June 1925
TH E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
253
embryo due to the environment. His statem en t th a t the bird hatched from th e egg of a crocodile was ridiculed, yet a modified form of it is still held by Bergson. It was no t un til th e re tu rn of Charles Darwin from th a t memorable trip on the “ Beagle” th a t he renounced his belief in special creation for organic evolution. H is expla nation of *the evolutionary theory was “selection.” He believed th a t all kinds .of life showed slight variations, and th a t these variations are carried forw ard by selection. Dar w in’s explanation then was selection, including artificial, n atu ra l and sexual selection.. This explanation is no longer held. O ther men have had other explanations. K arl Nageli believed th a t each species of p lan t is compelled by some mysterious in tern al cause to develop into a new species independently of .environment and selection. This in ternal unfolding principle w ithin a race of plan ts or animals he did not understand and could no t explain. Bateson, probably th e g reatest living au tho rity on hered ity, has recently proposed this explanation, expressed in a negative way. His explanation is th a t evolution takes place through the slow b u t steady loss of. inhibiting factors. “Liv ing m atter was stopped down, so to speak, a t the beginning of th e world. As the stops are lost, new things emerge Living m a tte r has changed only in th a t it has become sim- P er. According to Bateson, then, apes are more ap t to be degenerate men th a n are men to he evolved apes. issue w ith th e th em e ^ " T h e Im p ^ rte n c e ^ rB ib le Doctrine”6=foil tu res are Complete in Their S tru ctu re” - ‘U n ite d H RIFLES make perfection and perfection is no trifle” replied Michael Angelo to one who rem arked upon his atten tion to details in chisel ling out a statue. Perfection in detail is manifest in all God’s works, even to th e gold du st on a butterfly’s wings, and the same is evidenced in the wording of God’s truth.. Concrete illu stration s are th e best demonstrations. The Change of a Name (Bom . 8 :1 1 ) When Christ’s resurrection is spoken of alone, and His hum anity is the object of Divine operation, His hum an name Je su s” is mentioned; bu t when believers are associated wi H im then “Christ” is used, because by th a t name He is identified w ith the members of His mystical body (1 Cor. 1 2 :12 ). As “ Jesus th e Saviour” He is acting a p a rt from us, bu t as “ the Christ” He is one w ith His own. An Im p o rtan t P h rase Once th e Lord shook th e earth when He gave th e law a t Sinai, and He has said He will shake it once more (Hag. 2:6, 7), and then the Spirit emphasizes th e phrase by say ing, “And th is word, yet once more, sig n ifie d the removing of those things th a t are shaken, as of things th a t are made, th a t those things which cannot be shaken may rem ain” (Heb. 1 2 :27 ). To change th e phrase would m ar the sense, for the whole significance is— the final shaking will be the introduction to a perm anent order of things. A P re sen t Tense (M att. 22:31, 32) The whole doctrine of th e resu rrection is based upon the tense of the Saviour’s words. He refers' to something th a t messages alone are w o rth fa rm o ^ e
Evolution of P lan ts -and Animals The other aspect of organic evolution is th a t of resu lts in p lan t and anim al life in th e world today. Modern sci entists have named and described about six hundred th o u sand kinds of anim al life and two hundred fifty thousand kinds of p lan t life. Evolutionists believe th a t this g reat arra y of life on the earth is th e resu lt of evolution through a very long period of time. This is th e only aspect of evo lution about which evolutionists are agreed. i Modern w riters on evolution have b u t little to say as to how life got started or how the process has been brought about. They disagree among themselves as to th e expla nation of either, bu t intim ate th a t both have been brought about by n atu ra l and no t sup ern atu ral agencies. It is read ily seen then th a t an evolutionist requires more faith th an does a Christian to believe in organic evolution. Evolution can never be proven tru e or untrue. In th e next article we shall bring certain evidence for and against it. Spqncer, F iske, Huxley and o th ers applied the unfolding idea of organic evolution to society, religion, politics, edu cation, and kindred subjects. Careful w riters see no rela tion between super-organic evolution and organic evolution. Organic evolution is one th ing and super-organic evolution, progress and development, are different things. If we are to arrive anywhere we m ust have a destination in mind. Our end or aim is to find the meaning of and evidence for organic evolution. (Continued in Ju iy issue.) was” said, bu t “is” true. Jehovah said to Abraham , Isaac, and Jacob, “ I am the God of Abraham ,” ; and upon th is statem en t Christ founds a present fact, namely, th a t “God is the God of th e living.” - He does not say “I was,” bu t “I am ” th e God of Abraham . A Significant Preposition,— “In Christ” (2 Cor. 12:2) Bishop W estcott says the whole force of Revelation is contained in two letters, th e Greek preposition for “in .” Wha,t a difference th e re is between the words “w ithou t” and “in ” in connection w ith Christ. To be w ithou t Him is to be a sp iritual pauper; to be in Him is to be a splendid peer. “In Christ” is the best answer th a t can be given to the question, “W hat is a C hristian” ? A Singular Number The whole argum ent of God’s Word as to the promised Seed is based upon the difference between the p lu ral and singular: “He saith not, and of seeds, as of many, bu t as of one, and to thy Seed, which is Christ” (Gal. 3 :1 6 ). The Spirit not only uses the singular bu t calls atten tion to the difference of p lu ral and singular in th e words “many” and “ one.” The Spirit never uses th e singular for th e plural and vice versa. When He says “S cripture” He indicates one (John 19:24-28, 36, 37), bu t when He says “S criptures” He means more th an one (Luke 24:27, 32, 45). The same is tru e of “shoulder” and “shoulders.” Christ only needs (Continued on page 287) H E G | God?” which began in th e Ja n u ary ’ r£oU.
The Scriptures are Unique in their Details By Dr. F . E. JMarsh, London, England
“Accurate in T h eir Prophecies.” These more tn a n th e p rice of th e magazine to every stu d e n t of th e Word.
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