Is There a God? 21 7 of materialistic evolution “an example of incredible frivolity in the treatment of serious problems” (see Princeton Review, Oct., 1906, p. 443); that Prof. Von E. Pfermingsdorf de clares “the materialistic explanation of the world to be un tenable” (see Theologische Rundschau, 1905, p. 85); that Fleischman in his book, “Die Desendenz Theorie,” denies evo lution altogether; that Dr. Rudolph Otto admits that “popu lar Darwinism (Darwinisms Vulgaris),” by which he means “that man is really descended from monkeys,” is “theoret ically worthless” (Naturalism and Religion, p. 94) ; and that Prof. Pettigrew of St.-Andrew’s University writes: “There is, it appears to me, no proof that man is directly descended from the ape, and indirectly from the mollusc or monad” (Design in Nature, Vol. I l l , p. 1324). 3. Conceding all that evolutionists demand, that from mat ter and force the present cosmos has been developed, the question remains, whether this excludes or renders unneces sary the intervention of God as the prime mover in the process. If it does, one would like to know whence matter and force came. For the atoms or molecules, formerly supposed to be ultimates and indivisible, have now been proved by science to be manufactured and capable of being analyzed into myriads of electrons; and it is hardly supposable that they manufac tured themselves. Moreover, one would like to know how these atoms or electrons came to attract and repel one another and form combinations, if there was no original cause behind them and no aim before them? If even matter be construed as a form of energy, or force, the difficulty is not removed, since force in its last analysis is the output of will and will implies intelligence or conscious personality. From this conclusion escape is impossible, except by as suming that matter and force existed from eternity; in which case they must have contained in themselves the germs of life and intelligence—in other words must themselves have been God—in posse, if not in esse, in potentiality if not in reality.
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