctrine really denies it. The occasions are not only without
all force, but are in no proper sense conditions of the divine
agency. The two are merely coincident in time. Matter has
no instrumental quality, and is really reduced to a blank. It
must be denied all the qualities, primary as well as secondary,
Avith which philosophy has been wont to invest it. With these
properties it could not be forceless. Gravitation, cohesive at
traction, chemical affinity, magnetism, electricity, without force
in themselves, are simply coincident Avith the divine energiz
ing. The lightning can have no part in riving the oak, the
projected ball no part in breaching the Avail, for any such part
is possible only with the possession of force. The massive
cables of steel which seemingly uphold the Brooklyn Bridge
have no natural strength of support, but are the mere occasion
of the divine energizing as the sustaining power, and for
which, so far as any natural strength is concerned, threads of
cotton might ansAver as well. Indeed, if this occasionalism be
true, there is no natural weight of the bridge, which is possible
only with a natural force of gravitation, and but for a mighty
downward pressure of the divine hand there would be no weight
to sustain.
In the implications of this doctrine there is no natural fit
ness of physical conditions for vegetable production, Eurther im-
none in organic structures for any function of ani- p 10at ons'
mal life. The "tree planted by the rivers of water ""has no
natural advantage of growth and fruiting over the tree planted!
in the most arid and barren earth. The richest harvest might-
spring as readily from the sand of the desert as- from the field
of richest soil. The stomach has no more natural fitness for
the digestion of food than the dish in, which it is served. The-

17S Studies in Theology.
system of nerves and ligaments and muscular tissue, so won
derfully wrought in the living body, has no natural fitness for
animal movement. The structure of the eagle gives no natural
strength for flight, while there is no reaction of the air against
the stroke of his wings. All this must be true if there be no
forces of nature. There is no proof of such a doctrine ; and
in the light of rational thought the extravagance of its impli
cations is conclusive against it.
The mystery of natural forces is no valid objection against
their reality. We know not how they act. This, however, is
no peculiar case, but a common fact respecting the operation
of force, whatever its nature. How there can be interaction
between material entities, or how gravitation can act across the
spaces which separate the planets from the sun, Ave know not.
Our OAvn personal energizing through the will is specially dis
tinct and clear in the light of our consciousness, but only as a
fact. How we thus act is as hidden as the action of gravitation
across such vast spaces. Surely we cannot know how God puts
forth power. There is no profounder mystery than that the
energizing of his will in the purely metaphysical form of voli
tion should act as a ruling force in the physical universe. We
escape no mystery by denying all natural force and finding in
God the only agency operative in the material realm.
It is a weighty objection to this occasionalism that it leads to
Tendency to idealism and pantheism. As a forceless world can
idealism and
pantheism. have no effect upon our experiences, for us it can
have no reality. " The outer world is posited by us only as the
explanation of our inner experiences ; and as, by hypothesis,
the outer world does not affect us, there is no longer any ra
tional ground for affirming it." * The logical result is ideal
ism. " In this one affirmation, that the universe depends upon
the productive power of God not only for its first existence, lut
* Bowne, Metaphysics, p. 116.

The Organic Universe. 179
equally so for its continued leing and operation, there is involved
the germ of the several doctrines of preestablished harmony, of
occasional causes, of our seeing all things in God, and, finally, of
pantheism itself, the ultimate point to which they all tend." *
The reality of physical forces does not mean their sufficiency
for either the origin or the ongoing of the cosmos. There is
still an ample sphere for the divine agency in supporting these
forces, and in determining the collocations of material elements
which are the necessary condition of their orderly efficiency.
A true doctrine of providence must accord with such facts —
the reality of natural forces, and their dependence upon God
for their orderly working. Hence, as previously noted, the true
doctrine must widely differ from any one constructed on the
assumption of an utter forcelessness of physical nature. For
the true doctrine we shall appropriate the statement of a recent
excellent work. It contains a few words seemingly not in full
accord with our own views, but is so good as a whole that we
omit all exceptions. " The theory which seems most Theory of
consistent with all we know of God and nature is ProTldenoe-
that which supposes the Creator to have constituted the world
with certain qualities, attributes, or tendencies, by which one
part has a casual influence on another, and one state or combi
nation of parts produces another, according to what we call laws
of nature, the result being the coordination and succession of
events which we call the operations of nature. At the same
time all nature is pervaded by the living presence of God, sus
taining the being and operations of the world he has made and
governs, retaining a supreme control which may at any point
supersede or vary the usual course of natural causation. Ordi
narily he never sets aside the causal qualities of nature nor
leaves them to themselves. This is the reconciliation, if any
were needed, of the primary and secondary causes. God is imma-
* Morell, History of Modern Philosophy, p. 120.

180 Studies in Theology.
nent in natural causation, as truly and as necessarily as in
natural being, in the operations as in the existence of matter or
mind." *
Any inference from the uniformity of nature against a provi
dential agency within the sphere of physical forces is utterly
Providence groundless. The two are not only entirely consist-
andtheum- ent kn|. the latter is the only rational account of
formity of ' J
nature. the former. The denial of such consistency must
either assume an absolute uniformity of nature as the determi
nation of physical forces which leaves no place for the divine
agency, or that such agency must be capricious and the cause of
disorder. There is no ground for either assumption. If the
processes of nature are wholly from the energizing of a blind
and purposeless force, there is no guarantee of an absolute uni
formity. For aught we know there may have been great vari
ations in the past, and the near future may bring an utter re
version of the present order of things. We could know the
contrary only by a perfect knowledge of the blind and purpose
less nature assumed to determine the order of existences, which
is for us an impossible attainment. " Whether the members
of the system will always continue, or whether they will in
stantaneously or successively disappear, are questions which lie
beyond all knowledge. We do not know what direction the
future will take in any respect whatever. The facts in all these
cases depend upon the plan or nature of the infinite ; and unless
we can get an insight into this plan or nature, our knowledge
of both past and future must be purely hypothetical." f
Such result is inevitable if the infinite or ground of the finite
uniformity is assumed to be a blind and purposeless nature.
not from ml . . ,
nature. lhere is no a priori necessity of uniformity in the
working of such a nature. When Mr. J. S. Mill says, "I am
* Randies, First Principles of Faith, pp. 232, 233.
f Bowne, metaphysics, p. 139.

The Organic Universe. 181
convinced that anyone accustomed to abstraction and analysis,
who will fairly exert his faculties for the purpose, will, when
his imagination has once learned to entertain the notion, find
no difficulty in conceiving that in some one, for instance, of the
many firmaments into which sidereal astronomy now divides
the universe events may succeed one another at random, with
out any fixed law," * he fully admits that the orderly course of
nature is no necessity of physical causality, and hence that such
order is entirely consistent with the agency of a divine provi
dence. When by such a putting of the question Mill Avould
unsettle the law of causation, that every event must have an
adequate cause, he utterly fails. In the necessity of thought
the movement of worlds at random, or without any fixed law,
Avould no less imperatively require a cause than the movement
of Avorlds in the order of a system. However, the axiomatic
truth of causation is only a formal truth, valid for all events but
Avithout the determination of any, while events themselves,
with their respective causes, are matters of empirical or logical
knowledge. It remains true that there is no absolute uniform
ity of nature which must exclude the agency of a divine provi
dence. In the light of reason, as in the sense of Scripture, the provi
dence of God is the ground and guarantee of the Providence
° ° the ground of
uniformities which the system of nature requires, uniformity.
The requirement is specially for the adjustment of the physical
sphere to the living and rational spheres. The physical, however
complete its mechanical order, has no rational end in itself, and
must find such an end in the interest of sentient and rational life.
" There only, where the possession, the preservation of being
is felt, can existence be considered as a good, and consequently
as an end to which a system of means is subordinated. What
does it really matter to a crystal to be or not to be ? What
* Logic, book iii, chap, xxi, sec. 1.

1S2 Studies in Theology.
does it matter to it whether it have eight angles in place of
twelve, or be organized geometrically rather than in any other
way ? Existence having no value for it, why should nature
have taken means to secure it ? Why should it have been at
the expense of a plan and a system of combinations to produce
a result without value to anyone, at least in the absence of liv
ing beings? So, again, however beautiful the sidereal and
planetary order may be, what matters this beauty, this order,
to the stars themselves that know nothing of it ? And if you
say that this fair order was constructed to be admired by
men, or that God might therein contemplate his glory, it is evi
dent that an end can only be given to these objects by going
out of themselves, by passing them by, and rising above their
proper sphere." * As in the plan of God the physical system
was constituted as preparatory to the coming of sentient and
rational existences, so its orderly preservation is for their sake.
"Physical and mechanical things being in a general manner
connected with finality by their relation to living beings, we
conceive that there may thus be in the inorganic world a gen
eral interest of order and stability, conditions of security for the
living beings." y With such an original purpose in the consti
tution of the physical system, there is a manifest reason for the
providence of God in its orderly conservation.
Thus the providence of God, so far from being in any con-
Error of con- trariety to the orderly course of nature, is in fact
traryview. the ground of its uniformities. The contrary view
arises from the false notion that a divine agency within the
course of nature must be capricious and disorderly. Nothing
could be more irrational. Nothing could be more utterly
groundless than any inference from the orderly course of nature
that there can be no providential agency therein. " For when
men find themselves necessitated to confess an Author of nature,
* Janet, Final Causes, pp. 156, 157. f Ibid., p. 159.

The Organic Universe. 183
or that God is the natural Governor of the world, they must
not deny this again, because his government is uniform ; they
must not deny that he does all things at all, because he does
them constantly ; because the effects of his acts are permanent,
whether his acting be so or not ; though there is no reason to
think it is not." * We may add the noble words of Hooker, as
replete with the same ideas : " Noav, if nature should intermit
her course, and leave altogether, though it were but for a while,
the observation of her own laws — if those principal and mother
elements, whereof all things in this lower world are made,
should lose the qualities which they now have — if the frame of
that heavenly arch erected over our heads should loose and dis
solve itself — if celestial spheres should forget their wonted
motions, and, by irregular volubility, turn themselves any way
as it might happen — if the prince of the lights of heaven, which
noAv as a giant doth run his unwearied course, should, as it were
through a languishing faintness, begin to stand still and rest
himself — if the moon should wander from her beaten way, the
times and seasons blend themselves by disorder and confused
mixture, the winds breathe out their last gasp, the clouds yield
no rain, the earth be defeated of heavenly influence, the fruits
of the earth pine away as children at the withered breast of their
mother, no longer able to yield them relief — what would be
come of man himself, whom these things do now all serve ? " y
All such dissolutions in the physical system would be utterly
indifferent but for the interest of sentient and rational exist
ences ; and God, who constituted that system for the sake of such
existences as its finality, ever maintains its uniformities in their
interest. This is the work of his providence in the conserva
tion of the orderly forms of matter.
In passing from the lifeless to the living we reach a higher
* Butler, Analogy, part i, chap. ii.
f Hooker, Works (Oxford ed., 1793), vol. i, pp. 204, 205.

184 Studies in Theology.
order of existence. From the highest chemical and crystalline
forms of matter there is still a high ascent to the lowest forms
of life. In the living organism there is a new element or force,
and one far higher than any force of nature previously opera
tive in the physical history of the world. Life is at once a re
ality and a mystery. The mystery cannot conceal the reality,
nor the reality unfold the mystery.
Whatever be the nature of life, it is too subtle for any empir-
no empirical }cai cognition. Neither the scalpel nor the micro-
cognition of ....
life. scope can reach it. Yet it is not on this account
any less a reality. It is a reality for our reason just as other
forces, which, however manifest in their effects, never reveal
themselves to any sense-perception. Gravitation, cohesion,
chemical affinity, magnetism, are such hidden forces. There
can, however, be no question respecting their reality. They
are everywhere operative in nature, and the aggregate of
effects ever resulting from their agency allows no such ques
tion. So the vast aggregate of vital phenomena, so manifold
and marvelous in form, can allow no question respecting the
reality of life. As by an imperative law of thought we
require a force of cohesion for the compacting of solid bodies,
a force of chemical affinity for the compounding of discrete
elements into concrete forms, and a force of gravitation for the
orderly ruling of the heavens, so do we require a vital princi
ple or force for the many facts ever appearing in the sphere of
animate nature. This requirement gives us the reality of life.
The reality of a vital element or force is not the explanation
ah force a of its nature. The mystery remains. This fact,
mystery. however, is not peculiar to life, but is common to all
the forces of nature. No one pretends to any explanation of
the inner nature of either gravitation, or cohesive attraction, or
chemical affinity, or magnetism. "Astronomers consider gravi
tation the unknown cause of the movement of the stars ; I con-

The Organic Universe. 185
sider life as the unknown cause of the phenomena which are
characteristic of organized beings. It may be that both gravi
tation and life, as well as the other general forces, are merely
as x, of which the equation has not yet been discovered." * In
all these cases, however, the mystery is still the nature of the
cause, not its reality.
As the cosmos itself, so life must take its place under the
laAv of dependence. Neither its spontaneous origin nor its
self-sufficiency for the continued facts of vital phenomena is
in any sense an implication of its reality. For the existence of
life and the realm of its activities, reason requires the interpo
sition of a divine agency. Spontaneous generation has often
been asserted, not, however, as a fact proved, but as the impli
cation and requirement of a purely naturalistic theory of evolu
tion. The absence of all proof of such an origin of life is ad
mitted. There is still for mere science the impassable gulf be
tween the lifeless and the living. God who said, " Let there
be Hght," must also have said, " Let there be life." Only in
such a divine fiat could life have its origin.
Even such an origin of life does not give us any insight into
its nature ; though it does give us the idea of a living No seif-sum-
organism, even if in its germinal incipiency. We ciency of llle'
can have no idea of life apart from an organism. It is the
sense of Scripture that the beginning of life was in organic
forms. It is equally the sense of Scripture that life Avas to be
perpetuated through a law of propagation.! Such is the divine
law for the realm of life. But it does not mean that life itself
as thus initiated should be sufficient for all the future of this
realm. We should rather find in the facts the proof of a divine
agency than the intrinsic sufficiency of life itself for such a
marvelous outcome. This view is fully warranted by the Avon-
derful complexities and correlations of part with part in the
* Quatrefages, Tlie Human Species, p. 7. \ Gen. i, 11, 22, 28.

186 Studies in Theology.
living organism. It is not thinkable that life itself, without
any higher directive agency, could weave the elements of mat
ter into such marvelous forms. There must be a divine provi
dence in the realm of life.*
The view we hold on this important subject is the following :
First, all things that exist, exist by the agency of God. His
permanent agency is as necessary to their continuance as it was
to their initiation. Either this or the universe may now exist
and exist forever and carry forward its processes without any
further exercise of divine agency. If this be so the ground of
its present existence and changes is in itself, and not in God.
Were it possible to conceive of him as dead or nonexistent
it would remain.
If, further, we conceive that in the things made were shrined
what are called the natural forces to which we ascribe the proc
esses of what we call nature, then these forces would go on and
work all the changes and ongoing which we ascribe to them
the same without God as with him. The universe would be
just what it is if God had withdrawn from it Avhen the so-called
natural forces were created, or when matter, which is said to
contain and exert them, was created. They have, in fact, made
the built universe. God only made the material.
Either this or his existence in and coaction with them is
necessary. But we may look more closely still. Are these so-called nat
ural forces things, or are they modes of energy exerted in
things ? or do the things act themselves ? •
Do these so-called natural forces act themselves ? If so, in
what sense ? The accepted theory is that the natural forces act
necessarily or by necessitation. What does that mean ? Can it
mean anything else than this, that when a so-called natural force
acts it is compelled to act as it does, and the thing has no power
*See Fleming, Vocabulary of Philosophy, terms "Force," " Power," " Agency.''

The Organic Universe. 187
to restrain or change its action ? But what is it that compels it %
Is it said that it is so made ; that is, it is in its nature ? But
what so made it ? Is it answered, God ? Then God creates
its necessity; that is, God necessitates it. Then the neces
sitating agency is God, and the thing is simply the passive
recipient. Can it be doubted that this is so in the inorganic
universe ? If it cannot be doubted, then the inorganic realm
exists by a force that is not in it, and of which it is simply the
passive recipient. There are, then, no natural forces, and when
the phrase is used it means merely this, and can mean nothing
else, that God is immanent in things, and by his direct agency
produces all the changes which take place in them by a perma
nent necessitating exercise of energy. We ascribe the agency
to the things we behold, simply because we always observe it
Avorking uniformly in them. The mode is a fixed mode — we
call it a law, and say that it is according to the nature of
things ; that is, things act according to their law. Now, who
made the law ? Whose law is it ? Who discerns the law \
Who compels the obedience to the law ? There can be but one
answer to these questions.
God is thus seen to be the necessity of nature. All its appar
ent self-activity is but the impact of his will ; always imminent
in it, always upholding its existence and necessitating its changes.
The same conclusion is arrived at in another way. No one
but an atheist doubts or denies that God is the author of nature —
the whole of it. There is nothing self-made. Well, now, this
so-called nature works out an idea, or, more properly, is made
after the pattern of an idea, and is operated to fill out this idea.
Whose idea ? The idea of him who made it. Does nature ap
prehend the idea of its Maker ? Does it determine itself to fill
out the idea ? No one can imagine anything of the kind. But
the so-called forces of this made thing do work to fill out this
idea, and do so of necessity. How can this be explained except

188 Studies in Theology.
by the admission that they are exerted by him who apprehends
or possesses the idea ? But then the force exerted is a force
ordered and exerted by him, and not a force ordered or exerted
by the thing which is recipient of it.
Among these forces are forces of attraction, gravitation,
affinity, life, and such like.
Now, observe that these are not entities, but are energizings
of an entity. They are not even essential qualities of a created
ah forces entity. Life is an essential quality of God which per-
mvine e°n- va(^es a^ his attributes, but none of the modes of force
ergizing. appearing in matter are entities or qualities of the
things in which they exist. They are simply modes of energiz
ing in them. Gravitation is not an entity, and not an essential
quality of the atoms. The atom might exist and be a perfect
atom without it ; and the same is true of all its qualities, except
extension, figure, and impenetrability. These exist by virtue of
its existence, but it has no existence except as it is caused, and its
cause is the cause of these qualities. When the atom exhibits
force of any kind it only manifests the fact that an agent is
working in it, not that itself is an agent. The force is not
something which belongs to it, but the agent who works in it
and necessities changes of its state or relation ; the change is
not something which it causes, but something which is caused
by the agent operating it or working in it ; and the law regulat
ing the action and changes is shown to be an infinitely perfect
law by the effect produced, showing that the agent who works
is not a dumb atom, but a being of infinite power and wisdom.
Life is one of those modes of force by which so many things
are effected. It is often represented in such terms as to imply
that it is a real entity, with large endowments which create the
organic universe. Not a few writers do not simply imply this,
but formally propound it.

The Organic Universe. 189
On the contrary, we affirm that life, as it is revealed in
things, is no more an entity than gravitation is, and in no re
spect differs from it, except in mode. One as much as the
other is simply a mode of divine energizing to produce or
cause certain things to exist and act in certain ways. Gravita
tion is energy exerted in atoms, by which they are operated to
collocate and form masses instead of remaining apart. The
energy is exerted according to a fixed law, namely, it is as the
mass and inversely as the square of distance. It is one of the
modes of energy for making worlds.
Life is, in the same way, a mode of energy for producing a cer
tain kind of existence called organic. The energy is exerted in an
atom, which is transformed by it and becomes a germ, Llfe a mode
namely, a center of peculiar force exerted in it to reach of eneT^-
forth and transmute contiguous substances and form them into
a curious structure to which we give the name of organism or
organic arrangement. The energy which seizes upon the
atom and transforms it into a germ acts in the transformed
germ to the production of the structure. The structure is
said to be alive by the mode of force which causes it to exist —
or its life is that mode of force — a divine energizing. The
germ of organic structure is material, that is, is simply a
minute piece of matter. Divine energy working in it trans
forms it into a center in which it operates to build a given
structure — the unique force is simply a mode of energizing.
Thus far we have contemplated the universe in its purely
material aspects, as it is constructed out of material elements.
Before advancing to the study of other aspects there are some
points which demand further elucidation. Among these is a
more careful consideration of the question of the reality of the
material universe, or, rather, of what the reality is.
We have assumed the reality of a material substance as a

190 Studies in Theology.
created something whose essential attributes are solidity and
extension. It is doubtful if we can assign to it any other.
To our spontaneous thinking it is crass and massive. This
arises from the fact that we behold it in immense collocations.
We have found that in fact it is an inconceivably minute sub
stance ; so minute as to be invisible and impalpable in its
atomic state, which is its primary condition. Of this there is
clear and abundant proof.
This gives rise to the doubt with many whether there is in
fact any reality of substance, or whether the so-called material
universe may not after all be simply an idea produced in us by
divine energizing. Many of the most astute minds declare
themselves forced to this conclusion. The only reality, to their
thinking, is spirit, created and uncreated, with inhering attri
butes of intelligence and energy.
It is too rarefied a speculation for most minds, but this is
not determinative of the question.
We hold to the reality of the atom, and through collocation to
the immensity of the physical universe. And this gives rise to
Reality of *he question whether all is not resolvable into the phys-
the atom. jca| . whether, in fact, there is any other substance ;
whether all the phenomena may not be accounted for by the
atom ; and especially whether, allowing the atom to be a created
something by an eternal and infinite spirit, all phenomena
may not be accounted for by the energizing which produces
the atom, and by energizing in it so that it accounts for all
the phenomena of consciousness — intellect, sensibility, and will
— without the necessity of another kind of substance or entity.
There is with many minds a strong tendency to monism in
one direction or the other, either to resolve all into spirit and
possibly thus to fall into pantheism or idealism, or to resolve all
into matter and force and so renounce theism and all forms of
religious faith.

The Organic Universe. 191
If matter can account for all phenomena, then God vanishes
as a myth, and man is resolved into a clod. If, on the other
hand, all phenomena can be explained as mere modes of divine
energizing the material universe disappears entirely.
We find it impossible to accept either theory. To our
thinking the material universe must stand as now, and cannot
by fair reasoning be brushed away or reduced to a mere idea or
mode of spiritual energy ; and on the other hand spirit must
still be held to be antecedent to and actual creator of mat
ter, and, as energizing in it, the cause of all its orderly proc
esses and phenomena.
It is asked, If matter is absolutely forceless, or does nothing it
self, of what use is it to the problem ? Why insist on Matter force.
retaining it if it serves no purpose — explains nothing % less-
To this we answer in two parts : First, we insist on retaining
it because we see no way to get rid of it. It stubbornly
refuses to vanish at our bidding. Indisputable phenomena
demand its retention and refuse to be explained without it.
This is reason enough.
Second, that matter is forceless, that is, does nothing itself
and can do nothing in the way of accounting for what we be
hold — is forceless as cause of any change that appears in it —
does not prove that it is of no use in solving the problem of
the universe. That very fact makes it of the greatest possible
service. Its forcelessness establishes the most fundamental
truth in the entire problem, namely, that there is power outside
of and above it. It forces conviction on us of its reality simply
by its presence — it compels us to acknowledge its existence.
The evidence is clear that it is a made thing, and that it cannot
account for its own existence or for the changes through which
it has passed and is passing ; that, therefore, it had a maker
and is a thing passive in his hands. It needs God. Its very
helplessness and absolute forcelessness show an infinitely

192 Studies in Theology.
powerful agent as its cause. If it were a force itself it would
obscure the proof of such a being — it would justify atheism.
God made it and operates it to furnish the evidence to us of
' his eternal poAver and Godhead.' In it we see Him who is
otherwise invisible. If it had power itself how should we
know him as a maker, and in what would we be able to find
any proof of anything but matter itself? Forceless matter
proclaims an omnipotent God.
But in the same way that it demonstrates the existence of
God it proves that man is a child of God and in nature a spirit
like his father.
How does this appear ? The question whether man is a spirit
turns upon the question whether man's material body can ex
plain what man is and does. Man evinces force of varied
kinds. Is this force explicable by physical components of his
body ?
It is not given to us to knoAv what matter in the hands of an
omnipotent God can be made to do. If it can be made so that
each atom attracts every other atom in the universe across
almost limitless spaces, or so that it has the fleetness of lightning
or more yet of light, or so that one atom has affinity for another
and antagonism to yet another, or so that it may become
gaseous or fluid or solid, or so that it can transmute inorganic
atoms into organic forms and living tissue, or so that it can
enter into compounds and turn out systems of Avorlds, why may
it not be so made as to think and feel and be self-conscious,
and so as to indite and write philosophies and do all that has
been done in the man-made and God-made universe ? Why
need we suppose anything else but matter ?
To all this and similar questionings the answer is plain.
Whatever matter may be made to do by divine energy it is not
matter that does it, but the divine energy which necessitates it.

The Organic Universe. 193
Self-consciousness in all forms of intellection, feeling, willing, is
a mode of the activity of the subject itself and not of another.
In order to these Ave must find a subject of whom such
activities can be predicated as of its own poAvers. Matter is
not such a subject. It may be impelled by impact of a will
so as to run through the Avhole gamut of possible changes and
so that each change seems to be a self-evolution, but it will
simply be another acting on or in it. Left to itself it will be
impotent to change, much more to any change implying pur
pose and intelligence.
The better answer yet is, it is not a question of the power of
God, Avhether he could cause some matter to be self-conscious
and to answer in every respect to what we ascribe to another
kind of being, but it is rather this : How are we rationally to
account for tAvo totally different classes of phenomena which
never appear in the same subject ? Matter invariably exhibits
one class and never is known to exhibit the other, and the re
verse is true of spirit. On whatprinciple can we be asked
to believe that either one or the other subject is sufficient to
account for all the phenomena ?
In organic forms the second stage of the great creative drama
is reached. There is logic in the order. The new reflects a
feeble ray — a glimmer on the mystery of the old. We are not
able to discern that the old stands in any causal relation to the
new ; indeed, we distinctly discern that it does not. The new
is not a development or evolution or even incidental or acci
dental outcome of the old, but in the old we unmistakably And
many conditions of and intended preparations for the new.
The old was made for and Avas prophetic of the new, but
in no sense cause of it. The maker of the first is also unmis
takably maker of the second, and manifestly made the first for
14 4

194 Studies in Theology.
the second. Not simply the matter of which organisms are
built, but the entire circle of economies in the whole inorganic
realm are discovered to be necessary antecedents and indis
pensable conditions of the organic, and not only find their
meaning in the organic but are meaningless Avithout it. The
order thus shows not simply relation but profound purpose —
a great scheme, reaching through ages, the first rung of which
contemplated the last and each intermediate, but no part of
which is causal of that which follows. One is builder of all
the parts.
We knoAV nothing of organic existence in other parts of the
universe. There is great probability that it is a fact of all com-
orgamc pleted world systems. There indeed seems to be no
forms. other reasons for worlds. The varieties in other world
systems may be extremely diverse from those found in our sys
tem. On earth there are two differentiable orders of organic
existence, the vegetal and animal. They are not only different,
but they are radically different — the one differing totally from
the other in every respect of form and function and mode
of production. This is a most important fact.
As between the inorganic and the organic there is logical
order but no causal relation, but one serving as condition of the
other, so the same is true between the two orders of organic
existence. The vegetal must precede and condition the ani
mal, but is impotent to account for it either as a development
or evolution or accidental outcome. The lower antedates the
higher and is indispensable to it and has no meaning without it,
but makes no approach to an explanation of it. When the
higher is introduced we discover why it was that the lower
was previously made, but fail to find any causal connection or
relation between the two. The former might have existed
continuously and interminably Avithout the latter; but the

The Organic Universe. 195
latter requires the former, not for its existence alone, but for
its continuance also. A fiat might produce it, as indeed it
certainly did, but its nutrimentation and growth were made to
depend on the tissues of the former.
Here is one fundamental differentiation between the tAvo
orders. The vegetable, like the animal, could only come into
existence by fiat. The inorganic had no power to pro- Dif(erence De
duce it; the dead cannot originate the living. But tweentnetwo
° ° organic or-
Avhen vegetal life was created it was such that it could ders-
extract from the inorganic and unliving substance in which it
was set the ingredients which made its tissues and contributed
to its growth. To this end it was rooted in the soil and its
peculiar constitution given it.
Its existence is conditioned but not caused by inorganic en
vironments — chemical, electrical, thermal forces — light, heat,
atmosphere, moisture, soil, and other necessary furnishings.
Organisms of both kinds have their laws and limitations, and
are alike fragile and perishing, existing for a brief period, during
which they propagate their kind, each in its own way and never
varying the type, then lapse into death, relegating the elements
out of which they were composed into their primitive inorganic
condition. No exception has ever been known to this law.
The vegetable variety, after the creation of the germ, grows
from a seed or germ cast forth by it and lodged in the inorganic
earth, which, by a chemistry of its own, or rather energy to
which we give the name chemistry, builds its living tissues
directly from the inorganic substances in which it is posited,
and, where the proper conditions exist, robes the barren earth
in garments of verdure and beauty, flowering and fruiting
a hundred and a thousand fold, Avithout which the earth and

196 Studies in Theology.
the universe would be an arid and lifeless desert. But the seed
is not product of the plant as cause, but is product of divine
energizing to that end. Thus God is cause both of the original
germ and of that which grows from it.
The present order is that the plant of every kind grows
from a seed or its equivalent and never without it, and that
the seed or germ or spore or rootlet never exists without the
plant which casts it, and neither seed nor plant ever departs
from its type — the seed to grow some other plant or the plant
to produce some other seed. But this could not have been so
at the beginning. Either the earth must have at first been
filled with seeds without plants to produce them or plants
without seeds from which to grow, or neither ever could have
been ; but this renders a direct divine energizing absolutely
necessary at the inception. The earth by fiat was first filled
with germs, and these by the same fiat grew into self-propagat
ing plants, shrubs, trees, etc., under strict and impassable laws
and limitations. It is impossible in any other way to account
for the universe of vegetal wonders.
There is no reason to suppose that sensitivity is a quality
of vegetable fife. In all its varieties it is totally void of all
signs of anything resembling sensation or organs of sensation.
There are semblances, as in the sensitive plant. Apart from
the purposes it serves vegetable life reveals nothing of its
cause that is not revealed by the inorganic universe, unless
it may be a more delicate artistic sense. One cannot but feel
that, in the creation of the flora of the earth and other living
forms, there is evinced a sense of the beautiful. But as for
the meaning of inorganic masses and the laws which pervade
them we had to wait for vast ages to see how they serve the
purposes of vegetable life, so here again, for deeper insight

The Organic Universe. 197
into the purposes of the Creator, we must wait for another
chapter of the drama to find the meaning of this lowest base
ment of the temple of life. We cannot go more minutely into
the examination of these primary forms of organic existence.
The student who may desire to pursue the subject further must
go with some of the great biological and botanical masters and
study the laws and habitudes of each species, from the minute
microscopic plant to the great giants of the Calaveras forest.
The great fact discovered in the vegetable realm is that it
does not exist for itself ; that, in fact, it is part of a system — not
an end, but at first a prophecy, and, when fulfilled, a ministry
There is a fact, however, which it is well to notice, that the order
was from the first progressive as to type ; and another fact, that
a condition of atmosphere for long ages continued in which
animal types of life could not possibly have existed, but which
was favorable to exuberance of vegetation. The air was loaded
with carbon, which was afterward to appear in immense coal
measures, the purpose of which is now perfectly understood.
If the evolutionist should insist that this first organific form,
called insensate or vegetable life, is the same in all vegetable
existence, so that all forms come by developing stages, he is
utterly unable to furnish the proof ; but if he could it would
not dispense with creative agency, but only deduce a method,
and, so far as theism is concerned, would in no way damage it,
but possibly rather improve it.
Passing now from the vegetable to the animal, we enter a new
chapter of wonders. (See Cosmic Theories, pages 296-298.) The
material of the animal organism, like that of the vege- The animal
table, is of the common substance of the earth, but, un
like the vegetable, it cannot transmute inorganic substance into
its tissue. The food on which it lives and from which it builds

198 Studies in Theology.
its organism must first have been elaborated in the alembic of
life — animal or vegetable. It thus shows itself to be a higher
type of life. There is no exception to the law. Animal tissue
can only be produced by transmutation of substance once living
or elaborated by a living organism. When no such prepared
food is within its reach, after a brief period the vital force is
expended and the organism wastes and perishes.
Were the universe denuded of vegetation all organic existence
would disappear, and never under existing laws could reappear —
air and earth and sea must forever remain a dead and meaning
less mass of mere matter.
The variety of animal organisms is even greater than that of
vegetable, ranging from microscopic animalcules, thousands of
which sport their brief hfe in a single drop of water, to the
mighty monarchs of sea and air and forest, whose lives carry
up to centuries. Geology furnishes abundant proof that for
unnumbered ages before the human epoch these forms of life
have flourished on the earth, many ancient varieties disappear
ing and new types taking their places.
In the animal we reach the realm of sentient existence. A
new and higher class of phenomena appears. The new order
not only lives and grows, but it thrills with feeling and sensa
tion. As in the vegetable organic we find ourselves compelled
to admit an extra energizing cause and not a development from
the inorganic, though conditioned by it, so here again, in the
animal organic, we are under the same necessity. It is im
possible to deduce the animal from the vegetable. It is a new
and differentiable type. It has new qualities and ends which
cannot arise from anything previously existing. The former
furnishes no clew to the latter. If the developmentist should
contend that from one sensate life all sensate life emanates by

The Organic Universe. 199
evolution, we only reply noAV he does so on mere volition with
out proof. What we assert is that the new subject must have
had a creator. That suffices all the demands of theism. We
haA-e entered a semimental, semimoral, semiconscious realm.
The new creature has appetites and passions and lusts and
affections, the gratification of Avhich ministers delight and
pleasure — a type of good. The old long azoic universe of the
primitive fire mist and then of revolving worlds, where played
mighty formative forces and still later the universe of insensate
vegetable life, now thrills with ecstasy of life and song.
The new is built on the old and in part out of it but not by it.
It is not simply a modification or advance ; it is a new order,
derivative from nothing which existed in the earlier economies,
but subordinating them and demonstrating that they existed
not for themselves but for a higher and nobler economy yet to
be introduced. The same creative agent is seen throughout to
be working to an end not yet reached. Each former state is
preserved unchanged. The new does not abolish the old or
even modify it, but uses it ; even the types are fixed. There is
no proof of the evolution of one species into another. Previ
ously exerted forces always continue to do the work assigned
them,but they do not become creators or transcend their function.
He that commenced the work carries it forward through each
successive stage by direct agency when additions are to be
made. There is no journeyman work in the whole universe.
No created thing sets up a new line of business on its own ac
count. Every force is a slave which does simply Avhat it was
exerted to do, and is impotent to do anything else. There are
no free causes in the field apart from the proprietor himself.
As in the older, so it is in the newer and higher form of
existence. The animal sentient life or principle has conferred powers to
act according to its nature, but among these are no creative

200 Studies in Theology.
powers. It cannot in any measure transcend its determined
function, or vary a single line from its fixed law. It seems to
possess a semi volitional power rising above the mere automatism
which reigns in previous economies, but its limits are stringent
and narrow, while a great advance on the lower form of
mere vegetable existence. In its creation a new facet of the
creative factor is clearly manifested.
In the animal organic we come to a realm of exceeding ob
scurity. It is evidently a higher type of existence. Some
thing is added to the inorganic, and also to the merely veg
etable organic. It is not simply a difference of structural ar
rangement and type. A radically different creature appears.
It is impossible to doubt that it is something different in kind.
There is manifestly a creature which rises in grade above mere
refinement of matter, and also above mere vitalization of
tissue and structural arrangement and automatic action. We
have a new kind of substance or essence — a sentient some
thing. We find it impossible to doubt that it is a low grade of
spiritualized existence, but as we know nothing of the possibil
ities of matter in the hands of creative agency, it is impossible
to our unaided intelligence to affirm with certainty. Bevela-
tion reinforces reason in its ascription of a kind of spirit to all
animal existence. Whatever it is, it varies in ratios and kinds
of capabilities, but has permanent and rigid limits and quali
ties. It is dowered with capacities of feeling. It has pref
erences, passions, a degree of reason, social instincts, memory,
language, and signs of affection ; in some orders is improvable
within limited margins. It is the outer court of a higher realm
of existence. It lacks self-consciousness (probably in any de
gree), and improvable reason, and all the higher faculties of
intelligence, and a proper ethical nature, and cannot be raised
to the conditions of personal responsible existence or any free

The Organic Universe. 201
agency of its own. It has no power of self-improvement or im
provement of its state and surroundings so as to become differ
ent from what it is. There are no signs in it either in its
natural or most improved condition of adaptation to anything
beyond a mere earthly life — the life it lives in the organism
which perishes. Of another and higher kind of life it can
have no idea and for it no aspiration. The conceptual faculty —
the faculty of forming ideas, of understanding what it beholds
or experiences — the faculty of knowledge proper, of reflection,
introspection, of understanding cause and relation — and every
thing which enters into personal being are wholly wanting so
far as we can perceive. Whatever this mysterious being is, it
is evidently created for the earth and runs the whole gamut
of its existence in the brief time it lives on the earth, in some
cases limited to a day, in some carried up to a hundred years.
If more than a refinement of vitalized material tissue — and we
think it is more — it can be but a low type of spiritualized being,
mainly automatic, always below personality, and incapable of
improvement to that state, and having no wants or aspirations
which imply anything beyond what are fully satisfied in its
brief time life.
As in the inorganic, and in the insensate organic, we find a
mode of divine energizing to bring them to their ultimate con
dition, so here we find a mode of divine energizing required
to create this new palace of life — the organism for a sentient
inhabitant, and also the inhabitant itself. The organism itself
is God-built, both in the first and all succeeding instances ;
though in the latter instance it is build mediately and not im
mediately. The creature which is posited in the organism is
created by divine power. The organic arrangement is for it,
and it also is for the organism. The organism exists under such
laws, and is of such kind that it would immediately perish with-

202 Studies in Theology.
out the creature which dwells in it ; and when the creature has
taken care of it and used it for the end for which it was created,
the creature itself perishes with it, there being no other reason
for its continued existence.
We realize that we are venturing here upon a new and un
explored ground, Avhich to many, perhaps all, will seem spec
ulative and fanciful, and we may miss our Avay. The effort is
tentative. We therefore ask attention to some reasons and
explanations. In the vegetable organic, the energy called life
in it, as a simple mode of divine action, accounts for all the
phenomena. There is no need of supposing anything further.
The structure is built by a force which transmutes and incor
porates contiguous inorganic substances. The structure built
has no feeling — is simply a built thing — purely material. It
evinces nothing but a constructive agent, and common mate
rial curiously wrought together, which in time is necessitated
to propagate similar structures according to a fixed law. This
is all that appears, and entire it is accounted for — that is, all
the phenomena are accounted for — by assuming a being of
intelligence exerting force to the end reached.
When Ave come to the sentient or animal organic we reach
entirely different kinds of phenomena, which cannot be so
explained. So far as the mere material structure is concerned the differ
ence is not great. The material in both cases is precisely the
same — not a minute difference. There is difference of arrange
ment and adjustment and functions merely. The organism in
the second case is more complex, more wonderful. A divine
cause is absolutely needed to account for the existence of the
organism simply as a structure. It does not build itself. The
forces exerted in its construction are not blind forces. But
after it is built it immediately emerges upon a fine of conditions,

The Organic Universe. 203
if we might say experiences, which did not appear in the case
of its predecessors in the vegetable realm, and an entirely new
set of phenomena appear, which seem to demand something
more than the organism. A new kind of creature emerges that
is more than an organism, and which cannot be noted as a mere
mode of force. The organism Avas fairly accounted for as
product of divine energizing. This creature is a new creation,
which the energizing that built the organism, and which the
organism itself, does not account for. The former builder now
creates a new kind of being. The necessities of the organism
demand it. It will immediately perish without it. This new
being has new qualities, which are not deducible from the mate
rials found in the organism itself. It must be a new entity or
kind of substance. An entity that can feel, and act from impulse
of feeling, must possess a new kind of endowment, must be in a
degree rational and capable of self-action. This has never been
reached in any preceding creation of inorganic or merely or
ganic things, and is impossible to be deduced from them or any
mode of force expressed in them.
The body made of matter does not feel, has no impulses or
desires or instincts. Its life is a mode of exerted energy in it ;
but a creature is now placed within it, so as to be able to use
and direct its members, to ends of its own preservation.
This indAvelling creature has feelings, impulses, desires, long
ings, is susceptible of pain and pleasure, and has a kind of
power which responds to these excitants, and directs the
body to the things which are necessary to its support and to
the propagation of its kind. The organism, and the indwelling
creature thus endowed, make the animal or sentient universe.
It is thus seen to be more than a mere structure of atomic
substance and more than a force which builds such a structure.
It is a new and higher order of created being.
Some imagine that the creature after its creation becomes the

204 Studies in Theology.
builder of its own- organism. There is no possible ground for
such a supposition. The offspring as much as the parents are
divinely energized through the parents. To suppose the living
animal to produce its offspring other than instrumentally would
require that it be able of itself to scheme the organism, and that
it has power in itself to construct its parts, and also to produce
creatures like itself. This would make it a God. Throughout
it is but an instrument, a mere duct of divine energy.
Sensitivity, that is, feeling in any form, thought, impulse, de
sire, volition, even in the lowest degree, cannot be ascribed to
matter. Matter may be refined and arranged into the most
delicate and beautiful forms, but it has no power even in these
respects over itself. It is powerless to any change of state
even, or relation. What it seems to do is but effect produced in
it under strict law. The force, whatever it is, which always acts
under law or according to law, must be exerted by a being who
regulates his action by law, that is, a being who knows the law
and governs himself accordingly. But no one can imagine that
the atomic * components of matter answer this description.
That the animal is not a mere compound of matter is mani
fest in the fact that it evinces feeling, thought, desires, will, in
varying degrees. This can scarcely be doubted. But then the
animal is something more than mere composition of matter or
endoAvments of matter.
The body as a collocation and arrangement of matter merely,
which is evidently all that it is, might be evolved as a stone is,
or as a tree by the force of a building agent, and using it the
constructive agent might evolve other similar or dissimilar bod
ies from it. That would indicate simply modes of his work
ing. It is not like the stone, or tree even, which find the ele
ments of their construction and contrivance in direct modes of
* See Winchell's Evolution, pp. 36, 37.

The Organic Universe. 205
force in them. It must have nutrimentation or its tissue im
mediately perishes. And its supplies are not furnished by the
operation of mere forces in it or contiguous to it. It does not
know its own needs or how to provide for them. It does not
even feel the wants which are urgent for its continued existence.
Its fate would be immediate death left to itself. Moreover,
alone, its preservation would have no significance.
Now, to provide for this helpless thing, its maker places in it
another kind of creature, which is so intimately related to it as
to apprehend its needs and know hoAv to provide for them, to
feel its wants and know how to avoid its dangers. These two
are found to be for each other ; and except as they serve each
other, and other higher ends to another order of beings, have no
reason for their existence. They are in no sense cause. There
is one creator of each ; but one creator makes them both. They
are different in essence, in substance, and degrees of worthi
ness. Sensate existence ranges higher in the scale of existence
than insensate. The animal is more than the clod, and more
than the mere vegetable. The animal inhabitant of the body
derives sensations through the body Avhich minister to its
delight. It has thus an enjoyable existence — an ecstasy of life.
In considering the organic universe we should keep in mind
that we have found evidence that the date of its advent must
be fixed not less than perhaps scores of millions of years subse
quent to the primary creation of matter, and yet later to the
time of the solidification of the earth's crust, during which long
period the conditions of life had not been reached.
The Laurentian system of strata laid down upon the orig
inal floor of the refrigerated crust is estimated at not less
than forty thousand feet thick. It bears evidence of a highly
heated condition of the surface throughout the entire period of
its sedimentation, and of a molten under crust at no great

206 Studies in Theology.
depth. This is an undisputed fact. If life appeared at all in that
deposit, it was not until near its close, and that even is doubted.
It Avas long classed as azoic, and the recent assumption of some
careful and able geologists that a form of life did appear in it
admits that it was of a type so rudimental as to leave it an un
settled question, and in any event only toward its close.
The Paleozoic era marks, if not the absolute dawn of life,
certainly its earliest clearly defined types. This group is given
at not less than forty thousand feet thick. In its lowest strata,
at the basement, life appears in considerable variety and great
profusion, but in the animal only in invertebrate types. Mol-
luscans continued to be the only order of life for a long period.
For a more particular description of its varieties, see Avorks on
the science.
We are at the beginning of the life system, or of organic exist
ence. It marks the introduction of a hitherto not manifested
force — a new factor. The quality and character of the new
agent, or rather new mode of agency, now for the first time
appearing in these humble types, must be j udged not alone by
these products, but by its unfoldings through all succeeding
periods ; but, however judged, it must be borne in mind that
it was a form of agency hitherto not expressed.
That it was the same agent Avho for indeterminable time
had been employed building the Avorld itself cannot be doubted.
The former part of the Avork had been preparatory and condi
tioning to this new and advanced order. We say advanced or
der, for between the inorganic, in whatever of magnificence its
scale, and the lowest and humblest type of the organic there is
an infinite advance in kind, and new qualities in the agency dis
played. Everything betokens advance and purpose. Following
these lower forms, but at long distance, though of the same era,
as the rock record shows, appeared higher types both of vege-

The Organic Universe. 207
table and animal varieties — marine and land — varieties of fish
and carboniferous plants.
The period, as shoAvn in the former section of this work, was
one which extended through millions of years, and which
abounded all through with almost infinite variety of a low type
of life, as seen in the fossiliferous contents of the deposits, but
it shows no sign of advance above the molluscan and fish types.
But in this there was marked growth and advance. Were it
possible to know the atmospheric and chemical conditions better
than at this distance of time is possible, we might perhaps under
stand better than we now do Avhy the age of inferior types was so
long drawn out. We are able, hoAvever, to assign one most im
portant reason, a reason which foreshadows the great plan which
was yet in its beginning. It was the age of preparation for
man, the coming king ; the age when the great coal fields
which he would need Avere being corded in the caverns of the
globe, and during which the great oil reservoirs were being pre
pared for his use. To secure these ends time was a necessary
integer — and vast ages of time. The animal life during the
period was such as the conditions permitted, and though Ave may
not be able to see a reason for their existence, we find that in
fact they did exist, and served remote ends, proving forethought
and plan, and possibly indispensable means to plans yet un
realized. Of this era Le Conte says : " Perhaps it is not inappropriate
to group some of the most important facts in the very brief
outline-picture of Paleozoic times. We must imagine, then,
wide seas and low continents of small extent ; a hot, moist, still
air, loaded with carbonic acid, stifling and unsuited for the life
of warm-blooded animals. If an observer had walked along
those early beaches he would have found cast up, in great
numbers, the shells of brachiopods ; clinging to the rocks and
hiding away among their hollows, instead of sea urchins and

208 Studies in Theology.
starfishes and crabs, he would have found crinoids and trilo-
bites. In open seas he would have found as rulers, instead of
whales and sharks and teleosts and cuttlefish, huge cuirassed
sauroids and the straight-chambered orthoceras. Turning to the
land he would have seen at first only desolation ; for (in the
earlier deposits) there were no land plants until the Devonian
(above the Silurian deposits), and almost no land animals until
the Coal. During the Coal there were extensive marshes,
overgrown with great trees of Sagillaria, Lepidodendra, and
Calamites, Avith dense undergrowth of ferns, inhabited by in
sects and amphibians ; no umbrageous trees, no fragrant flowers
or luscious fruits, no birds, no mammals. These ' dim watery
woodlands ' are flowerless, fruitless, songless, voiceless, except
the occasional chirp of the grasshopper. If the observer were
a naturalist, he would notice also a complete absence of modern
types of plants and animals ; it would be like another world."*
This'was the world of life, with scarce a representative to-day,
for an era extending through millions of years. It was made
for its time, and disappeared with its environments; but its
uses were for a far distant age and time.
When the Paleozoic era had culminated a period of oscillation
and revolution whelming existing species supervened, and a new
era dawned, the Mesozoic or reptilian age.
The general characteristics of this period are the culmination
of a class of reptiles among animals and cycads among plants,
and the first appearance of teleosts (common osseous fishes),
birds, mammals among animals, and of palms and dicotyls
among plants.
We cannot be more particular ; the reader must seek infor
mation from treatises on geology. What we wish to call at
tention to is the continuous advance in the types of life in both
* Page 400. For fuller description let the reader refer to this author on the
Paleozoic era.

The Organic Universe. 209
realms and the slow upward movement across the bosom of
immeasurable ages, and yet an increasingly rapid movement
toward the final epoch, the epoch for which all other epochs
were made.
The Cenozoic era, which followed, was marked by the same
characteristics of advance in types, and by a less though vast
consumption of time. Mammalia came to fullness, and distin
guishes this period.
We have now reached the dawn of the final era, the Quater
nary, and more recent — the age of life as it now exists through
out the Avorld ; with the exception of some types which have
disappeared in recent times by' the destructive forces of the
glacial age immediately preceding.
Let the reader remember that this brief outline of the
history of life is not made out of uncertain traditions, but
is a faithful record of facts and events made at the time
and incorruptibly preserved in the imperishable archives of
the long-buried strata of the earth itself, in which not a
fabulous or exaggerated description is transmitted, but the
very forms themselves are enshrined. It is as though we
stood at a point of time and the great procession of terrestrial
life passed before us, the mighty procession beginning with
sporule, then the most ancient and primitive type, and in its
order each subsequent species of fauna and flora, on down or up
the ages following, the head of the strange orders having a date
millions of years back, and each new group bearing a banner
denoting the time when it lived and flourished, until he finds
himself among the forms which rise and prevail at the present
moment — the long line of molluscans with the date of its dawn
and close ; following it the strange denizens of sea and forest
which stretched from Siluria, on through Carbonifera, while
the coal fields were being built, to Devonia and, its close ; then

210 Studies in Theology.
the Miocene varieties of great reptiles and monstrous half-
bird and half -simian tribes, and then the grotesque and fright
ful mammals of the tertiary epoch— each age increasing in
type and form until he finds himself beholding the familiar types
of sea and sky and forest, of farm and grove and home, which
are living to-day.
What a procession ! Were we possessed of a wand of magic
power to restore them as they were, to rifle the rocky sepulchers
of their treasures, so that they should live and move, as they
once lived and moved, through all the vast ages — live and move
in exact order as they Avere, every inch of the globe's crust
would turn to life and the seas and atmosphere would be
crowded with inhabitants. Ten miles deep Avonld be pulver
ized to restore perished forms.
Death and life have run pari passu through all the ages.
Each order and type was made for its time, and each individual
for its lot, and the besom for its destruction was concreated
with it. Why shall we delude ourselves with fancies when facts
confront us ? The maker of life is also the maker of death.
There is yet one other fact of the organic universe which the
needs of other problems which confront us demand should be
noted. It is not only a fact that life and death have thus prevailed
over millions of years in exact ratios and parallels, but this also
is a fact, that life has always been a brigand, a marauder, a
cunning assassin, a remorseless murderer. It comes armed and
panoplied for Avarfare and destruction with fang and claw and
ravenous appetite for prey. Power and mechanism Avere given
to the eye and nostril, and fleetness to wing and fin and foot for
carrying on warfare. All the ages have been a perpetual bat
tle. The roar and scream of chase and raven have filled the
air of all climes and times. The earth has been an aceldama

The Organic Universe. 211
since it became the abode of life. It is in vain to try to con
ceal a fact Avhich is written on every page of its history.
The retrospect adown the vista of long-drawn eons seeks in
vain for an age of peace either in the organic or inorganic uni
verse. In the inorganic primeval fires and volcanic torches
light the way with flame, and earthquakes rending and creating
mountains, and floods inundating and whelming continents,
and frozen zones sending ice fleets plow and desolate hemi
spheres at intervals along the entire course, while poison
ous and life-extinguishing vapors surcharge the atmosphere
and exude from the earth itself; in the other from dawn
in the long ago to sunset of to-day death and rapine skirt the
way, decay and ruin are alone universal. Nature was so made
from base to pinnacle.
Along with the ravages there have been growth and progress ;
beauty and deformity have marched hand in hand, ecstasy has
walked hand in hand with pain, life has gained by death. The
facts are as they are, and He who orders them will need no
apologist, the outcome of the history will fully explain all an
tecedent chapters, however full of mystery, and all that has
been done will be seen to have been well and wisely done.
There is a developing order. The proof is clear and full
upon that point. According to our thought the facts show
this, that first there was the idea, or the ideator with the idea,
and they do not show that primarily there Avas any other exist
ence but the Being who possessed the idea of as yet nonexist-
ing things. The subsequent existence of things proclaims the
necessary preexistence of the cause, and that in him existed
the idea of things nonexistent and the power to actualize
them or to give them existence. To this conclusion we are
shut up.
This gives us to start with an eternal Being who possessed

212 Studies in Theology.
the idea of things nonexistent, with power to produce them.
The universe is as a fact the product of the preexisting agent.
Of that great Being and the attributes implicated in the prod
uct a subsequent treatise will discourse.
Here and now we postulate as a necessary fact such a being,
and the idea as antecedent to the product.
Of the product we have already endeavored to give some of
the well-ascertained facts, specifically facts as to its magnitude
in space, together with its established economies and the time
order of its unfolding from its beginning to the present.
We have affirmed the immanence of the preexisting agent
in the thing made, first as creator of actual elemental sub
stances, and second as continuous acting force, causational of
all the modifications through which it has passed, is passing,
and yet will pass — the so-called forces ascribed to it being only
modes of his own energizing in the created elements, to the end
of making real things previously existing only in idea. Thus,
while the modifying force seems to emanate from the atom
itself, it really emanates from divine energizing in it, using it to
the end of certain collocations for which it was created — the in
organic universe.
Passing from the inorganic to the organic, we encounter a
new set of facts and a new order or method. Do we come to
a different agent ? Not at all. We are still marching with the
same builder who laid the foundation in the atom.
Let us remind ourselves of some facts which enter into the
new problem :
First fact : When the organic universe was commenced, no
difference how, the inorganic universe had already existed for
vast ages, and had passed, by a developing process, from the
atom through great changes to its present condition — that of an
orderly system of immense proportions. Of this the proof is

The Organic Universe. 213
clear and absolute. We say nothing now of the agency by
which, but cite only the indisputable fact.
Second fact : A condition of the inorganic system had some
how come to pass without which the organic universe could not
possibly exist, but in which all the requisites thereto were
fully attained at the end of a long process.
Third fact : The organic now exists in infinite variety of
strange and immensely complex structures, which none of the
forces or modes of agency operative in the inorganic can ac
count for.
Fourth fact : The elements, or substances out of which the
organic is built, are precisely the same elements or substances
out of which the inorganic is built.
Fifth fact : The organic differs from the inorganic in several
respects, not of substance, but of structure and quality.
Sixth fact : The organic is not an aggregation or collocation
of substances merely by the attraction of atoms — gravitation —
or by chemical affinities, or by cohesive force, or by compound
ing substances, or by any of the forces which Avere and are
discoverable in the inorganic universe. Nothing is found there
which intimates even a tendency to produce organisms as struc
tures, or the unique qualities of inwrought tissues, or hfe phe
nomena of any kind. The inorganic furnishes no hint of it —
no tendency to it.
The only possible explanation of it is that it is a divine crea
tion — the product of a personal cause.
Confining ourselves for the present to the simply organic-
vegetable and animal — realm of life, and not including the higher
personal realm, let us see if we can give some account of it.
Take first the vegetable organic. How Avondrous in beauty
and usefulness it is; how infinite its variety — microscopic,

214 Studies in Theology.
great of stature, delicate that a zephyr or mildest ray blasts it,
robust that it wrestles with a cyclone, flourishing beneath the sea,
robing the mountain and the plain, rich with flavors and per
fumes essential to all life, the feast spread for bird and beast
and fish and insect, with pattern and form and color for artist
and angel, springing amid polar ice and snoAvs and growing to
utmost luxuriance on equatorial plains, medicinal, nutritious,
life-supporting, loaded with deadly poison, all useful to some
purposes — who can explain their genesis and multitude and
variety over all climes, but in a mysterious energy outside the
dumb elements of inorganic substances ?
Let the reader keep in mind that it is no part of the object
of this treatise to attempt a theodicy, or even to philosophize of
cause or the nature of the agency at work, but simply to sub
mit the facts of the universe in their order and method. Their
bearings will be matter of future discussion.
What we claim now is simply the existence of the facts nar
rated and in the order named. These are held to be scientifi
cally established.
The general facts are as shown : (a) the almost infinite extent
of the universe system in space and time ; (b) that the organic
appears after an interval of millions of years subsequent to the
dawn of the inorganic ; (c) an order of advancing grades and
kinds ; and id) that forces have been found at work corporate
with the organic and inorganic, and running parallel with the
organic, that have been destructive of all the individuals and
orders after a brief period of existence.
It is proper, however, before passing to a further stage of our
inquiry, to note some necessary implications from the facts al
ready stated. Necessary implications are among the facts, and
among these are the following :
1. Any fact Avhich begins in time is a caused fact.

The Organic Universe. 215
2. Anything caused implies at some stage of recession a
somewhat that was not caused.
3. All the forces we have found in operation are forces ex
erted by some being at some time ; and so there was a begin
ning to the exertion.
4. A universe evolved by forces must have back of it a be
ing that evolved it.
5. The agent of the evolution must be different from the thing
evolved. 6. When the product evinces intelligence the force exerted
sIioavs that it is exerted by an intelligent being.
Of the facts stated in the preceding pages as to the time and
space measures of the universe, there is practically perfect
agreement among all students who have given attention to the
problems. Of the orderly progress and processes from the
atom to the present condition of things, the evidence is almost
the equivalent of absolute proof. There is no reason to doubt
its substantial correctness. We may assume with perfect con
fidence that it accords with the facts.
The only dispute noAv is upon two points, namely, Avhence the
forces operative, and how the series of facts stand related to
each other ; or, in other Avords, whether the facts are to be ac
counted for by a continuous divine energizing bringing them
along in the observed order ; or whether the original atoms ac
count for them by either inherent forces eternally existing in
them or by energy imparted to them when they were created.
That the former view is now generally accepted among rep
resentative scholars along the involved lines is certainly true ;
but that is not the matter of our present contention. AVe aim
simply at the statement of facts.
When Mr. Spenser asserts, in the following of eminent
German thinkers, the principle that the onward movement of

216 Studies in Theqlogy.
the universe is an unvarying and universal progress or devel
opment from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous, he asserts
an unquestioned truth, but it is uo new discovery. It is simply
the old statement made by God himself, put in new terms ;
namely, that he began his work first by creating substances, or
the elements of the inorganic heavens and earth, which in
course of time he completed, or, more properly, so far advanced
as to render them a theater for new and higher display of his
plan and power, and then in a series of successive energizings
fashioned the organic creation. Moses wrote the principle
nearly four thousand years before man made the discovery.
The primary creative act is now admitted to be an absolute
necessity of thought. The forces found in the elements or
atoms were imparted by the creative act, or are simply con
tinued modes of energizing. The catenated history of devel
oping effects is simply a mode of passing from the homoge
neous to the heterogeneous, or from simples to aggregates and
compounds, and on from collocations to worlds ; and the phe
nomena of motions, positions, and changes which are found
to have unfolded through advancing ages, by or according to
fixed and established laws.
The principle holds good as denoting progress from lower to
higher orders up to man. When the attempt is made to deduce
development of the higher from the lower, it breaks down for
want of proof. The fact is not ascertained, and to assert it
even as probable is in advance of warrantable conclusion.
But let us not lose sight of the sublime facts which are clearly
made out. In them we see the marvelous worker no less than
the marvelous work. We see what He has done, and dimly per
ceive, amid the obscurities which must forever hang around the
subject, the method observed. The how remains shrouded in
impenetrable mystery, but the facts shine with the clearness of

The Organic Universe. ' 217
day. Of much that we do see we are at almost as much diffi
culty to understand the wherefore as the how ; but where there
are so many evidences of supreme wisdom, we may reasonably
conclude that for every fact there was, and is, a good and wise
reason ; and for the method, in progress and outcome, the end
will vindicate its Author.
Who can contemplate the amazing panorama of wonders which
the universe presents, so inconceivably vast in time and space,
so marvelous in its complexity, yet so harmonious in its parts,
so involved and varied in its orders and economies, and yet
so wrought into simplicity and unity of design, each individual
atom ever under its own law and working its OAvn ends, and
yet all working to a common outcome, without awe of its
great Author? Surely the power and Avisdom displayed are
infinite. But did the scheme stop with the inorganic merely,
or even with the organic, how impossible it Avould be to find
in all its wonderfulness a worthy end ! Of what avail Avould
be all its magnificence ?

218 Studies in Theology.

OF MAN.
Man and man's history belong to the story of the universe
and must serve as key to the problem.
Before we assign the reasons for separating man from the
organic orders and assigning him a peculiar rank above the
organic, we call special attention to the fact that in point of
time he is acknowledged by all students of the problem to be
the most recent fact of the universe. Whatever differences
exist as to the exact date of his appearance, there is no dispute
as to his claim to be the end of the series, or as to his distinct
and superior grade. These are facts admitted by all. Even
scientific evolutionists make man the end of the series up to
date, and admit their inability to conceive another advance.
His place is thus secured.
Christianity goes further and assigns to him a career and
an order of developing life not fully reached during his exist
ence on the earth, and assigns to that after and intermin
ably continued existence the culmination of the creative plan
and movement.
It is a possible conception that the higher organisms might
be evolved from a lower type — that the principle of animal life,
that is, the divine force it represents, might be a common princi
ple from which the human body was evolved at the end of all
other evolutions ; but this Avould not account for the new creature
man. Of such evolution of one organic type from another, and
of all from a primitive rudimental type, there, is not a particle of
positive proof ; but if it were clearly established it Avould still
fall infinitely short of accounting for man. It would or might
conceivably account for his body, but this is not the problem,

Of Man. 219
and makes no approach to its solution. But, as Ave have seen
even allowing the method of evolution in reaching the various
types for the initiative, we are compelled to admit a creation of
a new order and kind of existence to begin with.
The problem here is to account for man. To do this we must
first determine what man is. We know that he is, and coarsely
what he is, and about the time that he appeared, and that or
ganically he is the last of a series. We do not absolutely of per
sonal knowledge know that in this respect he is not an evolution,
that is, in respect of his organism. But the deeper question as
to Avhat constitutes the essential man we must be at greater
pains to answer. What, then, is this new and latest creature ?
To this question we answer :/man is a spirit, as to the essence
or substance of his being ; that is, as to substance he is imma
terial, having none of the properties of the inorganic elements
out of which worlds and organic creatures are composed, but
differentiated from them by totally dissimilar qualities and attri
butes, excluding all which they possess, and Avhich raise him
into an order of existence similar to the Infinite himself/and
which constitute him a child of God and not a mere thing. He
is shrined in an organism composed like every other organism out
of material elements, but different in structure from all other
organic existences. He is not the organism. He is not developed
from or by the organism. /The organism is no part of him, but
is simply the temporary home in which he begins his existence
and by means of which he is initiated into his proper selfhood./
The organism in which he is shrined is similar in all essential
respects to all other animal organisms, but different from them
in grade and fashion for adaptation to his peculiar needs and
uses, and is a direct provision for his use and service for a lim
ited period of his existence, during which he is made depend
ent on it.

220 Studies in Theology.
As, at first, the organism was created before he was made
and posited in it, so the organism is propagated in order to
the existence of every subsequent man who is brought into
being. The organism which is provided as the shrine or temporary
home of man is first a mere physical structure partaking of
the characteristics of all merely animal organisms, and partici
pating in no degree in the essence or attributes of the inhabit
ing spirit. Its only peculiarities are found in the specialized
forms and qualities which adapt it to his service. The life of
the organism, whatever that may be, is not essentially different
from that of any other animal organism. The organism and its
animal soul dwelling in it are animal pure and simple, acquir
ing only the distinction that they are for the service of a nobler
life which dwells in, but is not of, them. This marks the differ
entiation between man and all animal existence. Neither the
physical structure nor the inhabiting living creature, which is
for it, but not of it, is man, or any essential or permanent con
stituent of man. They sustain only a temporary relation to
him when they perish.
That there is a spirit of man which is entirely and essentially
distinct from the organism is only denied by a school of mate
rialists, but it is generally supposed and affirmed that the or
ganism is an essential part of him./ Some assert a trichotomy ^^
— nearly all declare in favor of a duality. * \.i-',c"
In the former case it is insisted that man is a triplex unity, ;-'*-
compounded of a physical body, which is simply a structural "*'''
arrangement of matter, and a soul of animal characteristics,
which animates it and is for its special life and service, and an
immortal spirit of special and high intellectual and ethical
endowments. These three constitute man — each essential <:• - "
to him. '-^

Of Man. 221
In the latter case it is contended that man is a duality, com
pounded of the body as a living organism and the immortal
soul with its endowments as above described. These two are
essential components.
In both cases it is admitted that the immortal spirit is a dis
tinct essence, having being of its OAvn, and differentiable in
every respect from the other constituent or constituents of the
compound ; but though thus differentiable it is not alone, or
without the other or others, man.
On the other hand, it is our contention that the immortal
spirit is man, and that the physical organism and the animal
soul which are made with it and for it are both and alike but
temporary adjuncts to him, serving an end and then disappear
ing forever. To have the body of a man we concede implies
a man ; and for this reason many, who look only at the exterior,
think of the body as the man or of the man. We contend
that it is neither man nor a component of man ; but, on the
contrary, is simply his habitat, which serves as his tempo
rary dwelling place, and is in some way — many ways — instru
mental to his use and service. To be still more explicit, we
affirm that there is no part of its essence that is any part of his
essence, and no part of its attributes or qualities that is any part
of his attributes and qualities ; that it is simply a transient acci
dent of his existence, an external thing to which for a time and
a purpose he sustains certain relations. Its life is not his life,
and his life is not its life.
Of this body we affirm yet further that it is simply a com
pound of the inorganic elements vitalized, that it belongs to the
common organic creation in essence and attribute, differing
only in type from all other orders and individuals of the animal
creation, and possibly in the mode of its origin. In essence it
is identical with possibly higher refinement ; in structure it is

,j \JL_K_-0-CS .... J. . i

 oj

^ v.

222 Studies dm Theology.
superior and unique, for the ends of service to the spirit, for
the habitation of which it is a prepared abode, and for the
service of which it is a specially prepared instrument. It was
fashioned for him, and he was created in adaptation to it, and
with temporary dependence on its instrumental uses during
the early stages of his existence.
Any difference of dignity and worthiness between it and any
other organic existence is not in kind, but is simply in the
higher uses it is appointed and structurally adapted to serve,
as the dwelling place of a being superior to itself.
The animal soul inhabiting the body possesses the common
instincts of all animal life, and was and is doomed to their com
mon fate under the operation of laws common to it with them.
They live and die and perish together. They have no more
function. They were for the earth and run the gamut of
their existence during the present life. Alike impersonal, they
are alike irresponsible, and when they perish never appear
again. They serve their full purpose as instrumental to the
man's existence and use. And he is given possession of them in
such degree as is necessary to the initiation of his responsible ex
istence. Their proper use or abuse determines his character
and affects his destiny. When they perish he lives on. They
have reached their end. He has only begun his progress in
life. All that is personal — his self-conscious being, in its
perfect and unchangeable identity — passes out and on to a
higher stage, or to meet a destiny Avrought out while he was in
his time life.
There is a true theory of evolution, but it is not that pro
pounded by Mr. Spencer or his collaborator, Mr. Darwin, and
the multitude of their less eminent disciples, who are fascinated
with the catchword and hasten to retail at second-hand their
unscientific conclusions. They have done good service in their

Of Man. 223
painstaking labors to ascertain facts, for which all students of
nature owe them a debt of gratitude. So far they have shown
themselves true scientists, but when they have attempted a phi
losophy, their theories evince haste and prove to be utterly
abortive, not to employ harsher terms.
The fundamental fact underlying all theories is that the
universe is a created something ; there Avas a time when it did
not exist — when nothing that is in it existed. The proof of this
is irrefragable. To a creative cause, whatever of things, force,
law, economy, or anything else, must be traced. Its unfolding
development is simply an evolution of the divine idea and
powers. The forces which play in it are shown to be simple
modes of his working in order to the realization of his ideas.
Nothing in it is a transformation of his essence, but so nothing
in it has any existence apart from his poAver. It primarily
existed in him as idea. It comes to objective reality by his
power. The force which first produced its substance and then
works modification and changes in it, through the whole
gamut from world structures and economies on through all
cosmic changes and organic types, are his power in action to
these ends. It is impossible they should be anything else,
since that which did not exist could not have any force or
anything which it does not receive. And whatever is received
is traceable to the giver and not original to the recipient.
That which acts from necessity is not itself actor; it acts
only as acted upon. The force exhibited in action is a force
exerted by the necessitating agent.
There is a close consecution of effects observable in the uni
verse, in which one change seems to spring from an antecedent
change, but in fact it is not so. The necessitation observable
in the whole series points to the prime mover as the continuous
mover. Where the series works to an idea the proof is that

224 Studies in Theology.
the agent in each fraction of the series is working out his idea.
One change in the series does not account for its successor, but
each change can only be explained by the agent of the whole.
The evolution is not an evolution of something in the first
member of the series, but is an evolution of power in the agent
in order to an idea which he has and to which he desires to im
part concrete objective existence. The closely catenated and
consecutive energizings in each part are simply modes by
which he evolves the entire chain, or, in other words, the
universe is evolved by an intelligent agent in successive and
fixed modes of energizing in a closely catenated series' of things.
The things account for nothing — are mere products. True, all
forms in the series are transformations of some antecedent
form but not by the things themselves. That things them
selves do anything there is absolutely no proof. The agent him
self is a free cause throughout the series of changes. The
series is necessitated by him throughout by the constitution
Avhich he establishes and by the force of will which he exerts.
It is perfectly obvious that man, while a distinct order of
existence, stands in close and intimate relations both to inor
ganic and organic realms — to the inorganic in two respects:
(a) in being posited in a body made out of the common inor
ganic elements or substances ; (5) in having an organism in fun
damental respects resembling other animals ; but it is no less
obvious that he is fundamentally different. Belated to each
he can neither be identified with nor traced to either or both.
He is more and other than an organism composed of in
organic elements, whether by development or an evolution
through inferior types. He is differentiable from his organism
not simply in form and origin, but also in kind and nature of
substance. He is a new creation — not merely a more developed
type from existing creatures, taking on new characteristics.

Of Man. 225
If it required a creative act to introduce the atom as base of
the inorganic, and then again a direct energizing to introduce
the vegetable organic as lowest basement of life built on the in
organic, and yet again to introduce the animal organic — the
sensitive and instinctive realm of life throned in the merely
organic in its lower form, but distinct from it — much more is
creative agency required to introduce this highest form of
terrestrial existence. To that end development, or any form of
evolution, is impotent. We have an essentially new creature.
As the inorganic Avas necessary condition precedent to the or
ganic, so the organic was necessary condition to the super-
organic in man, but impotent as cause.
The view here stated Avill find strong opposition. It is, in
some respects, novel. But we hope to be able to show that it
is true, and that, though novel, it is the logical sequent of long
held and popularly admitted premises, and that it is supported
by strong proof — the strongest possible.
Scientific and speculative developmentists and evolutionists
reject it because it is out of harmony with their theories.
All materialists reject it on the same ground. Popular the
ology will be disturbed by it because it will require some new
construction of long regnant favorite notions. Dualists and
trichotomists will rise up against it as out of harmony with
their conclusions. Philosophical idealists will be offended,
because it gives reality to the body and accords it actual ex
istence. Literalists and verbalists will hurl texts and creeds
against it, and will scent heresy in it. None of these things
alarm us. We have but one solicitude ; that is, to get at the
truth. Our thesis, it will be perceived, does no dishonor to the
body. It accords it a high grade of worthiness. It makes it a
divine creation for a high and honorable service. It places it at
16 *

226 Studies in Theology.
the topmost round of all terrestrial life. It assigns it the honor
able distinction of being a specialized abode and instrument for
the temporary use of man. It withholds from it no meed of
dignity, except to deny it the preeminence of being man. Has
it the excellence of being true ? It will be observed that while
it denies to the body the honor of being man, it affirms that it
is man's body — his body, though not himself.
Precisely what do we mean by this ? We mean that it is his
body, not that it is himself ; that so long as it lasts it is his
for residence and use, and exclusively his. In no other respect
is it his, and in no respect is it he.
We now wish to add, before passing from this point, he is
not its maker or complete proprietor, as it is not his maker or
proprietor. The same Maker made them both, and made them
for each other. Neither exists of or for itself alone. The body
serves ; in turn, the man is the caretaker.
/'While the body serves the man, and the man in turn is care
taker to the body, he is not complete proprietor or complete
custodian. The body has many functions for itself with Avhich
the man has nothing to do. He is wholly void of power over
its vital processes. , Its heart and lungs and stomach and vis
cera carry on their work independently of him — without his
suggestion or permission, and above his power of prevention.
Its life carries forward these processes in its own interests and
asks nothing of him— is as independent of him as if he were
not in the house. Its five senses are only partially under his
control — he is but partial proprietor. The animal soul also has
a life of its own independent of him, it has longings which he
cannot prevent ; he has no power over its impulses, but certain
of its impulses are under his control so far as their indulgence
is concerned. He cannot avoid feelings and sensations of
various kinds on occasions.

Of Man. 227
The body in which the man is placed is not simply a struc
tural arrangement of parts for his use. It has a life of its
own — the highest type of animal life — a something analogous
to the spirit in the merely animal — a functional spirit for it,
which lives and perishes Avith it — a soul passionful, instinctive,
automatic, impersonal.
When we deny that the body in which man is noAV shrined
is an essential part of his real self we but assert that the decom
position of the present body is not the obliteration or destruc
tion of the man ; a doctrine held sacred among all Christian
people. The body dies. The man survives. / When the body
dies its companion, the earth or animal soul, having no further
function, perishes with it. The man or spiritual soul lives on
if the doctrine of immortality is true.
As the body which he inhabits and uses is not he or of him, so
its animal soul or spirit is not he or of him. It has an existence
of its own, and is under him and for his service. He dwells in
and pervades both, and is affected by them and responsible for
their government and right use.
But it must not be inferred that dislodgment from his
earthly body, Avhich served him as a temporary home in this
time life and was furnished him for certain useful functions
while he remained on the earth, implies that henceforth he ex
ists without a body. The cessation by death of its functions,
and of the animal soul which used it as an instrument to certain
earthly ends, probably does not leave the man Avithout the need
of a body for his use and service in his onAvard progress in the
life which he continues to live. He that made the earthly or
ganism of both material structure and earth soul for temporal
functions, now provides another tenement suited to the higher
sphere to which the immortal tenant is advanced. This is the

228 Studies in Theology.
explicit teaching of revelation.* Man will continue to live
in a finite and material universe, and among finite intelligences
in whose fellowship and communion of life and activity he will
have his growth and future experiences. For such ends he will
need not such a body as he has now adapted to his present state,
but a body suited to the state to which he shall be advanced.
It will be a glorious body, but there, as here, it will not be
himself, or an essential part of himself, but only a useful in
strument. But now it remains to furnish the proof that the man is a
distinct being from the organism, and not simply a mode of it ;
an inhabitant, and not the house ; a being of different essence
and attributes. How do we discover this ?
If this can be shown, and if additionally it can be shoAvn
that the organic structure cannot account for this new kind of
being, then Ave utterly destroy the foundation of both the de
velopment and evolutional theories, which in principle are
identical, and at the. same time demonstrate that man is an
absolute creational product.
It is conceivable that organic evolutionism might be true
even in its extremest form — given life, especially given the ani
mal germ, that all types have resulted therefrom by progressive
variation through vast ages ; for that would be merely saying
that God, who is himself the energizing principle of life, so ex
ercised his energy as to evolve each variety through antecedent
forms, it would be really but a miracle of origins — but the con
ceivable supposition is Avholly Avithout proof and in violent
antagonism to all proof, and therefore irrational ; but, if it were
established, it would prove nothing as to the evolutional descent
of man.
It is admitted that for the introduction of the germ there is
* See First Epistle to Corinthians xv, 38-54 inclusive. See also Beyond the
Grave, by the author.

Of Man. 229
no possible explanation without creative agency — given the
eternal atom, it would still be impossible. These are facts
which are practically admitted by all scientists. The theory
of spontaneous generation is abandoned. The gulf between
the unliving and living universe, it is conceded, cannot be
bridged without creative agency, or direct constructive energy,
and also it is practically conceded that the principle of life in
insensate forms, or as discovered in the vegetable, does not ex
plain sensate life — that the gulf between the two kinds is im
passable without special energizing.
Bepeating that evolutionism is an unproved theory — that is,
that there is absolutely no proof that the principle exists at all ;
that in a single instance either in the vegetable or animal realm
one genus or even one distinct species has ever passed into
another or essentially changed its type — we now affirm that if
it were granted to its largest claim it would still fail utterly to
establish the derivative theory of man's origin. Given that
life was introduced in organific form, first in the most rudi-
mental germ, and that it was such that by inherent laws it
translated itself from the lowest to the highest type, it would
still be impotent to account for man.
What it would show, and the utmost it would sIioav, would be
this, that in a mode of creative energizing out of inorganic
substances the Creator had developed all organic types, from
rudimental spore to the human body, and that when this or
ganic type was reached, then, and not till then, the adequate
organism having been developed, man was created and posited in
the body prepared for him . This is the furthest possible reach to
Avhich the theory could carry if it were admitted, and if it were
proved it would not disturb theistic philosophy nor, as we believe,
necessarily overthrow the Genesis account. But we are not
here set for its defense. We 6eek simply the facts of the
universe.

230 Studies in Theology.
Our contention is that man is a spirit temporarily shrined in
a body, and in no respect identical with it or evolved from it;
that man is a person, and that all the attributes which inhere
in personality are spiritual ; that he is a child of God, created
in the image of his Maker ; and that the body is simply his
dwelling place and servant, conditioning his existence, but not
a part of him or in any sense source of his being.
Now what is the proof we have to offer in support of this
postulate ?
What do we mean by spirit ? To this question Ave answer :
Spirit is a substance having none of the attributes or qualities
of matter. It does not come to knowledge through the senses
or by sense cognition. It is unfigurable, invisible, intangi
ble, imponderable, and unapproachable by any sense. God
is a spirit. Man is of the same essence and possessed in a
finite degree of the same attributes. He is the image of his
Maker. ^The attributes or characteristics of spirit are intellect, sensi
bility, and will, self-consciousness and a conscience. It is a
kind of being which, while destitute of the attributes of matter,
has power to know, to feel, and to will, to discover right and
wrong, and feel obligation to the right. Wherever there are
these poAvers a being possessing them must exist. Man is a
being who possesses these powers. /'
How do we know this ? Just as we know that God is such
a being, namely, not by direct cognition, but by beholding visi
ble and tangible effects of his action. /We do not see God, but
in the universe we see that he is. In the same way we know
that man is a spirit. We do not see him. He is as invisible as
God. No man ever saw a man, not even himself/ We see
the body in which the man is, just as Ave see the universe in
which God is. The things which we behold show that God is
in them directing and ordering them. Thus we know him.

Of Man. 231
The body in which a man dwells, in the same way, by observ
ing its actions, shows that a spirit inhabits and directs it. When
we see the body we do not see the spirit, but when we study
its movements we see that a spirit exists in it, by seeing intui
tively that if an intelligent being did not direct its actions they
could not take place. We see the body and hear it pronounce
an oration, pronounce Avords which are coherent and packed
with thought; make a watch, write a book. We know that
there must be a being who directs its action, who selects the
words, guides the tools, controls the pen. We know that there
is such a being, though we are not able to see or touch him,
just as certainly as we knoAV that there is a body, which we
perceive performing these actions. Man is that invisible being.
The body does none of these things of itself — is utterly incapa
ble of doing them.
But Ave have a still more indisputable proof, if that were pos
sible, namely, the proof of consciousness. Man knows that he
is a spirit. How? By knowing that he thinks, knows, and
wills, and has power over all his own acts. He knows that his
body is a thing which is objective and external to himself, that
while there are internal economies of it which he cannot fully
understand or control it is a creature which is subject to him
and obeys his bidding. He commands it and it goes or stops ;
takes the tool up, uses it, lays it down under his supervision.
He conceives a sentence, or a picture, or any work of art ; he
directs the hand to execute it. If man knows anything he
knows that he is free master in his house, and that the house
is not himself. The house in which he lives is also a kit of
tools — its hands, its feet, its eyes, which he employs in every
variety of way at his pleasure. It Avas made for him and put
under him for his use.
There is still another proof. Man's body grows and comes to

232 Studies in Theology.
its stature by one set of means, and has one set of needs ; he
grows and comes to his stature by another set of means, and
has another set of needs. His body takes food in a stomach
and transmutes it into tissue. But it does not even do this
without his compelling it. The food is material substance, is
of the earth ; the made tissue is of the same identical earthy
substance. The body is so built and has no other element in it.
It increases in weight, stature, texture, is figured as has relations
of parts, is taken to pieces and returns to dust. That is the
whole fact.
He does none of these things : is not a structural arrange
ment of parts, has not a stomach, does not eat food, is not
formed of material tissue, is not a figured thing, does not in
crease in figure, size, or weight. His body does not think or
reason — has no power to form ideas, or to reason or under
stand. He thinks, reasons, investigates, is self-conscious. He
grows in power and faculty, increases in knowledge, and be
comes more than he was, by the stores of knowledge and ideas
which he acquires, and by increase of personal faculty which
develops in him by use. He rises thus from infancy to man
hood, and there is no limit to his possible development. His
development is a spontaneity of his essence — is not wrought by
some extrinsic force — is personal and subject to personal self-
determination. He grows if he will, and shrivels if he will so
permit. All knowledge is open to him, and he is dowered
with faculty, but attainment depends on personal effort.
Thus he shows his existence, and determines his own character
of worthiness or unworthiness.
He commands the body. It does nothing but exist and feel
external impingement without his bidding. When it walks, he
moves its feet, directs its course ; when it speaks, he selects
its words and operates the organs ; when its wants press it
with hunger or distress, he is its provider and doctor. He

Of Man. 233
makes it provide shelter and clothing to protect it from the
Aveather and other unfriendly or harmful enemies. It does
nothing without him.
And still again his body is subject to laws of decay and dis
integration. His body, the organism, cannot live on. It is
under the law of necessity. It must die. It was made for
death. The agencies that are corporate , in it doom it to ulti
mate disintegration. It has no elements of permanence. Its
permanence as it now is would be his greatest misfortune.
Useful for a time, its continuance forever would be an incum
brance. He, on the other hand, is dowered for permanence.
His higher and coming wants demand another kind of body, to
which he will come in due time.
The inadaptability of the animal organism, and its necessities
and functions to the permanent wants of the inhabiting
spirit, demonstrate that it is neither an essential or permanent
integrent of the man. Only that is or can be essential that is
inseparable and constituent ; that is, that which cannot be re
moved or impaired or substituted with something different
without destroying the man himself.
Man may be such a being that some kind of organism re
sembling in some measure the kind of organism Avhich he now
possesses will be a permanent necessity to him, conditioning
his highest well-being in many ways without being in any sense
a component part of him — be what the present body is, a habi
tation, a medium of fellowship, and a condition of certain forms
of activity and enjoyable experiences. There may be, as the
Scriptures affirm there is, " a natural body and a spiritual body,"
the former adapted to the present sphere, " a body of flesh and
blood," which cannot enter into the kingdom of permanent
life, and "a spiritual body" that is made for that state. All
analogies of the processes discoverable in the ongoing of the
universe are in harmony with the scriptural theory.

234 Studies in Theology.
Yet once more, that a being is, and the kind of being it is, is
seen by noting the effects it produces.
What is man in the light of this standard ? What does man
do ? What has he done ? Take his world, that is, the world
of his creation. Where there are effects there are adequate
causes. This is a universal laAv. The law determines what kind
of being man is.
God made the inorganic universe. It proclaims his eternity
and power. He made the organic in both realms — the vegeta
ble and animal — insensate and sensate life. All the varieties
of both kinds, from the azoic up through all the following
ages until to-day show not simply that he is, and that he is
infinite in power, but that he has infinite resources of wisdom.
Only the fool fails to detect his existence, and only the blas
phemer denies it. Why ? Not because they see him, for this
they do not, but because the universe declares that he must be,
as its cause. His works declare him. (Bom. i, 20.)
Apply the principle for the elucidation of the problem of man.
We do not see man, as we do not see God, and for the same
reason, that he is not a material being. There are two things
— a material organism, and results of actions in and through it.
These tell the story of man, both that he is and what he is.
How ? We shall see in the following statement.
We have seen that for millions of years there existed simply
inorganic matter, first as atoms, then in collocations and world
masses and economies. Then for vaster ages folloAving that
there were living organic existences. We have seen that the
inorganic produced nothing, but was itself wrought by an ex
ternal worker. We have seen, also, that the organic produced
nothing ; but living, it ran a round of automatic activities and
perished, leaving only its casts iu the growing strata which
told of the world's age and the epochs in which they lived.
They left no monuments of art or construction to indicate that

Of Man. 235
they had any powers of any kind. They still exist in new and
advanced varieties, and still die without memorials.
A few thousand years ago a neAV and higher — highest type
of organism appeared on the planet, similar and yet dissimilar to
all that had preceded it. Had it been a mere organic existence
it would have lived and perished, and, like its predecessors, have
left no memorials but its casts in the forming strata of its
time. But it was not like them, or rather it was like them, but it Avas
found to be something more, or rather yet not to be, in itself,
something more, but to be the home of another order and kind
of being. How ? By what it has done. With this creature a
new world began, a world of its creation, monumental of its
handiwork. What is this new world, fathered by this newly arrived
being, and how did he proceed in its construction?
There are two questions ; take them separately : First, what
is the world of man's creation ; or, if not of his creation, of his
development ?
What has he made ? When he appeared he had nothing but
his body and the inorganic and organic substances which he found
existing about him, and his own personal powers. He did not
even possess developed knowledge. He was in all respects
absolutely naked. He had everything to learn, and with no
tools with which to commence business but his personal fac
ulties and the instruments furnished in the body given him
as a place of abode. The earth lay about him and the forms
of the life he would need for food, and other materials his
developing manhood would in a thousand ways require for his
health and comfort, but which he would have to find, most
of it concealed in the elements and hidden away in the earth
and in the atmosphere, and in animal and vegetable substances.

236 Studies in Theology.
Thus poor, and seemingly poorly equipped, he commenced
a lonely stranger in the universe and on the earth, which
was to be his temporary home. The elements were unf riendly,
and much of the abounding life about him hostile and eager
to make him a prey. He was unequal to cope with them, and
without means of self-protection. They were fleeter and
stronger than he. If his first consciousness was not one of
surprise and terror, it could only be because of some strange
inner support which ministered to his helpless need. What
Avas his first thought and feeling who can surmise ? He had
no clothes, but was not ashamed. There were two of them,
as after results show. They became acquainted and set up
housekeeping in an empty world. We cannot think of them
without being moved with sympathy. How lonely they must
have felt, and frightened, too, when the sun went down, and
when night came on and the stars came out ! The earth was
their bed and that wonderful sky of middle Asia their canopy.
No doubt wearied and anxious nature slept SAveetly that first
night under that brilliant sky ; we may hope it was calm and
peaceful. Next morning there were urgent needs of food. This had been
provided for them. Moses tells the story in few and simple
words, never improved upon, of the few succeeding days, and
then of long, sad years. It is not a pleasing story. The refrain
of sorrowful poverty and sin, which has never ceased, soon
commenced. They go out into the great world to make a
home. How helpless they look !
Behold the outcome ! The start was lowly enough. He
had no tools with which to set up business. Even his wants he
had to learn — the wants of the animal organism in which he
found himself resident, his own wants of knowledge and of the
proper understanding of himself and surrounding objects.
All was mystery.

Of Man. 237
Up to that time every creature that had life simply lived its
time and died, leaving no memorials. This new being was of
a different kind, and yet in some respects he seemed to be
similar. He possessed a body of similar, yea, identical, ele
ments. He had an earth soul similar to the earth soul of all
the animal kinds which had preceded his coming millions of
years, and many types of which were still filling the seas and
forests of the world when he made his appearance. But it
immediately became apparent that despite these external and
accidental resemblances he was a different kind of being.
He immediately commenced to act as none of his predecessors
or contemporaries acted, and to manifest a grade and kind of
powers which they did not possess. The result is before us —
the world of man's production. We distinctly and easily trace
it back along the line of written and monumental history to its
dawn. Besearch lays bare the stone age, succeeding it the
bronze, leading up to the cult and culture of our time.
To appreciate man, and begin to comprehend the broad gulf
between him and other creatures, one must ponder this amazing
result ; must be at the pains to go over the world and measure
what he has done and what is in him yet to be done ; must pur
sue him through the ages from the outdoor Avorkshop in the
plains of Middle Asia, where he factured his first stone ax
and flint arrowhead, to the splendors of to-day. What a
thrilling romance — not of fiction, but of tragic reality — as Ave
follow down the wake of history and behold the busy worker
and the ever-growing wonders of the product of his hands !
What a march from the outdoor workshop and its stone
hammer of ten thousand years ago to the great exposition of
yesterday ; to the workshops and factories of the most advanced
nations ; to the palatial homes and public buildings of the great

238 Studies in Theology.
cities ; to the museums and libraries and art galleries of all
cultured and developed peoples ; to the mighty steamers which
ply all oceans and the steel highways which traverse all lands ;
and the telescopes which sweep all heavens, and the science
which counts and weighs and calculates the movements of all
solar and stellar systems! But to determine the grade and
quality of man as differentiable from other creatures Ave must go
further than simply to note what he has done ; to the deeper
discovery of how he has done it — the process reveals the worker ;
as we study this we soon discover that the agent is more than
dumb forces, or product of dumb forces.
For the first time we reach a realm of self-consciousness. This
new being knows himself , and knows the Iioav of the world which
he has made — where and how it originated — that it is an evolu
tion of himself; that it sprang not from muscle and matter of
his body under necessitating force, but from himself ; that it
first existed in him as idea ; that then ensued in him a feeling
of desire or motive, and then that he acted as a will, using his
bodily frame as an instrument. Thus his world was made —
evolved out of himself — one stage conditioning another.
But this new being differs from all that preceded him, not
simply in the possession of a higher range of attributes and
mode of Avorking. He discovers also a unique quality — an
ethical nature — a conscience — a sense of responsibility to a
higher power for the use he makes of his faculties — obligation to
good offices to others at the cost of self-denial. The simple
law of selfishness which reigned in all other earlier and recent
races, even of the highest type, is replaced in him by the higher
and radically different law of regard to the welfare of others,
even at the sacrifice of self. The struggle for life which explains
all the effect of organic and sentient existence from the lowliest
plant to the loftiest mammal, in this new being, is subordinated
to a new law — the struggle for the life of others. We have

Of Man. 239
reached a new realm. Individual character takes on a new
quality. We stand in the presence not simply of a being of
structured organism, of hungry stomach, of sensitive nerves, of
rapacious appetites, but in the presence of a being avIio meas
ures and regulates himself by law, who respects others and rec
ognizes the law of duty — a being avIio sees meaning in all
things, and who determines present acts with respect to their
bearings on the welfare of his fellows as really as his own in
the long run of existence, and not in the light of present grati
fication or indulgence merely ; a being who apprehends God
and duty, and avIio looks forward to immortality ; a being who
is free master of himself, and not a creature of necessity ; a
creature made in the image of God, the Creator of all.
This new creation, the crown and glory of all, and last,
requiring for its service all that preceded him, is dis- The spiritual
, ¦ • t. -i i ., • j; • » , , . distinguished
tmguished by the possession of a new series ot attn- irom anteced-
butes and ultimate ends of existence unlike and entoreatlon-
impossible to all that preceded. To sensation it adds the
faculty of forming ideas or concepts ; to perception it adds
insight and true cognition ; to instinct it adds reason ; to pas
sion it adds appreciation and moral affection ; to desire it adds
a sense of the proper ; to impulse it adds the feeling of obliga
tion; to all it adds the sense of the true, the beautiful, the
good ; of right and wrong ; of responsibility ; of personal Avor-
thiness and unworthiness ; self-consciousness, freedom, con
science. It is consciously not of the organism, nor for it, but
only a temporary sojourner in it, and the organism is for it.
It has a life of its own which is potential of interminable
progress, and it lives in the hope of interminable existence
after the organism is taken down. The full significance of this
crowning creation will appear when we come to treat more
specifically of man.
But before we leave this general survey, as having impor-

240 Studies in Theology.
tant bearings on the discussion which is to follow on the nature,
attribute, and character of God, it is essential that one more
point should be raised, namely, the fact that the universe is
still in process of development — is uncompleted. The uncom
pleted facts must be taken into the account, and will be found
to be the most important of all as shedding light on the deepest
nature of its builder.
Man is an ethical being, and not a mere organism. Man in his
The essential et^ica^ nature develops the fact that his author is an
differentia- ethical being ; possesses ethical attributes and charac-
tion of man ° ' x
is freedom, ter. This is a revelation not reached in all the pre-
rateshimfrom ceding acts of the creative drama. There is abso-
unfoid^thTs hitely no proof of a moral nature in God in all his
ldea' antecedent acts. Sentient existence hints something,
but in its actual history nothing as to his real ethical character ;
and man as a mere factor clothed Avith an ethical nature does
not attain to the full significance of his existence until destiny
is reached. The eternal outcome of the mighty drama must
be taken into account. The end completes the revelation and
puts all significance in all preceding parts. If man exists for a
day, and then passes into oblivion as all other animals do, the
character of his author will be one thing. If he is immortal,
and has in him the possibilities of endless progress in good and
happiness and ethical worthiness, the character of his author will
be another thing. If it should be that all else will pass away as
mere scaffolding, and this one matchless creation will remain and
have a destiny determined on ethical grounds ; if an everlasting
kingdom shall thus rise upon a transient, preliminary, and pre
parative creation — a kingdom of righteousness and happiness —
then the complete work will demonstrate not simply the power and
skill of the great Worker, but more than that, that he is glorious
in holiness, infinite in goodness, God over all, blessed forever.

Of Man. 211
Milton transforms them into angels, and has had a great
following ; but his dream is without proof. They were but a
new and higher type of earthly beings, but with a dower of
faculty which was to transform the world, and at the same
time unfold the mystery of its meaning, and put significance
into all its preceding history. It was the coming of the heir to
his inheritance — the king of the world to his assigned dominion.
We will not trace his history adown the ages that have
followed, but simply point to the proofs in the wonders he has
wrought that he was of a new order of being. What are they ?
Would you look for his monument circumspicere ? Man's
creations are the proof of man's transcendence over nature.
Out of his powers has emanated the new and wondrous
creation, only less marvelous than the antecedent creations of
his great Father.
His first business was to search out the contents of his earth
home, and then to subdue them to his use. He must find the
metals in the rocks, and factor the tools for his service. What
an undertaking !
No heir ever inherited so princely an estate with so clear a
title, but no fortune was ever so concealed or difficult to make
available. What is the outcome ? It will be impossible to make the.
complete inventory. Go abroad over the earth and behold and;
study. Out of that naked and lonely stranger has emanated all
that his heirs possess to-day — the whole world of man's con
trivance — all works of utility and art and civilization; all
structures for his dwelling ; all implements for his use, cities and
their temples and merchandise; all machinery for his service of
industry and labor and convenience ; all learning and languages ;
all books, and their stored thoughts and researches and investiga-
17 *' *

242 Studies in Theology.
tions ; all crafts that ply the rivers and oceans, and all vehicles
that carry on the traffic and travel of the land ; all religions and
science and philosophies ; all governments and laws;
The outcome. all that makes the world a habitable world, and life in
it a delight and pleasure. He has delved into the mines of the
earth and rifled them of their concealed treasures ; he has robed
himself in garments of furs and fabrics ; he has converted loose
sands into translucent diamonds; he has extracted and disen
tangled the gases for illumination and heat ; he has tamed and
harnessed the lightning to be his obedient slave ; he has counted
and weighed the stars and determined their orbits ; he has added
a new eye a thousandfold more powerful than the one with which
he was dowered by his Creator ; he has compelled the sun to be
his artist, and the winds to be his slave ; he has extorted from the
earth the story of its origin and the narrative of its growth and
development ; he has found out the Creator of all and ascertained
his uncreated attributes ; he has come into communion with his
thought and feeling and motive and plan, and found him to be
his Friend and Father ; he has dared to believe himself immortal
amid universal death and decay, and to defy nature to destroy
him ; he has shown himself to be worthy of immortality and
an heir of the King eternal by the power in him of eternal
progress, and the dower of freedom peculiar to himself.
Greatest of all, he has shown as his highest crown of excel
lence that he is an ethical being — not simply that he discerns
the beautiful, but that he knows the good, and is conscious of
obligation to the right, and is capable of virtue.
These inherent qualities and ontwrought achievements pro
claim him to be more than a clod wrought into an organism of
curious living structure ; proclaim him to be a being in nature
and kind like his Maker, a child of God — not a thing of earth
and dust : for now a denizen of an earthly tabernacle wrought
in clay ; ultimately an heir of heaven.

Of Man. 243
How did he accomplish these wonders ? Two things of great
importance discover themselves in the study of this problem —
the problem of man's work and methods which have immediate
bearing on the other problem of his nature. A spirit works
under one law, and a clod or atom under another law. The one
acts freely, the other is driven by necessity ; the one acts per
sonally, the other is acted on and in.
Now we are in a condition to know, not merely assume, that
man acts under the law of a spirit, and therefore is a spirit.
How does this appear ? A spirit is first a knower, and Man worta
then an actor. It has an idea ; the idea begets desire ; a 3pirit-
the idea is the bottom fact. Desire moves to action. "Volitional
activity is the resultant act. All things that exist are traced first
to an idea, then to a will. For the idea and will we are compelled
to predicate a being who has the idea and Avill. The idea is prec
edent to the act: — is original pattern. The possessor of it is a
spirit. Thus the universe first existed in idea before it existed
in fact. The concrete fact declares the idea, and the being
back of all who possessed it, and that in its production he acted
as a will. The proof is of an eternal Being who had the idea
and who wrought it into concrete form, but this shows that the
universe emanated from a spirit. Spirit is before all and parent
of all.
Now we know that man's achievements are of this kind. All
his proper personal acts begin in idea. Would he build a house,
a steamship, a watch, a telescope, paint a picture, write a book,
do anything ? First he forms the idea of the thing to be done.
His primary creative act is the creation of the idea. This is
purely an act of spirit — not possible to a lump of matter organ
ized or unorganized. His next act is an act of will in the form
of a determination to put into concrete reality what exists in
idea. Then follows a forth-putting of power in executive volition.

244 Studies in Theology.
To turn the idea or the ideal into concrete reality, man
must use instruments. His will is impotent to direct creation.
Only the infinite is equal to that. Man has a subordinate
power. Would he create a watch or steam engine, a house,
a picture, he must determine the idea. Then he proceeds to
employ instruments. His first instrument is the organism
furnished him through which he must act. If it is not suf
ficient, through it he must create other instruments. He
is in such relations to the organism that he operates it voli-
tionally or as a will. He compels it to serve him. Is it a
picture he would paint ? How does he proceed ? First he
forms the picture as an idea. It is purely a spiritual prod
uct. It exists nowhere but in him. Then he commands
the body to make him an easel of a certain pattern, then a
canvas of a certain size, and brushes and pigments. Then he
commands the body to sit before the canvas, and take the
brush and pigments and commence his work. The body does
nothing that he does not command it to do — draws no line.
He is the artist, he determines the pigment, its tone and color,
he guides the brush. The finished picture comes from a
spirit. It is so of all that man does in which intelligence is
exercised. So far we believe that we have given a rational and substan
tially correct version of the universe : as to its vastness in space ;
and as to the method of its unfolding in time through incom
putable ages; and as to the history of life in the organic; and as
to the transcendence of man in his essence and attributes over all
other terrestrial existence. We are unable to find any disagree
ment in the facts and their order with what is clearly ascer
tained in the universe system. It must be proximately correct,
or at least must be held so to be until other facts are discovered
to modify it.

Of Man. 245
We have not aimed at a theistic rendering, though we believe
that the facts demonstrate the theistic theory.
We have not concerned ourselves about a theodicy, but have
sought simply to find the facts. The question of a theodicy is
an entirely different question, and requires the facts before it is
attempted. It will be reached in the treatises which succeed
this. But we have not reached all the facts yet. These must be
yet further adduced — especially facts with respect to man.
Man as to the organism is mortal. There are no exceptions
to this law. In this respect he is in strict analogy to all other
organic existence. This fact rationally establishes the principle
that all organic existence is by constitution mortal. And mor
tality or overthrow proves that that which is overthrown had a
beginning, and so that the whole order had a beginning, since
it is impossible that there should be a line with one end that has
not two ends. Universal mortality has been denied by some
theologians on what seems to them scriptural grounds. The
question of fact needs, therefore, to be more fully considered.
Is it of no significance that every organic existence through
all the ages of prehuman history has been mortal, and that the
body of man is in every respect analogous to all the organic
existence which preceded it and which is contemporaneous
with it, subject to the same laws, and pervaded and environed
with the same destructive influences and agencies ?
Sin is assigned as the cause of man's mortality, but where
the need for such a cause when all the evidences are that the
organism itself shows that it was not made for permanence, but
was designed for a transient tenement ? Why assign a cause
when another and obvious cause is known to exist, which is
operative irrespective of that which is assigned? Is it an
swered? The Scriptures so affirm in direct terms, and that

246 Studies in Theology.
settles it (Bom. v, 12). All depends on the meaning we at
tach to the term death in the passage. The assignment of
sin as the cause carries with it the implication that but for
sin the body would have escaped death, when the evidence
is that mortality was its inevitable doom from causes corporate
in its very nature ; and when we know that there are reasons why
its permanence would be untold calamity, no fact is more
obvious than the fact that a body organized as man's body is
was not intended or possible to be free from the common doom
of mortality, or a radical change equivalent to its abolishment.
If man is immortal, his present body was not intended so to be.
Physical death or dissolution is a law of the universe, and
man is no exception to the law.
But along with this is another fact, namely, that man himself
is not mortal or subject to the law of death. This may be de-
Man, wmseif me<^ as unproved ; but if allowed on any ground, the
immortal. admission carries with it that man is a distinct order
in the universe, and that his bodily organization, and whatever
else is involved in it and for it, is not an essential constituent or
any part of man, but only a temporary appendage, intended to
answer an end and then vanish away.
The fact of man's immortality cannot be scientifically de
duced, but of the fact there is abundant proof. The subject
cannot be further treated here.
The further fact we allege in proof that man is a distinct
Order ranking above the merely organic, and above the animal
or sentient organic, is that he is dowered with faculties which
place him under laws peculiar to himself, and is capable of
acts which subject him to reproaches or praise, impossible to any
other creature — acts of virtue or of sin entailing on him blame
and shame, or approvableness and worthiness, such as no other
creature is capable of.

Of Man. 247
This fact, if it be a fact, and it is universally admitted, will
be seen in its implication to raise man not simply to a distinct
grade, but to a distinct kind of being.
It is a fact of the universe and one of great significance that
man is a sinner. No scientific treatment of the universe is ad
equate that leaves out this fact. It is as much a
. . . „ . Man a sinner.
problem for scientific treatment as is any other fact
of the universe system. It is as proper a subject of inquiry
as geology or astronomy, and involves more grave and serious
questions and laws than do any of the so-called natural sciences.
What is sin ? It is usual to define sin as transgression of law,
or willful transgression of a known laAv. Even so inadequate
a definition as this has in it high implications ; and imparts
to man not simply a bad eminence, but necessitates that he
should be a unique being.
In all the universe as known to us there is no other being,
from the atom to the highest organic existence, that willfully
violates a known laAv, or places itself in opposition to law ; and
we will add, not a single being or thing that intentionally
keeps its laAv, or has any idea or knoAvledge either of itself or
its law. There is not an atom, inorganic, organic, or sentient,
that is not under law, not one that is out of harmony with its
law, and not one that knows or can know its law, and not one
that Avillfully either obeys or disobeys its law. In the whole
realm of life there is not an exception but man. The fact shows
that he is sui generis, a creature after no other type.
But a better definition will make this still more plain. Sin is
any self-determination or purpose of a free being or person to
do an act, or any indulgence of a feeling, or any gratification of
a natural passion which he knows or believes to be wrong, or
any inexcusable neglect to show kindness to persons in distress
Avhere the opportunity offers, or any intentional unkindness or

»'
248 Studies in Theology.
any want of love unfeigned toward God or man — any violation
of the law of God in thought, word, or deed, or in failure to
keep it, of which the person is aware at the time when the in
tention exists or the neglect takes place.
The opposite of sin is virtue or righteousness.- The possi
bility, and, more yet, the actuality of either of these acts or states,
and the consequences which attend and follow them, show that
man is a being of different character and quality from that of
any other creature, and not a possible evolution of any other.
Man is an ethical being. He knows his law. Pie is free to
its obedience or disobedience ; he is conscious of obligation ; he
has a conscience ; he adds to instinct a sense of duty ; to impulses
a power of repression or self-control. He discriminates, reflects,
considers consequences, acts from moral motives. These are
predicables of no merely organic being. He stands in awe and
reverence before authority. He distinguishes between what is
and what ought to be — is conscious of right and wrong — is
capable of shame, remorse, and self-reproach and their opposites.
Man is a unique sufferer, and also capable of unique enjoy
ment. In common with sentient creatures, his sentient nature
suffers, and in the same kind. He is so intimately related to it
that its sufferings report and appear in his self -consciousness.
But his sufferings proper to himself and his enjoyments are pe
culiar, and do not appear in the sentient orders. They are such
as arise from his moral states and acts and from his rational na
ture purely. This unquestionable fact cannot be explained on
any theory of evolution.
Finally, he is a creature capable of endless degradation of
guilt or exaltation of worthiness. He is capable not simply of
sentient experiences of pain and distress or pleasure, but of hap
piness and misery which result from purely moral causes ; that

Of Man. 249
is, from inward conviction of failure to be or to do what he
ought to be or to do, or for acts which he regards as wrong.
He is affected Avith hope and fear as he reflects on the kind of
life he lives, the use he makes of his poAvers. He thinks of
God, and stands in awe of an unknown future in view of what
manner of man he is.
Clods or organisms of dust can have no such experiences as
these. They demand a self-conscious and responsible subject.
Man only in all the terrestrial universe is such a subject.
From the indisputable facts here alleged we hold that man is
a unique being whose origin cannot be traced to evolution from
any other order found dwelling upon the earth. The facts all
harmonize with what is clearly taught in revelation. There is
perfect harmony in every part. We have not in this treatise
referred to revelation, or brought its authority to support any
position taken, not because we place slight estimate upon its
value as a witness. We believe it to be of the highest authority
as proof, but our object is simply to find facts and base our
conclusions on their inevitable implications. The theology of
the facts of the universe is the theology of the Holy Scriptures.
The inevitable deduction is that man is a spirit shrined for a
time in a body, and that he is a sinful and fallen spirit. For
the present we pursue the subject no further. In a
* l J Man a spirit.
treatise to follow purely theological questions will be
fully considered in the light of the facts here adduced and in
the light of revelation.
In a former work, Beyond the Grave, the author treated
of man simply as dual — composed of body and soul, or the
animal man and the personal man. That treatise was not
designed to deny the trichotemic doctrine. It was sufficient
to the purposes of that discussion to affirm the radical dis-

250 Studies in Theology.
tinction between the material and spiritual, the earthy and
heavenly in man, the temporary and mortal, and the permanent
and immortal. A strict analysis, we think, favors the tripartite
view of man, and we did not mean to imply the contrary in
that treatise. Conspicuously man is soul and body — mortal and
immortal ; particularly and strictly the lower animal soul be
longs to the bodily life on the earth, and, though different,
may be viewed as one with the body. Man is dual or triplex
accordingly as we make a more strict or general analysis of
his nature.
Trichotomy does not necessarily imply that man is triplex.
The furthest it can carry is to sIioav that man, as we find him,
is in a complex of soul and body. These terms A\re think have
real meaning and denote a fact. The body is one ; the soul is
another, and totally distinct from the body ; and the term soul
may have broader or narrower meaning, or may include both the
broader or narrower meanings. The lower qualities are com
mon with animals, the higher are peculiar to man ; and the
spirit still another, and may be totally distinct from both body
and soul. The three are facts of man, that is, man is shrined
in a body which is also the abode of an animal soul ; and in
this sense man is triplex as to his present mode of existence.
But Ave shall now endeavor to show that two of the members
of the complex are not essential to the man, and therefore not
component parts, but only temporary incidents of his existence
for a purpose.
The body is simply a physical form whose substance is of the
common inorganic matter of the universe vitalized so that it
grows from a germ to a state of maturity under a fixed law.
The vitalization of the body is simply a form of energizino- in
matter by which it is built, as in the case of plants and other
animal organisms. In the process of growing it is never the

Of Man. 251
same as to substance for a single day, and at the end of a few
years every particle in it has completely changed so that not
an atom of it remains. This is a well-known and undisputed
fact. It cannot, therefore, as to substance be an essential con
stituent of man, if man himself is a permanent being.
The body so formed has shrined in it a semi-spiritual crea
ture called by Trichotomists an animal soul, or ipvxn. It is
similar to that of which is found in the whole realm of animal
life. The organs of sensation which are in the body, called the
five senses, convey impressions to this indwelling soul and
awaken sensation in it and so determine its activities. The
impulses awakened are all the forms of sensation — hunger,
thirst, fear, lust, love of offspring, and such like. These con
stitute the life or experience of the animal soul, or tyvxf\. They
are wholly irrational and involuntary, and have their entire
function for the preservation and propagation of the body, and
are the same with difference of degree in all things that have
animal life, and for the same purpose. Being irrational and
involuntary they are unethical, but work under a strict law of
necessity or mere instinct, and are the sanu in every respect in
all animals, and without moral significance.
These two so-called components of man are simply animal
adjuncts and exist for uses. The man has relation to them, as
we shall see, but they are not of him. They are a divine
arrangement for the propagation and service of human bodies
and human life on the earth. Ultimately they die and disap
pear forever, having answered their end.
The animal soul is incapable of anything else than the sensi
tivities, instincts, and impulsions which relate to the preservation
and propagation of the body. It has no proper intellectual

252 Studies in Theology.
faculties or powers; is incapable of improvement; is void of
reason ; has no self-consciousness. There are semblances of mind :
as memory, cunning, desire, fear, pleasure, but all falling below
the grade of powers which appear in the human soul or spirit,
the man himself — no real mind, even in the higher species.
The third so-called component of the man, but in fact not a
component or constituent part but the man himself, is the
spirit. (These terms spirit, nvevfia, and soul are used indis
criminately to signify the same thing.)
The man is a personal being, whose characteristics are the
higher intellectual powers, spiritual emotions, and will, with
forms of sensibility.
This nobler and more exalted being is possited in the body,
and through it enters upon existence.
The senses of the body are prepared instruments for his use
to open to him the avenues of knowledge. The uses he has for
the body demand that he should be master of it, and have
rational control of all its members ; but also that his power
should be limited to mastery of its uses.
The person so shrined in the body is also related to the ani
mal soul which dwells in it. The relation is such that the person
takes up in his consciousness all the impulses of every kind
which are experienced by the inferior soul, and all the pains
and distresses which infest it and the body itself — the passions
and lusts of the one and pains and sicknesses of the other.
They are motivities to action, but are subject to his rational
and moral agency, and are totally void of ethical quality in
themselves as mere impulses, which he in his proper personal
action never can be.
Professor Drummond, in his recent work on the ascent of
man, has a chapter on the evolution of mind, in which he holds

Of Man. 253
the following language : " That abundant traces of mind are
found in the lower animals goes without the saying. But the
range of mental phenomena discovered there may certainly
excite surprise. Thus to consider only one set of phenomena —
that of the emotions — all the following products of emotional
development are represented at one stage or another of animal
life : Fear, surprise, affection, pugnacity, curiosity, jealousy,
anger, play, sympathy, emulation, pride, resentment, sense of
the beautiful, grief, hate, cruelty, benevolence, revenge, rage,
shame, regret, deceitfulness, sense of the ludicrous.
" If we turn from emotional to intellectual development the
parallel line, though more faint, is at least shadowed. Again we
find a list of intellectual products common to both animal and
man, and again an approximate order common to both. It is
true man's development beyond the highest point attained by
any animal in the region of the intellect is all but infinite. Of
rational thought he has the whole monopoly." This is as strong
a statement as is warranted, and it marks a radical distinction.
It shows that the spiritual in the animal is an incomparably
inferior grade, and that the point of separation is so radical that
the one cannot by mere evolution be lifted into the other.
In portions of the truly great discussion the author speaks as
if lie viewed nature and natural forces as causes of the universe
— to the careless or even careful reader who is unable to under
stand some obscure passages he would seem to displace God,
but evidently this is the furthest possible from his thought.
His aim throughout is to show the coherent unity of the uni
verse, and to point out the method of the divine Maker of the
marvelous whole of his work from the inception in the created
atom to the last result. Purpose presides over all the movement,
•and every force working the ever-advancing changes and out
comes is an energizing of the infinite cause — nothing is done

254 Studies in Theology.
but by him. The amazing wonder rises from one degree to
another, each precedent making way for and conditioning each
succeedent, but never without the presence and agency of the
prime cause.
He would seem at times to imply his acceptance of the theory
that man, at least as to his body, traces his descent to the primi
tive one-celled life, and certainly is a lineal descendant of the
earliest animal type. It is just that he should speak for himself,
and we therefore quote him in full :
" In the evolution of a human habitation we have an almost
perfect type of the evolution of that more august habitation,
the complex tenement of clay in which man's mysterious being
has its home. The body of man is a structure of a million, or
a million million, cells. And the history of the unborn babe
is, in the first instance, a history of additions, of room being
added to room, of organ to organ, of faculty to faculty. The
general process, also, by which this takes place is almost as clear
to modern science as in the case of material buildings. A special
class of observers has carefully watched these secret and amazing
metamorphoses, and so wonderful has been their success with
mind and microscope that they can almost claim to have seen
man's body made. The science of embryology undertakes to
trace the development of man from a stage in which he lived
in a one-roomed house — a physiological cell. Whatever the
multitude of rooms, the millions and millions of cells, in which
to-day each adult carries on the varied work of life, it is certain
that when he first began to be he was the simple tenant of a
single cell. Observe, it is not some animal-ancestor or some
human progenitor of man that lived in this single cell — that may
or may not have been — but the individual man, the present
occupant himself. We are dealing now not with phylogeny —
the history of the race — but with ontogeny — the problem of
man's ascent from his own earlier self. And the point at the

Of Man. 255
moment is not that the race ascends ; it is that each individual
man has once, in his own lifetime, occupied a single cell, and
starting from that humble cradle, has passed through stage
after stage of differentiation, increase, and development, until
the myriad-roomed, adult-form was attained. Whence that
first cradle came is at present no matter. Whether its remote
progenitor rocked among the waves of primeval seas or swung
from the boughs of forests long since metamorphosed into coal
does not affect the question of the individual ascent of man.
The answers to these questions are hypotheses. The fact that
now arrests our wonder is that when the earliest trace of an
infant's organization meets the eye of science it is nothing but
a one-celled animal. And so closely does its development from
that distant point follow the lines of the evolution just described
in the case of the primitive savage hut, that we have but to make
a few changes in phraseology to make the one process describe
the other. Instead of rooms and chambers, we shall now read
cells and tissues ; instead of the builder's device of adding room
to room, we shall use the physiologist's term segmentation / the
employments carried on in the various rooms will become the
functions discharged by the organs of the human frame, and line
for line the history of the evolution will be found to be the same.
" The embryo of the future man begins life, like the primitive
savage, in a one-roomed hut, a single simple cell. This cell is
round and almost microscopic in size. When fully formed it
measures only one tenth of a line in diameter, and with the
naked eye can be barely discerned as a very fine point. An
outer covering, transparent as glass, surrounds this little sphere,
and in the interior, embedded in protoplasm, lies a bright
globular spot. In form, in size, in composition there is no
apparent difference between this human cell and that of any
other mammal. The dog, the elephant, the lion, the ape, and
a thousand others begin their widely different lives in a house

256 Studies in Theology.
the same as man's. At an earlier stage indeed, before it has
taken on its pellucid covering, this cell has affinities still more
astonishing. For at that remoter period the earlier forms of
all living things, both plant and animal, are one. It is one of
the most astounding facts of modern science that the first em
bryonic abodes of moss and fern and pine, of shark and crab
and coral polyp, of lizard, leopard, monkey, and man are so
exactly similar that the highest powers of mind and microscope
fail to trace the smallest distinction between them.
"The fact that any groAving embryo is passing through a
real development is decided by the new complexity of
structure, byx the more perfect division of labor, and of better
kinds of labor, and by the increase in range and efficiency
of the correlated functions discharged by the Avhole. In
the development of the human embryo the differentiating
and integrating forces are steadily acting and cooperating from
the first, so that the result is not a mere aggregation of similar
cells, but an organism with different parts and many varied
functions. When all is complete we find that one suite of cells
has been especially set apart to provide the commissariat, others
have devoted themselves exclusively to assimilation. The ven
tilation of the house — respiration — has been attended to by
others, and a central force pump has been set up, and pipes
and ducts for many purposes installed throughout the system.
Telegraph wires have next been stretched in every direction to
keep up connection between the endless parts, and other cells
developed into bony pillars for support. Finally, the whole
delicate structure has been shielded by a variety of protective
coverings, and after months and years of further elaboration
and adjustment the elaborate fabric is complete. Now all
these complicated contrivances — bones, muscles, nerves, heart,
brain, lungs— are made out of cells ; they are themselves, and
in their furthest 'development, simply masses or suites of

Of Man. 257
cells modified in various ways for the special department of
household Avork they are meant to serve. No new thing, ex
cept building material, has entered the embryo since its first
appearing. It seized whatever matter lay to hand, incorporated
it Avith its own quickening substance, and built it into its ap
propriate place. So the structure rose in size and symmetry,
till the whole had climbed, a miracle of unfolding, to the stature
of a man.
" But the beauty of this development is not the significant
thing to the student of evolution ; nor is it the occultness of
the process nor the perfection of the result that fill him with
awe as he surveys the finished work. It is the immense dis
tance man has come. Between the early cell and the infant's
formed body the ordinary observer sees the uneventful passage
of a few brief months. But the evolutionist sees concentrated
into these few months the labor and the progress of incalcula
ble ages. Here before him is the whole stretch of time since
life first dawned upon the earth ; and as he watches the nascent
organism climbing to its maturity he witnesses a spectacle
which for strangeness and majesty stands alone in the field of
biological research. What he sees is not the mere shaping or
sculpturing of a man. The human form does not begin as a
human form. It begins as an animal ; and at first, and for a
long time to come, there is nothing wearing the remotest sem
blance of humanity. What meets the eye is a vast procession-
of lower forms of life, a succession of strange inhuman! crea
tures emerging from a crowd of still stranger and still! more in*-
human creatures ; and it is only after a prolonged and unrecog
nizable series of metamorphoses that they culminate in some
faint likeness to the image of him who is one of the newest yet
the oldest of created things. Hitherto we have been taught to
look among the fossiliferous formations of geology for the
buried lives of the earth's past. But embryology has- startled
13 ' -¦¦ t

258 Studies in Theology.
the world by declaring that the ancient life of the earth is not
dead. It is risen. It exists to-day in the embryos of still
living things, and some of the most archaic types find again a
resurrection and a life in the frame of man himself.
"It is an amazing and almost incredible story. The propo
sition is not only that man begins his earthly existence in the
guise of a lower animal embryo, but that in the successive
transformations of the human embryo there is produced before
our eyes a visible, actual, physical representation of part of the
life history of the world. Human embryology is a condensed
account, a recapitulation or epitome of some of the main chap
ters in the natural history of the world. The same processes
of development which once took thousands of years for their
consummation are here condensed, foreshortened, concentrated
into the space of weeks. Each platform reached by the hu
man embryo in its upward course represents the embryo of some
lower animal which in some mysterious way has played a part
in the pedigree of the human race, Avhich may itself have dis
appeared long since from the earth, but is now and forever
built into the inmost being of man. These lower animals, each
at its successive stage, have stopped short in their development ;
man has gone on. At each fresh advance his embryo is found
again abreast of some other animal embryo a little higher in
organization than that just passed. Continuing his ascent that
also is overtaken, the now very complex embryo making up to
one animal embryo after another until it has distanced all in its
series and stands alone.
" The duration of this process, the profound antiquity of the
last survivor, the tremendous height he has scaled, are incon
ceivable by the faculties of man. But measure the very lowest
of the successive platforms passed in the ascent, and see how
very great a thing it is even to rise at all. The single cell, the
first definite stage which the human embryo attains, is still the

Of Man. 259
adult form of countless millions both of animals and plants.
These simple cells are perfect living things. The earth, the
water, and the air teem Avith them everywhere. They move,
they eat, they reproduce their like. But one thing they do
not do — they do not rise. These organisms have, as it were,
stopped short in the ascent of life. And long as evolution has
worked upon the earth the vast numerical majority of plants
and animals are still at this low stage of being. So minute are
some of these forms that if their one-roomed huts were ar
ranged in a row it would take twelve thousand to form a street
a single inch in length. In their watery cities — for most of
them are lake dAvellers — a population of eight hundred thou
sand million could be accommodated within a cubic inch. Yet,
as there was a period in human history when none but cave
dwellers lived in Europe, so was there a time when the highest
forms of life upon the globe were these microscopic things.
See, therefore, the meaning of evolution from the want of it.
In a single hour or second the human embryo attains the plat
form which represents the whole life achievement of myriads
of generations of created things, and next day or hour is im
measurable centuries beyond them.
" Through all what zoological regions the embryo passes in its
great ascent from the one-celled forms one can never com
pletely tell. The changes succeed one another with such
rapidity that it is impossible at each separate stage to catch
the actual likeness to other embryos. Sometimes a familiar
feature suddenly recalls a form well known to science, but the
likeness fades, and the developing embryo seems to wander
among the ghosts of departed types. Long ago these crude
ancestral forms were again the highest animals upon the earth.
For a few thousand years they reigned supreme, furthered the
universal evolution by ahair breadth, and passed away. The
material dust of their bodies is laid long since in the paleozoic

260 Studies in Theology.
rocks, but their life and labor are not forgotten. For their
gains were handed on to a succeeding race. Transmitted
thence through an endless series of descendants, sifted, en
riched, accentuated, still dimly recognizable, they reappeared
at last in the physical frame of man. After the early stages of
human development are passed the transformations become so
definite that the features of the contributory animals are almost
recognizable. Here, for example, is a stage at which the em
bryo in its anatomical characteristics resembles that of the
vermes, or worms. As yet there is no head, nor neck, nor
backbone, nor waist, nor limbs. A roughly cylindrical head
less trunk — that is all that stands for the future man. One by
one the higher invertebrates are left behind, and then occurs
the most remarkable change in the whole life history. This is
the laying down of the line to be occupied by the spinal cord,
the presence of which henceforth will determine the place of
man in the vertebrate subkingdom. At this crisis the eye
which sweeps the field of lower nature for an analogue will
readily find it. It is a circumstance of extraordinary interest
that there should be living upon the globe at this moment an
animal representing the actual transition from invertebrate to
vertebrate life. The acquisition of a vertebral column is one
of the greatest marks of height which nature has bestowed
upon her creatures ; and in the shallow waters of the Mediter
ranean she has preserved for us a creature which, whether de
generate or not, can only be likened to one of her first rude
experiments in this direction. This animal is the lancelet, or
amphioxus, and so rudimentary is the backbone that it does
not contain any bone at all, but only a shadow or prophecy of
it in cartilage. The cartilaginous notochord of the amphioxus
nevertheless is the progenitor of all vertebral columns, and in
the first instance this structure appears in the human embryo
exactly as it now exists in the lancelet. But this is only a

Of Man. 261
single example. In living nature there are a hundred other
animal characteristics which at one stage or another the biol
ogist may discern in the ever-changing kaleidoscope of the
human embryo.
" Even with this addition, nevertheless, the human infant is
but a first rough draft, an almost formless lump of clay. As
yet there is no distinct head, no brain, no jaAVS, no limbs; the
heart is imperfect, the higher visceral organs are feebly devel
oped, everything is elementary. But gradually new organs
loom in sight, old ones increase in complexity. By a magic
which has never yet been fathomed the hidden potter shapes
and reshapes the clay. The whole grows in size and symme
try. Besemblances, this time, to the embryos of the lower ver
tebrate series flash out as each new step is attained — first the
semblance of the fish, then of the amphibian, then of the rep
tile, last of the mammal. Of these great groups the leading
embryonic characters appear as in a moving panorama, some of
them pronounced and unmistakable, others mere sketches, sug
gestions, likenesses of infinite subtlety. At last the true mam
malian form emerges from the crowd. Far ahead of all at this
6tage stand out three species — the tailed catarrhine ape, the
tailless catarrhine, and last, differing physically from these
mainly by an enlargement of the brain and a development of
the larynx, man.
" Whatever views be held of the doctrine of evolution, what
ever theories of its cause, these facts of embryology are proved.
They have taken their place in science wholly apart from the
discussion of theories of evolution, and as the result of labora
tory investigation made for quite other ends. What is true
for man, moreover, is true of all other animals. Every crea
ture that lives climbs up its own genealogical tree before it
reaches its mature condition. 'All animals living, or that
ever have lived, are united together by blood relationship of

262 Studies in Theology.
varying nearness or remoteness, and every animal now in exist
ence has a pedigree stretching back, not merely for ten or a
hundred generations, but through all geologic time since life
first commenced on the earth. The study of development has
revealed to us that each animal bears the mark of its ancestry
and is compelled to discover its parentage in its own develop
ment ; the phases through which an animal passes in its progress
from the egg to the adult are no accidental freaks, no mere
matters of developmental convenience, but represent more or
less closely, in more or less modified manner, the successive an
cestral stages through which the present condition has been
acquired.' * Almost foreseen by Agassiz, suggested by Yon
Baer, and finally applied by Fritz Muller, this singular law is
the keynote of modern embryology. In no case, it is true, is
the recapitulation of the past complete. Ancestral stages are
constantly omitted, others are overaccentuated, condensed, dis
torted, or confused, while new and undecipherable characters
occasionally appear. But it is a general scientific fact that
over the graves of a myriad aspirants the bodies of man and of
all higher animals have risen. No one knows why this should
be so. Science, at present, has no rationale of the process
adequate to explain it. It was formerly held that the entire
animal creation had contributed something to the anatomy of
man; or that, as Serres expressed it, 'Human organogenesis is
a transitory comparative anatomy.' But though man has not
such a monopoly of the past as is here inferred — other types
having here and there diverged and developed along lines of
their own — it is certain that the materials for his body have
been brought together from an unknown multitude of lowlier
forms of life.
" Those who know the Cathedral of St. Mark's Avill remem
ber how this noblest of the stones of Yenice owes its greatness
* Marshall, Vertebrate Embryology, p. 26.

Of Man. 263
to the patient hands of centuries and centuries of workers, how
every quarter of the globe has been spoiled of its treasures to
dignify this single shrine. But he who ponders over the more
ancient temple of the human body will find imagination fail
him as he tries to think from what remote and mingled sources,
from Avhat lands, seas, climates, atmospheres, its various parts
have been called together, and by what innumerable contribu
tory creatures, swimming, creeping, flying, climbing, each of its
several members was wrought and perfected. What ancient
chisel first sculptured the rounded columns of the limbs ? What
dead hands built the cupola of the brain, and from what older
ruins were the scattered pieces of its mosaic work brought ?
Who fixed the Avindows in its upper walls ? What winds and
weathers wrought strength into its buttresses ? What ocean
beds and forest glades worked up its coloring ? What love
and terror and night called forth the music ? And what life and
death and pain and struggle put all together in the noiseless
workshop of the past and removed each worker silently when
its task was done ? How these things came to be biology is one
long record. The architects and builders of this mighty temple
are not anonymous. Their names and the work they did
are graven forever on the Avails and arches of the human embryo.
For this is a volume of that book in which man's members
were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as
yet there was none of them.
" The descent of man from the animal kingdom is some
times spoken of as a degradation. It is an unspeakable exalta
tion. Becall the vast antiquity of that primal cell from which
the human embryo first sets forth. Compass the nature of
the potentialities stored up in its plastic substance. Watch all
the busy processes, the multiplying energies, the mystifying
transitions, the inexplicable chemistry of this living laboratory.
Observe the variety and intricacy of its metamorphoses, ex-

264 Studies in Theology.
quisite gradation of its ascent, the unerring aim with which the
one type unfolds — never pausing, never uncertain of its direc
tion, refusing arrest at intermediate forms, passing on to its flaw
less maturity without waste or effort or fatigue. See the sense
of motion at every turn, of purpose and of aspiration. Dis
cover how, with identity of process and loyalty to the type,
a hairbreadth of deviation is yet secured to each so that no two
forms come out the same, but each arises an original creation,
with features, characteristics, and individualities of its own.
Bemember, finally, that even to make the first cell possible
stellar space required to be swept of matter, suns must needs
be broken up and planets cool, the agents of geology labor mil
lennium after millennium at the unfinished earth to prepare a
material resting place for the coming guest. Consider all this,
and judge if creation could have a sublhner meaning or the
human race possess a more splendid genesis.
" From the lips of the prophet another version, an old and
beautiful story, was told to the childhood of the earth, of how
God made man ; how with his own hands he gathered the
bactrian dust, modeled it, breathed upon it, and it became a liv
ing soul. Later the insight of the Hebrew poet taught man a
deeper lesson. He saw that there was more in creation than
mechanical production. He saw that the Creator had differ
ent kinds of hands and different ways of modeling. How it
was done he knew not, but it was not the surface thing his
forefathers taught him. The higher divinity and mystery of the
process broke upon him. Man was a fearful and wonderful thing.
He was modeled in secret. He was curiously wrought in the
lowest parts of the earth. When science came it was not
to contradict the older versions. It but gave them content
and a still richer meaning. What the prophet said, and the
poet saw, and science proved, all and equally will abide for
ever. For all alike are voices of the unseen, commissioned to

Of Man. 265
different peoples and for different ends to declare the mystery
of the ascent of man.
" Take away the theory that man has evolved from a lower
animal condition, and there is no explanation whatever of any
one of these phenomena. With such facts before us it is
mocking human intelligence to assure us that man has not some
connection with the rest of the animal creation, or that the
processes of his development stand unrelated to the other ways
of nature. That Providence, in making a new being, should
deliberately have inserted these eccentricities, without their
having any real connection with the things they so well imi
tate, or any working relation to the rest of his body, is, with our
present knowledge, simple irreverence.
" Were it the present object to complete a proof of the de
scent of man one might go on to select from other departments
of science evidence not less striking than that from vestigial
structures. From the side of palaeontology it might be shown
that man appears in the earth's crust like any other fossil, and
in the exact place where science would expect to find him.
When born he is ushered into life like any other animal ; he
is subject to the same diseases ; he yields to the same treatment.
When fully grown there is almost nothing in his anatomy to
distinguish him from his nearest allies among other animals —
almost bone for bone, nerve for nerA'e, muscle for muscle he is
the same. There is, in fact, a body of evidence now before
science for the animal origin of man's physical frame which it
is impossible for a thinking mind to resist."
From these citations it appears that the distinguished author
believes in the derivation of man, at least as to his body, from
the animal races, ascending through from the earliest to the last
species. If the facts of embryology are precisely as he states — and we

266 Studies in Theology.
are not prepared to dispute the statement — they do not establish
that for which they are cited, that is, the descent of man, even
as to his body, through the successive types of preexisting
animal races. The utmost point to which the facts can carry
is the establishment of an ascending order of organisms from
the most rudimental type to man, the most recent and most
wonderful in the series; and the other remarkable circum
stance, that each succeeding type is an advance. The alleged
fact that the human embryo in the process of its development
from inception to maturity takes on successively resemblance
to the antecedent and inferior types proves nothing as to de
scent or derivation ; the inference is unwarranted, and up to
date is wholly without proof of any kind, and in violent con
tradiction of all that is known.
The besetting and fatal difficulties of the materialistic evolu-
Fatai diaicui- tion theory in any form in which it has been pro-
ties in the way r
of evolution, pounded or can be propounded are not simply that
the assumed fact is improbable, but that it is utterly without
plausible evidence, and that there are the highest evidences
against it — in fact, that it is impossible.
It is conceivable even that life might have been of spon-
hare ™eBen taneous generation ; that is, that matter might have
spontaneous Deen such that, in given conditions, life would appear
and evolu- ° r r
tionai. in any and every form ; and it might have been that
life thus springing in the lowest form would develop into any
other form and all other forms indifferently or by a regular
process. The Infinite might have so arranged it that from a
toad might spring a human offspring, or vice versa, but he has
not done it. The theory breaks down at every point for the
want of evidence, and by the load of contradictive evidence.
The breaks in the chain of life are impossible on the prin
ciple of evolution, such as the break between unliving matter

Of Man. 267
and life; the break between vegetable and animal life; the
break between animal life and conscious personal life ; and, in
fact, the break between any two species in the entire realm of
life. Not an instance of spontaneous generation is made out.
This is confirmed by the most eminent advocates of evolution,
Huxley and Darwin both.
The germs of life or the living germs are definite. When
posited in the earth and seas originally they were definite, each
germ evolving its own special organism, and in no case depart
ing from it ; and each organism propagating its own type and
no other. No attempt to confuse a germ by artificial methods,
and cause it to miss its way and do something else than its ap
pointed work, has ever succeeded or ever can. Time makes
nothing in the case. Each germ pursues its fixed course with
out deviation through ages until it lapses and disappears from
the realm of life ; not an instance to the contrary species run
can be shown. Species run close together, but they gether.
do not blend, or cross each other, or pass into each other, or
propagate through each other. They have variable margins,
but with fixed limits. They are what they are by an eternal
decree. And why should they not be ? To what Evolution re-
. . ,i,i. i Heves noth-
purpose is it mat Ave are asked to believe that each ing.
species was not distinct from the beginning? Does the theory
serve any useful purpose ? Does it solve any difficulty ? Does
it meet any aesthetic demand ? Can anyone assign any reason
why a man should believe that his original progenitor was not
a man, but a beast, who had neither the power of speech, nor of
reason, nor a conscience? If the numerous races and species in
the vegetable and animal realms coexist now without trespassing
upon each other's domain, nor confusing each other's pedigree ;
if seeds and germs now may be depended on to produce each
its own kind, and if they never disappoint us by turning into

268 Studies in Theology.
something else, wherefore imagine that they were less loyal in
other ages ? Would it in any way be easier or more creditable
to the Creator that he should derive hi6 noblest creature, whom
he honors as his child, from a brutal parentage, than that he
should directly create him? Would the idea if accepted by
man be conservative and promotive of his self-respect and of
his sense of worthiness? Would it increase or diminish his
sense of dignity and responsibility to class him among the off
spring of beasts ? *
* If none of these things, why accept a theory which is wholly void of evi
dence ?
" The whole controversy at present conducted by the materialists and vitalists
resolves itself into one question : Whether life springs from what Dr. Harvey calls a
' primordium ' — a preexisting vital germ or unit — or whether it originates de novo,
as the materialists assert, from infusions contained in the experimental flocks, or
from plastide particles contained in protoplasmic matter, or from the still more
daring of ' molecular machinery ' as worked by molecular force ? It is certain that
the materialistic theory is quite as inexplicable, on the basis of analogical reasoning
and microscopical investigation, as that indicated in the Bible genesis ; while the
vitalistic theory would seem to be more in harmony with vital phenomena, and
prove the more rational hypothesis of the two. Besides, the Bible genesis answers
to the logical necessity of predicating a determinate cause for each and every vital
effect, or each living organism apparently springing from plasmic conditions, or
mere structureless matter. Whenever the seeds of plants or trees are actually
planted or sown in the eartht his logical necessity rests on an induction impregua-
bly laid in cause and effect ; while the materialistic dogma nihil or nihilo would
necessitate a like induction where seed is not sown. In either case the change that
ensues is manifestly due to vital properties, whether the same be inhering in the
seed or in necessary environing conditions. And the vital processes are the same,
with the single difference as to actual environments.
" The germ in the seed is capable of assimilating by well-determined and thoroughly
specialized processes the nutrient matter contained in the environment, precisely as
the ' primordial germ ' develops under its environing conditions. From the mo
ment they strike their rootlets into the ground the process of development and
growth are the same. The only point, however, necessary to make in this connec
tion is that when we go back to the first living organism of a species — its pri-
mordially developed form — we necessarily reach environing conditions within which
there is no such thing as a germ cell with exterior environments corresponding to
the testa of the seeds, or to any conceivable notion we may have of seeds them
selves. "At this points — one not merely theoretical or speculatively possible only, but
absolutely fixed and determinable in our backward survey of the vital forces of na-

Of Man. 269
We have already conceded that the theory is not necessarily
atheistic ; but, suppose it should be accepted, would „ .
_ x * r j Not necessa-
it make for theism, or against it ? Let it be sup- r"y atheistic.
posed that life is a spontaneous product of matter, and that all
its types are accidental varieties — and this it must be, or it must
be the product of an al extra, supermaterial cause — would it
increase or diminish the hold of theism? If it would diminish
the force of the eA-idence of the existence and governance of a
personal God — and who can doubt it ?— would it make for the
moral interest and welfare of mankind or against it ? Tends toathe-
Would it lessen or intensify the motives to virtue ? morality.
Would it strengthen or weaken the hope of immortality?
Would it tighten or loosen the bonds of morality? To ask
these questions is to answer them. That the prevalence of the
theory would be deadly will only be disputed by those who do
not estimate properly the springs of human action, or who. are
indifferent to consequences. The question in issue is by no
means an indifferent one. But it is not because of possible evils
in the theory that it is condemned. If it were true despite
these it would have the highest right to acceptance. But be
ing false, and without a shadow of evidence for its support,
these gentlemen, many of them illustrious for learning, and
some of them of high position and influence, and claiming to
be Christian, lending it their name and support, must be held
ture — we find individual parentage lost in a natural matrix, or in the vital principle
implanted, or a ' primordiunr' in the earth itself. To this inevitable induction of
Dr. Harvey we are all driven in the end by those intuitive processes of reasoning
which are hardly less conclusive than mathematical induction itself. We may call
these ' primordium,' plastide postules, bioplasts, vital units, or whatever we will —
the name is nothing, the working process is everything. Scientific speculation ac
complishes nothing, therefore, by its new terminology except to confound the igno
rant and astonish the wise. To call the homogeneous basis of an egg ' blosima '
and its germinal point a ' blostia ' is all well enough in its way, but it adds no new
knowledge or additional wealth of language wherewith to predicate vital theories,
whether they relate to the progeny of a hencoop or the lair of a tiger in an Indian
jungle." — Life, Its True Genesis, Wright, p. 26.

270 Studies in Theology.
responsible for aiming a deadly blow at the dearest interests of
men by unsettling the foundations of faith and morality with
out cause and against the plainest reasons. It may seem to
them to be an innocent holiday sport, a mere pleasing and
harmless sensation, of which they are the heroes ; it may amuse
and tickle their vanity , to witness the commotion they create.
But the hallucination has so taken possession of us that nature
is a real something which has power and exerts it according to
fixed rules that we do not get rid of it easily. It must be ab
solutely eradicated before we can come to right thinking, and
it can only be eradicated by not simply pointing out its error,
but by extracting its root.
Let us, then, understand the term nature as describing a
something that has real existence — that is the equivalent of
things; nature is all things that are made — it is the sum of
things. Now, if we add law as existing in things, we have as
nature things and their laws. But now if we inquire for the
meaning of this added term law we have as the answer, A rule
according to which things act. If now we ask who makes the
rule, what must the answer be ? Do things make their own
rules? The only possible answer must be, He that made things
appointed their laws. Then if we include these laws in the
term nature we have as the result things and the will of God,
Avhich is their source and law. Thus we see that laAV finds its
home not in things, but in the mind of the Creator of things.
We include God in the term nature, and we make laAvs of na
ture the simple equivalent of God's purpose as to how things
shall be ordered.
But once more: laAvs are not themselves -de facto things, or
rather let us ask, Are they de facto things ? If they are things
existing among other things how shall we define them ? The
answer to which we are driven must be that a law is an idea or
rule of thought as to what an act should be. Now, does the

Of Man. 271
idea exist in itself or in the thing ? Does the atom have an
idea when it acts according to an idea ? The answer can only
be one. The idea, according to which the act is required, is
not in the atom as possessed by it, for that would make it in
telligent ; that is, it is not in nature, for the sum of atoms is
nature ; but it must be somewhere, it cannot stand alone. It
is in the eternal Mind, and when it shows itself in the atom it
reveals the eternal Mind as present in the atom.
But again, since law is not a being, it does not execute itself, it is
not in itself a self-regulating and self-acting something. In itself
it does not exist. Who, then, executes the law — this law which is
detected as existing in things ? Do the things themselves execute
the law, that is, do things conform themselves and their activities
to what we are pleased to call their laws ? Then things must
apprehend laws. How else could they conform their action to
laws? Could they themselves act according to infinitely deli
cate and infinitely wise laws and have no power to discern any
laws? The supposition is preposterous. These things do
neither know nor execute what we are pleased to call the laws
of nature. The finding is that things do not act according to
law or act at all. He that made things made them for a pur
pose. That purpose is accomplished by a method which he
executes. That method among things is fixed and is the neces
sity of things, that is, the maker enforces the method, is the
executor of laAv. The power that carries out the law is his
power. If we choose to say, " But the power is in the atom," we
do not object, if it be meant that it is exerted in the atom, but
not by the atom. That, as we belieA'e, is the exact fact. Na
ture's law is simply God's idea coupled with God's purpose —
the plan of the universe pervading every part and seen in
every movement. The idea has no other home but the divine
mind, and the power which executes it has no other source ;
that is, God is source of all laws. Nature is a name which

272 Studies in Theology.
men have invented to describe these regular and regulated
ongoings. The fallacy is in supposing a power lodged in nature or
things to act intelligently without intelligence in the things
that act, that is, power to act without the power to act, or,
without the intelligence Avhich is exhibited in the act.
Evolution is the forthputting or unfolding of a free being in
a regulated system of effects which emanates from intelligence
and volition. The universe is an evolution from such a source.
It emanates from eternal Avisdom and power as a free expression.
Being what they are, it is Avhat it is, and could not fail thus to
be — the stream is germane to the fountain, the tree is product
of the seed. There is nothing in the system that is not trace
able to this infinite source. The conformity of all things to law,
and the manifestation of law in all things, means simply that
God regulates all, and there is nothing of which his will is not
the regulator and cause.
The result of all investigation up to date may be summed
up as the discovery of these several facts : (a) the existence
Results of in- an<* agencv °f an extramaterial, eternal, all-potent
vestigation. agent ; (5) the production of inorganic matter ; (c) the
formation of worlds ; (d) the creation of life, manifesting it
self in organized varieties, vegetable and animal, and in that
order; (e) living creatures in the animal organism charac
terized by feeling, instincts, preferences, affections, passions,
susceptibility to pain and pleasure, and a general kind of
automatic mentality, in varying degrees, below self-conscious
ness and personality ; (f) man, a personal, self-conscious
being, characterized by proper mental, moral, and spiritual
endowments. If it should be asked how, having discarded as unscientific,
and in every way unsupported, the theory of naturalism in its

Of Man. 273
two aspects of spontaneous generation and evolution of life, we
suppose life to have been introduced, that is, in what Llteaalrect
manner, we have to answer, in general by creation — creation.
life is the direct product of the infinite cause; in particular,
in a manner to be described.
As observed, the occult force called life manifests itself in
organism, and without dispute is the builder of organism, and
by necessity exists before the organism which it
J J ° Life builds
constructs, and so is not a product, directly or indi- its organ-
rectly, of its own organism. It is shown thus to be
an agent in its own right, and must possess the requisite en
dowments for the effects it produces. The theory that life is a
product of organism commits the fallacy of putting the effect
befoie the cause.
At present, so far as can be ascertained, throughout all the
realms of life, the life force is simply divine energy posited
and exerted to build the original organism and to Life propa-
propagate other similar organisms in seeds or germs, Rative-
animal and vegetable. These contain, with more or less en
veloping matter, minute fulcra from which the building force
enters — the real germ.
In his final chapter in the book referred to Drummond him
self concedes the whole ground we have contended for, and
affirms that evolutionism is but another name- for the- divine
method of bringing about varieties of organic- existence; His-
great mistake is in assuming without proof and against proof
the derivation theory as the method of the divine Worker:.
This, we think, is a great blunder, and harmful as great.
It is just that the distinguished author should speak for him
self, and so we cite him at length :
" The secret of evolution lies, in short, with the environment.
In the environment, in that in which things live and move and
have their being, is found the secret of their being, and espe-
19 *

274 Studies in Theology.
cially of their becoming. And what is that in which things
live and move and have their being ? It is nature, the world,
the cosmos — and something more, some One more, an eternal
intelligence and an eternal will. Everything that lives lives
in virtue of its correspondences with this environment. Evolu
tion is not to unfold from within ; it is to infold from without.
Growth is no mere extension from a root, but a taking posses
sion of, or a being possessed by, an ever- widening environ
ment, a continuous process of assimilation of the seen or unseen,
a ceaseless redistribution of energies flowing into the evolving
organism from the universe around it. The supreme factor in
all development is environment. Half the confusions which
reign round the process of evolution, and half the objections to
it, arise from considering the evolving object as a self-sufficient
whole. Produce an organism, plant, animal, man, society,
which will evolve in vacuo, and the right is yours to say that
the tree lies in the root, the flower in the bud, the man in the
embryo, the social organism in the family of an anthropoid ape.
If an organism is to be judged in terms of the immediate en
vironment of its roots, the tree is a clay tree ; but if it is to be
judged by stem, leaves, fruit, it is not a clay tree. If the
moral or social organism is to be judged in terms of the envi
ronment of its roots, the moral and social organism is a mate
rial organism ; but if it is to be judged in terms of the higher
influences Avhich enter into the making, of its stem, leaves,
fruit, it is not a material organism. Everything that lives, and
every part of everything that lives, enters into relation with
different parts of the environment and with different things in
the environment; and at every step of its ascent it compasses
new ranges of the environment, and is acted upon, and acts, in
different ways from those in which it was acted upon, or acted,
at the previous stage.
" For what is most of all essential to remember is that not only

Of Man.. 275
is environment the prime factor in development, but that
the environment itself rises with every evolution of any form
of life.
" Man, in his long pilgrimage upward from the clay, passes
through regions of ever-varying character. Each breath drawn
and utilized to make one upward step brings him into relation
Avith a fractionally higher air, a fractionally different world.
The neAv energies he there receives are utilized, and in virtue
of them he rises to a third, and from a third to a fourth. As
in the animal kingdom the senses open one by one — the eye
progressing from the mere discernment of light and darkness
to the blurred image of things near, and then to clearer vision
of the more remote ; the ear passing from the tremulous
sense of vibration to distinguish with ever -increasing delicacy
the sounds of far-off things — so in the higher world the moral
and spiritual senses rise and quicken till they compass qualities
unknown before and impossible to the limited faculties of the
earlier life. So man, not by any innate tendency to progress
in himself, nor by the energies inherent in the protoplasmic
cell from which he first set out, but by a continuous feeding
and reinforcing of the process from without, attains the higher
altitudes, and from the sense world at the mountain foot as
cends with ennobled and ennobling faculties until he greets the
sun. " What is the environment of the social tree ? It is all the
things, and all the persons, and all the influences, and all the
forces with which, at each successive stage of progress, it enters
into correspondence. And this environment inevitably ex
pands as the social tree expands and extends its correspond
ences. At the savage stage man compasses one set of relations,
at the rude social stage another, at the civilized stage a third,
and each has its own reactions. The social, the moral, and the
religious forces beat upon all social beings in the order in which

276 Studies in Theology.
the capacities for them unfold, and according to the measure
in which the capacities themselves are fitted to contain them.
And from what ultimate source do they come ? There is only
one source of everything in the world. They come from the
same source as the carbonic acid gas, the oxygen, the nitrogen,
and the vapor of water, which from the outer world enter into
the growing plant. These also visit the plant in the order in
which the capacities for them unfold, and according to the
measure in which these capacities can contain them.
" The fact that the higher principles come from the same en
vironment as those of the plant nevertheless does not imply
that they are the same as those which enter into the plant. In
the plant they are physical, in man spiritual. If anything is to
he implied it is not that the spiritual energies are physical, but
that the physical energies are spiritual. To call the things in
the physical world " material " takes us no nearer the natural,
no further away from the spiritual. The roots of a tree may
rise from what we call a physical world ; the leaves may be
bathed by physical atoms ; even the energy of the tree may be
solar energy, but the tree is itself. The tree is a thought, a
unity, a rational purposeful whole; the 'matter' is but the
medium of their expression. Call it all — matter, energy, tree
— a physical production, and have we yet touched its ultimate
reality? Are we even quite sure that Avhat we call a physical
world is, after all, a physical world ? The preponderating view
of science at present is that it is not. The very term ' ma
terial world,' we are told, is a misnomer ; that the world is a
spiritual world, merely employing ' matter ' for its manifesta
tions. " But surely there is still a fallacy. These so-called social
forces are the effect of society, and not its cause ? Before they
generate society, society has to regenerate them ? True, but
to regenerate is not to create. Society is machinery, a medium

Of Man. 277
for the transmission of energy, but no more a medium for its
creation than a steam engine for the creation of its energy.
Whence then the social energies? The answer is as before.
Whence the physical energies ? And science has only one an
swer to that. 'Consider the position into which science has
brought us. We are led by scientific logic to an unseen, and
by scientific analogy to the spirituality of this unseen. In
fine, our conclusion is, that the visible universe has been
developed by an intelligence resident in the unseen.' * There
is only one theory of the method of creation in the field, and
that is evolution ; but there is only one theory of origins
in the field, and that is creation. Instead of abolishing
a creative hand, evolution demands it. Instead of being op
posed to creation, all theories of evolution begin by assum
ing it. If science does not formally posit it, it never posits
anything less. ' The doctrine of evolution,' writes Mr. Hux
ley, 'is neither theistic nor antitheistic. It has no more to
do with theism than the first book of Euclid has. It does not
even come in contact with theism considered as a scientific
doctrine.' But when it touches the question of origins it
is either theistic or silent. 'Behind the cooperating forces
of nature,' says Weisman, ' which aim at a purpose, we
must admit a cause, . . . inconceivable in its nature, of
Avhich Ave can only say one thing with certainty, that it must
be theological.'
" The fallacy of the merely quantitative theory of evolution is
apparent. To interpret any organism in terms of the organism
solely is to omit reference to the main instrument of its evolu
tion, and therefore to leave the process, scientifically and phil
osophically, unexplained.
" A child does not grow out of a child by spontaneous unfold-
ings. The process is fed from without. The body assimilates
* Balfour Stewart and Tait, Tlie Unknown Universe, 6th edition, p. 221.

278 Studies in Theology.
food, the mind assimilates books, the moral nature draws upon
affection, the religious faculties nourish the higher being from
ideals. Time brings not only more things, but new things ;
the higher nature inaugurates possession of, or by, the higher
order. ' It lies in the very nature of the case that the earliest
form of that which lives and develops is the least adequate to
its nature, and therefore that from which we can get the least
distinct clew to the inner principle of that nature. Hence to
trace a living being back to its beginning, and to explain what
follows by such beginning, would be simply to omit almost all
that characterizes it, and then to suppose that in what remains
we have the secret of its existence. That is not really to ex
plain it, but to explain it away ; for on this method we neces
sarily reduce the features that distinguish it to a mini/mum,
and, Avhen we have done so, the remainder may well seem to
be itself reducible to something in which the principle in ques
tion does not manifest itself at all. If we carry the animal
back to protoplasm it may readily seem possible to explain it
as a chemical compound. And, in like manner, by the same
minimizing process, we may seem to succeed in reducing con
sciousness and self-consciousness in its simplest form to sensa
tion, and sensation in its simplest form to something not essen
tially different from the nutritive life of plants. The fallacy
of the sorites may thus be used to conceal all qualitative
changes under the guise of quantitative addition or diminution,
and to bridge over all the difference by the idea of gradual
transition. For, as the old school of etymologists showed, if
we are at liberty to interpose as many connecting links as we
please, it becomes easy to imagine that things the most hetero
geneous should spring out of each other. While, however, the
hypothesis of gradual change — change proceeding by infinites
imal stages which melt into each other so that the eye cannot
detect where one begins and the other ends — makes such a

Of Man. 279
transition easier for imagination, it does notnmg to diminish
the difficulty or the Avonder of it for thought! *
" The value of philosophical criticism to science has seldom
appeared to more advantage than in these words of the master
of Balliol. The following passage from Martineau may be
fitly placed beside them : 'In not a few of the progressionists
the weak illusion is unmistakable that, with time enough, you
may get everything out of next to nothing. Grant us, they
seem to say, any tiniest granule of poAver, so close upon zero
that it is not worth begrudging — allow it some trifling tendency
to infinitesimal movement — and we will show yon how this
little stock became the cosmos, without ever taking a step
Avorth thinking of, much less constituting a case for design.
The argument is a mere appeal to an incompetency in the hu
man imagination, in virtue of Avhich magnitudes evading con
ception are treated as out of existence ; and an aggregate of
inappreciable increments is simultaneously equated, in its cause
to nothing, in its effect to the whole of things. You manifestly
want the same causality, Avhether concentrated in a moment
or distributed through incalculable ages ; only in drawing upon
it a logical theft is more easily committed piecemeal than
wholesale. Surely it is a mean device for a philosopher thus
to crib causation by hairbreadths, to put it out at compound
interest through all time, and then disown the debt.' f
" It is not said that the view here given of the process of evo
lution has been the actual process. The illustrations have been
developed rather to clear up difficulties than to state a theory.
The time is not ripe for daring to present to our imaginations
even a partial view of what that transcendent process may
have been. At present we can only take our ideas of growth
from the growing things around us, and at the best these but
* Edward Caird, The Evolution of Religion, vol. i, pp. 49, 50.
f Martineau, Essays, Philosophical and Theological, p. 141.

280 Studies in Theology.
make more apparent how little as yet we know about it. Nor
is it asserted, far as these illustrations point in that direction,
that the course of evolution has been a continuous, uninter
rupted, upward rise. On the whole it has certainly been a
rise ; but Avhether a rise without a leap or break or pause, or —
Avhat is more likely — a progress in rhythms, pulses, and waveB,
or — what is unlikely— a cataclysmal ascent by steps abrupt arid
steep, may possibly never be proved.
" There are reverent minds who ceaselessly scan the fields of
nature and the books of science in search of gaps — gaps which
they will fill up with God. As if God lived in gaps ! What
view of nature or of truth is theirs whose interest in science is
not in what it can explain, but in what it cannot ; whose quest is
ignorance, not knowledge ; whose daily dread is that the cloud
may lift, and who, as darkness melts from this field or from
that, begin to tremble for the place of his abode ? What needs
altering in such finely jealous souls is at once their view of na
ture and of God. Nature is God's writing, and can only tell
the truth ; God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
" If by the accumulation of irresistible eA'idence we are driven
— may not one say permitted? — to accept evolution as God's
method in creation, it is a mistaken policy to glory in what it
cannot account for. The reason why men grudge to evolution
each of its fresh claims to show how things have been made is
the groundless fear that if we discover how they are made we
minimize their divinity. When things are known, that is to
say, we conceive them as natural, on man's level ; Avhen they
are unknown, we call them divine — as if our ignorance of a thing
were the stamp of its divinity. If God is only to be left to
the gaps in our knowledge where shall we be when these gaps
are filled up ? And if they are never to be filled up is God
only to be found in the disorders of the world ? Those who
yield to the temptation to reserve a point here and there for

Of Man. 281
special divine interposition are apt to forget that this virtually
excludes God from the rest of the process. If God appears
periodically he disappears periodically. If he comes upon the
scene at special crises he is absent from the scene in the inter
vals. Whether is all-God or occasional-God the nobler theory ?
Positively, the idea of an immanent God, which is the God of
evolution, is infinitely grander than the occasional wonder
worker who is the God of an old theology. Negatively, the
older view is not only the less worthy, but it is discredited by
science. And as to facts, the daily miracle of a flower, the
courses of the stars, the upholding and sustaining day by day
of this great palpitating world, need a living will as much as
the creation of atoms at the first. We know growth is the
method by which things are made in nature, and we know no
other method. We do not know that there are not other meth
ods ; but if there are we do not know them. Those cases which
we do not know to be growths we do not know to be anything
else, and we may at least suspect them to be growths. Nor
are they any the less miraculous because they appear to us as
growths. A miracle is not something quick. The doings of
these things may seem to us no miracle ; nevertheless it is a
miracle that they have been done.
" But, after all, the miracle of evolution is not the process, but
the product. Beside the wonder of the result the problem of
the process is a mere curiosity of science. For what is the
product? It is not mountain and valley, sky and sea, flower
and star, this glorious and beautiful world in which man's body
finds its home. It is not the godlike gift of mind nor the
ordered and rational cosmos where it finds an exercise for its
noblest powers. It is that Avhich of all other things in the
universe commends itself, with increasing sureness as time goes
on, to the reason and to the heart of humanity — love. Love is
the net result of evolution. This is what stands out in nature

282 S todies in Theology.
as the supreme creation. Evolution is not progress in matter.
Matter cannot progress. It is a progress in spirit, in that
which is limitless, in that which is at once most human, most ra
tional, and most divine. Whatever controversy rages as to the
factors of evolution, whatever mystery enshrouds its steps, no
doubt exists of its goal. The great landmarks we have passed —
and we are not yet halfway up the ascent — each separately and
all together have declared the course of nature to be a rational
course and its end a moral end. At the furthest limit of time,
in protoplasm itself, we saw start forth the two great currents
which, by their action and reaction, as selfishness and unselfish
ness, were to supply in ever-accentuating clearness the con
ditions of the moral life. Following their movements upward
through the organic kingdom we watched the results which
each achieved — always high, and always waxing higher ; and
though what we called evil dogged each step with sinister and
sometimes staggering malevolence, the balance, when struck,
was always good upon the whole. Then came the last great
act of the organic process, the act which finally revealed to tele
ology its hitherto obscured end, the organization of the mam
malia, the kingdom of the mothers. So full of ethical possibility
is this single creation that one might stake the character of evo
lution upon the mammalia alone. On the biological side, as
we have seen, the evolution of the mammalia means the evolution
of mothers ; on the sociological side, the evolution of the fam
ily ; and on the moral side, the evolution of love. How are we to
characterize a process which ripened fruits like these ? That
the very animal kingdom had for its end and crown a class of
animals avIio owe their name, their place, and their whole exist
ence to altruism ; that through these mothers society has been
furnished with an institution for generating, concentrating,
purifying, and redistributing love in all its enduring forms;
that the perfecting of love is thus not an incident in nature, but
4 '

Of Man. 2S3
everywhere the largest part of her task, begun with the first
beginnings of life, and continuously developing quantitatively
and qualitatively to the close — all this has been read into nature
by our own imaginings, or it is the revelation of a purpose of
benevolence and a God whose name is Love. The skeptic, we
are sometimes reminded, has presented crucial difficulties to
the theist founded on the doctrine of evolution. Here is a
problem which the theist may leave with the skeptic. That
that which has emerged has the qualities it has, that even the
mammalia should have emerged, that that class should stand
related to the life of man in the way it does, that man has lived
because he loved, and that he lives to love — these, on any
theory but one, are insoluble problems.
" Forbidden to follow the evolution of love into the higher
fields of history and society, we take courage to make a mo
mentary exploration in a still lower field — a field so far beneath
the plant and animal level that hitherto we have not dared to
enter it. Is it conceivable that in inorganic nature, among the
very material bases of the world, there should be anything to
remind us of the coming of this tree of life ? To expect even
foreshadoAvings of ethical characters there Avere an anachronism
too great for expression. Yet there is something there, some
thing which is at least worth recalling in the present connection.
"The earliest condition in which science allows us to picture
this globe is that of a fiery mass of nebulous matter. At the
second stage it consists of countless myriads of similar atoms,
roughly outlined into a ragged cloudball, glowing with heat
and rotating in space with inconceivable velocity. By what
means can this mass be broken up, or broken down, or made
into a solid world ? By two things — mutual attraction and
chemical affinity. The moment when within this cloudball the
conditions of cooling temperature are such that two atoms
could combine together the cause of the evolution of the earth

284 Studies in Theology.
is won. For this pair of atoms are chemically " stronger " than
any of the atoms immediately surrounding them. Gradually,
by attraction or affinity, the primitive pair of atoms — like the
first pair of savages — absorb a third atom, and a fourth, and a
fifth, until a ' family ' of atoms is raised up which possesses
properties and powers altogether new, and in virtue of which
it holds within its grasp the conquest and servitude of all sur
rounding units. From this growing center attraction radiates
on every side, until a larger aggregate, a family group — a tribe
— arises and starts a more powerful center of its own. With
every additional atom added, the power as well as the com
plexity of the combination increases. As the process goes on,
after endless vicissitudes, repulsions, and readjustments, the
changes become fewer and fewer, the conflict between mass
and mass dies down, the elements passing through various
stages of liquidity finally combine in the order of their affini
ties, arrange themselves in the order of their densities, and the
6olemn earth is finished.
" Now recall the names of the leading actors in this stupen
dous reformation. They are two in number, mutual attraction
and chemical affinity. Notice these Avords — attraction, affinity.
Notice that the great formative forces of physical evolution
have psychical names. It is idle to discuss whether there is or
can be any identity between the thing represented in the one
case and in the other. Obviously there cannot be. Yet this
does not exhaust the interest of the analogy. In reality,
neither here nor anywhere have we any knowledge whatever
of what is actually meant by attraction ; nor, in the one sphere
or in the other, have we even the means of approximating to
such knowledge. To Newton himself the very conception of
one atom or one mass, attracting through empty space another
atom or another mass, put his mental powers to confusion.
And as to the term affinity, the most recent chemistry, finding

Of Man. 285
it utterly unfathomable in itself, confines its research at present
to the investigation of its modes of action. Science does not
know, indeed, what forces are; it only classifies them. Here,
as in every deep recess of physical nature, we are in the pres
ence of that which is metaphysical, that which bars the way
imperiously at every turn to a materialistic interpretation of
the world. Yet, name and nature of force apart, what affinity
even the grossest, what likeness even the most remote, could
one have expected to trace between the gradual aggregation of
units of matter in the condensation of a weltering star and the
slow segregation of men in the organization of societies and
nations ? However different the agents, is there no suggestion
that they are different stages of a uniform process, different
epochs of one great historical enterprise, different results of a
single evolutionary law ?
" Bead from the root, we define this age-long process by a
word borrowed from the science of roots — a word from the
clay — evolution. But read from the top, evolution is an im
possible word to describe it. The word is involution. It is not
a stigmaria world, but a sigillaria world ; a spiritual, not a ma
terial, universe. Evolution is advolution ; better, it is revela
tion — the phenomenal expression of the divine, the progressive
realization of the ideal, the ascent of love. Evolution is a doc
trine of unimaginable grandeur. That man should discern the
prelude to his destiny in the voices of the stars ; that the heart
of nature should be a so human heart ; that its eternal enter
prise should be one with his ideals ; that even in the universe
beyond the reason which presides should have so strange a
kinship with that measure of it which he calls his own ; that
he, an atom in that universe, should dare to feel himself at
home within it, should stand beside immensity, infinity, eter
nity, unaffrighted and undismayed — these things bewilder man
the more that they bewilder him so little.

286 Studies in Theology.
" But one verdict is possible as to the practical import of
this great doctrine, as to its bearing upon the individual life
and the future of the race. Evolution has ushered a new hope
into the Avorld. The supreme message of science to this age is
that all nature is on the side of the man avIio tries to rise.
Evolution, development, progress are not only on her pro
gram, these are her program. For all things are rising,
all worlds, all planets, all stars and suns. An ascending energy
is in the universe, and the whole moves on with one mighty
idea and anticipation. The aspiration in the human mind and
heart is but the evolutionary tendency of the universe becom
ing conscious. Darwin's great discovery, or the discovery
which he brought into prominence, is the same as Galileo's —
that the world moves. The Italian prophet said it moves from
Avest to east ; the English philosopher said it moves from low
to high. And this is the last and most splendid contribution of
science to the faith of the world.
" The discovery of a second motion in the earth has come into
the world of thought only in time to save it from despair. As
in the days of Galileo, there are many even now who do not
see that the world moves — men to whom the earth is but an
endless plain, a prison fixed in a purposeless universe where
untried prisoners await their unknown fate. It is not the
monotony of life which destroys men, but its pointlessness ;
they can bear its weight, its meaninglessness crushes them.
But the same great revolution that the discovery of the axial
rotation of the earth effected in the realm of physics the an
nouncement of the doctrine of evolution makes in the moral
world. Already, even in these days of its dawn, a sudden and
marvelous light has fallen upon earth and heaven. Evolution
is less a doctrine than a light ; it is a light revealing in the
chaos of the past a perfect and growing order, giving meaning
even to the confusion of the present, discovering through all

Of Man. 287
the deviousness around us the paths of progress, and flashing
its rays already upon a coming goal. Men begin to see an un-
deviating ethical purpose in this material world, a tide that
from eternity has never turned, making for perfectness. In
that vast progression of nature, that vision of all things from
the first of time moving from low to high, from incomplete
ness to completeness, from imperfection to perfection, the
moral nature recognizes in all its height and depth the eternal
claim upon itself. Wholeness, perfection, love — these have
always been required of man. But never before on the natural
plane have they been proclaimed by voices so commanding, or
enforced by sanctions so great and rational.
" Is nature henceforth to become the ethical teacher of the
world ? Shall its aims become the guide, its spirit the inspira
tion of man's hfe? Is there no ground here Avhere all the
faiths and all the creeds may meet — nay, no ground for a final
faith and a final creed ? If all men could see the inner mean
ing and aspiration of the natural order should we not find at
last a universal religion — a religion congruous with the Avhole
past of man, at one with nature, and witli a working creed
Avhich science could accept ?
" The answer is a simple one : Ave have it already. There
exists a religion which has anticipated all these requirements —
a religion which has been before the world these eighteen hun
dred years, whose congruity with nature and with man stands
the test at every point. Up to this time no word has been
spoken to reconcile Christianity with evolution, or evolution
with Christianity. And why ? Because the two are one.
What is evolution ? A method of creation. What is its
object? To make more perfect living beings. What is Chris
tianity? A method of creation. What is its object? To
make more perfect living beings. Through what does evolu
tion work ? Through love. Through what does Christianity

288 Studies in Theology.
work? Through love. Evolution and Christianity have the
same Author, the same end, the same spirit. There is no ri
valry between these processes. Christianity struck into the
evolutionary process with no noise or shock ; it upset nothing
of all that had been done ; it took all the natural foundations
precisely as it found them ; it adopted man's body, mind, and
soul at the exact level where organic evolution Avas at work
upon them; it carried on the building by slow and gradual
modifications; and, through processes governed by rational
laAvs, it put the finishing touches to the ascent of man.
" No man can run up the natural lines of evolution without
coming to Christianity at the top. One holds no brief to but
tress Christianity in this way. But science has to deal with
facts and with all facts, and the facts and processes which have
received the name of Christian are the continuations of the
scientific order, as much the successors of these facts and the
continuations of these processes — due allowances being made
for the differences in the planes, and for the new factors which
appear with each new plane — as the facts and processes of
biology are of those of the mineral world. We land here, not
from choice, but from necessity. Christianity — it is not said any
particular form of Christianity — but Christianity is the further
evolution. " ' The glory of Christianity,' urged Jowett, ' is not to be as
unlike other religions as possible, but to be their perfection
and fulfillment.' The divinity of Christianity, it might be
added, is not to be as unlike nature as possible, but to be its
' coronation ; the fulfillment of its promise ; the rallying point
of its forces ; the beginning, not of a new end, but of an infinite
acceleration of the processes by which the end, eternal from
the beginning, was henceforth to be realized. A religion
which is love and a nature which is love can never but be one.
The infinite exaltation in quality is what the progressive revela-

Of Man. 2S9
tion from the beginning has taught us to expect. Christianity,
truly, has its own phenomena, its special processes, its factors
altogether unique. But these do not excommunicate it from
God's order. They are in line with all that has gone before,
the latest disclosure of environment. Most strange to us and
new, most miraculous and supernatural, when looked at from
beneath, they are the normal phenomena of altitude, the reve
lation natural to the highest height. While evolution never
deviates from its course it assumes new developments at every
stage of the ascent ; and here, as the last and highest, these
specializations, accelerations, modifications, are most revolution
ary of all. Christianity did not begin at the Christian era, it
is as old as nature : did not drop like a bolt from eternity,
came in the fullness of time. The attempt to prove an alibi for
Christianity, to show that it was in the skies till the Christian
era opened, is as fatal to its acceptance by science as it is use
less for defense to theology. What emerges from nature as
the final result of creation is the lower potentiality of the same
principle which is the instrument and end of the new creation.
" The attempt of science, on the other hand, to hold itself
aloof from the later phases of developments which in their
earlier stages it so devotes itself to trace is either ignorance or
affectation. For that altruism which we found struggling to
express itself throughout the whole course of nature, what is
it? 'Altruism is the new and very affected name for- the- old;
familiar things which we used to call charity, philanthropy,.
and love.' * Only by shutting its eyes can science evade the-
discovery of the roots of Christianity in every province that it
enters ; and when it does discover them, only by disguising
words can it succeed in disowning the relationship. There is
nothing unscientific in accepting that relationship; there is
much that is unscientific in dishonoring it. The will behind
* Duke of Argyll, Edinburgh Review, April, 1894.
20 *

290 Studies in Theology.
evolution is not dead ; the heart of nature is not stilled. Love
not only was ; it is ; it moves ; it spreads. To ignore the later
and most striking phases is to fail to see what the earlier proc
ess really was, and to leave the ancient task of evolution his
torically incomplete. That Christian development, social,
moral, spiritual, which is going on around us, is as real an evo
lutionary movement as any that preceded it, and at least as
capable of scientific expression. A system founded on self-
sacrifice, Avhose fittest symbol is leaven, whose organic develop
ment has its natural analogy in the growth of a mustard tree,
is not a foreign thing to the evolutionist ; and that spokesman
of the kingdom of God is no less the spokesman of nature when
he proclaims that the end of man is ' that which we had from
the beginning, that we love?
" In the profoundest sense this is scientific doctrine. The
ascent of man and of society is bound up henceforth with the
conflict, the intensification, and the diffusion of the struggle
for the life of others. This is the further evolution, the page
of history that lies before us, the closing act of the drama of
man. The struggle may be short or long ; but by all scientific
analogy the result is sure. All the other kingdoms of nature
culminated; evolution always attains, always rounds off its
work. It spent an eternity over the earth, but finished it. It
struggled for millenniums to bring the vegetable kingdom up
to the flowering plants, and succeeded. In the animal kingdom
it never paused till it exhausted the possibilities of matter in the
creation of the mammalia. Kindled even by this past, man
may surely say, ' I shall arrive.' The further evolution must
go on, the higher kingdom come— first the blade, where we are
to-day; then the ear, where we shall be to-morrow; then the
full corn in the ear, which awaits our children's children, and
which we live to hasten."
These words are an antidote to any evils of many obscure

Of Man. 291
utterances in the preceding pages of his great book. Here
evolution is simply God working in building and carrying for
ward the universe.
The argument for a higher antiquity than that of the scrip
tural Adam, and also in favor of a different type for the more
primitive races, derived from the early and extreme differences
known to exist, is the most potent proof as yet adduced. The
elements of the argument are these : (a) Offspring resemble
parents ; this is a universal law in the realms of life. There are
marginal variations, but the core and substance of the type is
preserved. In the case of the human order features are trans
mitted as a rule, and color always. From white parents
emanate white children. The black and brown races transmit
their color to their offspring. (I) At the most remote time to
which research carries us the white, black, and brown races
were as distinctly differentiated as they now are, and neither
has undergone any change of feature or color during historic
time or for at least four thousand years. Two inferences are
drawn, both of which are supposed to form the theory of
diversity of origius. (c) Types which persist without variation
for 60 long a period must be regarded as permanent, (d) It is
unaccountable that such changes and variations should have
taken place so early in race history, and no such changes be
observable in equal time in later ages ; it is probably stranger
that the variety is original.
The argument based on the ethnic roots and dispersions
of men includes the following elements taken from the
LoAvell Lectures given in Boston by Sir William Dawson,
on " The Meeting Place of Geology and History." The
last lecture was in the nature of a summary. Professor Daw
son affirmed that the first chapter of Genesis corresponds with
the facts revealed in geology, so far as a summary intended

292 Studies in Theology.
for a religious rather than a scientific purpose could be sup
posed to anticipate the results of modern astronomy and
geology. The rational mode of interpreting this first chapter
was to regard the days as days of vision or days of God. The
reference to the creation of man in the second chapter does
not contradict that in the first, because this second account
refers to a special locality. As to the duration of man and the
doctrines of evolution, he said that the oldest known men are
within the limit of variation of man in historic times, and ge
ology has discovered no links of connection between him and the
lower animals. In the present world man is not only specifically,
but generically, and as a family, distinct from the nearest of
the mammalia. Man's rational and moral nature and power of
speech interpose a still stronger barrier. The science of the earth
and history, both sacred and profane, are in harmony, so says
Professor Dawson, on the following points : the recency of
man as compared with the greater part of the animal creation ;
the early condition of man as frugiverous in a genial climate,
and his speedy lapse into a state of savagery ; the fact that
man and his companion animals experienced a great continental
submergence, and that men spread themselves over the earth
anew ; that all these events fall in the time between the close
of the glacial period and the present day ; that no evidence
either in geology or history indicates that man existed previ
ously ; that no record suggests any other origin for man than a
divine creative act ; lastly, that man possessed from the first
the same inventive and artistic powers, and the same belief in
a future state and in a divine power which have characterized
him at a later day.
I place along with the view of Dr. Winchell also a recent
deliverance of Budolph Yirchow (address at the opening of the
International Congress of Prehistoric Archaeology and Anthro
pology at Moscow). He is acknowledged to stand at the head

Of Man. • 293
of his class on these and kindred subjects. I give permanent
form to the utterance by inserting it entire, as the last word
on the subject from a scientific standpoint, and from the most
eminent authority. He says:
" International prehistoric congresses have for a whole gen
eration exercised a great influence upon the researches and the
ideas of our contemporaries. This institution was founded at
the time when the discoveries of Boucher de Perthes of the
existence of man in the Drift period, the observations of Fer
dinand Keller on pile constructions ; those of Christi and Lartet
on the troglodytes of the Dordogne, and of Yorso on the
kitchen middens, and the theory of Darwin and his disciples
were producing a revolution in scientific traditions. As a result
of that revolution the congress found itself confronting a great
problem. It was incumbent on it to study all the countries of
Europe in order to collect prehistorical traces of man, to
attract general attention to the origin and course of human
civilization ; and it proposed to itself to remove the veil of
mystery from before the primitive cradle of man.
" Many of the questions which were raised at this time have
now been definitively resolved. We know that man existed in
the Quaternary epoch, that he lived through long ages miser
able and depressed, while stone, wood, horn, and bone consti
tuted the material of his arms and of his only instruments ; Ave
are convinced that a long interval separated the age of stone
from the age of metals, and that only in particular places was
the use of stone immediately replaced by that of metals. These
are the data which now make part of the general knowledge
acquired by civilized nations since the foundation of the
congress. But further studies respecting the origin and the
regions whence the different branches of civilization have
sprung have advanced relatively but very little.
" First, the question of Tertiary man especially occupied, the

294 Studies in Theology.
fcongress, and reached its culminating point at the meeting in
Lisbfcn. We were taken there to the plain of Otto to look in
the strata for his remains. We found there flint chips that
might in an extreme case be regarded as having been cut by
man ; but we discovered no human bones, or potteries, or
worked objects, and the majority of the congress, on leaving
the place^ were far from being convinced that these flint chips
were distinguished in any respect from the debris which is
found in the ground everywhere, and which results from the
disintegration of a siliceous soil. Nobody has ever found in
virgin Tertiary strata any piece of flint that has been recog
nized by the learned world as an unquestionable relic of the
existence of man. We have likewise reached the same result
in our search for human skulls and bones. We have to recog
nize that students cannot assume that man existed in the Ter
tiary, or that there is any probability that the human race had
its beginning in that epoch ; on the contrary, we find a great
void which Ave try to fill with fantastic imaginings, but which
furnishes us with no real specimen.
" After the Congress of Lisbon students were more moderate,
and confined themselves to the search for known objects.
Among these objects archaeological finds predominated, and it
is easy to understand why archaeology has more and more taken
the place of anthropology. Palseanthropological objects are
so rare, and for the most part so liable to suspicion* that even
till the present time the attempt to describe the most ancient
race of Quaternary men is beyond the power of science. We
have had two examples in Europe that afforded little encour
agement : the attempts based on the Canstadt and on the Ne
anderthal skulls, which, as two eminent students once supposed,
belonged to the extinct aborigines of the primitive European
race. We discussed the question raised over these two skulls
fifteen years ago at the Congress of German Anthropologists

Of Man. 295
in Ulm, and found that the Canstadt skull did not belong to
the Quaternary, while the Neanderthal skull was at least very
far from having a typical form.
" I shall not examine the whole series of similar discoveries,
most of which have only furnished us single exceptional skulls.
But I must declare that even if these skulls had been what
they Avere described as being, and their geological position had
been exactly defined, they could not have constituted proof of
the existence of an inferior primitive race that could be re
garded as a step between animals and existing man. Many of
these skulls appear to be very ancient ; but they resemble in all
respects the skulls of modern races, and some of them even
those of civilized races. We seek in vain for the 'missing link'
connecting man with the monkey or any other animal species.
" We must, however, understand ourselves on a preliminary
question. There exists a tradition common to all peoples, or,
we might say, a dogma common to all religions, recognized by
all students, ancient and modern, that the human body has an ani
mal organization ; that the same physiological and pathological
laws rule human and animal life alike. Notwithstanding this uni
formity there exists a definite barrier separating man from the
animal which has not yet been effaced — heredity, which trans
mits to children the faculties of their parents. We have never
seen a monkey bring a man into the world, nor a man produce
a monkey. All men having a simian appearance are simply
pathological variants. The opinion of Carl Yogt, that micro
cephalous men, resembling simian animals, are produced by
atavism, has been wholly abandoned since students have
reached the conviction that the skulls of microcephals haAre in
dexes of pathological formation, with deficiencies arising from
degeneracy. " The human organism, especially in the embryonic stage, is
distinguished by many features that have been borrowed, not

296 Studies in Theology.
from the monkey only, but also from other animals. The liv
ing elements, the cells, present us the same types in man as in
the mammals ; sometimes these resemblances in the embryo
continue to exist, and are even developed after birth. But
this persistence or hyperplasy cannot be-made to serve as proof
of the animal origin of man. Let us take this example of a
hyperplasy of this kind ; there is in the higher anthropoid
apes a bony ramification that connects the jugular of the tem
poral with the frontal bone. It is sometimes developed in man,
and is wanting in some individuals among the higher monkeys.
I have shown, arid M. Anoutchine has confirmed it, that this
ramification occurs very frequently in the Australians, and we
both regard the peculiarity as of simian origin. But we cannot
conclude from that that the Australians are simianlike, for the
same peculiarity has been remarked, in some infrequent cases, in
the skulls of Europeans ; while there is not an example of men
having such heads having furnished any other indication of
simian organization or development. The bony ramification of
the temporal jugular is nothing else than a special peculiarity,
sometimes individual, sometimes racial, like curly hair, for ex
ample. When we look at a Negro's head we might say that
it resembles a sheep or a poodle ; but, so far as we know,
nobody has yet expressed the opinion that the Negroes are de
scended from sheep or from dogs. Still, the Negroes are like
sheep and poodle dogs in the hereditary transmission of a special
peculiarity in their hair. In spite of that their heads in no way
resemble those of the animals we have mentioned. Bearing in
mind these observa tions, Ave have become more circumspect
now in our reasonings upon individual or racial analogies be-
tAveen man and animals. We certainly shall not forget that
the human organization is in its essentials an animal organism,
and that the monstrosities which occasionally appear may be
regarded as results of atavism ; but we shall require more con-

Of Man. 297
vincing arguments before we assume a near relationship of
man with any definite animal.
" It was generally believed a few years ago that there yet
existed a few human races which still remained in the primi
tive inferior condition of their organization. But all these
races have been objects of minute investigation, and we know
that they have an organization like ours, often, indeed, superior
to that of supposed higher races ; thus, the Eskimo head and
the head of the Tierra del Fuegians belong to the perfected
types. Some races have the same skulls very small, of about
the same volume as the microcephalous skulls ; for example, the .
inhabitants of the Andaman Islands and the Yeddahs of Ceylon
have been regarded as microcephalic. A more exact study has,
however, shown a difference between them and the real micro
cephalic races. The head of an Andaman Islander or of a
Yeddah is very regular, only all its parts are a little smaller
than among men of the ordinary races. Nanicephalic heads
(dwarf), as I called them, have none of those characteristic
anomalies that distinguish really microcephalic heads.
" A single race, that of the Orang-Simaings and the Orang-
Cekai of the peninsula of Malacca, still remains unstudied.
The single traveler who has penetrated into the mountainous
countries inhabited by them, the bold Bussian, Miklukho
Maklai, has ascertained that certain isolated individuals among
Simaings are small and have curled hair. A new expedition
has been sent into that country to study the anthropology of
the Orang-Cekai, from which I have recently received a skull
and a feAv locks of hair ; the stock is really a black race with
curly hair, the brachycephalous head of which is distinguished
by very moderate interior volume, but it does not offer the
most trifling sign of bestial development.
" Thus we are repulsed at every line of the assault upon the
human question. All the researches undertaken with the aim

298 Studies in Theology.
of finding continuity in progressive development have been
without result. There exists no proanthropos, no man-monkey,
and the ' connecting link ' remains a phantom.
" Scientific anthropology begins with living races ; and the
first step in the construction of the doctrine of transformism
will be the explanation of the way the human races have been
formed, and of the means by which they have acquired their
specific peculiarities while still preserving hereditary transmis
sion. That is the future field of anthropological debate and
investigation. But this field is outside of the limitations of
our congress. It is easy at first sight to suppose a dolichoceph-
alous skull to be transformed into a brachycephalous skull, but
still nobody has ever observed the transformation of a doli-
chocephalous race into a brachycephalous one, or vice versa,
or of a Negro race into an Aryan race.
" Prehistoric anthropology should find methods of facilitat
ing acquaintance with the types of ancient races and peoples
and of making possible the discovery of them among living
men. It might add to that, if the occasion should present it
self, data respecting strange individual cases, by the aid of
which it is impossible to form a continuous line or constitute a
genealogical tree, but which should be kept in the scientific
lumber room till the time when we can find the intermediate
links that may unite them into a series.
" And now let us continue faithful to the glorious traditions
Avhich our great masters have bequeathed to us. The majority
of the students whose names are inscribed in the preceding
congresses Avere archaeologists. Lartet and Yorso, Liche and
Clericci, Onvarov and Bomer, and others, have shown us how
we must work. To select an example, questions like that of the
discovery of copper, and of its value as a medium of exchange,
ought to be problems of the greatest interest to us." *
* Translated for the Popular Science Monthly from the Revue Scientifique.

Of Man. 299
So much has been said of the probable age of man by a
recent class of writers that this discussion would seem to be in
complete were no reference made to that subject. In a treatise
which proposes to deal with the facts of the universe it has a
natural place.
It is probable that the question of pluralities of origin would
scarcely have been raised but for the fact that the Scriptures
seem to fix upon a date for the origin of the Adamic race which
it is declared is irreconcilable with some discovered facts. The
attempt is made to account for these facts by assuming a more
ancient race of men, dating back many, many thousand years.
Some who are anxious to adhere to the Mosaic account imagine
that the difficulty is relieved by this possible fact. Others,
prompted by the same desire, resort to the plea that the chro
nology is probably at fault by a few or several thousand years.
The antichristian camp discard the Mosaic account entirely.
Some writers of eminence, on what they consider sufficient
grounds, regard both the idea of unity and the idea of recency as
utterly without support and in antagonism to the facts. They
are bold and persistent both for plurality of origins and im
mense antiquity, and without doubt have created widespread
distrust of the commonly and long-held popular view. They
array a set of facts which they call conclusive, and which seem
formidable. It is no part of our purpose to defend Moses. The simple
question with us is, What do the facts show ? If they are
strong enough to overcome the evidence which supports the
Scripture account either as to the unity of the race or its recency
the conclusion ought to be accepted, whatever the consequences.
Nothing has a right to live which is disproved by facts. We
are constrained to the view both of recency and unity not in
the interest of long-established beliefs, or of what we have
been accustomed to receive as an inspired history, but solely in

300 Studies in Theology.
the interest of truth and from the conviction that no facts ap
pear which militate against the idea of unity of origin for the
race, or against the fact that man has been an inhabitant of the
earth not a longer period than about eight thousand years —
which probable flaws in the Mosaic chronology would allow.
No one pretends that we have a perfectly exact chronology.
This has been an admitted fact long before the recent outcry.
It is no new discovery or invention to overcome difficulties.
What needs to be done is to examine the subject with calm
ness and candor, and not take fright at a shadow. There has
been no time for the last centuries when it has not been said
that newly discovered facts were conclusive against the Bible ;
but not one of these conclusive facts has unsettled a single
stone in its foundation, and without exception each in its
turn has either turned out to be no fact or to have no such ex
planation as was predicted to be so disastrous, and in most
cases has been found to be helpful to a better understanding
merely of the sacred record.
That which has created doubt to the unreflecting man, who
runs eagerly after novelty and joins in the wild following of
self -adulating masters, has been the discovery that some opinions
long regnant have been found to be in error, and the hasty and
unwarranted assumption is that all old notions are equally
erroneous, especially the unquestioned discovery that the old
theory of the earth's age is contradicted by facts which compel
acceptance has made way for a precipitate conclusion that the
same is true of man's age. This alone was enough to start the
avalanche. It was hastily inferred that the latter conclusion
rested on the same ground of certainty and was concluded by
the same general faQts as the former; and some facts lying
back in prehistoric times were made to do service in the in
terest of a new chronology. If the earth was a hundred
million years old, what more natural than that man should

Of Man. 301
have been at least a million years or so ? Of course it must
be so. So the rout began.
We assert that there was never a more perfect non sequitur
or a theory built on a more flimsy foundation.
Monumental remains of every kind, arts, implements of
industry, languages, written and spoken, traditions, archaic
debris, and geological deposits, all point in the same direction.
The present condition of the human race is conclusive of its
comparatively recent origin. Had man, with his inborn tend
encies and wants, been long a denizen of the earth, there would
not be wanting abundant proofs of it. There are no such
proofs. Somewhere, probably within, certainly not beyond,
eight thousand years, his advent must be dated, as the case
now stands.
For the most recent statement and examination of the
scientific bearings of the subject see Dawson's Most recent
Earth and Man. Many astute and learned critics statements-
who have been eager to make out a case have exhausted and
strained to the last degree all possible sources of argument
without effect. The stone age, "paleolithic and acolithic,"
which promised so much, and the loudly proclaimed human
fossils found imbedded in the soils of Europe, and the collections
of human bones in the caves of Belgium and England, Archaeological
along with the bones of extinct races of animals and faots"
under deposits of various kinds, and the ruins of lake villages of
Switzerland, and kitchen middens of Denmark, and the tumuli
of Europe, Asia, America, and cromlechs and dolmens of
various countries, and similar cases, all after utmost pressure
fail to do service for a higher antiquity.
That man has left no sign of his existence on the earth more
remote than the postglacial, or at the close of the postpliocene
geological period, and, indeed, not until the recent quater
nary, is the finding after long-continued and widely extended

302 Studies in Theology.
examination of all possible sources of information. Geologist,
archaeologist, ethnologist, philologist, and critics in every depart
ment whose lore could be of any avail have searched in vain
for proof.
Dr. Miley has written with such illumination on the sub
ject that I give him in full :
" While scientists are agreed that man is the latest of liv
ing orders, and comparatively very recent, there is with
them a wide range of opinion respecting the time of his ori
gin. Many are agreed in assigning him a high antiquity.
However, beyond this point of agreement the range is from
a comparatively moderate reckoning, say 100,000 years, up to
millions, and even hundreds of millions. Figures, however,
are rarely given, but alleged facts are assumed to measure
vast ages. Lyell thinks he can trace the signs of man's ex
istence up to the postpliocene era, and anticipates the find
ing of his remains in the pliocene period.* Only an im
mense reach of time can carry us back to that period.
Again, he thinks that the facts of geology ' point distinctly
to the vast antiquity of paleolithic man.'f After a review of
some of the evidences of man's antiquity Huxley puts the
question of time thus : ' Where, then, must we look for primi
tive man ? Was the oldest Homo sapiens pliocene or miocene,
or yet more ancient?'^: Without the 'j'et more ancient' he
had already gone back into the midst of the tertiary period.
By so much does he transcend Lyell. On the truth of evolu
tion Huxley is sure that ' we must extend by long epochs the
most liberal estimate that has yet been made of the antiquity of
man.' Sir John Lubbock is quite up with Lyell ; indeed, we
may say, quite up with Huxley. The relative facts of geology
' impress us with a vague and overpowering sense of antiquity.
* Antiquity of Man, p. 399. f Principles of Geology, vol. ii, p. 510.
X Mam's Place in Nature, p. 184.

Of Man. 303
. . . But it may be doubted whether even geologists yet realize
the great antiquity of our race.'* Lubbock believes in miocene
man, but rather as an implication of evolution than from any
discovered sign of his presence in that ancient geologic age.f
Wallace is comparatively very moderate, but reaches out for a
long time. ' We can with tolerable certainty affirm that man
must have inhabited the earth a thousand centuries ago, but we
cannot assert that he positively did not exist or that there is
any good evidence against his having existed, for a period of ten
thousand centuries.':): We have given a few instances. Many
scientists of like views might be added to the list.
" The sources of evidence for a high antiquity of man are
well defined, and appear with much uniformity in the fuller
treatment of the question. However, the treatment is often
partial, when the evidence from only a feAv sources, perhaps
from only one, is adduced. This is the method of Huxley, who
treats the question simply in view of fossil remains of man,
particularly of fossil skulls.§ A summary of the sources of
evidence in a comprehensive treatment is given by Sonthall, ||
and also by the Duke of Argyll.^f These summaries, while
varying in words, are much the same in their facts. The com
prehensive discussions of the question by Sir Charles Lyell **
and Sir John Lubbock ff are substantially in the method of
these classifications.
" We may state the evidences of a high antiquity of man in
the following order : 1. History, with special reference to the
antiquity of nations. 2. Archaeology, including many forms
of fact which show the early presence and agency of man.
3. Geology, with special reference to drift deposits. 4. Lan
guage — the time necessary for its growth and multiplication
* Lubbock, Prehistoric Times, p. 419. f Ibid., p. 423.
I On Natural Selection, p. 303. § Man's Place in Nature, p. 140.
| The Recent Origin of Man, p. 86. T Primeval Mam, pp. 76-78.
** Antimdiii nf Man. ff Prehistoric Times.

304 Studies in Theology.
into so many forms. 5. The distinction of races in color and
feature. Our brief review cannot fully adhere to this order.
" The evidence from history centers in the proof of an early
existence of separate nations or kingdoms. Contemporary
with the earliest history of Abraham, tAventy centuries before
the Christian era, Chaldea and Egypt appear as strong and flour
ishing kingdoms. Kings witli separate realms are already
numerous, mostly with small dominion, but some perhaps, as
appeared a little later in the case of Chedorlaomer, king of
Elam, with broad sway. So much may fairly be gathered from
the Scriptures.* The evidence of history and archaeology seems
conclusive that in the time of Abraham Egypt was a strong
kingdom, with a high form of civilization. Such a kingdom
could not be the growth of a few years ; and we may add an
antecedent history of from five to seven centuries. Benonf
would add many more,f but the number named will suffice.
There were other kingdoms and civilizations, the Babylonian,
Persian, Indian, and Chinese, of about the same antiquity.
They also came into history about the time of Abraham, but,
with Egypt, required previous centuries of growth. 'So far,
then, Ave have the light of history shining with comparative
clearness over a period of two thousand years before the Chris
tian era. Beyond that Ave have a twilight tract of time which
may be roughly estimated at seven hundred years — a period of
time lying in the dawn of history, at the very beginning of
which we can dimly see that there were already kings and
princes on the earth.' £
" It thus appears that history, Avith its clear implications, car
ries the existence of distinct nations back to the time of the
flood — as that time is usually reckoned. We have three alter
natives : either a narrow limitation of the flood, or a plurality
* Gen. xi-xiv. f The Religion of Ancient Egypt, lect. ii.
% Argyll, PrimevalMan, p. 95.

Of Man. 305
of human origins, or an extension of our biblical chronology
anterior to the call of Abraham. No sufficient limitation of
the flood is permissible. If consistently with the Scriptures we
might in this mode account for the existence of the distant
nations of India and China, we could not so account for the
equally early, rather earlier, nations in the regions of the Tigris
and the Euphrates. These regions could not have escaped the
flood. A plurality of human origins is contrary to the Scrip
tures and to the facts of science, and inconsistent with the deep
est truths of Christian theology. The third alternative may be
accepted without the slightest hesitation. There is no fixed
chronology of the Scriptures before the time of Abraham.
Hence there is nothing against the addition of all the time —
say tAvo or three thousand years — Avhich the facts of human his
tory may require.
" Many facts adduced in evidence of a high antiquity of man
may be grouped under the heads of archaeology and geology.
In some classifications the two terms represent distinct sets of
facts. The distinction, however, is but slight, and may be
omitted in our brief discussion. Under these headings we have
several classes of facts, and many particulars of each class — alto
gether too many for present notice. We may name as classes
— megalithic structures and tumuli; lake dwellings; shell-
mounds ; peat bogs ; bone caves ; drift deposits. The point of
the argument in each is that the remains of man and the prod
ucts of his agency appear in conditions which prove his high
antiquity.* This argument is fully elaborated by the authors
named. " We shall give a very brief reply in the words of an eminent
scientist. ' The calculations of long time based on the gravels
of the Somme, on the cone of the Tiniere, on the peat bogs of
* Lubbock, Prehistoric Times ; Lyell, Antiquity of Man ; Jeffries, Natural
History of the Human Races ; Quatrefages, Tlie Human Species, pp. 129-153.
21 *

306 Studies in Theology.
France and Denmark, on certain cavern deposits, have all been
shown to be more or less at fault ; and possibly none of these
reach further back than six or seven thousand years which, ac
cording to Dr. Andrews,* have elapsed since the close of the
bowlder clay deposits in America. . . . Let us look at a few facts.
Much use has been made of the " cone " or delta of the Tiniere,
on the eastern 6ide of the Lake of Geneva, as an illustration
of the duration of the modern period. This little stream has
deposited at its mouth a mass of debris carried down from the
hills. This, being cut through by a railway, is found to contain
Boman remains to a depth of four feet, bronze implements to a
depth of ten feet, stone implements to a depth of nineteen feet.
The deposit ceased about three hundred years ago, and, calculat
ing 1,300 to 1,500 years for the Boman period, we should have
7,000 to 10,000 years as the age of the cone. But before the
formation of the present cone another had been formed twelve
times as large. Thus for the two cones together a duration of
more than 90,000 years is claimed. It appears, however, that
this calculation has been made irrespective of two essential
elements in the question. No allowance has been made for
the fact that the inner layers of a cone are necessarily smaller
than the outer ; nor for the further fact that the older cone be
longs to a distinct time (the pluvial age already referred to),
Avhen the rainfall was much larger and the transporting power
of the torrent greater in proportion. Making allowance fqr
these conditions, the age of the newer cone, that holding human
remains, falls between 4,000 and 5,000 years. The peat bed of
Abbeville, in the north of France, has grown at the rate of
one and a half or two inches in a century. Being twenty-six
feet in thickness the time occupied in its growth must have
amounted to 20,000 years ; and yet it is probably newer than
some of the gravels on the same river containing flint imple-
* Transactions, Chicago Academy, 1871.

Of Man. 307
ments. But the composition of the Abbeville peat shows that
it is a forest peat, and the erect stems preserved in it prove
that in the first instance it must have grown at the rate of
about three feet in a century, and after the destruction of the
forest its rate of increase down to the present time dimin
ished rapidly almost to nothing. Its age is thus reduced to
perhaps less than 4,000 years. In 1865 I had an opportu
nity to examine the now celebrated gravels of St. Acheul, on
the Somme, by some supposed to go back to a very ancient
period. With the papers of Prestwick and other able ob
servers in my hand, I could conclude merely that the undis
turbed gravels were older than the Boman period, but how
much older only detailed topographical surveys could prove ;
and that taking into account the probabilities of a different
level of the land, a wooded condition of the country, a greater
rainfall, and a glacial filling of the Somme valley with clay and
stones subsequently cut out by running water, the gravels
could scarcely be older than the Abbeville peat. . . . Taylor *
and Andrews f have, however, I think, subsequently shown
that my impressions were correct.
" ' In like manner I fail to perceive — and I think all Amer
ican geologists acquainted with the prehistoric monuments of
the western continent must agree with me — any evidence of
great antiquity in the caves of Belgium and England, the kitch
en middens of Denmark, the rock shelters of France, the lake
habitations of Switzerland. At the same time I would disclaim
all attempt to resolve their dates into precise terms of years. I
may merely add that the elaborate and careful observations of
Dr. Andrews on the raised beaches of Lake Michigan — obser
vations of a much more precise character than any Avhich, in so
far as I know, have been made of such deposits in Europe —
enable him to calculate the time which has elapsed since North
* Journal of Geological Society, vol. xxv. f Silliman's Journal, 1868.

308 Studies in Theology.
America rose out of the waters of the glacial period as between
5,500 and 7,500 years. This fixes at least the possible duration
of the human period in North America, though I believe there
are other lines of evidence which would reduce the residence
of man in America to a much shorter time. Longer periods
have, it is true, been deduced from the delta of the Mississippi
and the gorge of Niagara ; but the deposits of the former have
been found by Hilgard to be in great part marine, and the ex
cavation of the latter began at a period probably long anterior
to the advent of man.'*
" In this brief survey instances of the several classes of ar
chaeological and geological facts adduced in proof of a high
antiquity of man are reviewed. Among them are instances
regarded as most decisive of the question. The criticism of
Dawson at least places their conclusiveness in uncertainty ; and
if it is not proved beyond question that the time of man's pres
ence in the world must be limited to from 8,000 to 10,000
years, neither is it proved that his time is greater. In his
elaborate discussion of this question Southall reviews all these
instances, and finds them inconclusive of a high antiquity of
man.f Such, likewise, is the conclusion of Winchell from the
eame facts.:]:
"The argument from the growth of language is far less in use
than others. Argyll distinctly names it in his classification, as
previously given by reference, but the use he makes of it is
rather to prove the unity than the antiquity of man. He
pointsout the now familiar fact that comparative philology fur
nishes a law by which widely diverse races may be traced back
to a common ethnic unity.§ There is still an indirect argu
ment for the high antiquity of man. With the unity of the
* Dawson, Story of the Earth and Man, pp. 292-296.
f The Recent Origin of Man. $ Preadamites, pp. 421-426.
§ Primeval Man, pp. 109-112.

Of Man. 309
race through a common parentage there was originally hut one
language. Hence there must be time in the existence of the
race for the formation of this original language, and of all the
languages in the use of man.
" The doctrine of evolution requires a brutal character of
primitive man, with the merest rudiment of that rationality
which came with his higher development. Such a man might
well be accounted speechless ; and the creation of a language
Avould indeed require a long time. But the evidence of such a
brutal character of primitive man is still wanting. The facts in
the case refuse to satisfy the exigency of the doctrine.
" There is nothing in science to discredit the Mosaic account
of man's origin. In the sense of this account he was created in
the maturity of manhood and in respect to his whole nature. A
mature body and an infantile mind would have made him a
monstrosity, with the slightest chance of survival. His mindl
was created in the same maturity as his body, and with mental
powers as ready for normal action as the physical. It is also en
tirely consistent with this account — indeed, Ave think it a rational
requirement — that primitive man was supernaturally aided in
his mental acquirements. He did not have to wait upon the
slow process of experience, but by divine inspiration came
quickly to a knowledge of nature and language. In this
rational view the original acquisition of language required no,
measure of time which must push back the origin of man into
a high antiquity.
" The immediate offspring of Adam acquired language in the
same manner as children of the present day, and in as brief a
time. Such continued to be the law through all the antedilu
vian centuries. Under the same law the postdiluvian race
started anew. Language was already a possession, and con
tinued to be a transmission from generation to generation. In,
all divisions into separate communities each division went out

310 Studies in Theology.
with a language. Hence the multiplication of languages was
by variation, not by origination. There are no facts in the his
tory of the race which require the pure originality of more
than one. Comparative philology clearly traces many widely
variant languages back to a few sources, and might reach a
common source of all did not the marks of an ultimate unity
become invisible in the dimness of antiquity. It thus appears
that the assumption of a vast extent of time as necessary to the
6uccessive originations of many languages is utterly groundless.
" Languages, however, are very many, and there must have
been time in the existence of the race for their formation. But
in estimating the necessary time we must not overlook the dis
tinction between origination and variation. In the former case
we assume a speechless community in an infantile mental state.
With such facts the necessary time could hardly be measured.
Even the possibility of a purely human creation of language in
such a state is not yet a closed question. In the other view,
which accords with Scripture and is without the opposition of
scientific facts, language was a speedy acquisition through a di
vine inspiration, with such mental development as must go with
the knowledge and use of language. All were thus early in
the possession of rational speech. Henceforth the formation of
new languages was by variation. This is often a rapid process,
as the facts of history prove. There are exceptional cases.
With a common education, a common literature, and a free in
tercourse in the use of a common speech, there may be little
change through long periods of time. It is not under such
conditions that languages have been multiplied. It is when a
larger community, with a common language, separates into dis
tinct communities, and each begins a new life under changed
conditions, that through a process of variation the one lan
guage is soon multiplied into as many as these separate com
munities.

Of Man. 311
" The facts of history show that this process is often a rapid
one. No long age is required for the formation of a new
language. The formation of many may proceed at once. The
relative facts are sufficiently presented by Lyell,* and also by
Southall.f It is worthy of note that the two are in substantial
agreement respecting these facts, though the former maintains
a high antiquity of man, and the latter a recent origin. The
material point in which they agree, and which the facts verify,
is that under changed conditions new languages are rapidly
formed. Thus on the breaking up of the Boman empire and
the distribution of the people into separate nationalities their
common language was soon transformed into the Bomance —
such as the French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. These
languages, now spoken by so many peoples, are not a thousand
years old, and only the fraction of a thousand was required for
their formation. This is simply one instance out of many
given by the authors named.
" This rapid formation of new languages is the material fact
of the question. It is the conclusion of Sonthall that of some
five thousand languages now spoken only a half-dozen are a
thousand years old. If such is the work of ten centuries the
formation of languages requires no stretch of time conclusive
of a high antiquity of man.
" Another argument is based on the distinction of races. It
does not require a detail of all the facts open to its use, but
may be given in its full strength on such general distinctions
of race as the Caucasian, Mongolian, and Negro. The argu
ment is in two alleged facts : first, that such distinctions appear
with the dawn of history ; second, that only a very long time
could have produced them. Greater apparent strength must
be conceded to this argument on the theory of a unity of the
* Antiquity of Man, chap, xxiii.
f Recent Origin of Man, pp. 25-30.

f
312 Studies in Theology.
human race. With a plurality of origins such distinctions
might have existed from the beginning, and no time would be
required for their origination, while with the unity of the race
the necessary time must be conceded. The early date of such
distinctions cannot be disputed. For instance, the Negro, with
his clearly marked characteristics, appears in Egyptian archaeol
ogy fifteen or twenty centuries before the Christian era. It
must be agreed that many other facts are adduced which prove
the first part of the argument — a very early appearance of race
distinctions.* " The second part, that only long ages could produce such
variations, is disputed. Many facts in natural history prove
the contrary. Fortunately, such facts have fallen within his
toric times, particularly in the settlement of America, where
the process of change could be more accurately measured. ' In
the domesticated races of animals, and the cultivated tribes of
plants, the phenomena of variation have been most remarkably
displayed.' f Dr. Prichard cites many instances which illus
trate and verify his position. The discussion runs through
many pages. % The force of these facts is not affected by their
limitation to domesticated animals and cultivated plants. The
domestication and cultivation merely furnish the new condi
tions under which these changes naturally arise. Further,
such instances are more readily open to observation ; and their
selection is for this reason, and not because they exemplify any
peculiar susceptibility to change.
" It is a rational inference, and one supported by the strong
est analogies, that under neAv conditions man is subject to like
change, and in many respects, as the new conditions may
greatly vary. ' Baces of men are subjected more than almost
* Lyell, Antiquity of Man, pp. 385, 386 ; Lubbock, Prehistoric Times, pp. 587,
588; Argyll, Primeval Man, pp. 97-102; Winchell, Preadamites, chap. xiii.
f Prichard, Natural History of Man, p. 27. J Ibid., pp. 26-59.

Of Man. 313
any race of animals to the varied agencies of climate. Civiliza
tion produces even greater changes in their condition than does
domestication in the inferior tribes. We may therefore expect
to find fully as great diversities in the races of men as in any
of the domesticated breeds. The influence of the mind must
be more extensive and powerf til in its operations upon human
beings than upon brutes. And this difference transcends all
analogy or comparison.' *
"Nor could the conditions of physiological variation be
wanting in the earlier state of man. As the race multiplied
broader territories would be required for its occupancy. Be
sides, the natural disposition of many would anticipate this
exigency and push them out into new and distant regions. It
appears, accordingly, in the beginning of history, and back of
this in the relative facts of archaeology, that at a very early day
men occupied extensive reaches of territory. With this wide
distribution there were great changes of climate and new habits
of life. Thus at a very early day there were all the new con
ditions necessary to the variations which appear in the distinc
tions of race.
" Physiological changes haAre occurred in historic times and
in comparatively brief periods, f There are many such in
stances. They do not equal some of the deeper race distinc
tions, but, with the brevity of their own period, are sufficient
to discredit the assumption of vast ages as necessary to such
variations. Hence we need no vast time to account for the
distinctions of race which appear in the early history of man.
A permissible extension of biblical chronology to eight or ten
thousand years will suffice for the whole account."
* Prichard, Natural History of Man, p. 75.
f Sonthall, Recent Origin of Man, pp. 26-28.

314 Studies in Theology.

ALL HUMAN BEINGS FROM ONE PAIR.
Is there reason to believe that all human beings have sprung
Did an men from one original pair ? This question has been
onepair™ answered affirmatively and negatively by men of
equally eminent ability and learning. There can be no doubt
that three potent influences have entered into the discussion,
which have been unfavorable to a perfectly fair and unbiased
judgment : (a) On the one side, extreme caste prejudice, which
renders it impossible, almost, for branches of the family that
have been highly civilized and improved in mental and physi
cal condition to look upon less favored races as of the same ori
gin with themselves ; this, together with repugnance springing
influences from difference of color, has created a bias to the
hindering a, ne„ative s0 strong as to be almost irresistible. It is
fair examjna- ° o
tion. ],arcl for the proud Caucasian to believe that the
despised African or inferior Mongolian claims the same parent
age with himself — that the same blood courses beneath a tawny
or black skin which reddens in his self -assumed more aristo
cratic veins. Nothing is easier than to magnify the differences
and awaken a feeling in the presence of which reason is impo
tent. (5) To this must be added, on the part of many, an unad
mitted but real desire to make argument against the Bible and
Christianity. Bad as the motive is, there have been and are
famous men who would accept any theory which would throw
doubt on these. Whatever is supposed to be unfriendly to them
is seized with eagerness and pressed to the extreme, (o) On the
other side, it must be admitted, is the not less potent influence
of strong and unreasoning fear and repugnance of anything that
threatens faith or weakens the hold of beliefs venerable and sacred.

All Human Beings feom One Pair. 315
To reach a perfectly fair conclusion in the midst of such
confusing embarrassments is difficult in the extreme. Both
sides in the controversy are at disadvantage ; truth is the suf
ferer. Withal, could the subject be approached with perfect
candor, and were there no interested prejudices, or pride of
opinion, or biases of any kind, the case would still be encom
passed with difficulty — a vexata qumstio.
In favor of the negative are : (a) difference of color ; (b) dif
ference of cranial structure ; (c) slight differences of Against unity.
anatomy ; (d) difference of cuticle ; (e) difference of
odor ; (f) difference of hair ; (g) facial contour, noticeably the
nose, lips, and prognathous jaws of the African; (h) mental
tone and quality. These natural peculiarities have been urged
with strained insistence and have been exaggerated into high
significance.

In rebuttal it has been shown that there are marginal varieties
which are perfectly consistent witlr'-nnity, and which to some
extent find parallels, in well-known instances, in the same fam
ily, and all of which might arise under long-continued dissimi
larities of climatic conditions, social and personal habits, expos
ures, food, and agencies of physical culture. The effects of
these causes are admitted by all to be noticeable and great, and
the only point of dispute is whether the causes are adequate to
the extreme differences or adequate in the time human life
has existed. In the absence of any bias it is probable they
would not have the greatest, or at any rate deciding, weight.
Any importance they appear to have arises mainly from the
reinforcements of prejudice, from a tendency to hasty judgment
on appearances, and from want of information ; but these, with
many, are more potent than the most convincing argument.
In favor of the affirmative are : (a) the fundamental similar-

316 Studies in Theology.
ity of all races of men in every mental and physical character-
m favor oi istic ; (b) under suitable environments the strong in-
nnity- stinctive race affinities which always denote unity -,
(c) the absence of the universal law of hybridity fencing off
species ; (d) common heirlooms, discoverable in the traditions of
the most widely separated nations ; (e) common lingual roots 'y
(f) common moral hereditaments of wants and helps ; {g) com
mon instincts and aspirations and outcomes under favorable
conditions ; (h) the deep-seated and ineradicable feeling of the
common fatherhood of one God; (i) the historical proof, ena
bling us to trace the human family to one original center, from
which they have migrated over the surfaces of the world ; (J)
the testimony of God in his own revelation ; (k) similar varia
tions in all animal species. The next to the last named will be
ruled out by some, but by others, and on grounds of reason,
it will be the most influential consideration of all. It must be
admitted, however, that a seemingly strong argument is made
from the Bible itself in support of the theory that other races
of men were existing when Adam appeared.
Guizot says : " There can be but two explanations of man's
origin : either he has been produced by the proper and innate
labor of the natural forces of matter or he is the work of a su
pernatural power — external to, and superior to, matter. His
appearance here below requires one of two causes, spontaneous
generation or creation." He argues that as the earth could not
of itself originate man and woman — the human pair and entirely
formed and full grown — the only other supposition is, apart from
supernatural influence, that they were originated by sponta
neous generation. It is only under such a condition that man
could have lived or perpetuated himself and have founded the
human race. " Let us figure to ourselves," he says, " the first
born man in early infancy, living, but inert, unintelligent,

All Human Beings from One Pair. 317
helpless, incapable of supplying his own wants, trembling and
moaning, with no mother to heal or nourish him." Bejecting
this supposition, he insists that the other origin of the human
race is alone admissible, and that man's first appearance in this
lower world can be explained only by the supernatural fact of
creation. The alternative of evolution from some lower type
presents an escape from this conclusion ; but as that is unten
able we think the conclusion fair and irresistible.
Is there reason to believe that the Adam of revelation is the
true original progenitor of the race ? This question Was Adam
differs from the question of the unity of the race in tneflrstman?
this respect, that it is simply the question, Who was the original
root ? not, Was there one original root ?
Arising out of the perplexities of the case, it has been
imagined that the true primus homo might be pushed further
back, and the real difficulties be thus met by lengthening the
line and gaining larger views, bringing thus antiquity to explain
variety. McCausland, so far as I know, Avas the inventor of the in
genious theory that the Adam of the Bible was not . McCausland.
the first man, but a higher type of man — an im
provement. He is bold enough to assume in effect that the
race had long existed when he was created, but that he was the
first to receive moral or properly spiritual endowments ; that
he was in this respect a new and more complete man and the
proper head of a neAv race, from whom descended a spiritual
seed, by whom the descendants of the older and unspiritual
stock were to be trained into moral and spiritual conditions.
His seed were to be missionaries to the less favored but more
ancient branches of the family. According to his view the
Adam race was a true creation, not a descendant from a more

318 Studies in Theology.
ancient stock. With him commenced the true moral and more
intellectual race. He places his advent far along the line.
I find in a footnote that he credits the suggestion of his
theory to " Peyroux de la Cordoniere," of whom he says, " He
appears to have been the first to promulgate the theory that
the white race alone is physically active and possesses by nature
the peculiar desire of knowledge which Aristotle ascribes to
man generically; and consequently all higher culture of other
races can only be explained by its being communicated to them
by the white race. He found many disciples, among whom,
in Germany, we Avould mention Klemm and Wuttke, who as
sume permanent differences between active and passive human
races." He (McCausland) seems to advocate at least three distinct
Three crea- creations of men, of whom Adam was the last
tions of man. and only complete man. His theory is not one of
evolution from lower races. He sums up thus : " Thus all the
evidences that are available on the subject — geological, archaeo
logical, philological, physiological, and historical — tend to estab
lish the proposition that of the three apparently distinct races
of mankind which are now, and have been from time imme
morial, inhabitants of their respective sections of the earth's
surface, the Caucasian was the last to make his appearance.
The varieties have not, as generally assumed, been produced by
the degradation of the higher to the lower, but by the advance
from the lower to the higher, not by procreation but by succes
sive creations. Their anatomical diversities, the vocabularies
and structure of their languages, the analogies of the previous
animal creations, and the phenomena of the cerebral and foetal
development of man, all testify to this upward procession of
human life. There is no evidence to the contrary except the
supposed authority of the Scriptures ; and this, Ave shall presently
6how, instead of warranting, forbids the conclusion that the ear-

All Human Beings from One Palr. 319
liest human inhabitants of the earth were of the highest type
of organization. If the Mongol and Negro were inhabitants
of the earth ages before the appearance of the first of the
Caucasians — the Negro wholly uncivilized and incapable of self-
civilization, and the Mongol either in the same position or,
if semi civilized, as at the present day, wholly incompetent and
powerless to advance either himself or others to a higher posi
tion — under such circumstances the introduction of the Cau
casian race, with their superior mental and physical endowments
and the natural capacity which they have evinced, even in their
fallen state, for the extension of civilization and the enlargement
and application of useful knowledge, inaugurates a new and im
portant era in the history of the world. From the cradle of
their birth they have poured forth their tribes into all lands
throughout the garden of the globe lying between the inhos
pitable regions of central and northern Asia and the burning
plains of equatorial Africa, extending or absorbing in progress
ing improvement the aboriginal inhabitants, and even stretch
ing out their arms to grasp and appropriate all the other coun
tries of the world to fill them with Caucasians and Caucasian in
stitutions. " They stand before us," as Max Miiller eloquently
describes them, " as the prominent actors in the great drama
of history, and have carried to their fullest growth all the ele
ments of active life with which our nature is endowed. They
have perfected society and morals, and Ave learn from their
literature and works of art the elements of science, the laws
of art, and the principles of philosophy.
" Here was a work worthy of the Creator. To introduce mis
sionaries endowed with a knowledge of himself, The Caucasian
and with civilizing instincts, to a dark and stagnant ra0™ ss onary
world, was consistent with his progressing power and providence,
as shown forth in all his works from the beginning. It is a
work which has never been suspended since the first Caucasians

320 Studies in Theology.
tilled the ground and pastured their flocks to the eastward of
Eden, and which has been multiplying as it advanced. Ever
encroaching on the territories of the inferior races, and seldom
receding but to gather fresh strength, the apparent destiny of
the Caucasian is to efface and absorb them all."
This eloquent summing up of his conclusion is followed by
an argument in favor of his position drawn from the Scriptures.
To the unique suggestion that though Adam was the first of a su
perior race he might have been the natural bonr progeny of some
preadamite parents, and have transmitted to his lineal descend
ants the peculiar characteristics of a new variety of the human
family which have survived the intervening generations to the
present day, he says : " This is a question which philosophy
is powerless to decide, and if Scripture is to pronounce we
cannot avoid the conclusion that he was brought into existence
without father or mother or descent, by an act of creation."
The argument throughout is exceedingly ingenious and con
ducted Avith great ability and a reverent spirit. It avoids the
theory of evolution, but introduces two links in the ever-
advancing chain of biological phenomena in the two types of
man which preceded the Caucasian, in which there is found
fundamental physical similarity, but also fundamental spiritual
difference from the final type, thus bridging the chasm be
tween the human and highest form of animal life. It accounts
for all the facts of diversity in the human type as they have
been and are found, and also for all the archaeological facts,
by retrogressing the line back of the Caucasian indefinitely.
Dr. Winchell in his recent work, Preadamites, takes sub
stantially the same ground, but with favor to the theory of evo
lution. His discussion is conducted Avith great learning and
ability and general fairness, but with some faults of too
broad and unwarranted generalizations, as it appears to us, and
inordinate methods, denoting a debater rather than a calm and

All Human Beings from One Pair. 321
dispassionate inquirer. The argument is pressed to the utmost,
and at points betrays the weakness which always results from
overstraining. But Avith these drawbacks it is a great and
worthy discussion ; and while Ave cannot agree with his conclu
sions, we are free to confess that Ave are not prepared to say
that they are certainly not true. He declares that he had not
seen or read McCausland's book when his was prepared, and
hence their substantial agreement is the more marked and sig
nificant. We accept the two as noble efforts of sincere and able
minds struggling after the truth, and regard them as valuable
contributions to the thought of the world. They should be not
simply read, but carefully examined. It would be aside from
our line to go at length into the argument, but for reasons
which seem adequate we cannot accept the conclusions which
they reach.
There may be preadamites ; these great authors may have
found the clew to the unraveling of the perplexed Posslble pre.
question ; but we must for the present adhere to the Adamites.
old-fashioned idea that the human race sprang from one human
pair, and that the Adam of revelation is the primus homo. We
are not able to believe that there are facts which make it
necessary to accept of evolution against the abundant proof to
the contrary, nor yet that there is a necessity to- posit more than
one creation for man or one back of Adam. Ten thousand- years,
or even five, is a vast period in human history, though hardly ap
preciable in life history. It is probable that we have Ten thousand-
* years ade-
become so accustomed to think and speak in terms of quate.
vast time in connection with the past of the earth and life upon
it that we scarcely think five thousand years anything or suffi
cient to account for anything any more. This is doubtless a
great mistake.
Let us ponder some instructive or suggestive facts. Our
continent is but about four hundred years known to civilized
22 *

322 Studies in Theology.
man. Who dare say that there is evidence of any human his
tory upon it, prior to that, that needed more thousands of years
than that to account for them ? It is easy to assume it ; but
Avhat is the proof. History (authentic), except in the one book
that we are so reluctant to have testify, extends to less than
three thousand years. All human achievement in art and learn
ing of every kind worth naming falls within that period. Who
dare say that three thousand more are not sufficient to account
for the few fragments of the stone age that remain ? We
have great confidence in the science of geology as to its main
facts—the infinite time, almost, of earth history which it unrolls,
the vast ages of life and the organic changes which it records —
but can we forget that it is only in its most recent records that
we find any token of man in the changeable deposits of its super
ficial crust ? The facts are few and confused that imply remote
time, and the chances of invertive and disturbed position and
erratic agency are too great upon such sparse data to base much
certainty. Ethnic varieties at the extremes are great and require time,
but with all the agencies in both directions pushing extremes
asunder, several thousand years could accomplish wonders. See
where they would carry ns. Three or four hundred years carry us
to a time within which all authentic American history has tran
spired ; anditis conceded that the ancient civilizations of the con
tinent do not probably reach to more than a thousand years. Three
thousand years carry us to the mythical age of Great Britain, be
hind Avhich there is nothing ; three thousand years all Europe
is in the night of prehistoric time, and long-dead nations have
not yet been born or are but in their mythic period. Egypt and
the East carry us a little further, but soon all disappears. Can
it be that so much has been done and experienced in that pe-
riod,and must Ave have a much greater period forthe few facts

All Human Beings from One Pair. 323
which we find remaining, which denote a remote age ? The
Assyrian and Egyptian ruins comprise archaeological facts, all ex
cept a few rude constructions revealing only barbaric tastes and
savage conditions that must carry us to near the beginning.
It seems to us that more time is demanded thai* is needed for
any known or inferable facts. It will be safe, to say the least,
to wait until something more convincing is brought to our no
tice. Meantime there is too much argument and proof in sup
port of the theory to warrant the closing of the door to further
and perfectly free inquiry. The argument of Dr. Winchell can
only be silenced by being answered, and, whatever the outcome
may be, he must be credited not simply Avith comrage, but with
having made a putting of the case not to be overcome with
slurs or appeals to prejudice. We are not able to furnish the
answer; this we are frank to admit. Throughout reverence for
the Bible, which, Ave doubt not, he as devoutly honors as any who
differ with him, is apparent, and with a just appreciation of
the bearings of the controversy he shows, we think, that his
view has no necessary collision with the sacred book in its main;
features. Dr. Winchell's theory of a more ancient type of man than the
prehistoric man of Europe demands careful examination. He
admits that there are no monumental evidences and no geolog
ical facts known which necessarily carry up the prehistoric man
of Europe to more than from seven to ten thousand years, cer
tainly with in the postglacial age. He believes, however, that there
are facts which point probably to a much higher antiquity for
man. His theory is that the biblical Adam is not the head
man of the race, but only the head man of the Hebrew race
and those branches of the human family that are traced to that
common root. He makes them the white race, and points out
some biblical facts to justify his conclusion that there as al
ready existing a numerous race, or races, of men when Adam Avas

324 Studies in Theology.
introduced. He infers that the races existing when Adam ap
peared were the tawny and black races, and hence that they
are not his descendants, but if related to him at all are more
ancient and ancestral — the white race descendant of the black
race, or if not, subsequent in origin. Let us examine the grounds
of this theory, and, to do the subject justice, let us as much as
possible free ourselves from passion and presuppositions of
every kind.
From the alleged facts in the case and the well-known method
of the divine movement, a method of increasing perfection in
his works, it is posited that the first men were an inferior type
of men, standing greatly above, but nearer to, the brute orders — a
type incapable of high civilization or great spiritual development.
It is supposed that there were several of these races, perhaps
created at different periods and different centers, as the aborigi
nal Australians, Hottentots, Africans, Mongolians, each an im
provement on the other, and existing many thousands of years,
reaching back into the depths of geological ages, and overspread
ing large portions of the earth before the white race of a
greatly superior type was introduced. These races never be
came developed men, never acquired anything beyond the
rudest arts, never built or could build a civilization, perhaps
were below the possibility of religious ideas. The only memorials
they have left are the rude stone implements which are found,
it is asserted, in the tertiary deposits. They roamed over the
earth without habitations, dwelling in the caves and forests.
Their only arts were the shaping out of flint and bone imple
ments of war and instruments for capturing, slaying, and pre
paring their food. They perish before the progress of the
higher race, or by their help become elevated into the rank and
condition of civilized men. The opinion has been ventured that,
as they were incapable of originating a civilization, so probably
they were incapable of religion, and possibly were not immor-

All Human Beings from One Pair. 325
til or destined to a future existence. The introduction of the
white race brought civilization, religion, and immortality.
These races filled the gap between the highest human type and
the most elevated of the brute orders, and show the regular
march of events without a break from the lowest to the highest
types of life.
It is insisted that there is nothing in the theory inconsistent
with either the purest Christian sentiment or the teachings of
their holy writings, which Christians revere as a revelation, and
whether or not some such theory is necessary to meet the facts
Avhich are known to exist, and which must be accounted for, is
the only question.
The first argument adduced in favor of the theory is from
the Scriptures. If the Scriptures can be shown by implication
to favor the theory, it will be of service on two accounts : (a) It
will relieve the objection that it is antibiblical. This is impor
tant, for while it is true that a fact stands on its own proofs,
irrespective of what the Bible may say, yet the Bible is so
firmly intrenched in faith and evidence that it is a divine
revelation that no fact can be established which is opposed to
its testimony without evidence amounting to demonstration.
(b) Its support as a revelation would itself be conclusive. It is
wise, therefore, to begin the proof of the theory by putting the
objection out of the way that the Scriptures are opposed to it ;
more wise still, if possible, to show that it has support from
them. The universal impression has been that the Bible is explicit in
the affirmation that Adam was the first human being created,
and so that he was the actual head of the race, from whom has
sprung every other human being. This impression is not,
however, more universal than Avas the impression that the world
was created in six natural days about six thousand years ago,

326 Studies in Theology.
based also on what seemed to be an explicit declaration. That
has been compelled to yield to the force of counter evidence,
and better learning has shown that the common impression rested
upon unsound interpretation. A conviction equally strong as
that which supports the Adamic headship of the race gave way
before proof to the contrary, and has well-nigh entirely disap
peared from the world. No well-informed person now enter
tains it. Universal impression and most profound conviction
are neither proof of the soundness of interpretation nor the cer
tainty of the truth of what is believed. Both may be compelled
to give way.
Can it be shown that the universal faith in this instance is
the result of misinterpretation or hasty generalization ? And
after all does the Bible teach just the opposite of what has been
supposed ?
The first proof offered in support of the theory is that the
account itself does not imply that Adam Avas the first man ;
on the contrary, it is simply an account of the creation of the
man Adam and a history of his descendants ; that it does not
even purport to be anything else.
The second ground of inference is found in the implications
of the story of Cain. The elements are these : It seems from
the face of the narrative that (a) Cain was the first son of
Adam; (b) Abel seems to be the second born; (c) the mur
der of Abel seems to have taken place when they had just
emerged into manhood ; (d) when the murder took place, it
would seem that the only human beings on the earth of the
Adam stock were Adam and Eve and the children born of
them subsequent to the birth of Cain, Avhich, allowing that he
had just attained his manhood, could at most consist of not more
than a half score of children, boys and girls. These are the

All Human Beings from One Pair. 327
apparent facts. But, allowing that there were really no other
human beings than those composing this family, it is thought
to be difficult to explain what immediately follows in the nar
rative. First, the apparent terror which developed in the mind
of Cain, and, second, the expressed ground of it. "And Cain
said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the
earth ; and from thy face shall I be hid ; and I shall be a fugi
tive and a vagabond in the earth ; and it shall come to pass,
that every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the Lord
said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance
sha'll be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark
upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain
went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of
Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife ; and she
conceived, and bare Enoch : and he builded a city " (Gen. iv,
13-17). The assumed and what, it must be confessed, seem to
be the real difficulties of the passage, are these : (a) Cain's ap
prehension of danger from men ; (I) the seeming implication
that men were numerous and scattered abroad over the land to
which he was banished ; (c) the implication that they were
strangers to Cain in the fact that a mark was put upon Cain
by which he could be known, which would be wholly unneces
sary if all the men that were on the earth were his owu brothers;
(d) it is inferred from the language of the narrative that he
married a wife in the land to which he fled and of the people
to Avhom he joined himself; (e) he founded a city, which
implies that there must have been an already existing popu
lation. That the naked implications of the whole account
are such as to warrant the hypothesis that there were numerous
existing peoples who were strangers to Cain, and so avIio could
not have been the descendants of his father Adam, Ave think is
what no one can dispute.

32S Studies in Theology.
There seems to be force in the argument from the Genesis
account, but we must remember that the summary is very brief
and leaves out much matter that, were it given, might make
plain what is now obscure. The statement evidently implies
that the Adam was the first man.
The usual effect of glamour is observable in the treatment of
this case — the fascination of one set of new facts totally excludes
or obscures all others. There are other facts than those star-
tlingly arrayed to prove the high antiquity of man, which when
considered, to say the least, point to his recency. These are as
much entitled to fair consideration as those Avhich are mustered
with trumpets as settling the question.
We call attention to some of these, and commend them to
the study of scientists and men who are eager to accept their
theories. And the first fact Ave name to them will surprise them and
provoke a smile, a cynical, bitter smile, on the part of some of
the masters, and a shamed and grieved look on the part of
others — a fact which they seem to have forgotten, the fact that
we have a book whose testimony has some bearing on the case.
We are mildly, and even pityingly, told that our witness has
no standing in court. We beg to assure the attorneys on the
other side that they cannot so easily get rid of our witness.
He is before the court. He claims to be able to show by in
fallible proof that he is no less a witness than God himself.
There are several things to be done before he can be so sum
marily dismissed. The case caunot be tried without him, or
until he is shown to be unworthy of credit. It will not do to
say that the facts are against him, and prove him to be unwor
thy of credit. That is the thing to be proved ; but, before that
is proposed, it will be well to inquire into the proof of the
identity and competence of the witness. This will determine
whether he should be ruled out or not.
4

All Human Beings from One Pair. 329
The attorneys on the other side smile. A smile is not
conclusive. They curl the lip in scorn, and even wax wrath
ful. They tell us it is preposterous ; that it is only an old
book, long since antiquated by the magnificent march of in
tellect ; that the age has outgrown its senile stories ; that it
belongs to the museums. We beg to assure them that their
eloquence and great learning are lost. The book must be heard.
A book in itself proves nothing. It is a question of author
ship. Who is the author of our old book ? Everything de
pends on the answer to that question. No settlement of the
question under consideration can be final without the settle
ment of that question. That will determine whether the wit
ness is competent and whether his testimony ought to have
weight against the witnesses introduced by the other side. They
also are books ; it will after all turn upon books.
Our book claims to be the testimony of God directly on the
point in issue. You smile. A smile proves nothing. If it
should turn out that it is God's book of testimony, the court
will at least wait before it allows Mr.  and Mr.  and
Mr.  to scourge him from the bar without a hearing. They
are highly respectable names, but they can scarcely be so much
more competent than the Maker of the universe himself as with
a few flint knives to send him in disgrace from the witness
stand. Even the kitchen middens will not absolutely deter
mine the case against him.
It is sometimes not easy to settle the authorship of a book.
In this case it is not difficult. Again a derisive smile. It
proves nothing. The evidence is irresistible. Will the doubt
ers be reasonable enough to examine the case? We are sure
that the study will make them wiser men,, and somewhat lower
their tone.
The real question here is this : " What is the comparative
strength of evidence that the Bible is a divine testimony on

330 Studies in Theology.
the subject in hand, and the evidence of facts alleged to con
tradict its testimony ? " On that point we affirm that the proof in
support of the biblical claim is immeasurably stronger — that, in
fact, it is irresistible. We are willing to stake all on that single
issue, and finally that issue must determine it. The Bible does
not fix an exact chronology, yet no defender of its veracious-
ness will allow for it more than possible gaps of two to four
thousand years. The time of man on the earth must fall
within that limit or his history be resolved into a mere myth.
The evidence alleged for a longer period, and which if ad
mitted invalidates the Bible statement, we affirm has no com
parable strength to that Avhich attests the worthiness of the
revealed witness.
The testimony of facts is the strongest of all testimony.
That is admitted. It overrides all theories, all inductions, all
verbal testimonies. It is simply what are the facts, and what
do they testify to.
There are two sets of facts here. One is the fact of a book
which furnishes absolute proof that it is inspired. This fact is
not a fact which is established by the senses, like the existence
of a fossil or a stone ax, but it is nevertheless a fact which
is supported by evidence as conclusive as that of sense. We
present it as a fact, and on the validation of that stake the issue.
Now this inspired witness declares directly, not in terms, but
in serial statements which necessarily determine proximate
periods of time, that man has not existed more than from six to
ten thousand years on the globe. No pretense will be set up
against this amount. If this can bo disposed of, it disproves
the Bible. The evidence which can disprove it must be stronger
than that which supports the inspirational character of the
sacred book.

All Human Beings from One Pair. 331
What is that stronger proof which carries the age of man up
to one hundred thousand or one million years ? It is a set of
facts. What are the facts ? We have just cited them. There
are none others. The most diligent search carried on for scores
of years fails to add a single item.
Concerning these facts, while we do not dispute one of them,
we aver that most of them are strained in the statement, and
lack the fullness of proof which is essential to enable us to judge
of them simply as facts ; to enable us to judge, we must be
brought into more accurate relation to them. There is a wit
ness between them and us that, without challenging or dis
crediting, we are not entirely certain is free from bias. It is
not enough to bring the fossil or other fact alleged to exist.
The environment is more important.
The facts do not prove what they are alleged to prove.
They say nothing on that subject. All that is inference.
Allow all the facts, the utmost they can do is to prove that man
existed. They say not a word about the time when. That
must be deduced. The question remains, What are the grounds
of determination ? We are told that the facts point to a time
long past. How long ? One hundred thousand years. We
deny. What shall decide the issue ? The facts do not decide
it. They affirm nothing ; they bear no date ; they utter no
word. Another set of facts are called on to do what ? To help
the first fact. Do they do what they are expected to do % We
affirm that they do not. They form the basis of a probable
conclusion, possibly — possibly not even so much, as that. The
induction is from very uncertain premises as to the facts, but
they are put in no uncertain terms. For example, a human
bone is found in a cave in Belgium, in a miscellaneous mass of
bones of animals extinct before the tertiary ; ergo, man lived
at that time ; the tertiary Avas certainly not more recent than
one hundred thousand or one million years ago ; ergo, man has

332 Studies in Theology.
been on the earth one hundred thousand or one million years at
least. Ab uno disce omnes. Now in all such statements there
is not a particle of proof in support of the conclusion. It has
no other weight than bold assumption.
What is needed is absolute proof, first, of the bone, that it is
human ; second, that the accumulation has existed for one hun
dred thousand years or one million ; third, that this particular
bone has been there for that length of time. The most plausi
ble ground of inference only proves a plausible inference.
There might be a thousand facts against it. Inference is not
proof unless it is absolutely necessary induction from premises
necessarily true. There is not a single case of this kind. The
cases alleged, when weighed against other grounds of inference,
dwindle into insignificance. Bold assumption is all that re
mains, and on this alone the Bible is brushed away as a fable.
Beduced to its ultimate it reads thus : Somebody has found a
flint knife, which evidently some man made, and it was in a
place that shows that it must have been put there one hundred
thousand years ago ; ergo, the Bible is a fable.
We beg to submit for consideration some other facts, which pos
sibly will put an entirely new phase upon the question at issue.
Of the relative recency of man's origin there is no dispute ;
not even the most bigoted opposers attempt to deny it. His
place is accorded him as the last in the series of organic exist
ences. It is further admitted that any signs of his existence
are not found below the superficial deposits. It is also further
admitted that any but the most crude memorials of him cannot
be traced behind a few thousand years, and these were mere
implements of stone manufacture necessary to his subsistence.
Has it ever occurred to those who contend for his high an
tiquity to explain how it was that he remained for so many
4

All Human Beings from One Pair. 333
thousand years, as they allege, in so low a state of civilization
that a few flint knives and other tools were all that he achieved,
and that he so suddenly sprang into such marvelous development ?
Two thousand years, or at most three hundred more, find the
man of Europe a barbarian, sink even Greece into semibarbaric
night. Not more than fifteen hundred more shut down upon
the earlier hints of Assyrian and Egyptian rise out of barbaric
conditions. All behind shroud the whole earth in utter night.
Can any man who has studied the nature of man believe that
a hundred thousand years, or a half score of thousands of years,
were passed by our human ancestors with such faint signs of
intelligence ? Is it like man as we know him ? Would no gen
ius have arisen during all those tedious millenniads to start a
better era ? Is it conceivable that no histories or traditions would
have reached our time of so immense a period ? What kind
of man was it? Dr. Winchell and McCausland, by stress of
necessity, admit that the man of those remote ages was not man
as we find him, but a creature of intelligence just above that of
the brute world — an unspiritual and irresponsible being. They
admit that the Adamic man is a higher type of the genus
homo, and that there is no evidence that this spiritualized hu
manity dates back beyond the time assigned by Moses.
Were these preadamites, then, men in any proper sense of the
word ? They lived, it is alleged, for one hundred thousand
years without showing any sign of properly human attributes
or character, without so much as showing an ethical or respon
sible condition. Could man as we find him have such a his
tory — men without mind, Avithout ethical ideas ?
What became of these prehistoric men ? They are alleged
to be the Negroes and Mongols and their congeners. But are we
to forget that a flood swept off the whole race except the ark
family ? Then these races now living cannot be the prehistoric

334 Studies in Theology.
men. There are none of these now living. The Adam
family are the only ones who come to us through Noah.
And what of population ? Man is a fecund animal. Within
the past four thousand years he has built civilizations, empires,
cities, and peopled the world. There are no evidences that
four thousand years ago, or even then, there were or ever had
been forty million people on the earth. I will be bold enough
to affirm that there is no evidence that there was ever half that
number. Does this mean nothing ?
Are we referred to the antiquities ? Have you ever thought
hoAv meager they are ? Were all the antiquities of the world
behind a few thousand years gathered together, even including
those which come so near us as back of two thousand years
ago, including all the works of man that have perished, all prod
ucts of every kind, they would not represent what England alone
has done since the Anglo-Saxon dynasty arose, in less than a
thousand years ; and not one of these boasted antiquities can
make out a claim of higher age than four thousand years.
The Chinese wall, the Pyramids, and a few others are often
referred to. No one disputes that they are wonderful speci
mens of barbaric achievement at an early date, pointing to the
crudeness of the civilization which produced them — monu
ments of the desire of people to perpetuate their achievements
in building into them all their force. The Brooklyn Bridge
alone means more than all the accumulated works of man up
to less than a thousand, or even a hundred, years ago.
A hundred thousand years before man attained to anything
beyond a flint knife ! Who, upon the flimsy facts adduced,
can believe that such has been human history ? No ; it is a
travesty of common sense, a grim play upon the credulity of
the age, a proof that any merest assumption will find leaders,

All Human Beings from One Pair. 335
who assume great titles and constituents, who will eagerly
swallow their bait, while common sense is silenced by their
clamor. It is such things that disgrace the name of science.
In its worthy representations we honor it, but even its princes
constantly bedrabble their imperial robes.
Not a single fact has been adduced, nor can be adduced from
any source, that Avarrants an extension of human chronology
beyond six or eight thousand years.
Europe over three quarters of its surface falls within two
thousand years, despite the kitchen middens. America gives
no sign of a human inhabitant that necessarily carries the date
up to half that time. Asia and Africa extend the period to
twice that, and then plunge into prehistoric darkness, except
for the light which shines from the sacred pages.
The question of population must be taken into account in
determining the antiquity of man in the absence of reliable as
certainable dates.
We have seen how the degree of progress in civilized con
ditions bears on the question. Let us now consider the matter
of population.
The evidence is conclusive that the race springs from one
primitive stock ; at least there are no facts which warrant a con
trary conclusion, Avhile many facts go to its support. It is also
well established that the ethnic roots all center in western
Asia. All known humanity is traceable to this region. These
are important facts in their bearing on the question of antiq
uity. They circumscribe our search.
There is no law of humanity better understood and more
firmly settled than the law of human propagation. It branches
into several particulars :

336 Studies in Theology.
First. Only man propagates man.
Second. Man, by an instinct as universal as the race, propa
gates as soon as maturity takes place, when not hindered or
restrained. Third. The child-bearing, or female, branch of the race is
slightly more numerous than the male.
Fourth. The period of maternity is, on an average, between
twenty and forty years, terminating at about fifty years of age.
Fifth. There is an average interval between offspring of
about two years.
Sixth. A normal family under unrestrained conditions would
be from six to ten children or more.
Seventh. Unrestrained, all men would be fathers and all
women Avould be mothers, and restraint is never practiced
except in highly civilized conditions. Savage man propagates
like the beasts.
Eighth. About one half, or a larger proportion, of children
born live to maturity in the common conditions of life, that is,
when there are no special causes to prevent.
Ninth. There are about three generations in a century.
Tenth. Both maternal and paternal instinct prompt to the
protection and preservation of the life of offspring.
A result of these well-known universal laws determines prox
imately what will be the population of the globe at any time
from a fixed starting point, and the amount of population will
indicate proximately the length of the line. There are many
ways of testing this principle, and they will all be found to
come to about the same conclusion, and will be attested by
Avell-known history.
There are so many modifying circumstances that only a
proximate result can be reached, but it will be of great signifi
cance.

All Human Beings from One Pair. 337
If we fix the date of man's commencement on the globe at
six, or not more than ten, thousand years ago, the time fixed by
the most accredited biblical chronology, we have the following
result. The chronology is not absolutely fixed, but it will
allow of but little variation. It divides itself into two parts :
First. A period of sixteen hundred and fifty years before
the flood, or possibly a few thousand years more.
Second. A period of forty-two hundred jears since that
event. By the flood it alleges that the entire human race was swept
away, except one family, who escaped the general destruction
by the preparation of an ark, being forewarned of God of the
approaching doom of the race. The saved family consisted of
eight souls — Noah and his wife, their three sons, and their wives.
With the flood to help us, sweeping away all existing peoples
bnt one family at the end of the first sixteen hundred and fifty
years, and starting out anew with four mothers, we can get
along, and with a liberal calculation for the ravages of death, so
that only one in five of women born left two daughters to be
come mothers, we can place the offspring. Noah and Shem
and Ham and Japheth, and their wives and offspring, and forty-
two hundred years trouble us some, but we see a possibility of
taking care of them ; but when you require us to add one hun
dred thousand or one million years and three times as many
generations, we are embarrassed with riches. The laws trouble
us, and all known facts become unmanageable.
If we allow three generations for each century, we have in
the time before the flood room for fifty generations. And if
we allow of an increase of each generation equal to twice as
much as the preceding, we would have this as the result :
There is one mother to start with — the mother of the race ;
she becomes the mother of daughters, two of whom in turn be
come mothers, and this law continues throughout fifty genera-
23 *

338 Studies in Theology.
tions. This would show the last generation, at the time of the
flood, of women alone to consist of 1,066,107,210,237,184,
that is, 666,317 times as much as the present population of
the globe.
If now we vary the calculation and reduce the scale of fecun
dity so as that the rate of increase will only be double in two
generations, we have this result : Twenty-five times the genera
tion has doubled ; the result would then show of women alone at
the time of the flood 31,772,472. If we suppose an equal num
ber of men, we should have as the gross population 63,544,944,
swept away by the flood, having existed with their ancestors
sixteen hundred and fifty years on a small section of Asia not
more than a thousand miles square.
No one supposes any such population existed ; but if we are
required to extend the time, the difficulty becomes with every
increase of time still greater.
When we think of sixteen hundred and fifty years as com
pared with the life of the planet, it signifies nothing ; but when
we think of it as a period in which human beings live and
propagate their kind, it becomes vast and more than we know
what to do with.
We are not now set for the defense of that account. Of its
truth we have no doubt, for good and sufficient and easily as
signable reasons ; but that is not the task before us. Assuming
it, we aim to point out that it will fully account for all known
facts of man's inhabitation of the earth, and that viewed in the
light of population merely it is self-verifying.
The ten facts I have referred to with respect to the law of
human propagation warrant the conclusion that under favorable
conditions the natural increase of the human family would be
at least to double each generation, that is, that each mother
would give birth to a sufficient number of female children to

All Human Beings from One Pair. 339
leave at least two who should reach maturity and in turn be
come mothers. Some mothers would have but few children ;
some would have all sons, others have only daughters ; some
female offspring would prove infertile ; but of the whole num
ber it is a reasonable conclusion that under favorable conditions,
with the instinct of maturity, the total outcome would not vary
far from what has been above stated.
But now let us take up the second portion of time, that since
the flood, Avhen the race is assumed to have started anew. In
this case we begin with four mothers, or four lines, and we have,
instead of 1,650 years, 4,200 years since the flood ; and instead
of 50 generations, 141 generations. Our ark family start in the
old cradle of the race — west central Asia. We have now the
advantage that we are able to trace all existing races to about
this ancient seat.
Our difficulty is not to account for all present peoples in so
brief a time, but rather the time is more than Ave know what
to do with. If we reduce the scale of increase, to double once
in five generations, we have as the result 28 doublings. That
would show the present population of the globe to be of each of
four lines 254,179,775 of women alone. This sum, multiplied
by four, the number of the lines would show 1,016,716,100 ;
double this to account for the men, and we have for our pres
ent population 2,033,432,200 — two thousand and thirty-three
millions and nearly a half. That is at least 400,000,000 more:
than the existing population.
We persuade ourselves that Ave have made it appear in the
preceding reasonings that there is preponderating evidence in
support of the position (a) that man is an immediate creation
and not a development from a lower type ; (b) that he is a
recent — the most recent — creation in the realm of terrestrial
life ; (c) that the entire race, with all its varieties, have descended
from a single pair ; and (d) that the radical distinction, between

340 Studies in Theology.
man and all other terrestrial types of life is that he is a spirit
ual being shrined in a material body ; and, finally, (e) that he is
the final cause of the creative movement, so far as the earth
and the living races on it are concerned. His existence ex
plains all previous stages of the creative drama.
All the study of the ages, replete as they are Avith rich dis
coveries, add nothing to the story of Moses, written nearly four
thousand years ago, in the infancy of the race and long anterior
to all modern learning and research; but while adding
nothing, correction or contradiction, they do furnish abundant
illustration and support of his statement.

Are Other Worlds Inhabited? 341

ARE OTHER WORLDS INHABITED?
That the universe contains more than is reached by our lim
ited means of information is probable, but of the unknown
possibles it is vain to conjecture. Bevelation intimates and in
various ways affirms spheres and orders of existence rising in
scale of dignity and excellence above man, and points to the fact
that man himself is destined to a higher condition than he at
tains in the present life, and to transformations " from glory to
glory " which will make his state and rank, if not radically dif
ferent, yet extremely different in many respects. These are
matters Avhich do not enter into the discussion herein conducted.
What we have aimed to show are certain well-known facts of
the universe, among which are : (a) that it is a made thing ; (5)
that it is of vast magnitude in space ; (c) that it comprises four
distinctly marked differentiations, inorganic, organic, sentient,
and higher spiritual realms or orders of existence ; (d) that it
began in depths of time beyond computation in the creation of
inorganic elements — atomic substances ; (e) that by energizings
in these inorganic substances world masses have been evolved of
practically infinite number ; (f) that these vast bodies by con
tinuous energizing are maintained in their exact relations, har
monies, and motions over infinite spaces ; (g) that when they
had been brought by these continuous and wise energizings of
the Creator, in vast eons of time, into proper conditions, life was
introduced on the globe in all the varieties in which it has been
and is found to exist ; first, in vegetable varieties in successive
epochs ; second, in animal varieties of all kinds ; third, in the
man race, the crown and finish of the creative work in this
world — and the most recent.

342 Stcdiks in Theology.
These facts we claim to be clearly ascertained and established
by incontrovertible evidence. Whether there are other and
higher races, or diversified races or individuals, in the immensity
of worlds we now know to exist we have no absolute knowledge.
It is a rational induction from what we know of what has been
going on in our world for immeasurable ages, and from what we
know of the great Being who has been carrying on the work
in a way to denote his character, that a similar process is being
carried forward in all completed world systems with character
istic variety and to worthy and noble ends. But it is one of the
humbling reminders of our finiteness that we are so limited in our
knowledge that even of our own world we know but scraps. Of
all the million ages we are able but to gather up the scantiest hints.
Of all those vast realms we are denied all knowledge except. the
scanty discovery that they exist and shine on seemingly forever
and move over and in immeasurable depths in regulated harmony.
Do we reach the limit of our knowledge of the spiritual uni
verse in the man race, or have we reliable information as to the
existence of other spiritual races or orders ? To this we are
constrained to answer that we have no direct knowledge of
any other order or races of spiritual beings than the human.
All spiritual beings, like their Creator, or, as he more properly
styles himself, Father, are invisible, and come to knowledge only
through acts which they are perceived to perform, or of which
they are known to be the source — acts of intelligence — personal
acts. We know of no such acts except such as are ascribable to
God himself or to his human Child. Of any other orders we
are not in position to know. But while we have no direct
personal knowledge of such beings we are not wholly destitute
of information of them. Bevelation opens up an unseen uni
verse to us, and there are many proofs that the information
thus furnished is reliable.

Are Other Worlds Inhabited ? 343
As the telescope in one direction and the microscope in
another serve to make us acquainted with vast regions of the
material universe, which but for their aid, though lying imme
diately about us and cognizable by sense, we should not be able
to know because of their distance or minuteness, so by revela
tion we become aware of a vast realm undiscerned by sense.,
Bevelation puts a new object glass in our possession, and a new
spiritual universe opens to our apprehension. The new lens
serves the same purpose with respect to the unseen realm which
the telescope and the microscope do with respect to the visible
and tangible. We discover by the reason that the visible was
made for the invisible.
We find it impossible, rationally, to doubt the veraciousness
of the information thus furnished on two grounds :
First, on the ground of rational inference. The inference
forces itself upon us in two ways : (a) There seems no adequate
reason for the existence of the vast spread of the material
universe — no reason for its creation even, if we remove the idea
of service to a higher and nobler order of being; (£) many
facts of our experience imply the influence of such being*
among and upon us. This subject will be fully discussed in
another volume.
Second, on the ground of explicit revelation. The evidence
that Ave have a revelation is such that we are shut up to faith.
This subject is fully treated in our third volume, The Su
pernatural Book, to which we refer the reader. On these
grounds, while we have no direct personal knowledge of other
created spiritual beings than those of our own race, we find it
impossible to doubt that there are such.
The view opened by revelation gives infinite significance to
the universe scheme. New meaning is imparted to every
increment of the movement from the inception to the comple- 4

344 Studies in Theology.
tion, or to each stage of a progress which will have no end. A
vast spiritual empire rises upon the ancient foundations which
is to last forever. The earlier forms, having served their ends
in the various transformations through which they pass in
almost infinite ages, will probably vanish, and " a new heaven
and a new earth," or new and higher style of habitations pre
pared for more exalted ends, the habitations of advanced orders,
will take their place (Bev. xxi-xxii).
Other races, or orders more properly — for we do not find
that they are spoken of as having racial descent or origin — are
named under various titles of eminence, as " thrones, dominions,
principalities, powers, angels, messengers, spirits," and such
like distinctions. Their activities and services are described
and somewhat of their history intimated. They are uniformly
referred to as of higher orders than that of our own race — more
ancient and honorable in the trusts committed to them — elder
brothers of larger growth. They are represented as of vast
multitude — an innumerable host. How they attained their high
estate is not intimated, whether by creation or by graduation
through a worthy probationary history of loyal and faithful
and long-continued service. All analogies would favor the
latter view.
There are three principles discoverable in the spiritual universe
plainly revealed, great ethical axioms : (a) all spirits are under
strict ethical laws, consequently have a probational history;
(I) growth in power is the law of their existence ; (c) character
wrought out in service is the determining ground of distinction
among them, and so of destiny.
On these principles there is reason to suppose that the high
est spirit in the empire of Jehovah has won his distinction by
his loyalty of service.

Are Other Worlds Inhabited? 345
When the inquiry emerges, What is the reason for the exist
ence of the almost infinite array of worlds — the great material
creations — that is, to what end and purpose do they exist ? it
cannot be answered either absolutely that they exist for no
reason, nor yet even possibly for no reason. They are shown
to be a product of intelligent power. The proof is positive.
But intelligent power is not exerted without a reason or worthy
end ; its characteristic is that it proposes an end which is ra
tional and worthy ; otherwise it could not be worthy of an in
telligence of high grade. In this case the cause is shown to be
omnipotent and infinitely wise. The end to such a being must
be not only an end, but it must in every case either be a most
worthy end in itself or means to a most worthy end. Less than
this could not be an adequate motive for creation. If it should
be said that much that is found in the universe can have no
possible reason for existence, or no reason of worthiness, either
in itself or as means to worthy ends, we have to answer that
this is an assumption too high for us, and of which no instance
or proof can be alleged, and which in its very utterance is a
blasphemous impeachment of God. We may not be able to
see the reasons in every case, and, in fact, do not see the reason
for anything as it lies before and in the infinite mind; but we
must believe that there are adequate reasons for everything
that can be traced to him as cause. In most cases we can, even
with our imperfect understanding, detect something of what he
must have felt and purposed — the motive that moved him to
act. Are we able to detect any reason in this case, Why did he
make these many worlds ?
It must have been for some reason purely subjective to him
self, or for some objective good to be realized through them that
they exist. No other alternative can be conceived. What
could be the conceivable good to himself ?
If we suppose that there was no end to be served but his own

346 Studies in Theology.
gratification the question emerges, What possible gratification
could there be in such an aimless exercise of power ? Can any
motive to such a nature as we know God must possess be con
ceived ? What of good of any kind could it give to him ? And if
it could give nothing of good, wherefore exert the power?
There could be no good to mere brute matter in its existence
as cause thereof. To the question why it should exist, or exist
in this form or that if it alone is to exist, no possible answer can
be returned, because it is impossible to find an end of good in it
which can be alleged as the why — no end of good to God, no
end of good to itself. But if it could not exist without some
reason, and the reasons cannot be found in God alone or in
mere brute matter alone, the reason must be found in some
other being or beings to whom it may be a good. If it should
be said that all reasons for any creative acts must exist in God
himself, we have to answer, the reasons why he should act, it is
true, must be in himself ; but there must be reasons, and they
must respect a good of himself or other beings ; and since we
have seen that they cannot terminate in himself, they must re
spect other beings who have a good to be served.
If it were conceivable that his own glory is the sole motive
it still remains that he cannot secure that without relating his
act to some being who can see in it that which is good, and
therefore to his glory, for that which is not a good and which
serves no good cannot be to his glory. Thus it must make for
some objective good in order that he may be glorified in it.
What, then, is that objective good ? If we suppose that crea
tion ministers good to other beings than God we have the ques
tion, What other beings ?
If we assume that the earth alone is the theater of life,
then the good must be to beings on the earth, for only crea-

Are Other Worlds Inhabited? 347
tures that have life can be recipients of good. But then we
have to find that all worlds do in some measure minister to
the good of living creatures on the earth or they exist for no
good. Can this be shown as rationally deduced ? We do not see
how it is possible. We have seen how almost infinite the uni
verse is. How can it rationally appear that any worlds are of
any service to life on this globe but those which belong to the
solar system ? And of these what services are discernible ex
cept in the case of the solar center ? If it should be assumed
that the stars within our vision minister to man a good can we
believe that any real service is rendered ? And what of those
sidereal heavens of which we know nothing at all ? It must
indeed be a great stretch of assumption and faith to suppose
that the whole universe was created for any good it ministers
to this planet. Is it a more reasonable supposition than to
suppose that they were made to serve the purposes of life on
their own surfaces ? About five thousand stars can be seen by
man. If these were all, it Avould be incredible that even these
found their only reason for existence as objects of study and
instruction to man or any good the life of the earth receives
from them. But what shall be said of the millions which the
telescope discloses to us, some of which are so distant that the
very light which reveals them has to travel half a million years
to reach us? Surely the motive for creating these must be
found in a good to other life than that which is of the earth.
There may be worlds not yet fit for life, there may be worlds
from which life has vanished ; but it is not supposable that
there are any worlds not in some way designed to minister to
life at some time in their history. And as no life has a suffi
cient worthiness to make its existence an object except spiritual
life, or that which sustains spiritual life, we may reasonably
conclude that spiritual life either now does or ultimately will

348 Studies in Theology.
overspread all worlds. The same law in essence which obtains
here probably obtains throughout the universe.
If we allow this, and Avhether we allow it or not, what unim
aginable magnificence is discernible in the divine plan ! The
universe is a theater of life in all gradations, from the mite
whose structure is microscopic and whose history is limited
to a transient ecstasy — a single moment to the archangel whose
powers are almost godlike and whose rapturous history extends
through eternity.
In conclusion, let us for a moment endeavor to picture to
our thought the ineffable movement from its incep-
Conclusion. .
tion to its culmination.
We pass in thought to a time when no world hung in the vast
abyss — when no star sent out its solar light, when no planet re
volved where the archaic fire-mist itself did not exist. No crea
tive act as yet had been performed. In the vast and limitless
solitude God dwelt alone. It transcends our compre-
Risumi. hension ; yet is that which, pushed by a necessity, we
cannot resist, we are compelled to believe. The unoriginated,
eternal, infinite alone with himself ; yet not alone, for he was
three. In his ineffable nature there was fellowship commen
surate with its own infiniteness. There was " Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost." We do not undertake to translate it ; we accept it.
It was not something made, not some subjective effect wrought
upon or within his own personality and brought into his im
mutable consciousness ; but rather it was of his essential being.
In him were consciously the seeds of all possibility, and
there was no potentiality apart from him, and never could
be. He with perfect wisdom discerned among possibles the
best. That potential best he chose to make the real best.
The universe is the result, as it is, as it has been, as it is to
be. He determined the bounds and decreed the method of his

Are Other Worlds Inhabited? 349
own energizing. He would take eternity to consummate his
Avork ; the plan should be worthy of his wisdom and its realiza
tion worthy of his power ; and, what was the crown and glory
of all, it should in everything be a perfect expression of his
boundless love. In idea from base to finial it stood com
plete, a picture of matchless perfection. "Known unto him
were all his works from the foundation of the world." It
should start with its substructure in the dust, but its dome
should be in the splendors of imperishable spiritual glory. He
would begin by the creation of innumerable atomic stones —
invisible, impalpable infinitesimals scattered broadcast over the
limitless fields of space, which by an inherent law imparted in
their creation should each and severally do his bidding, stone
coming to stone, and by divine marriage forming indissoluble
and definite unions. These complexes massed and segregated by
a mysterious instinct or imparted energy should form into
systems of worlds which, fixed in non interfering orbits, should
go revolving through the ages of time and extending over im
measurable fields of. space. He would take vast time for the
evolution ; for to the Eternal time counts nothing — there is no
sooner or later. Slowly, in imperceptible progress, the vast
ideal should emerge into reality, from dim outlines and'
shadowy forms to solid worlds, and the sidereal magnificence
should be complete. Thus he wrought until the material
universe, the thing of beauty and grandeur that it is, stood
a finished ideal, and " he pronounced it good."
But there was no life over its vast surfaces. That was its
final cause ; but the time was not yet. Its broad and generous
breast was not prepared for the setting of that priceless jewel.
It would come in many faceted beauty. The air and the
water and soils should be full of it, and the great globes should
yet thrill with its ecstasy. One almost suffocates as he thinks

350 Studies in Theology.
back into and over those vast solitudes of azoic time and
sees the patient worker building alone, with no eye to brighten
or smile to approve or nerve to thrill at the contemplation of
his work. But tireless and patient, and in joy, age following
age, he built, built, built.
Finally came the age of life ; and he commenced unrolling the
wonders of vegetable fiber and fleshy tissue and the deeper
wonder of sensibility as it appears in animal life. The display
is practically infinite, filling the gamut of possible organic varie
ties from spore of algae to the mammoth trees of the Calaveras
forest, from animalcule to mastodon. How infinite the inge
nuity ! How impenetrable the mystery ! We can never fathom
it. How the eternal Spirit worked and does work in translating
himself into varied forms of materiality and life eludes us ; but
the fact of the universe is proof that he was able to do so.
Standing at the base and looking upward from the fire-mist
through long vistas of formative ages until the chaos burst into
sidereal splendor, and from the first quiver of life through the
ever-ascending series until it culminates in man, and then
through successive stages of spiritual development until it issues
in an innumerable host of deathless and exultant spirits who
know and worship their Maker, and on to the vision of their
ever-growing happiness and perfection, Ave are lost in Avonder
and praise. Such is the vision of God's plan and method which
revelation opens to us, and which all the facts known fully cor
roborate. If there are evils they are but limited and transient
incidents which sink out of sight and disappear as we gaze
upon the eternal brightness.
If we reject this view, or some view substantially agreeing
with it, Avhat are the alternatives? We must either deny that

Are Other Worlds Inhabited? 351
there is any plan or substitute one that is inferior, and with no
better grounds.
The former is sheer atheism. Does it lessen the difficul
ties ? Is it easier, and more in accord with our intelligence,
to conceive and believe that the universe came into the orderly
state in which we find it, without the agency of a guiding
mind, or with it ? Can we believe that such a system could
spring from mere chance? It is possible to assert it; but
could there be a higher proof of irrationality than the belief of
it? If we could assert that the universe evinces no mind,
without forfeiting the reputation for intelligence, what could
we assert that would forfeit it ? Surely there is no escape in
this direction. We are shut up either to the belief of an intel
ligent and purposing cause or, in the denial of it, to a con
clusion which writes us down as irrational.
But, admitting that it is a product of mind acting to an end,
we must either accept some such plan as that indicated or one
greatly inferior. Why take the alternative ? Can better reasons
be alleged in support of any inferior plan ? Does the exclusion
of the idea of a spiritual world relieve the problem ? Is it more
rational to attribute mental phenomena to molecular activity
than to believe there is a spirit in man or that man is a spirit ?
Is the problem simplified by denying spiritual existence ?
But if there be spiritual existence, why limit it to this world ?
If it is the great ultimate fact here, why suppose it is not the
great ultimate fact in other worlds ? Why put an inferior ulti
mate in its place when there is no assignable reason for doing so ?
If life and spirit were but an accident here we might indeed
reason that it was probably exceptional, as there is good reason
for believing that mere chance does not repeat itself ; but when
we find intelligence moving to a highest end in a given case,
and so indicating its own idea of fitness, on what principle can

352 Studies in Theology.
we substitute an inferior end in millions of other cases? If a world
can be made to support life and spirit as it is found in the case
of this world, and if such a use is most worthy and honorable
and most coincides with the wisdom and goodness of God ; if
it is a higher work and seems a higher end than a mere globe
of matter without life and mind, why suppose that in one case
the highest is aimed at and reached, and in a million million
cases it is not purposed at all, and that which is purposed in the
plan is no worthy end at all ?
What we claim, and all that we claim, is that the universe is in
the interests of a good, and that any good must in some way re
late itself to life, and that the highest good must relate itself to
mind. We do not claim that all worlds must necessarily, at any
time, be the abode of material life. They may in other ways serve
the interests of life than in furnishing the dAvelling place of liv
ing beings in or out of bodies ; but we do hold that it is highly
probable that solar centers do in every case probably furnish
the conditions of material life at some time in their history, and
that they were probably made to that end; that so the entire field
of the universe is at some time the birthplace of life, and life
in its highest type ; and that the probable ultimate end of all
is the occupancy forever of a boundless spiritual and immortal
population, who shall exist in such forms of life as to enable
them to intercommunicate with freedom, and derive happiness
from mutual service and fellowship.
If we were asked the ultimate of God's plans we should
answer, it is to raise up a boundless holy population of spiritual
beings who shall constitute his family, having his universe for
their home and his love for their dower, and who shall pro
gress forever and ever in knowledge and holy happiness. Such
is the universe as we find it, a vast and almost infinite scheme

Are Other AVorlds Inhabited? 353
of worlds spreading abroad over semiinfinite space and time,
regulated and administered with infinite wisdom and love, for
an infinitely worthy end:
Beginning with the atoms, the Author, it is shown, for some
reason occupied vast measures of time in constructing them
into world systems. Of this the proof is complete. Then in
equally great reaches he employed himself in creating in suc
cession advancing orders of organic existences — living races.
Of this the proof is likewise complete. The first types were
insensate and of immense variety, growing directly from the
prepared elements of the earth. The second type, conditioned
by the first, took on the higher quality of sensitivity and seem
ing semimentality in varying degrees. The different kinds were
fixed and also of infinite variety. This also is established beyond
dispute. These of both kinds, sensate and insensate, Avere alike
subject to the law of decay and death. Not only the individuals,
but races perished, to be followed by higher races. This also
is established beyond dispute. During all this period — a semi-
eternity, almost — there is no evidence that an intelligent or
ethical being — a single person — was found in all the universe
except the Creator alone. If anything in the history of the
universe is established these things are.

'£*"

Finally, at the end of almost interminable ages, man appealed
as the last of the series, at a period which is so recent as cer
tainly not to exceed a few thousand years. All admit his
recency and the fact that he is the end of the series, but some
on inadequate evidence, as we have seen, push the date of his
arrival back to a more distant point.
As we trace the movement over immeasurable ages the
thoughtful mind cannot fail to be impressed with its majesty.
Each new stage is conditioned by, and rises upon the platform
24 *¦

3^,4 Studies in Theology.
of, that which immediately preceded ; but while there is a strict
chain of connection from the beginning to the end, that which
precedes is never the canse of that which follows, but only the
conditioning antecedent.
By these long processes we are brought to the universe as we
find it to-day. Man is the difficult problem in the 'universe
system. A future volume will treat of him more specifically.
Well did Brewster, in More Worlds than One, in sub
stance say :
Those impulsive minds that can be brought to believe that the
earth is the only inhabited body in the universe, will have no
difficulty in conceiving that it also might have been without
inhabitants. They must admit that for millions of years it was
without inhabitants ; and hence we are led to the extraordinary
result that for millions of years there was not an intelligent
creature in the vast dominions of the universal Ei/ng, and that
lefore the formation of the protozoic strata there was neither a
plant nor an animal throughout the infinity of space. During
this long period of universal death, when Nature herself was
asleep, the sun with his magnificent attendants, the planets with
their faithful satellites, the stars in the celestial systems, the
solar system itself, were performing their daily, their annual, and
their secular movements, unknown, unheeded, and fulfilling no
purpose that human reason can conceive, lamps lighting nothing,
fires heating nothing, water quenching nothing, clouds screening
nothing, breezes fanning nothing, and everything created, moun
tain and valley, hill and dale, earth and ocean all meaning
nothing. To our apprehension such a condition of the earth, of the
solar system, and of the sidereal universe, would be the same as
that of our own globe, if all its ships of trade and of commerce
were traversing its seas with empty cabins and freightless holds
— as if all the railways on its surface were in full activity with-

Are Other Worlds Inhabited? 355
out passengers and power — and all our machinery heating the
air and gnashing their iron teeth without work performed. A
house without tenants, a city without citizens, presents to our
mind the same idea as a planet without life and a universe
without inhabitants. Why the house was built, why the city
was founded, why the planet was made, and why the universe
was created it would be difficult even to conjecture. Equally
great would be the difficulty were the planets shapeless lumps
of matter poised in ether and still and motionless as the grave ;
but when we consider them as chiseled spheres teeming with
inorganic beauty and in full mechanical activity, performing
their appointed motions with such miraculous precision that
their days and their years never err a second of time in a hun
dred centuries, the difficulty of believing them to be without hfe
is, if possible, immeasurably increased. To conceive any one
material globe, whether a gigantic cloud slumbering in space or
a noble planet equipped like our own and duly performing its
appointed task, to have no living occupants, or not in a state of
preparation to receive them, seems to us one of those notions
which could be harbored only in an ill-educated and ill-regu
lated mind, a mind without faith and without hope. But to
conceive a whole universe of moving and revolving worlds in
such a category indicates, in our apprehension, a mind dead to
reason and shorn of feeling. With such truths before us is it
possible to believe that, with the exception of our little planet,
all the other planets of the system, all the hundreds of comets,
all the systems of the universe, are to our reason made in
vain f It is doubtless possible that the almighty Architect of
the universe may have had other objects in view, incomprehen
sible by us, than that of supporting animal and vegetable life
in these magnificent spheres ; but as the question we are dis
cussing is one in which we can appeal only to human reason,
and as human reason in its highest form cannot discover these

356 Studies in Theology.
other objects, we, the inhabitants of one of the least of these
spheres which has for immeasurable periods of time been pre
paring for the residence of man, must believe, under the guid
ance of that reason, that they were destined certainly, like our
earth, for an intellectual race, and destined probably for a pre
vious and lengthened occupation by plants and animals, in
order that their inhabitants may study on the tombstones of the
past their miraculous processes of growth and decay, of^ de
struction and renovation, by which there has been provided for
them so noble an inheritance.
Well, also, does Dr. Bently, in Origin and Frame of the
World, say :
"But we dare not undertake to show Avhat advantage is
brought to us by these innumerable stars in the galaxy and
other parts of the firmament not discernible by naked eyes, and
yet each many thousand times bigger than the whole body of
the earth. If you say they beget in us great ideas and venera
tion of the almighty Author and Governor of such stupendous
bodies, and excite and elevate our minds to his adoration and
praise, you say very truly and well. But would it not raise in
us higher apprehension of the infinite majesty and boundless
beneficence of God to suppose that these remote and vast
bodies were formed not merely on our account, to be peeped at
through an optic glass, but for different ends and nobler pur
poses ? And yet who will deny but there are great multitudes
of stars beyond even the reach of the best telescope, and that
every visible star may have opaque planets revolving about
them which we cannot discover? Now, if they were not. cre
ated for our sakes, it is certain and evident they were not made
for their own, for matter has no life nor perception, is not
conscious of its own existence nor capable of happiness. We
give the sacrifice of praise and worship to the Author of its
being. It remains, therefore, that all bodies were formed for

Are Other Worlds Inhabited? 357
the sake of intelligent minds, and as the earth was principally
designed for the being and scenic contemplation of men, why
may not all other planets be created for like uses, each for their
own inhabitants which have life and understanding ? "
Who that has gone with us through this inadequate survey
of the wonders of creation, imperfect as it has been, or who
that gives himself to the study of the great theme, has failed
to be impressed with the stupendousness of the great work and
the greater marvelousness of the mighty Worker? We see but
parts of his ways — the smaller part ; the vaster part lies hidden
in the depths of eternity. The millions of years that have
passed in review show us the beginnings ; when millions of ages
have passed we shall still be but in the midst of a progress that
knows no end, and as ages on ages roll away it will still continue
to unfold. The mystery and majesty deepens and widens as we
advance. Overwhelmed with the vision we adoringly join with
the anthem which comes rolling doAvn from eternity : " The
song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,
saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Al
mighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints."
From millions of millions of thrones eternity echoes and
reechoes the exultant Amen and Amen ; the Lord God om
nipotent reigneth : to him be glory and might and dominion
forever and ever. Amen and Amen.

358 Studies in Theology.

CONCLUSION.
In closing the discussion conducted in this treatise we are
free to admit that the subject, in all its parts, is one which is
shrouded in exceeding obscurity ; without superhuman aid, per
haps absolutely inscrutable ; but with such help to set our inves
tigations in the right direction, not impossible of rational solution.
Bevelation furnishes us the well-authenticated and perfectly
competent key. It puts us in possession of the testimony of
the great Author himself. Its statement is clear and rational.
All the researches of science, conducted by educated mind,
up to date fail to furnish a single well-established fact in con
tradiction of its teaching ; while they more and more, in pro
portion as their conclusions are increasingly reliable, become
rich in confirmatory evidence of its fundamental principles and
general historic details. This indisputable fact is of wonderful
significance. The God of the Bible is demonstration of the divin
ity of its origin. The amazing travesties of all competing sys
tems, ancient and modern, are proof irresistible that it is not
a man-made book. The earliest, it is also the safest, the only
safe guide.
When we open the sacred pages it is as the rising of the
sun alike on the obscurity of the past and the deep mystery of
the future. The entire mystery of time past, and to come,
becomes illuminated. It gives us not simply the Author, but
the why and the method of the divine movement from the be
ginning ; also its progressive stages through interminable ages —
through eternity itself. Out and away from the material universe
it opens to us richer and more glorious unseen heavens, peopled

Conclusion. 359
with hosts of races and orders, kindred to but older and more
glorious than our own. It discloses the fact that our brief
terrene history is but the dawn to an immortal day ; that we,
despite the humiliations of the present state, are possible heirs
" to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away." In its light the un iverse becomes worthy of its eternal
Author. The infinite array of worlds is no more mere gar-
nishings ; they are transformed into homes in the many-man-
sioned house of the heavenly Father.
Mystery still hangs heavy around the horizon of the utmost
reaches of our finite thought, but it is only the mystery which
must forever attend the finite in its attempts to measure and
comprehend the Infinite in his measureless plans and method
— mystery dark with excessive brightness, not entirely relieved,
but irradiated with the comforting beams of hope and rational
faith. We do not fully comprehend, or even clearly apprehend,
the outcome, but we do see enough to beget in us assurance of
its beneficence and transcendent glory; a glory that will not
merely relieve, but make luminous, all incidental darkness
along the line of its progress. There is nothing grotesque in
its statements, properly interpreted. In all, and through all
the great Author is seen to be working to an end Avorthy of his
infinite perfections. We shall finally see that what seemed to
us the most meaningless parts were full of great meanings, and
that those parts which at one time seemed harsh, and even cruel,
were necessary incidents of a most perfect and beneficent plan.
Far on, when the transient, having accomplished its end,
shall be superseded and pass away in some manner incompre
hensible to us now, we shall find that what remains and abides
forever will justify and glorify the whole process. Of this we
have the most assured faith, based on what is and has been.
What will be the methods and measures of future revelations
we do not know or even dimly apprehend ; but what we know

3b0 Studies in Theology.
not now Ave shall know hereafter. This is the promise ; it will
not fail.
Our OAvn nature, which is donbtless analogous to the nature
of other races and orders in other worlds, but with varied ex
periences, suggests something — much. It is of great significance
that all these suggestions are in harmony with the glimmering
out-givings of the sacred book. We must wait for fuller
knowledge of ourselves before we attempt the interpretation
of all the possibilites within us and the ripe and full destiny
before us, assured, meanwhile, of so much, that it will surpass
all our hopes and longings.
God is; that is enough. The universe proclaims his power
and majesty, and, more comforting still, his love. It is safe
and sweet to trust him. Nothing has been discovered that
awakens in us the slightest distrust.
There is, we know, a dark valley to pass where all earthly
lights are extinguished. Into it all our kindred have gone ;
none have ever returned. Unbroken silence broods over its
dreaded secrets. To mere sense it is an abrupt boundary. Into
it we ourselves shall soon enter. It looks chill and gloomy, its
portals forbidding. Unsupported our nature shrinks from its
:ipproach. Its spectral horrors, the gloomy progeny of imagi
nation, make us afraid. Its silence appalls us. So it is to sense.
Bational faith is assuring. Bevelation comes to our rescue.
It kindles a pharos on the further shore. It tells us of One
who is master of this gloomy realm, who will meet us at its
portal and guide us through its gloom, and bring us to our loved
ones who have passed on before us.
There is a throne of judgment ; our conscience tells us of it.
Our sins make us quail with terror at the thought of it. We
are conscious that we cannot endure its searching light ; not the

Conclusion. 361
best of us. Eternity hangs on the decisions of that dreaded
tribunal. Again revelation comes to our rescue. It lifts the
curtain, and lo! our Brother sits upon the judgment seat.
Love and mercy hold the balance. Eternity's morning opens
propitiously to every trusting soul. The lamps of our limited
knowledge go out, but the darkness is not total. There is a
glimmering ray in every soul. Bevelation lights up the valley
and shadow of death.
As all kinds of being, spiritual and material alike, depend for
the beginning of their existence and all modifications of their
form and modes of activity on results of divine energizings
thereto, and as the divine resources are inexhaustible, it is impos
sible to us ever to know what varieties may exist in the immen
sity of worlds at any time, and especially what varieties may
yet appear in the endless future. New worlds may be created
and worn-out systems be endlessly renewed and transformed,
on Avhose surfaces varied and higher types of life may succes
sively emerge. These are points on which revelation is reticent,
and upon Avhich reason reaches no data from Avhich to draw as
sured conclusions, or any conclusions other than the general in
ference that the great Being who has commenced to work will
continue, in such manner as seems good to himself to energize
forever and ever, in a way that will glorify his infinite perfections.
With respect to the moral universe, which we know to be
the final cause of all divine activity, and whose interest must
forever be supreme, we know that its great principles and laws
are immutable ; and the same for all worlds and all orders,
however the components may vary in historic incidents and per
sonal accomplishments.
Among the unchangeable laws are these : personal qualities
determine destiny— character, resulting from free self-deter-

362 Studies in Theology.
mination, fixes rank and condition ; what individuals become is
dependent on their own election and conduct — whether they
will ascend or descend, dwell in the heavens or in the hells.
This is a first and changeless law.
A second law is that of possible personal growth from zero
of beginnings to unlimited greatnesses of power and dignities
and worthinesses. This law we detect in the nature of the
moral and intellectual faculties and powers. No great thinker
calls in question this law or the destiny to Avhich it points. The
universe of that far-off age, composed of high ranges of half an
eternity's growth, may differ from the universe of to-day as the
infant differs from the man, or rather from the angelic final man.
Unselfishness is discerned as a third law — the all-embracing
law of the moral universe system, binding alike the throne and
the footstool, the great King and every individual subject.
The perfection of holiness is complete conformity to that laAv.
Ministering to the good of others is the immutable require
ment, and conformity the ground and condition of individual
destiny. The varied ranks and orders, and each individual
composing them, in some way at present unknown to us, will
find spheres as they advance for holy endeavor in which
they will find their ecstasy of life. How one immortal being
is available to the service of another — what the method of their
intercommunication and fellowship — we must die to understand ;
but that there is a way we find it impossible to doubt. Eternal
growth in power, eternal ministries of love over immeasurable
realms of the great King, as we see it, is the glorious consum
mation of the moral universe system.
It is not matter of conjecture or mere speculation in the
light of these laws that the universe of to-day is not identical

Conclusion. 363
with the universe of the yesterday of the long-vanished mil
lions of ages ago ; it is among the most certain of our knowl
edges. Chaos has become cosmos. We are warranted in the
inference as a rational induction, and not merely an imagina
tion, that the universe of the great to-morrow will not be the
same as the cosmos of to-day. Much that -is will vanish;
some things undergoing transformation will be carried
up ; but in many ways much will be added. Evolution
following evolution will add increasing splendor to the
glory of divine thought. The new heaven and the new
earth of the material realm of the coming time may not be
more magnificent than the stellar dome of to-day ; or possi
bly even here there may be a change from glory to glory.
Progress there has been ; it may not have reached its climax,
either in its scope, vast as it is, or in its beauty and adapta
tions. The infinite has inexhaustible resources, and we may well
rest assured that there will be no want or lack of completeness.
When we turn our attention to the moral system, the
induction is warranted that here there will be vast changes in
all the incidents and conditions of personal character and ex
periences, changes of relation to the material, changes of per
sonal qualities and modes and spheres of action, changes which
will make the universe yet to be infinitely more glorious than
that which was in the beginning, and more wonderful than
that which now is — increasingly more glorious forever and
ever. That this will be so is not merely a hope begotten of divine
assurances contained in the great book given us for our guide and
encouragement, but warranted by the nature of spiritual mind
as we know it in our self-conscious personality in the great law
of continuous growth and progress. When millions of years of
experience and growth of power have built themselves into the

364 Studies in Theology.
tissues of our being, and into the substance of our knowledge,
and into the solidification of our character — millions of years
of companionship with other great spirits, and fellowships, and
intimacies with God himself, and into active participation in
the ministries of love and usefulness of service which await us —
though we shall be in some respects the same beings that were
once infantile and at zero of power and attainment, we shall
yet be, in all respects of quality and worthiness, a different
kind of beings from what we now are. The whole universe
will thus grow in dignity and glory as the ages pass aAvay.
This is the true evolution. The vision which rises to the
view of the thoughtful mind, as we seek to penetrate the to
morrow of our deathless being, is too dazzling for our gaze.
When it arrives a corresponding growth of our powers will
fit us for its bright revelations and experiences and great en
deavors. What has been, and what is, is the promise and prophecy of
all that Avill be. We do not discern the outcome, but we do
discern the trend. The outcome cannot fail to be more glo
rious than our power of thought is able to conceive.
Lapse of ages of time may bring nothing neAV to a universe
composed of atoms, but in the realm of mind and spiritual
powers lapse of time means progress — advance. When we
see the growth of a few years in individual souls, and of a
small number of centuries in the development of a race, what
must be the possibilities of millions of ages ? The evidence is
that we are in the beginnings ; incomputable milliniads await
us. The evidence is that infinite power and wisdom and love
have initiated the movement. What has been done is a hint.
When we cast our gaze in the direction of the pointing, and
remember that eternity lies open for the unfoldings, who
can calculate the possibilities ?

Conclusion. 365
It is God's universe. It will be what he chooses to make it.
He has an end in view. He will not fail to reach it. The prog
ress will be, as it has been, from glory to glory. Each succeeding
generation here standing on the shoulders of its predecessor, and
entering into its wealth of inheritances, will advance to improved
conditions, and will carry forward an increasingly benignant
civilization, made more beautiful by improved knowledge and
increase of wealth, and toned aud tempered by the presence and
power of a divine religion, until the horrors of heathenism and
ignorance and wickedness will be driven away, and the earth
itself will be radiant and happy. The kingdoms of this world
will become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ ; not
to-day, but in the relatively near to-morrow. It will be born
again. All events point to it and hasten the coming morning.
But the highest glory of the universe lies beyond the grave, in
the final great evolution — the enthronement of the spiritual.
There lie the great growths, the ineffable transformations, the final
outcomes. Of that Nature says little, science is dumb, but
revelation is full of adumbration and promises. " And there
shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall
there be any more pain : for the former things [will be] passed
away," and unimpeded progress will continue forever and
ever. It is God's universe, and such is God's promise. What
shall hinder? Eye doth not see it, neither doth it enter into
the heart of man to conceive it, but there is abundant ground
for rational faith to rest assured of its realization.
Here we rest. No man taketh from us this consolation.
Death itself is shorn of its terror. The grave becomes the
shining portal of the everlasting home.
the end.