Chauncey Giles

“ It is a body without a soul; and God, without a true knowledge of the functions of nature and of human life is but a formless, substanceless abstraction. Science needs theology to lift it above the low level and the narrow limits of the material world, the theatre of natural causes and effects. Theology needs the aid of science to bring it down from the abstract and formless to, the concrete, and give it body, form, substance, conceivable qualities and relations. ”

“ The centre is formed from the circumference, which is contrary to all the laws of order in the creation. The principle is as absurd as it would be to deduce the sun from the planets, heat, from cold, and light from darkness. There are many plausible and attractive features in this theory of creation. But to accept it we must ignore facts and principles which have been recognized by a common perception in all ages and among all nations; we must reverse the order of logical thinking, and banish from the universe all intelligible purpose, all love and wisdom in its creation. ”

“ He sees that every step in the ascent from lower to higher forms, in the production of the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and in the development of human intelligence, has been taken by means of a preceding one. Why should he admit that this universe was created in a moment of time by a spoken word? He sees a chain of living creatures, with but few missing links, running through the creation from the lowest to the highest forms of life; he has abundant testimony that the lowest was first created, and he naturally concludes that each link in the chain was formed from it. ”

“ Even those who believe in the existence of an intelligent and personal Creator, practically admit that He has committed the universe of matter and mind to the government of certain laws, while He stands, as it were, aloof, like an inventor from his machine, and only interferes to prevent its destruction when it becomes deranged, or to destroy it when it ceases to perform the use for which he made it. ”

“ Science ought to be the handmaid of theology, and it is due to the misconceptions or ignorance of both scientist and theologian that she is not. The facts of Evolution which science has discovered and brought to general notice, when correctly understood and divested of the false conclusions to which its ardent votaries have blindly rushed, will establish upon the basis of immutable law the principles which a superficial and partial knowledge assumes to have disproved. They will bring the Lord near to man as a personal and constant factor in the creation, instead of banishing Him from it. ”

“ The Christian can accept all the facts of the scientist. He could do it if there were no " missing links" in the chain of natural causes and effects from the lowest plane of creation to the highest, and find increasing confirmation at every step of the presence of a Divine power and the guiding hand of a Divine wisdom. There is no ground for conflict between a true science and a true theology. They are the essential parts of a true knowledge of God and His works. They are a light to each other, which is essential to a correct understanding of both. Science without God is but half of the truth. ”

“ Law is endowed with intelligence and power; and, in the minds of those who regard everything from a material point of view, and measure everything by the appearances of the senses, it is put in the place of the Creator. The Lord is banished from the universe, and law is elevated to His throne. ”

“ All that the evolutionist needs to create a religion, a spiritual world, and a Supreme Being, is some hint or fancy of an ignorant savage. We have lectures on the evolution of the steam-engine, of the various sciences and of Revelation in the Sacred Scriptures. Indeed, evolution is driving the old words, progress, improvement, development, out of use and usurping their places. ”

“ But we are not compelled to admit the premises or deny the facts. We admit, without hesitation or exception, that creation is a gradual process, in which natural means co-operate with other forces; that every step in it is connected and related as cause and effect; and still we emphatically deny the fundamental principle a Evolution. Gradual advancement by natural instrumentalities is not limited to any special theory of the first cause and origin of creation. It is valid against the doctrine of instantaneous creation by omnipotent fiat ”

“ Every round in the ladder of ascent, from the primordial cell to man, is a distinct step, a special creation, and demands a Creator. A complicated machine that works with precision, and every movement of which conduces to the ultimate effect, is a far more conclusive proof of an intelligent inventor than the simple implement of the savage. ”

“ For the want of it many misconceptions about the theory have gained credence. Many honest minds have been led to believe that it was established beyond doubt, and even its most ardent advocates seem to have been deceived by it. The essential principle of Evolution, which distinguishes it from all other theories, is that matter has no origin, and that it contains within itself all the substances and forces, and all the organic forms and qualities of plants, animals, and men. Growth, development, and progress of all kinds are cited as examples of Evolution, and proof of its essential principle. ”

“ While it shows the ineradicable and infinite difference between the Creator and His works, it points out with equal clearness His intimate and constant connection with them. It contains the new doctrine of discrete degrees or planes of substance and forces by which the creation descends by distinct steps from its origin in God to its lowest forms; but shows that there are no breaks, no missing links, no impassable gulfs which separate one degree of the creation from another. Everything is created with a definite purpose and has a distinct meaning. ”

“ Law is regarded as a force in itself; as having some independent and self-derived power of creating and destroying. Men talk of the laws of nature as though they were independent powers which controlled and guided all the movements of material substances. ”

“ That great good must result from this more extensive and accurate knowledge of the material world, and its relations to man and all the forms of life which exist in it, is evident to every one who is acquainted with the history of human progress in the knowledge of nature and man. ”

“ But the truth is that law possesses no power, and consequently does no work. Law is simply the way in which an intelligent power acts. Civil law has no power of its own inherent in it. It is a direction of the manner in which the members of a community or nation must act. ”

“ Instead of removing Him to some immeasurable distance from men and nature, where He sits in solitary grandeur, contemplating an accomplished purpose, they are testimony presented even to the senses, that He is actively present in the least as well as in the greatest things, creating, sustaining, and perfecting His work. ”

“ They will teach man how to see the Lord's love and wisdom and constant care for His children in all the works of His hands.
Evolution has forced Christianity into a false position, or taken advantage of a false position already assumed, and with the adroitness of a special advocate, or the unconsciousness of the full force of its testimony, it has gained acceptance for witnesses which do not testify in its favor. ”

“ The causes he discovers are so powerful and specific in their application that they seem to him to be adequate to the effects. He sees law, order, the immutable relation of cause and effect existing in everything around him. ”

“ He finds abundant evidence of the slow but gradual changes which have been constantly going on in the material world; he can trace the natural connection between one thing and another, and he concludes that he has discovered all the substances that exist, and all the forces that operate in the creation. ”

“ That is one reason why he seeks to disprove the doctrine of distinct species, and to show that plants, animals, and men are all evolved from one substance by forces inherent in that substance. But he does not escape from the necessity of a Creator in this way. An intelligent Creator is as essential to the product of a given effect which is reached through a long chain of causes and effects as by one act. ”

“ The theory leaves out of account the most important factor, the constant presence and persistent action of the spiritual and Divine substances and forces from which matter itself and all its forces are evolved, and by which it is constantly moved to action and molded into form. ”

“ This is the reason why the doctrines of Evolution are regarded with so much suspicion, and are so strenuously opposed by theologians. They cannot surrender the idea of a personal and omnipotent Creator. This would banish the Lord from the universe and practically deny His existence. They acknowledge that the scientist reasons logically from his premises ”

“ If these discourses should be instrumental in leading any number of those who have become interested in the profound problems of the creation, which Evolution has brought into conspicuous notice, to learn more of the principles briefly and imperfectly stated in them, the author will have accomplished all he could reasonably expect. ”

“ The promise and potency of the steam-engine do not exist in iron, or of a palace in clay and marble. A vast number of the facts which are cited in proof of evolution are of this nature. They are not germane to the subject, and should be ruled out of court. ”

“ Every wheel and spring was a special formation, though shaped in all its particulars with direct reference to the use it is to perform, and the co-operation it is to give, to every other part of the machine. ”

“ It evolves the spiritual and supernatural from dreams and natural phenomena of whose causes men in their undeveloped state were ignorant. The idea of God and the obligation to worship and obey Him are evolved from reverence and regard for ancestors who had been removed by death. ”