xt7sn00zq204 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7sn00zq204/data/mets.xml Powell, Lewis. 1918  books b92-42-26783337 English Publishing House of the M.E. church, South, Smith & Lamar, : Nashville, Tenn. ; Dallas, Tex. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Life and service  / by Rev. Lewis Powell. text Life and service  / by Rev. Lewis Powell. 1918 2002 true xt7sn00zq204 section xt7sn00zq204 






































1.

 







LIFE AND


S E R V I C E



            BY
Rev. Lewis Powell, D.D.
   PASTOR FIRST METhODIST CHURCH
        HOPRINSVILLE, KY.



          Nashville, Tenn.
     Dallas, Tex.; Richmond, Va.
Publishing House of the M. E. Church, South
       Smith  Lamar, Agents
              1918



-



I



I
























I
I

 






























COPYRIGHT, 1918
      BY
SMITH  LAMAR

 


















REV. PAUL S. POWELL, A.M., B.D.

     who never disobeyed me, who
     never deceived me, who nev-
     er told me a lie, who from a
     baby has known the Holy
     Scriptures, who was converted
     at his mother's knees at the
     age of five, and whose life is
     consecrated to Christ, thisbook
     is affectionately dedicated

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FOREWORD.



  No one who accepts the Bible as the Word of
God and who observes the trend of religious
thought and life can well remain silent at this criti-
cal time in the history of Christianity. The very
citadel of religion is being attacked, and a battle
more fierce than the gigantic struggle now going on
in Picardy is being waged, while the outcome is
far more vital to humanity and to the Church uni-
versal than the great European war.
  The skeptical attitude of most college and uni-
versity men; the growing sympathy of educated
preachers for higher criticism and its methods of
interpretation; the general drift from the plain,
literal meaning of God's Word; the calling in ques-
tion by many of the fundamental doctrines of the
gospel; the blind acceptance of the untenable postu-
lates of evolution; the output of German kultur;
that criticism parading in the name of science-
these provoked the writing and publishing of this
book, LIFE AND SERVICE.
  It is not only a protest against these offenses, but
                                       (5)

 


Life and Serzice.



it is a record of the writer's unwavering faith in the
God-breathed, infallible Word of God, which con-
tains all things necessary to salvation. It is also a
purpose to set forth those principles by means of
which life may articulate itself with service to
humanity and to humanity's Redeemer.
  The material for this book has been largely pre-
pared at sundry times and for certain occasions.
One of the chapters was prepared to be read be-
fore the Investigators' Club at Owensboro, Ky.,
four years ago, and was received by the Investiga-
tors with a good deal of interest and commendation.
Two of the chapters were read before the Athe-
nweum Club of Hopkinsville, Ky., during the past
year at intervals of four or five months, and both
papers we:e enthusiastically received, some of my
brother club members expressing the hope of seeing
the papers in a more permanent form.
  I have a number of distinguished friends who
have urged me to write, but writing was never an
easy thing for me to do. However, during the past
winter I have done a good deal of writing, and
some of the material I had on hand suited the pur-
pose had in mind to be accomplished in publishing
this book. All the material has been worked over,
and the papers I am using in the making of this



6

 




volume logically fall into place and pertinently con-
tribute to the message I wish to give to the public.
   I am not offering this book to the public because
my friends have asked me to give out some message
in this form, nor because my brothers of my literary
club have asked me to put the messages I have given
them into a more permanent form. but because I
am under a feeling of compulsion. I believe I am
led of the Spirit in publishing this message of LIFE
AND SEVRICE. I pray that every one who takes the
time to read these pages may catch the vision and
receive the message.
   I am particularly anxious to be of help to the
rank and file of young preachers and to public
school teachers. On the minds of these two classes
the impression has been made that there is an ir-
reconcilable conflict between the Bible and science,
which I think it is plainly showsn in the first chapter,
"Things True and False in Evolution," is not the
case.
  The first three chapters deal largely with scientif-
ic, philosophical, and doctrinal matters; but they
discuss the vital relationship of faith and practice.
The last six chapters are designedly practical, and
upon the observance of the truths which they pre-



Foreword



7

 



8               Life and Serzice.

sent depends our usefulness in the kingdom and
patience of Jesus Christ.
  I pray the blessing of God upon this little book
and upon every one who reads it.
                               LEWIS POWELL.
  HOPKINSVILLE, Ky., April I5, W9I

 









                    CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION......         ....................     II

                      CHAPTER I.
Things True and False in Evolution ..................... IS

                      CHAPTER II.
The Origin of Man............................       53

                      CHAPTER III.
Mind Over Matter; or, Suggestive Therapeutics ......... 75

                      CHAPTER IV.
The Law of Service ..................................... 94

                      CHAPTER V.
Character-Building  ....................................  I14

                     CHAPTER VI.
Home-Building   ......................................   I39

                     CHAPTER VII.
Financing the Kingdom-The Tithe Law ................. 163

                    CHAPTER VIII.
Evangelism; or, Winning the Lost ......................i 8i

                     CHAPTER IX.
John Wesley in Social Service .......................... 192
                                           (9)

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INTRODUCTION.



  THERE are certain words which have a cumula-
tive significance. As the realities for which they
stand are brought into fuller view or receive em-
phasis from new conjunctions of thought and ac-
tion, these words come to be more effective in
awakening consciousness and stimulating effort.
Life is to-day emphasizing and expounding itself
in a way to put into new relations and give new
significance to the whole category of words which
describe its offices and possibilities. The phenom-
ena of life become more real and the history which
life is making becomes larger and more cosmic with
each new turn in the tide of human affairs. Serv-
ice, which describes the truest and most profitable
employment of life, is thus naturally put in the way
of a constant augmentation of demand and oppor-
tunity.
  It is to expound these noteworthy accidents and
conditions of life and to challenge to a diligent and
truth-dedicating service that our author has put
together the various essays and discourses con-
tained in this volume. The viewpoint is that of the
busy pastor and the sympathetic observer of current
                                      (II)

 


Life and Serzice.



life movements. The discussions here presented,
taken as a whole, will impress the reader as a med-
ley of ideas suggested by several of the major topics
of present-day discussion. This aspect of his work
is admitted by the author himself in his Foreword,
but the work is none the worse for this fact; indeed,
it gains in a quality of readiness and directness
from the offhand and occasional method of treat-
ment. There is a unity of purpose and discussion
suggested by the title and realized in the ordering
of the matter of the author's thought. We opine
that exception will be taken to some of the views
put forth, especially in the chapters which advert
to scientific and technical matters; but the frank,
practical, and manifestly sincere motive of the
discussion must be admitted, and these are argu-
ments without which even logic often loses its
force. A book is the author's best, given in per-
manent form to his generation and left to that gen-
eration to pass upon and, if it sees fit, to pass on to
a future time. The fact will not be missed by the
reader of this book that the author feels himself to
be offering to his contemporaries the best results of
his own dealing with certain vital questions that
affect the life and service of the everyday man and
Christian. If the message be read and accepted in



I2

 


Introduction.



this light, the author, by every token of his own
challenge, will cheerfully abide the verdict which
shall be passed upon it. The new war-born age is
to present its own peculiar difficulties, its contradic-
tions, its problems. Not a few of these problems
and attendant difficulties will be such as pass over
from the age lying just behind us. Evolution, crit-
icism, social relationships, and questions of religion
are continuous in the thought of the world. They
change only in their aspects, not in their fundamen-
tals. A new way of approach to them may be
found, but when the student has come upon them he
will find their facts to be of the flavor and sub-
stance of the oldest things. Our author has put
some emphasis upon this feature of the general
problem. He has also shown, in his efforts to solve
the problem, what every man must do whose real
purpose in life is ministry and service. We com-
mend our brother and his book to the thoughtful
reader and student.           H. M. Du BOSE.
  NASHvILLE, TENN., April 29, i9i8.



13

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CHAPTER 1.



     THINGS TRUE AND FALSE IN EVOLUTION.
   THE word "evolution" means the act or process
of unfolding, or the growth or development of a
plan or of life from a thought or a germ. We
may, therefore, with propriety speak of the evolu-
tion of history or of the development of a dramatic
plot. We might also speak of the evolution of a
bird from an egg, a plant from a seed, a blossom
from a bud, fruit from a flower, a butterfly from a
caterpillar, and a moth from a cocoon. The word
has a large range of legitimate uses and applications,
for there is undoubtedly a sphere within which
evolution does operate. But the word has got itself
into bad company and has fallen into disrepute.
Confusion has come of the meaning put into the
word by Darwin, Tyndall, Huxley, Spencer, Haeck-
el, and their followers, who claimed for the thing
which it represents a power that does not belong
to it.
  If I were going to write a comprehensive treatise
on evolution, I should divide it into suborganic,
organic, and superorganic, and explain that subor-
ganic evolution refers to the development of matter
                                     ('5)

 


Life and Scrzice.



without life and applies to the formation of the
solar system from some cruder conditions of mat-
ter. Organic evolution would describe the process
by which vegetable and animal life has been de-
veloped.  Superorganic evolution would refer to
the principle operative in metaphysical and non-
material spheres. These are the ordinary divisions
in the treatment of the subject. I am not going to
attempt anything like an exhaustive statement of
any one of these, but shall make some observations
upon deductions drawn from the theory of organic
evolution. The rise and spread of the doctrine of
evolution as the cause of life is one of the most
startling intellectual phenomena of the past hundred
years.
              The Doctrine Stated.
  In brief, the theory of evolution is that every-
thing, animate and inanimate, in the visible universe,
including man in his tripartite nature, with all his
bodily, mental, and spiritual faculties and func-
tions, came to be what it is through a process of
"spontaneous generation, fortuitous development,
and natural selection." Fifty years ago this doc-
trine was almost universally accepted by the wise
and learned. But the day of universal acceptance
was short, for the simple reason that proof was



i6

 


Things True and False in Evolution.



lacking, and the cumulating evidence has been on
the other side.
  While there is raised a chorus of authoritative
voices in the realm of science in protest against the
sweeping generalizations of evolution, still the as-
sumptions are insistent; and our schoolbooks, mag-
azines, Sunday school literature, and even the pul-
pits of our evangelical Churches betray a disturbing
ignorance in our educators, editors, and preachers
concerning the real status of the theory of evolu-
tion.
               Some Typical Cases.
  Some time ago a young minister said to me that
he could think of creation only in terms of evolu-
tion. I was not surprised at his confession. His
mind had probably never dwelt much upon the sub-
ject of creation; and although he held three degrees
from a certain institution, it was apparent that lie
knew nothing about evolution as a science. But the
holding of one or more degrees from a university
is no evidence that one knows everything or even
anything properly. I knew the atmosphere of that
institution and how popular evolution was in all its
schools. In that university a sentiment obtains that
to deny monistic evolution is to proclaim one's self
a "mossback," a "fossil," a "back number," "behind



I7

 


Life and Service.



the times," and "unscientific"; and it is always much
easier to join the chorus of the wise and learned and
cry, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians," than to
stand against this thing and find out the truth
through personal investigation.
  Another minister in one of the most prominent
pulpits of New York City a short time ago made
the assertion very emphatically that "Evolution is
the hope of mankind," which was a very strange
announcement coming from a minister of the gos-
pel, and it must have been startling to his congre-
gation-that is, if there were any Christians present
who had learned from a better authority that the
gospel of God is the only hope of mankind. But that
prominent New York preacher is eloquent and has
the reputation of being a learned man; and men who
have the reputation for scholarship and profound
learning wield a commanding influence, and many
follow them blindly.
  Still another clergyman in the East is reported
to have said recently: "There is no escape for intel-
ligent people to-day from the acceptance of the law
of evolution This law may be stated briefly to be
that life on this planet, including man, has devel-
oped from the lower to the higher types. Thus a
man has gradually developed from some lower form

 


Things True and False in Evolution.



of animal life. And man in his highest estate has
through infinite years developed from man in his
savage state." There you have it from a man pro-
fessing to be called of God to preach the gospel.
He is more emphatic and dogmatic than Darwin
ever was, for there was always an element of doubt
in Darwin's mind, and the most he could say was:
"It may be reasonably supposed." But this minis-
ter of religion makes an excursus into the region of
scientific speculation and imagination and dogma-
tizes on evolution, and the trouble is that many
people believe what he says because he is a preacher
and a teacher.
  In his manual of "The Religion of Humanity"
Dr. Broada says: "Socialism is the evolution of the
human race from cannibalism and savagery to fra-
ternalism and philanthropy, from the infamy of
the swine to the splendor of God." And then he
proceeds to define: "Not all the theories of mod-
ern science are of equal significance from  the
point of view of religious development; indeed,
there is preeminently only one concept which could
arouse the necessary enthusiasm and devotion and
give a basis upon which to construct a new moral
ideal, the theory of evolution. This fundamental
doctrine, which entails the belief that progress is



I9

 



Life and Service.



the law of being of all that is in nature, including
man himself, must be the new inspiration." Here
is something truly wonderful. It affords a "basis
for a new moral ideal," a "fundamental doctrine,"
and "furnishes the new inspiration."
  But Dr. Broada goes farther and says: "More
than this, evolution is demonstrating the unity of
nature, also proves the brotherhood of the world,
the solidarity of creation, and so gives us the foun-
dation for a new moral idea and lifts us out of the
utilitarianism which would make it appear that our
best endeavors are only of benefit to what is sec-
tional and transitory."
  If this be true, then certainly evolution is a great
thing, and its blessings are inestimable. And Dr.
Broada goes on to say: "And so evolution gives us
a new conception of the universe, a new conception
of the aim of life, and provides a new theory of
ethics, and is thus eminently fitted for becoming
the basis for a new manifestation of the religious
spirit."
  How all these advantages and benefits are to be
discovered and applied, the writer does not say.
But it was said at the beginning of this chapter that
there is a range for the legitimate uses and appli-



20

 


Things True and False in Evolution.



cation of the word "evolution." This we are con-
cerned to show.

              Some Things Tenable.
   "First the blade, then the ear, after that the full
corn in the ear."
   So far as human life and observation go, the
modal of development is from the smaller to the
larger.
        "Great oaks from little acorns grow;
        Large streams from little fountains flow."
  The study of almost any race of people will il-
lustrate the law of development.
  The English nation was born at the battle of
Hastings in A.D. io66, and since that date the
English-speaking people have become the dominant
race in the world. Along with their growth the
English people have developed a unique and re-
markable language; a magnificent literature; a sys-
tem of education inculcating high ideals of morality,
religion, and liberty; a democracy, or a government
of the people, for the people, and by the people. In
other words, we have a form of civilization which
challenges the respect and admiration of the world.
  And what is meant by civilization It means the
concurrent development of science, politics, and re-
ligion. Our civilization is an illustration of evolu-



:21

 



Life and Servzce.



tion in its growth, and hence the word is legitimate-
ly used in describing it. There are many other
illustrations of this law at work in the history of
mankind. Man has discovered, invented, and ap-
plied many forces that make for the development of
industry, commerce, the arts, the trades, warfare,
transportation, science and philosophy, communica-
tion of intelligence, medicine, dentistry, surgery,
government, and else. He has also brought his
genius to bear upon the vegetable and animal king-
doms and has wrought wonders in the development
of varieties of plants and animals, securing these de-
velopments through domestication and cultivation.
  But all this is very different from beginning with
one order, class, genera, or species, and developing
it into something else. That is the untenable thing
in evolution. It is still the unproved hypothesis.
It was to bridge this chasm that Mr. Darwin started
out in his great work on "The Origin of Species by
Natural Selection." If he could have established
one case of a given variety of either plant or animal
becoming a distinct species, his hypothesis would
have stood; but he could not find the bridge. The
best he or any other evolutionist has ever been able
to do is to guess at the bridge. When it comes to the
question of causal evolution or evolution in trans-



22

 


Things True and False in Evolution.



it from one class, family, or species to another, it
is all speculation and imagination; for there is not
a single case in which it can be shown that such a
thing has ever taken place.
  Reverting to the development of a social organ-
ism, such as a state, Herbert Spencer says in his
"First Principles," "In the social organism integra-
tive changes are clearly and abundantly exempli-
fied," to which we all agree; and he points out the
three kinds of changes which proceed with practical
regularity and continuity in the development of
human society and which will apply to the English
or any other people: "First a change from a less
coherent to a more coherent state; a change from a
more homogeneous to a less homogeneous state;
and a change from a less definite to a more definite
state." But Mr. Spencer argues from the evolution
of human society that the same law is also at work
among the animals and that it produces changes in
the same way as those which result in the develop-
ments that are taking place in the social organisms
of men. But there is no evidence to that effect.
There is no social evolution in the affairs of other
living creatures than men. In contrast with the
evolution of human society, take such animals as
herd together-horses, cattle, sheep, and deer.



23

 


Life and Serzice.



They have never exhibited any change. They herd
together just as they have done from the beginning.
Birds build their nests, ants live in colonies, bees
hive, and beavers build their dams just as they have
done from the beginning. There has been no change
in their social organism or methods of work.

                 Charles Darwin.
  Mr. Darwin is regarded as the discoverer of the
principle of natural selection, or, as Herbert Spencer
would put it, "the law of the survival of the fittest";
and of the numerous books published by him, his
"The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Se-
lection" is by far his greatest work. It created a
profound impression when first published. It had
more to do with promoting and making popular
the technical doctrine of evolution than any book
ever written. However, he was not cocksure, but
concluded by observing that species "may reasona-
bly be supposed to be nothing more than enlarged,
accentuated varieties which descended from a com-
mon ancestry."  He says: "I cannot doubt that the
theory of descent, with modification, embraces all
the members of the same great class or kingdom. I
believe that animals are descended from, at most,
only four or five progenitors, and plants from an



24

 


Things Trite and False in Evolution.



equal or lesser number." And then, conjecturing
from analogy, he went a little farther and said:
"Analogy would lead me one step farther-namely,
to the belief that all animals and plants are descend-
ed from some one prototype." One other observa-
tion should be made, and that is, Mr. Darwin was
not a materialist.  He never sympathized with
Herder and Haeckel in their theory of the sponta-
neous generation of life; but he believed that God
at the beginning breathed upon matter, or, to quote
him more correctly, "the laws of life were impressed
upon matter by the Creator."
  In these brief quotations is the essence of what
Mr. Darwin taught and the foundation of his theory
of evolution. He was not dogmatic, and he was
never certain; but he sets forth this theory tenta-
tively and as a matter of conjecture.
  As already implied, Mr. Darwin was a theistic
evolutionist, and the proof is at hand that he was
also a Christian. The truth is, he lived to regret
many of the opinions he expressed and deplored the
use made of words he spoke and the conjectures he
indulged in connection with his studies in natural
history.
  Zion's Herald some time ago published a story of
the great scientist related by Lady Hope which



25

 



Life and Serzice.



throws much light on his reverent attitude to the
Bible and his personal faith in Christ, and also re-
cords his genuine regret for the mischief that had
resulted from his speculations in science in the ear-
lier part of his Jife.
   Lady Hope, an Englishwoman and a consecrated
 Christian worker, some time ago told a Northfield
 audience the remarkable story of Darwin's religious
 life as it came under her personal observation. In
 one of the morning prayer meeting talks at North-
 field she said:

   It was one of those glorious autumn afternoons that we
sometimes enjoy in England when I was asked to go and sit
with the well-known Prof. Charles Darwin. He was almost
bedridden for some months before he died. I used to feel
when I saw him that his fine presence would make a grand
picture for our Royal Academy, but never did I think so more
strongly than on this particular occasion. He was sitting up
in bed, wearing a soft embroidered dressing gown of rather
a rich purple shade. Propped up by pillows, he was gazing
out on a far-stretching scene of woods and cornfields which
glowed in the light of one of those marvelous sunsets which
are the beauty of Kent and Surrey. His noble forehead and
fine features seemed to be lit up with pleasure as I entered
the room. He waved his hand toward the windows as he
pointed out the scene beyond, while in the other hand he held
an open Bible, which he was always studying.
  "What are you reading now" I asked as I seated myself
by his bedside.



26

 




Things True and False in Evolution.



   "Hebrews," he answered. "Still Hebrews, the royal book,
I call it. Isn't it grand "
   Then, placing his finger on certain passages, he commented
on them. I made some allusion to the strong opinions ex-
pressed by many persons on the history of creation, its gran-
deur, and then their treatment of the earlier chapters of the
book of Genesis. He seemed greatly distressed, his fingers
twitched nervously, and a look of agony came over his face
as he said: "I was a young man with unformed ideas. I
threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time over
everything, and, to my astonishment, the ideas took like wild-
fire. People made a religion of them." Then he paused, and,
after a few more sentences on the holiness of God and the
grandeur of this book, looking at the Bible, which he was
tenderly holding all the time, he suddenly said: "I have a
summer house in the garden which will hold about thirty
people. It is over there [pointing through the window]. I
want you very much to speak there. I know you read the
Bible in the villages. To-morrow afternoon I should like the
servants on the place, some tenants, and a few of the neigh-
bors to gather there. Will you speak to them"
   "What shall I speak about" I asked.
   "Christ Jesus," he replied in a clear, emphatic voice, adding
in a lower tone, "and his salvation. Is not that the best
theme And then I want you," he said, "to sing some hymns
with them. You lead on your small instrument, do you not"
The wonderful look of brightness and animation on his face
as he said this I shall never forget, for he added: "If you
take the meeting at three o'clock, this window will be open,
and you will know that I am joining in the singing."
  How I wish that I could have made a picture of that fine
old man and his beautiful surroundings on that memorable
day!



27

 


Life and Service.



             Spontaneous Generation.
   So far as I know, the doctrine of the spontaneous
generation of life originated in Germany, as did
much of our materialism and infidelity. Herder, a
German philosopher of the eighteenth century, ad-
vocated the doctrine of a continuous development
in the unity of nature from inorganic to organic,
from the stone to the plant, from the plant to the
animal, and from the animal to man; and he con-
tended that the entire universe, including the bodies
and souls of men, is the product of evolution.
During the past two hundred years there were many
advocates of this theory of life and the universe,
but it was about fifty years ago that a number of
distinguished scientists lined up with enthusiasm on
the side of spontaneous generation. At that time
Professor Tyndall emphatically announced that
there was in dead matter "the promise and potency
of life," but later he took this back. About the
same time Dr. H. C. Bastian wrote in his book,
"Beginnings of Life": "Both observation and expe-
riment unmistakably testify to the fact that living
matter is constantly being formed de novo in obedi-
ence to the same laws and tendencies which deter-
mine all the more simple chemical combinations,
which is another way of saving that life is sponta-



28

 


Things True and False in Evolution



neously generated, or that organic life comes from
inorganic matter." This theory became popular,
and for a while spontaneous generation was trium-
phant. Great scientists like Haeckel, Bastian, Tyn-
dall, Huxley, and Herbert Spencer consented to it,
and they with one consent began to advocate Herd-
er's theory of life, and insisted that all life has come
from  inorganic matter.  But it may be said of
scientists, as of other people, that "all of them may
be fooled sometime, but all of them cannot be
fooled all the time"'
  There was a school of scientists that opposed
spontaneous generation all the time and held to the
theory that all life must come from life; and if life
appeared after matter had been sterilized, there was
some defect in the experiment. Many experiments
were made. With some of these gentlemen the
result was always the same, and each experiment
resulted in a stronger confirmation of the theory.
Dr. Bastian, however, discovered that it was not
only necessary to sterilize the infusion that is ex-
perimented with, but also that the water and the air
in the vessel must also be sterilized. After taking
these precautions no life appeared.
  Mr. Dallinger detected another fact that Dr. Bas-
tian and others had overlooked in their experiments



29

 


Life and Service.



30



-namely, that among the lower forms of life there
is a most surprising vitality. He found that many
germs could survive a temperature of three hundred
degrees Fahrenheit, and some seemed to be almost
fireproof.
  All the great scientists, including Professor Tyn-
dall and Mr. Huxley, took the most painstaking
care in making experiments; and they also took care
to sterilize their hay. infusion, the vessels, the water,
the atmosphere, and as a result the matter experi-
mented with yielded no life. After repeated exper-
iments without the appearance of life, no less per-
sons than Professor Tyndall and Mr. Huxley re-
pudiated the doctrine of the spontaneous generation
of life, and they proclaimed to the world that not a
shred of trustworthy testimony obtained in support
of the doctrine of spontaneous generation. And so
for fifty years the doctrine of "life comes from
life" has been victorious all along the line, and
to-day no reputable scientist will speak in terms of
spontaneous generation. It is an exploded theory
and a collapsed doctrine.

              Continuous Progress.
  The contention of evolutionists is that everything
in the history of nature, inicuding man, goes for-

 


Things True and False in Evolution.



ward by development and that the power that makes
for the growth of the plant, the animal, and man is
resident within. But as a matter of experiment and
observation, those forces that contribute most to
development are the agencies without.
  Take any of the species of plant or flower you
please, and you will find that their finest develop-
ment has come of domestication and cultivation.
Those beautiful varieties of roses, the Marechal
Niel, the Woodland Margaret, the La France, and
the American Beauty, owe their beauty and fra-
grance to cultivation or agencies that have been
brought to bear upon them from without. We are
assured that they were very common blossoms un-
til the horticulturist took them in hand. The same
is true of all plants and flowers. The same law of
development obtains in the cultivation of all fruits,
fowls, and animals. It is outside interference and
agencies that contribute most to their development;
and just as soon as outside attention and cultivation
are withdrawn, deterioration begins. Domestica-
tion and cultivation have wrought wonders both in
the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and always de-
terioration is just as marked when cultivation is
neglected or withdrawn.
  And what is true of plants and animals is equally



3I

 


Life and Service.



true of man. Man declines physically, intellectual-
ly, and morally by neglect. The progress of man
upward is, to say the least of it, negligible apart
from civilization; and civilization is the concurrent
development of science, politics, and religion. In
pagan and unevangelized lands the peoples are d