Was Man Created?

This work was originally written to be delivered as a lecture; but as its pages continued to multiply, it was suggested to the author by numerous friends that it ought to be published in book-form; this, at last, the author concluded to do. This work, therefore, does not claim to be an exhaustive discussion of the various departments of which it treats; but rather it has been the aim of the author to present the more interesting observations in each department in as concise a form as possible. The author has endeavored to give credit in every instance where he has taken advantage of the labors of others. This work is not intended for that class of people who are so absolutely certain of the truth of their religion and of the immortality that it teaches, that they have become unqualified to entertain or even perceive of any scientific objection; for such people may be likened unto those who, "Seeing, they see, but will not perceive; and hearing, they hear, but will not understand."

This work is written for the man of culture who is seeking for truth--believing, as does the author, that all truth is God's truth, and therefore it becomes the duty of every scientific man to accept it; knowing, however, that it will surely modify the popular creeds and methods of interpretation, its final result can only be to the glory of God and to the establishment of a more exalted and purer religion. All facts are truths; it consequently follows that all scientific facts are truths--there is no half-way house--a statement is either a truth or it is not a truth, according to the law of non-contradiction. If, therefore, we find tabulated amongst scientific facts (or truths) a statement which is not a fact, it is not science; but all statements which are facts it naturally follows are truths, and as such must be accepted, no matter how repulsive they may at first seem to some of our poetical imaginings and pet theories. We cannot help but sympathize with the feelings which prompted President Barnard to write the following lines, still we will see he was too hasty: "Much as I love truth in the abstract," he says, "I love my hope of immortality more." * * * He maintained that it is better to close one's eyes to the evidences than to be convinced of the truth of certain doctrines which he regards as subversive of the fundamentals of Christian faith. "If this (is all) is the best that science can give me, then I pray no more science. Let me live on in my simple ignorance, as my fathers lived before me; and when I shall at length be summoned to my final repose, let me still be able to fold the drapery of my couch about me, and lie down to pleasant, even though they be deceitful, dreams."[1] The limitations to the acceptance of truth that President Barnard makes is wrong; for, as Professor Winchell has said, "we think it is a higher aspiration to wish to know 'the truth and the whole truth.' At the same time, we have not the slightest apprehension that the whole truth can ever dissipate our faith in a future life."[2] Let us "Prove all things and hold fast unto that which is good," recognizing the fact that "the truth-seeker is the only God-seeker."

AUTHOR JANUARY 25, 1880.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

PREFACE v, vi

CHART OF MAN'S DEVELOPMENT 10-13

PROTOPLASM 18

CELLS 20

LIFE 22

VITAL FORCE 24

ANALYSIS OF MAN 26

UNITY OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC NATURE 28

SPONTANEOUS GENERATION 30

THE COMING INTO EXISTENCE OF MAN 33

EVOLUTION 58

THEORIES OF THE WORLD'S FORMATION 64

THE BIBLE 70

KANT'S COSMOGONY 76, 86

NATURE A PERPETUAL CREATION 82

LAWS OF EVOLUTION 90

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 92

RUDIMENTARY ORGANS 94

REPRODUCTION BY MEANS OF EGGS 99

DOUBLE-SEXED INDIVIDUALS 99

INHERITANCE 100

ARTIFICIAL MONSTERS 106

ACQUIRED QUALITIES 106

GEOLOGICAL RECORD 108

ONTOGENY 110

THE ATTRIBUTES OF MAN 115

MUSCULAR FORCE 116

THOUGHT FORCE 118

THE ATTRIBUTES OF ANIMALS 122

THE ATTRIBUTES OF A SAVAGE 126

LANGUAGE 128

FAITH 130

TRUE CONSCIENCE 132

BELIEF IN GOD 136

PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD 138

UNITY OF ALL NATURE 140

SOUL 143

THE FINITE SENSES OF MAN 144

THE UNSEEN UNIVERSE 148

MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD 150

HOPE OF IMMORTALITY 142-151

WAS MAN CREATED?

HAECKEL'S CHART OF MAN'S DEVELOPMENT, Arranged by HENRY A. MOTT, Jr., Ph. D.