THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 August 1929, Page 12

THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —Could I encroach on your valued Space to say a few words in favour of the science of evolution? As an advocate of this most logical form of religion, I would say that, far from being one that leads to spiritual, mental and moral decay, it gives its followers a far greater conception of the glory and power of Almighty God. The opponents to evolution as a majority apparently believe that this earth is the centre of the universe, that it was created, along with everything that is on and in it, in six days, and not' more than six thousand years ago. Surely a more limited conception of the size and age of the universe would be hard, to find. Does the anti-evolutionist believe that everything in the Bible must be taken literally? We know, from what science teaches us, that those six days were each period; of thousands, if not millions, of years.

The Bible tells us that in the beginning the earth was without form and without void. Quite true—part of a large mass of incandescent gas. After it had been thrown off from the main body, and had assumed a spherical shape in its spinning, it eventually, in the 'course of countless ages, cooled sufficient for a crust to form on the outside. In the process of cooling, the shrinkage caused the surface to buckle and bend, thus forming the hills and hollows. The seas that are now once hung over the surface of the earth in an enormous vapour blanket, and it must have been so for ages beyond our comprehension, for even when it eventually began to condense, and fall on the sweltering surface of the earth, it would be immediately returned, in vapour. The earth’s crust would, in the course of time, become sufficiently cool to allow of the vapour to condense and accummulate in the hollows in the form of boiling seas. Another long period before they would be cooled to such a degree that would allow of life in them, and the land to allow of life on its surface.

Our coal beds prove to us that they are formed of the remaining of this early vegetation, which was of the fern variety, and in the hot, moist atmosphere, grew to tremendous size, and in great profusion. Giant reptiles roamed these forests, proof of this being in the skeletons that have been unearthed at various times, and which can be seen in the largest of the world’s museums. As no mention is made of these weird monsters in Biblical records, it is safe to assume that man did not appear on the earth till some thousands of years after.

According to the Bible, God made, man, and woman from his rib. Figuratively, probably quite correct. They had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain slew Abel, and apparently was left to propagate the human race. But who was Cain’s wife? Truly, there is a “missing link.” ’ Also, if Adam and Eve were the only mother and father of the human race, how would one account for all the various races on the earth— Chinese, Hindoos, Arabians. Africans, Japanese, American Indians, Australian blacks, and all the different races known as European, and those that are not? And all these in six thousand years! No, Mr. Anti-Evolutionist; man was created quite probably millions of years ago, in various forms and stages of development to suit the environment of the period. That the Almighty God,, who created the endless universe with the countless worlds made, and in the making, worlds thousands of times greater than this little globe of ours, had evolution as the very basis of Ins great and wonderful scheme there is not a shadow of doubt, for does it not relate to the heavenly bodies, as they evolve from a shapeless mass of gas to the present state of our earth, and beyond and beyond? Let any of those who are sceptical regarding the relative value of this earth, in comparison with the rest of the universe, look through a good astronomical telescope, even a pair of good field glasses, directed at the heavens on a clear dark night, and the better the telescope the more he will realise that this little earth is comparable only to a errain of sand on the combined beaches of itself. Does he realise that the Milky-wav which extends across the skies is composed of countless nyinbeis of stars not one of which ie within a million miles of its neighbour, that some of our stars are sunk so tremendously deep into the never ending depths of the universe that their light has not reached us yet, that the vast majority of those twihklimr points are mighty bodies of fiery vapour, thotieandg of times larger than our earth, and which, if measured in comparison with our sun, would make it sink into insignificance. For proof of these statements, I would refer those

who challenge them to read any works by the most prominent astronomers of our day, one in particular being written by Professor Ball, and is called, “The Story of the Heavens.” After reading this, or any of the other books, I feel sure, that the most pronounced antievolutionist will admit that perhaps, after all, evolution, in its non-extremist form, is all, and more, than its advocates claim for it.—l am, etc. “A SEEKER OF THE TRUTH.” Eltham, August 13.