No one has a moral right to believe what is false, much less to teach it, under the specious plea of freedom of thought.
It is the privilege and duty of parents to send their children to inst.i.tutions that are safe.
Nathan Leopold, Jr., and Richard Loeb kidnapped and cruelly murdered Robert Franks. Both were brilliant scholars and atheists. Both graduates of universities, though minors, and both were taking a post-graduate course in the University of Chicago. It is a.s.serted and widely believed that they were encouraged in their atheistic belief by the teaching of evolution and modernism, and were thus prepared to commit a crime that shocked the world.
Most of the writers who advocated evolution became atheists or infidels; most of the professors who teach it, believe neither in G.o.d nor the immortality of the soul; and the number of students discarding Christianity rose from 15% in the Freshman year to 40% in the Senior. What more proof is needed?
16. BRUTE DESCENT IMPOSSIBLE
According to Prof. R. S. Lull and other evolutionists, "The skull of the pithecanthropus is characterized by a limited capacity of about two-thirds that of a man." a.s.suming that this skull is that of a normal creature of that age, as is done in all the arguments of "our friends, the enemy," then the pithecanthropus must have lived 20,000,000 years ago, one-third the period a.s.signed to life. They claim the pithecanthropus lived 750,000 years ago; later the guess is reduced to 375,000. Does any one in his senses believe that an ape-human animal developed one-third of the normal human brain in 375,000 or 750,000 years, when it took 59,250,000 years to develop two-thirds of the brain? If one-third of the normal brain developed in the last 750,000 years, the rate of development must have been 39.5 times as great as in the preceding 59,250,000 years. If one-third developed in the last 375,000 years, the rate of development must have been 78 times as rapid as in the preceding 59,625,000 years. This is incredible. If life began 500,000,000 years ago, and one-third the brain developed in the last 750,000 years, the rate must have been 332 times as rapid as in the preceding 499,250,000 years; and 666 times as rapid in 375,000 years as in the preceding 499,625,000 years. All these guesses are clearly impossible.
But the agile evolutionist may try to escape the death sentence of mathematics and the condemnation of reason, by saying that the brain developed more rapidly than the rest of the body. But he is estopped from that claim, by the statement of this same Prof. R. S. Lull: "The brain, especially the type of brain found in the higher human races, must have been _very_ slow of development." If so, the pithecanthropus must have lived more than 20,000,000 years ago! So swiftly does inexorable mathematics upset this reckless theory.
This calculation has been made upon the basis of the estimate of 60,000,000 years since life began, taken from Prof. H. H. Newman in "Readings in Evolution," p. 68. But, seeing that even this great estimate of the period of life is not sufficient for evolution, in a private letter to the writer, Prof. Newman raises his guess to 500,000,000 years. In that case, the pithecanthropus must have lived one-third of 500,000,000, or 166,666,666 years ago. And, if we are reckless enough to admit the "moderate estimate" of 1,000,000,000 years, gravely suggested by Prof. Russell, of Princeton University, it must have lived 333,333,333 years ago. These reckless estimates seem removed, by the whole diameter of reason, from even a respectable guess. Every new guess seems to make their case more hopeless. And any guess that they can make, out of harmony with the Scripture statement, can be disproved by cold mathematics. In like manner, if the Piltdown man had the estimated brain capacity of 1070 c.c., instead of the normal 1500 c.c., this fabricated creature must have lived about 17,200,000 years ago, if life began 60,000,000 years ago; and 143,333,333 years ago, if life began 500,000,000 years ago; (c.c. = cubic centimeters).
Prof. Schaaffhausen, the discoverer, estimated the capacity of the Neanderthal man at 1033 c.c. Then he must have lived 18,680,000 years ago, if we accept the 60,000,000 year period; and 311,333,333 years ago, if we accept Prof. Russell"s guess of 1,000,000,000 years.
And in all these long ages, fragments of only four skeletons of very doubtful character have been found, and upon this flimsy proof, the youth of our land are expected by self-styled "scientists" to believe it, even though it leads them into infidelity and atheism, and causes the loss of their souls.
Let us take another view. Let us a.s.sume that the pithecanthropus really lived 750,000 years ago, as claimed, which is 1.25% of 60,000,000 years. Therefore, its brain capacity then should have been 98.75% normal, or 1481.25 c.c. or 18.75 c.c. less than the normal 1500 c.c. Also 750,000 years is only .15% of 500,000,000 years; hence in that case, the brain should have been 99.85% normal, or 1497.75 c.c. In either case, the intelligence must have excelled that of many nations and races. All these calculations prove positively that no such creatures as these four alleged ape-men ever could have lived in the age a.s.signed to them; or, if so, that none could have had, at that time, the low brain capacity claimed. Q. E. D.
Is it not plain that for the last 2,000,000 years out of 60,000,000 years, the developing human race must have been over 29/30 or 96 2/3% normal, in intelligence, morality, and spirituality? This is greater than that of many peoples today. With this high degree of intelligence, man was capable of great inventions and discoveries.
Not a single monument remains. We would expect some great monument like the pyramids of Egypt. A race with such advancement, for so many years would have been able to reach the heights of invention, discovery, and learning of the present age. Not a whit of evidence comes down to us.
If 2,000,000 years ago, man had the same skull capacity as the ape, 600 c.c., he has gained 900 c.c. in 2,000,000 years, and only 600 c.c. in 58,000,000 years. His improvement in the last 2,000,000 years, must have been 43.5 times as rapid as during the preceding 58,000,000 years; or 373.5 times as rapid as during the preceding 498,000,000 years. How was that possible?
17. EIGHT IMPa.s.sABLE GULFS
The evolution theory, stretching from matter to man, is impossible, because of many impa.s.sable gulfs. Some of these impa.s.sable gulfs are:--
1. Between the living and non-living or dead matter; 2. Between the vegetable and the animal kingdoms; 3. Between the invertebrates and the vertebrates; 4. Between marine animals and amphibians; 5. Between amphibians and reptiles; 6. Between reptiles and birds; 7. Between reptiles and mammals; 8. Between mammals and the human body; 9. Between soulless simians and the soul of man, bearing the image of G.o.d.
There is not a sc.r.a.p of evidence that these gulfs have ever been crossed. In the scheme, the material must become living by spontaneous generation; some plants must become invertebrate animals; some invertebrates must become vertebrates; some marine animals must become amphibians; some amphibians must become reptiles; some reptiles must become mammals; some mammals must become humans; some senseless, soulless simians must acquire a soul and become spiritual enough to bear the image of G.o.d.
There is no convincing proof that any of these great and incredible advances were ever made. If we estimate the probability of each trans.m.u.tation at 10%, which is too high, then the probability that all these changes up to man were made is .1 raised to the 8th power, .00000001. Therefore, there is not more than one chance out of 100,000,000 that these 8 changes were made. And if we estimate the probability of each great change at .001, which is doubtless still too high, the probability that man took these 8 great steps of evolution is one out of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, or a million, million, million, million. If we estimate the probability of each change even at 60%, which is far above all reason, the probability of man"s evolution through these 8 changes is only 1 out of 60, which marks an improbability close to an impossibility. The highest estimate we can reasonably make, destroys all hope that man or even any other species could have come by evolution. Few persons realize how improbable an event is made which depends upon a number of possibilities or even probabilities, until calculated by the rule of Compound Mathematical Probability.
Imagine the Copernican or the gravitation theory depending on a number of possibilities or probabilities! No true theory is built on such an uncertain foundation.
But, if the evolutionists could prove that 7 out of 8 of the great changes certainly did occur, but failed to prove the 8th, they would lose their case. But they have failed in all. They must prove all to win. There is not the slightest probability that any one of these changes ever occurred. Hence, the evolution of man from this long line of alleged ancestors is an absolute impossibility. Q. E. D.
None of these changes is _now_ occurring. There is no spontaneous generation now. Darwin himself said that spontaneous generation in the past was "absolutely inconceivable." No reptiles are becoming mammals, none becoming birds, no apes or monkeys are becoming men. No species is now trans.m.u.ted into another, no new species arises. Is not this proof enough that such great changes never occurred?
Moreover, if dead matter caused one living germ, why did it not cause more? If some reptiles developed into mammals, and birds, why not all?
If one family of simians became human, why not others? Why not at least become anthropoids? Why did all other members of the simian family not become at least part human? Why have they remained stationary?
Besides, we have with us yet the invertebrates that have not yet become vertebrates; marine animals that have not become amphibians; amphibians that have not become reptiles; reptiles that have become neither mammals nor birds, and a mult.i.tude of simians that have not become human, and are not moving toward man either in bodily form or intelligence or spirituality. We have the one-celled amoeba, the microscopic animals, and the lowest forms of animal life. If the great law of progress and advancement to higher forms has prevailed for so many million years, there should be none but the highest species. All should have reached the status of human beings and there should be none of the lower forms of life which are so abundant. Changes so radical and vast, stretching through so many ages, would require millions of connecting links. If reptiles became hairy mammals, we would expect fossils of thousands, if not millions, in the transition state. If some reptiles were changed into the 12,000 species of birds, we would expect countless fossils, part reptile, part bird. Only one is claimed, the archaeopteryx (ancient bird), two specimens of which are known, which had a feathered tail, and which is only a slight modification of other birds. Many other birds have departed farther from the normal. There should be millions of fossils in the transition state if the theory were true. We have proven elsewhere that there is no credible evidence of links connecting man with the monkey family.
There would have been many millions. We have shown, at length, that some of these great changes, especially the Evolution of man from the brute, could never have occurred. No one of these nine great advances was ever made, but it will suffice to examine now, as examples, two alleged great changes, reptiles into mammals, and reptiles into birds.
1. Evolutionists say that mammals are descended from some reptiles, unknown, of course, and birds from others, also unknown. Mammals differ from reptiles in having b.r.e.a.s.t.s (Latin, mammae), a four chambered heart instead of three, a coat of hair or fur or wool, and a womb for the young. The temperature of the blood of reptiles is as low as 60 and even 40 degrees, since the temperature of the blood is about the same as the environment, sometimes approaching the freezing point.
But mammals have a temperature approaching 100. We are to believe that one progressive branch of reptiles, which pa.s.sed through the sieve of natural selection, during the Permian Ice Age, was capable of being adapted to the colder climate. But this mighty chasm between reptiles and mammals was crossed unaided by any external interference, unaided by G.o.d; then the mammals groped their way, without intelligence or design, up to man! The difficulties are too great to satisfy the serious student. No satisfactory explanation has been given. No fossils, part reptile, part mammal, have been found. We would naturally expect millions of them. Evidently none ever existed. How could such radical changes be brought about? What caused the development of hair, fur and wool? The change in the heart, and the temperature, the formation of the mammae and of the womb? There is no evidence of such change. But it is necessary to the scheme.
2. Some reptiles became birds, they say; whether a pair for each of the 12,000 species of birds or one pair for all, we can not learn. For n.o.body knows. They would like for us to believe that these cold-blooded reptiles with a temperature of 40 to 60 degrees became birds with a temperature as high as 107; that wings and feathers were developed, which must have been perfectly useless through the long ages during which they were developing; that the wonderful contrivances in the wings and feathers were made by senseless reptiles that did not know what they were doing. Reptiles have a three-chambered heart, making them cold-blooded. Birds have a four-chambered heart, and a temperature higher than that of man. Reptiles left their eggs to hatch in the sun. Birds, by a fine instinct, built their nests with care. Some reptiles have 4 feet, some 2, some none. All birds have two feet. The bird"s structure is so well suited for flight and shows the marks of design so clearly, that the clumsy aeroplane is but a poor imitation. Yet to link the 12,000 species of birds to their unknown reptilian ancestors, they show us two fossils of the archaeopteryx, as the sum total of the evidence showing the transition from reptiles to birds. The fossil varies slightly but not essentially from other birds. It has a feathered tail, some teeth and claws. It is probably not a connecting link at all, and if it were, we would expect a million fossils of connecting links. All these nine trans.m.u.tations are devoid of a single sure connecting link, when we would expect millions in every case. These facts prove that evolution is a delusion and an absurdity.
18. ANCESTRAL APES AND MONKEYS
Many have taught that man was descended from an ape or monkey. Evolutionists, ashamed of a doctrine so repugnant to all reason and so revolting to mankind, vainly imagine they can escape the odium of such a view, by declaring that man is not descended from an ape or monkey, but that all the primates including all monkeys, apes, and man, sprang from a common ancestor. Of this alleged ancestor _not a single fossil remains_. Dr. Chapin, Social Evolution, page 39, says: "When the doctrine of the descent of man was first advanced, superficial and popular writers immediately jumped at the conclusion that naturalists believed that man was descended from the monkey. This, of course, is quite absurd, as man obviously could not be descended from a form of life now living. The ape and the monkey family, together with man are probably (?) descended from some generalized ape-like form long since perished from the earth." Suppose this absurd and unsupported guess to be correct. Then the gorillas, chimpanzees, gibbons, orang-outangs and other apes; the baboons and other monkeys; and the lemurs and man were brothers and sisters, or otherwise closely related, and all were descended immediately or nearly so from a common ancestor _lower than any_. Where is the comfort or gain? Moreover, all the members of this primate family must have inter-breeded for ages, until, according to the theory, they became distinct species. Therefore, the ancestors of man, for ages, must have been descended from all these members of the primate family, and are thus the offspring of _all_ these repulsive brutes, and the blood of them all is in our veins! In attempting to rescue us from the ape as our ancestor, they have shown that we are descendants of the whole monkey family and every species of ape and of many of their more disreputable relatives also. Great is evolution!
It certainly would be impossible for one single pair to have become the ancestors of the human race, without mixing and interbreeding with their kindred primates. Where are the descendants of these mongrel breeds, part monkey and part man? We would expect all gradations of mixed animals from monkey to man. "Two or three millions of years ago an enormous family of monkeys spread over Europe, Asia and Africa."
All related, many our ancestors.
Why did not some other species of the primates equal or excel man or advance part way between man and the brute? Why are they not now becoming human? It is plain to the sincere student that the evolution of man from the brute is only the product of the imagination of those who wish to deny special creation and exclude G.o.d from his universe.
The slight external resemblance between man and the ape family is more than offset by structural differences which deny kinship. Alfred McCann in his great book "G.o.d--or Gorilla" says, p. 24, "Man has 12 pairs of ribs; the gibbon and chimpanzee, 13; man has 12 dorsal vertebrae; the chimpanzee and gorilla, 13; the gibbon, 14. The gorilla has ma.s.sive spines on the cervical vertebrae above the scapula"; and, like the other quadrumana (4-handed animals) has an opposable thumb on the hind foot. There are wide differences in the shape of the skull, thorax, femur, and even the liver. The skeleton of the brutes is much more ma.s.sive. On the tips of the fingers and thumbs of the human hand are lines arranged in whorls, for identification. In monkeys, the lines are parallel on the finger tips, but whorls on the palm. Is it possible that man and such brutes came from the same parents?
19. A STAGGERING SPECULATION
The theory that all plants and animals have descended from one primordial germ, is staggering to the mind. If so, how was it? Did this original germ split in two, like some disease germs, one of them the beginning of plant life, and the other the head of all animal life? Or, did vegetation only, grow from this first germ for ages, and then some of it turn into species of animals? As if the guess were worthy of attention, some are ready to a.s.sert that early vegetation Algae turned into animals. Did plants become animals somewhere along the way? Or did animals, somewhere along the way, turn into plants?
How long did they interbreed before the gap became too wide? Where are the descendants of the union between plants and animals? If animals were first developed from this first germ, what did they live on while there was no vegetation? What folly is like the folly of the evolutionist who claims that such weird speculation is science?
Great gaps between the princ.i.p.al divisions of the animal world are fatal to this speculation, which rests upon nothing but the wish that it were so. Links are lacking between marine and amphibian animals; reptiles and birds; reptiles and mammals; between apes and man. Of course, we would find fossils of millions of these links if there were any. The missing links are necessary to the scheme. Is there one chance in a million that evolution is a true hypothesis?
20. s.e.x
Can the evolutionist explain the origin of s.e.x? Starting with one germ or even a few germs, reproduction must have been by division for a time. If the germ that became the head of all plant life, reproduced by division, when did it begin to reproduce by seeds?
It is still more difficult to explain when s.e.x life began in animals. There could have been no s.e.x life at first, and perhaps for ages. They can not tell us when the animals, by chance, acquired the wonderful adaptation of the s.e.xual life. They have no evidence whatever. Their guess is no better than that of others. It pa.s.ses credulity to believe that the s.e.xual life, with all its marvelous design, was reached by the invention of irrational animals, when man, with all his powers of reason, invention, and discovery, is helpless even to understand the great wisdom and power that brought it about.
Can blind chance, or aimless effort by senseless brutes, accomplish more than the amazing design of an infinitely wise and powerful G.o.d?
How was the progeny of mammals kept alive, during the ages required for the slow development of the mammae?