We would fain emulate his scholarship, his width, and his power of
exposition, but to us he speaks no more with philosophical authority.
We read his scheme of evolution as we would those of Lucretius or
of Lamarck, delighting in their simplicity and their courage.”
(_Heredity_, Presid. Add. to British Assoc. for Advanc. of Science,
Smith. Inst. Rpt. for 1915, p. 365.)
CHAPTER II
HOMOLOGY AND ITS EVOLUTIONARY INTERPRETATION
The recent revival of interest in the problem of evolution seems to
have called forth two very opposite expressions of opinion from those
who profess to represent Catholic thought on this subject. M. Henri
de Dorlodot, in his “Le Darwinisme,” appears in the rôle of an ardent
admirer of Darwin and an enthusiastic advocate of the doctrine of
Transformism. The contrary attitude is adopted by Mr. Alfred McCann,
whose “God—or Gorilla” is bitterly antagonistic not only to Darwinism
but to any form whatever of the theory of Transformism. Both of these
works possess merits which it would be unjust to overlook. Dorlodot
deserves credit for having shown conclusively that there is absolutely
nothing in the Scriptures, or in Patristic tradition, or in Catholic
theology, or in the philosophy of the Schools, which conflicts with
our acceptance of organic evolution as an hypothesis explanatory of
certain biological facts. In like manner, it must be acknowledged that,
even after a liberal discount has been made in penalty of its bias and
scientific inaccuracy, Mr. McCann’s book still contains a formidable
residue of serious objections, which the friends of evolution will
probably find it more convenient to sidestep than to answer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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