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Popu la tion
little over 100 years ago Charles Darwin read a work by Thomas Malthus entitled “An Essay On Population” which was concerned about the tendency of living things to multiply faster than their food sup ply. Malthus, who was a sociologist, was primarily concerned about the difficulties that would result from the increasing human population. How ever, Darwin took up this principle and, applying it to living things gen erally, made it the driving force of natural selection. Since the publication of the Origin of the Species, Malthus has been pri marily remembered for his influence on Darwin’s thinking. For years his ideas on the possibility of overpopula tion seemed too pessimistic to be taken seriously. The advances of sci ence and agriculture seemed to be more than offsetting the increase in population. But within recent years, the scientist began to realize that these advances were merely postpon ing the fate forecasted by Malthus rather than remedying it. Today, the population is growing so rapidly that it is causing alarm in certain areas. It has been estimated that the world’s population has grown from less than 20 million in 6000 B.C. to over an estimated 2 billion today. Much of this growth has been accom plished within recent centuries. Be tween 1650 and 1920 the population doubled itself twice over. It took nearly two centuries to accomplish the first doubling, while the second was achieved in less than one century. If the population continues to grow at this present explosive rate it will have doubled itself again by the early 1980’s. Varied have been the factors re sponsible for this population growth. One of the factors that has been im portant in recent years has been the
success of modem medicine in reduc ing the death rate. This is particular ly true of the underdeveloped coun tries where victories are being won in the battle over many ancient dis eases. This victory of medical science, coupled with the high birth rates of these countries, has resulted in tre mendous increases in numbers, in creases which have lead to physical crowding and to lowered standards of living in many instances and even to famine in some cases. These facts should challenge the Christian Church to action. The Church will need an ever-expanding program of evangelism to keep up with the growing population. How ever, the Church’s responsibility does not stop with preaching the gospel to these multitudes. The Christian should also be vitally concerned with allevi ating the physical suffering that has resulted from overcrowding. The gov ernments of countries which are in timately involved with these prob lems are looking for ways of control ling this growth. However, this is not solely a problem of a few of the underprivileged countries since there is no doubt that, given time, at the present rate of population growth, all countries of the world will be in volved. Therefore, the United Nations has also become concerned with find ing a solution. These agencies are going to do something to slow this increase in number and unless the Church becomes concerned, solutions may be found which might be re pugnant to the Christian. To guard against this possibility, the Church should also be studying the situation and be ready with suggested solutions that will not violate Christian ethics. This problem is another opportunity for the Church to demonstrate in a practical way the Christian’s concern for his neighbor and his needs. END.
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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