The truth of this doctrine,
therefore, rests not only on the authority of the Scriptures, but on the
very constitution of our nature. The Bible has little charity for those
who reject it. It pronounces them to be either derationalized or
demoralized, or both.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _Evidences of Man's Place in Nature._ London, 1864, p. 57.
[2] The two facts which are commonly urged as inconsistent with Theism,
are the existence of misery in the world, and the occurrence of
undeveloped or useless organs, as teeth in the jaws of the whale and
mammae on the breast of a man. As to the former objection, sin, which is
the only real evil, is accounted for by the voluntary apostasy of man;
and as to undeveloped organs they are regarded as evidences of the great
plan of structure which can be traced in the different orders of
animals. These unused organs were--says Professor Joseph Le Conte, in
his interesting volume on Religion and Science, New York, 1874, p.
54--regarded as blunders in nature, until it was discovered that use is
not the only end of design. "By further patient study of nature," he
says, "came the recognition of another law beside use,--a law of order
underlying and conditioning the law of use. Organisms are, indeed,
contrived for use, but according to a preordained plan of structure,
which must not be violated." It is of little moment whether this
explanation be considered satisfactory or not.
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