The result of this is the so-called "scientific" or "historical" method of interpreting the Bible, which means, to quote Dr. Meeser, that while the Scriptures have the wisdom of experts in religion, [yet] "authority" is scarcely the term to describe their value, and may, when applied to them, obscure their real character. "But why make all this ado about it," say the evolutionists; "it is all simply a question of interpretation." That is absolutely right. It is the interpretation of the evolutionists set in opposition to that of the Holy Spirit; and the true Church, compelled to make a choice, takes that of the Holy Spirit. 2. The logic of evolution destroys the doctrine of the =fall of man= and its result in total depravity. After an address somewhat along these lines in one of the largest normal schools in the world, the science professor said to the writer, "Yes, but you know there is evolution and =evolution=." That is indeed true. We are all aware of the fact that there are various kinds, shapes, and colors of evolution, from theistic to atheistic; but the fact still remains that =every= theory is =still evolution=, and that =any= theory of evolution whatsoever, if it means anything at all, means steady =progress= from lower to higher. Progress is certainly the one thought that is vital to any definition of evolution, and progress =downward= is excluded by the very meaning of the word, and so evolution under =any= theory can mean nothing but progress =upward=. But the Word of God says that man has gone =down= from a condition of purity and innocence into a condition of such sinful enmity against God, that he is not only not subject to the law of God, but is utterly incapable of bringing himself into subjection to it. And the experience of every Christian gives sorrowful but certain evidence to that fact. This condition the Bible describes as being =dead= in sin. And since death is not death at all until it is total, man, therefore, being dead, is totally dead--and this is total depravity. This means that the only progress possible to man in his natural state is =progress in corruption=. For total depravity, which is total spiritual death, does not mean that the last limit of corruption has been reached, but that while death is total, corruption may have just begun. The reality of the natural man's spiritual death is abundantly illustrated in human history. After man fell into sin, and died, he was given fullest opportunity to recover himself and to demonstrate thereby that he was still spiritually alive. But the corruption of spiritual death worked until man was so far down in the filth of his moral putrefaction that the only way God could save the race from extinction was to save the one family that had accepted spiritual life from Him, and blot the rest of the race out in the flood.