The Origin of the World According to Revelation and ScienceDawson, John William, Sir
Religion
The Origin of the World According to Revelation and Science
Dawson, John William, Sir
Bible and science; Religion and science
"The uncertainty of opinion among naturalists as to which are species
and which varieties is one of Mr. Darwin's very strong arguments that
these two names can not belong to things quite distinct in nature and
origin. The reviewer says that this argument is of no weight, because
the works of man present exactly the same phenomena, and he instances
patent inventions, and the excessive difficulty of determining whether
they are new or old. I accept the analogy, and maintain that it is all
in favor of Mr. Darwin's views; for are not all inventions of the same
kind directly affiliated to a common ancestor. Are not improved
steam-engines or clocks the lineal descendants of some existing
steam-engine or clock? Is there ever a new creation in art or science
any more than in nature? Did ever patentee absolutely originate any
complete and entire invention no portion of which was derived from any
thing that had been made or described before? It is, therefore, clear
that the difficulty of distinguishing the various classes of
inventions which claim to be new is of the same nature as the
difficulty of distinguishing varieties and species, because neither
are absolute new creations, but both are alike descendants of
pre-existing forms, from which and from each other they differ by
varying and often imperceptible degrees. It appears, then, that
however plausible this writer's objections may seem, whenever he
descends from generalities to any specific statement his supposed
difficulties turn out to be in reality strongly confirmatory of Mr.
Darwin's view."
Now that improved steam-engines are lineal descendants of other
steam-engines is absolute nonsense, in any other aspect than that the
structure of one suggested the structure of another to a contriving
mind. We need not affirm this of God; but we may affirm that the plans
of the creative mind constitute the true link of connection between
the different states and developments of inorganic and organic
objects. This is the real meaning of creation by law, as distinguished
from mere chance on the one hand, and arbitrary and capricious
intervention on the other. Both of these extremes are equally
illogical; and it can not be too frequently repeated that divine
revelation avoids both by maintaining with equal firmness the agency
of the Creator, and that agency not capricious, but according to plan
and purpose; embracing not merely the action of the divine mind
itself, but under it of all the forces and material things created.
C.--MODES OF CREATION.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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