"Is it the material molecular aggregate that has of its own
unaided latent power generated this individuality, acquired
this character, felt these emotions, evolved these ideas?
There are some who try to think that it is. There are
others who recognize in this extraordinary development a
contact between this material frame of things and a
universe higher and other than anything known to our
senses; a universe not dominated by physics and chemistry;
but utilizing the interactions of matter for its own
purpose; a universe where the human spirit is more at home
than it is among these temporary collocations of atoms; a
universe capable of infinite development, of noble
contemplation and of lofty joy, long after this
planet--nay, the whole solar system--shall have fulfilled
its present sphere of destiny, and retired cold and
lifeless upon its endless way."
Such a conception of life carries us very far from the old popular view
of the origin of the race, but it is a conception that brings science
and religion into perfect agreement and will enable us to understand
human evolution and explain facts in life that would otherwise remain
incomprehensible.
The pre-existence of the soul, as a part of universal life, was taught
and commonly accepted in the early Christian period. If we accept the
fact of evolution at all, and are not materialists, there is no escape
from the belief of the pre-existence of the soul. Indeed, not even
materialism can save one from the necessity of accepting the
pre-existence of the individualized consciousness that we call a human
being.
Let us consider the human infant as we see it at birth. Whence came
it--how can we account for it in a universe of law and order? We can
understand it from the physical side. Its tiny body is a concourse of
physical atoms with a prenatal history of a few months. But its mind,
its consciousness, its emotions, what of them? The average man replies
that God made them and they constitute the soul. But how and when were
they "made"? Even the material part of this infant did not spring
miraculously and instantaneously into existence. How much less possible
is it that the soul did so! If we say "God made it" we have explained
nothing. But it is not necessary to deny that God creates the soul in
order for us to move toward an understanding of how the soul came to be.
It is only necessary to say that the process of its creation was
evolutionary. Nobody denies that the earth was created by evolution,
although men may differ in opinion on the matter of a divine
intelligence guiding its evolutionary development. The same principle
must apply to the human intelligence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account