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Show 80 G~NERAL CONSIDl<.."~ATIONS ON THli': qnired---In what ·way was the creation 0f animated being~ efterted? The ordinary notion may, I think, be not unjustly descrihed as this-that the Almighty Author produced the progenitors of all existing species by some sort of personal or immediate exertion. But how does this notion comport :Vith ~vhat we have seen of the g-radual ad vance of species, from the humblest to the highest? I-Iow can vYe suppose an immediate exertion of this crea-tive power at one time to produce zoophytes, another time to add a few marine mollusks, another to bting in one or two conchifers, again to produce crustaceous fishes, again perfect fishes, and so on to the end? This would surely be to take a very mean view of the Creative Power; to, in short, anthropomorphize it, or reduce it to some such chal'acter as that borne by the ordinary proceedings of mankind. And yet thi~ ~·auld be unavojdable; for that the organic creation was thus progressive through a long space of time, rests on evidence which nothing can overturn or gainsay. Some other idea must then be come to with regard to the mode in which the Divine Author proceeded in the organic creation. Let us seek in the history of the earth's formation for a new suggestion on this p int. We have seen powerful evidence, that the construction of this globe and its associates, and inferentially that of all the other globes of space, was the result, not of any imrnediate or personal exertion on the part of the Deity, but of natural laws which are expressions of his will. What is to hinder our supposing that the organic creation is also the result of natural laws, which are, in like manner, ari expression of his \\-ill? More than this, the fact of the cosmical arrangements being an effect of natural law~ is a powerful argument for the organic arrangements being so, likewise; for how can we suppose that the august Being who brought all these countless worlds into form by the simple establishment of a natural principle flowing from his mind, was to interfere personally and specially on every occasion when a new shell-fish or reptile was to be ushered into existence on one of these worlds? Surely this idea is too ridiculous to be for a moment entertained. It will be objected that the ordinary conceptions cf Christian nation~ on this subject are directly derived from Scripture, or, at least, are in conformity with it. If they were clearly and unequivocally supported by Scrip. ORIGIN OF THE ANIMATED TRIBES. B1 ture, It t;naY. readily be allowed that there would be a S$!rong obJection to ~he reception of any opposite hypotheSis. But the f~ct Is, however startling the present an n~uncemen~ of It may be, th.at the first chapter of the Mo~ alc record Is J.?Ot only no~ In harm~nj with the ordinary I~eas of :r:nan1nnd respecting cosm1cal and organic creahon, ~ut Is opposed to them, and only in accordance with the VIews he.re taken. When we carefully peruse it with awakene~ mu~ds, we find th~t all the procedure is reprQsented pl'lmanly an~l pre-en1~nently as flowing front commands an.d e~presszons of wzll, not from direct acts. Let there be light-let there be a firman1ent-let the dry land appear-let the ea1~th bring forth grass, the herb, the tree -:-let the waters bring forth the moving creature that hath l1[e-let the earth bring forth the living creature after his ~Ind-:-these are the t~r.ms in which !he principal acts are described. The additional expressiOns-God made the firmam.ent-God made the beast of the earth, &c., occur subordm.ately, and only in a few instances · they do not necessarily convey a different idea of the ~ode of creation, and i~de~d only appear as alternative phrases, in the us~a~ du,phcahve manner of Eastern narrative. Keeping th1s In VIew~ th~ words.used in a subsequent place," God for.med ~an In his own Image," cannot well be understood as Implying any more than ~hat was implied befm·e, nainely, that I~a.n was. produced In consequence of an expression ~f tl~e Div~ne Will t? that effect. Thus the scriptural ob} ecbon q~ICkJy v~nishes, anrl the prevalent ideas about the organic creation appear only as a mistaken inference from the te?'t, formed at a time "·hen man.'s ignorance prevented hul!- from drawing therefrom a just conclusion. At the same hme, I freely own that I do not think it right to adduce the Mosaic record, either in objection to, or Aupport of an~ natural hypothesis, and this for many reasons, but partiCularly for this that there is not the least appearance of an intention in' that book to give philosophically exact v i~ws of nature. To a re~s~n~ble mind the Divine attributes must appear, n?t diminished or reduced in any ·way, by supposing a creatwn by ~aw, but infinitely exalted. It is the narrovvest of all VJe.ws of the Deity, and characteristic of an hu~ble cl.ass of Intellects, to suppose him acting constantly .In particular ways for particular occasions. It, for one th1ng, greatly detracts from his foresight, the most unde. 7 |
