And then as to the way in which this development was brought about. According to Genesis, each stage was due to what we may call a _Special Divine force_, represented by a word of command from God. And this also seems correct, for we cannot otherwise account for the first appearance of the various groups, such as plants, animals, and men. It is not disputed that these various stages may have been evolved from the previous ones, _e.g._, the living from the not-living, which the narrative itself suggests in the words, _Let the earth put forth grass_; and also at its close, when it speaks of _the generations_ of the heaven and of the earth; which implies some kind of organic descent, or evolution. Indeed the common expression that God _made_, is probably used in the sense of _evolved_; since the same word is employed in ver. II of fruit-trees _making_ fruit (translated _bearing_ or _yielding_ fruit); yet we know they do not _make_ fruit suddenly out of nothing, but slowly produce it. What is disputed is, that this evolution took place merely under the influence of natural development, and without the additional influence of a new Divine force. And considering that all attempts to effect a similar transition _now_ have failed completely, it is not unreasonable to suppose that there was some other and special Cause at work _then_. Nor is it easy to see how some of the changes could have been otherwise produced. Take, for instance, this very subject of the origin of life. As far as we know, the only natural mode in which life can begin is from a living parent, yet there was a time when there were no living parents on this earth. How, then, could it have originated, except by some process other than natural, _i.e._, supernatural? Or, again, to take another instance, when the first _free being_, whether animal or man, appeared on this planet, a force totally different from all natural forces was introduced, and one which could not have been derived from them alone.