Evolution harmonizes with atheism and kindred false theories. This raises a presumption against its truth, as falsehood does not agree with the truth. It is reconcilable with infidelity and atheism, but not with Christianity. Many, like Prof. Coulter, of the Chicago University, endeavor to show that evolution is reconcilable with religion—and he does show that it harmonizes with the religion of deism or infidelity. No one doubts that evolution harmonizes with atheism or the religion of Thomas Paine. But why should we be anxious to reconcile it with Christianity, when there is so little truth to support it?
Many evolutionists are atheists. Some believe in the eternity of matter. This can not be. Both mind and matter can not be eternal. Mind controls matter; and not matter, mind. Hence the mind of God created matter.
Some believe the universe came into being by its own power, though that can not be. Power or force cannot create itself. It must be attached directly or indirectly to a person. No force can be disconnected from its cause. Detached force is unthinkable. All force in the universe can be traced to God. Much of the physical power of the earth can be traced to the sun,—storms, cataracts, steam, electricity,—and the sun gets its power from God. Gravitation, extensive as the universe, is but the power of God in each case.
The total force in the universe is beyond calculation. It is a part of the power of Almighty God. It approaches infinity. All heat is convertible into power, and power into heat. Heat, when converted into power, moves the mighty engines. The power of Niagara may be converted into heat and light. The sun had lifted the waters of the whole Niagara River, and the lakes far above the Falls. Its power is enormous. It lifts up over 1,000,000,000,000 tons of water to the clouds every day,—more than all the rivers and streams pour into the seas. The sun equals in size a pile of more than a million worlds like ours. Every square yard of surface of this enormous sphere, has enough heat to push a great liner across the sea,—as much power as in many tons of coal. The amount of heat in the surface of the sun, consisting of more than 2,284,000,000,000 sq. mi., can hardly be imagined. The heat of one sq. mi. (3,097,600 sq. yds.) would drive 3,000,000 ships across the sea,—150 times as many as are afloat. More than 2,200,000,000 times as much heat as the earth receives, goes out into space. And this enormous amount of heat is but a poor fraction of the heat of 400,000,000 suns, few of which are so small as ours.
A single star, Betelguese, has recently been computed to be 215,000,000 mi. in diameter, and therefore larger than 10,000,000 suns like ours. A still more recent computation shows stars even larger. Antares is 390,000,000 mi. in diameter, equal, to 91,125,000 suns, or 136,687,500,000,000 worlds. If our sun were in the centre of this sun, it would extend beyond the orbit of Mars. Alpha Hercules is 300,000,000 mi. in diameter. Some stars are so far away that it takes light 60,000 years to reach us, at the rate of 186,000 mi. in a second. Some say there are 400,000,000 enormous suns. Compute, if you can, the sum total of the power causing the light and heat, and the power of gravitation controlling these vast swarms of stars. All this power is the power of God, and a weak fraction of the total. This power could not originate itself. It could not grow. It could not come by evolution. It could not come by chance.
The doctrine of the Conservation of Force, accepted by scientists, proves that no part of force can be lost. A God of infinite power is required to create, maintain and control this vast universe. Force can no more create itself than matter. God must create and preserve both. It takes almighty power to maintain the universe in existence, as well as to create it.
If atheism be true, then, if there was even one germ to start with, as most admit, it must have created itself, unless the absurd claim that it came from another world, riding on a meteorite, be entertained. If such a foolish assumption were possible, it would require a God to create it in another world.
“The fool hath said in his heart, ‘No God’.” Some translators would supply the words omitted by the Hebrew, and make it read: “The fool hath said in his heart, ‘There is no God’.” Others, “The fool hath said in his heart, ‘I wish there were no God’.” It is hard to tell which is the bigger fool, the man who refuses to see the countless evidences of design, proving His existence; or the man who refuses to see the terrible wreck of the great universe, and the awful chaos that would result if there were no God. We can imagine only one greater fool than either: The man who thinks he can get the world to believe, under cover of evolution, that there is no God, and that all things were evolved by chance, even though it be camouflaged by the terms “natural selection” or “natural law.”
Atheism implies spontaneous generation, which is entirely without proof. Indeed, if spontaneous generation were possible at the beginning of life, it is possible now, and has been possible during all the ages. But no proof of it has been given. On the contrary, all efforts to secure, by chemistry, the lowest forms of life from dead matter have been without avail. Dr. Leib, of Chicago University, made earnest efforts to do so. He failed utterly. If nature, aided by the genius of man, can not now produce the lowest forms of life from matter, how could it ever have been done? Prof. Huxley filled jars with sterilized water, and placed in it sterilized vegetation, and sealed them up, and after 30 years, no life was seen, disproving spontaneous generation. Pasteur proved that, if milk were sterilized, there would be no development of life by spontaneous generation. This discovery was of immense practical value, making milk safe to use. Prof. Tyndall, the distinguished physicist, said: “If matter is what the world believes it to be, materialism, spontaneous generation, and evolution, or development, are absurdities too monstrous to be entertained by any sane mind.” Dr. Clark Maxwell, another distinguished physicist, says, “I have examined all [theories of evolution] and have found that every one must have a God to make it work.” L’Univers says: “When hypotheses tend to nothing less than the shutting out of God from the thoughts and hearts of men, and the diffusion of the leprosy of materialism, the savant who invents and propagates them is either a criminal or a fool.” Even Darwin seems to be conscious of a designing mind when he says, “It is difficult to avoid personifying the word Nature. But I mean by nature only the aggregate action and product of many natural laws.” A futile effort to exclude God. Who made these laws?
Can a theory that is consistent with false theories, like chance and atheism be true? Truth is consistent with truth, but not with falsehood. We can judge a theory by the company it keeps. Evolution naturally affiliates with false theories rather than with the truth. It favors infidelity and atheism. A theory in perfect harmony with manifest error, raises a presumption against its truth. Evolution seems to have a natural attraction for erroneous hypotheses and manifests the closest kinship with impossible theories. This is not a mark of a true theory.
So baneful has been the effect of teaching evolution as a proven hypothesis, that multitudes have been led into infidelity and atheism. Prof. James H. Leuba, of Bryn Mawr College, Pa., sent a questionaire to 1000 of the most prominent scientists teaching sciences relating to evolution. The replies indicate that more than one-half do not believe in a personal God, nor the immortality of the soul,—beliefs almost universal even in the heathen world. So pernicious is this doctrine of evolution that more than one-half of the professors who teach it and kindred subjects, are infidels and atheists and farther from God than the ignorant heathen. And while we are happy in the conviction that the great majority of professors and teachers of other subjects are Christians, yet one or two atheists or infidels are sufficient to make havoc of the faith of many, in a great college or university.
A doctrine so abhorrent to the conscience, so contrary to the well nigh universal belief, and so fruitful of evil, certainly can not be true. Small wonder is it that students are fast becoming infidels and atheists, and we shudder as we think of the coming generation. A great responsibility rests upon the authorities who employ such teachers.
The answers of the students in seven large representative colleges and universities to Prof. Leuba’s questionaire, show that while only 15% of the Freshmen have abandoned the Christian religion, 30% of the Juniors and over 40% of the Seniors have abandoned the Christian faith. Note the steady and rapid growth of infidelity and atheism as a result of this pernicious theory.
Will Christian parents patronize or support or endow institutions that give an education that is worse than worthless? What the colleges teach today the world will believe tomorrow.
Atheism, under its own name, has never had many to embrace it. Its only hope is to be tolerated and believed under some other name. In Russia, no man is allowed to belong to the ruling (Communist) party unless he is an atheist. It will be a sorry world when “scientific” atheism wins, under the name of evolution.
No one has a moral right to believe what is false, much less to teach it, under the specious plea of freedom of thought.
It is the privilege and duty of parents to send their children to institutions that are safe.
Nathan Leopold, Jr., and Richard Loeb kidnapped and cruelly murdered Robert Franks. Both were brilliant scholars and atheists. Both graduates of universities, though minors, and both were taking a post-graduate course in the University of Chicago. It is asserted and widely believed that they were encouraged in their atheistic belief by the teaching of evolution and modernism, and were thus prepared to commit a crime that shocked the world.
Most of the writers who advocated evolution became atheists or infidels; most of the professors who teach it, believe neither in God nor the immortality of the soul; and the number of students discarding Christianity rose from 15% in the Freshman year to 40% in the Senior. What more proof is needed?
All books are sourced from Project Gutenberg