MUCH EVIL

Evening Star, Issue 19792, 16 February 1928, Page 9

MUCH EVIL

SCIENCE AND BELIEF OUTLINED BY OR BARNES SPIRITUAL REALTIES. Dr Barnes, Bishop of Birmingham, in a sermon at Westminster Abbey on a Sunday evening in September last, dealt with Sir Arthur Keith’s address on ‘ Darwinism ’ at the British Association. 1 Public Opinion ’ quotes the latter part of his discourse from the full report in the ‘ Morning Post.’ The Bishop said; “Christians who are not obsessed by traditional theology realise that the doctrine of evolution leaves Christ’s teaching unaffected. If there be a God behind Nature He can show His creative activity through the process of emergent evolution just as definitely as by special creation. That He has used evil in His plan is obvious, and_ it puzzles us to reconcile this fact with His goodness and power. But there is no new problem herein. “ Christ knew that there was much evil in the world which God made—evil for which therefore God must be ultimately responsible. Christ did not offer the delusive explanation which many have thought that the Fall piovidedf But none ths less Hg could affirm that God is the loving Father °f us all. “We may reject His belief as unfounded, but Darwinism does not make our reasons for rejection any stronger. There is so much goodness in the world, such rich beauty, that we cannot believe that there is evil in the Creator Himself. His ends, we are forced to conclude, are not our own. We normally seek happiness; it is not natural to us to scorn delights and live laborious days. God seems rather to be desirous of' progress, alike in the individual and in the race. His ideal man is not the animal, well fed and luxurious, but the eager seeker for righteousness and truth. There is, of course, nothing new in such a conclusion; it is as old as the doctrine of the Cross. GROWTH OF MIND.

“ But I would reiterate that those of us who believe that God has been active throughout the process which men of science term evolution hold that observed facts force us to this conclusion. Take, for instance, the gradual emergence of mind. We cannot believe that mind is merely a by-product of physio-chemical actions. Life apparently can only exist on the semi-mori-bund matter which results from the degeneration or break-up of a star. It is absurd to imagine that such matter should be able to produce either thought or beings who think. “So we conclude that when life and mind emerged on the cooling earth they were new factors: products of a creative activity continuous since the first primitive organisms arose, as it would seem, from colloidal substances. “So vast has been the progress due to God’s activity that we trace its connections with difficulty; and only the expert can bridge even the last gap between the low mental life of the ape and the moral self-consciousness of _ civilised man. But as the expert exhibits successive links of the evolutionary chain he shows the results of God’s creation; a process which still continues, the end of which no man can foresee, the purpose of which wo can only understand by joining faith to reason. INCREASING PERSONALITY. “ Such a union of faith and reason is needed when we are asked whether the soul is immortal. The question forces us to consider whether man is an end in himself or but a transient link in a chain. The language in which it is asked has become archaic. We should now rather inquire whether personality survives bodily death. " In regard to personality, we admit with the man of science that it grows as the body develops. In the newborn infant it hardly exists; in_ the adult it has been shaped by environment. We are what wo are by virtue of our parents and surroundings; and the classical researches of Professor Karl Pearson show that the forces of heredity are far stronger than those of circumstance. “Yet, as all these forces come ulclxnatelv from God, it is He Who diapes us. Now, if in the personality thus made there is something of eternal value, may we not reasonably hold that it will have an externa! existence—that God will preserve what is worth keeping? Certainly a time will come when tiiis earth will no longer support life, and if there is no life beyond the grave a philosopher from another planet would then conclude that, in truth, God had made all men for nought. In the belief that God’s creation has a purpose, we postulate the immortality of the soul. “So I would conclude that, on the whole, the modern scientific view of the origin of man’s body and mind agree well with Christ’s teaching. But it cannot bo reconciled with certain statements of St. Paul, nor with a he lief in the infallibility either o( the Bible or the Church, nor with the acceptance of some of the main strands of traditional Catholic theology. “Yet, are these facts of any importance? Why do men desire so often to preserve old errors? Why are religious people and their leaders so frequently timid and obscurantist? Some, of course, hate the .trouble of thought, and therefore welcome easy submission to authoritative statement. “ FIRST-RATE MASCOT.”

“ Others are afraid that if they begin to raise questions their faith will vanish, and they will be left miserable. Others like magic a little disguised; a book or a church entirely free from error is to them a first-rate mascot. “Naturally, the men of science to whom the quest of truth is one of life’s greatest joys are contemptuous of such ignorance, magic, and fear. We who profess to follow Christ ought to share their contempt. Our present cowardice in naming and commending truth Is. said Hort, of modern growth. _ An evil tendency which he deplored in the Victorian era has become worse since the war. Pseudo-religious propaganda is now more shameless. Superstition is more prevalent. _ Sceptical orthodoxy more commonly joins hands with ignorant fanaticism. And so true religion, the religion of the Spirit of Christ, is harmed. The reaction is intelligible because war is demoralising. It breeds fear and contempt of truth and disregard of spiritual, values. “ Let us be thankful that, amid so much decay, science has preserved standards which organised religion has frequently failed to safeguard. In our thankfulness we can remember that men serve God when they bring enthusiasm and intellectual power to the service of science. In such service hard work and unswerving loyalty to truth are needed. Thus the great man of science usually proves worthy of respect for his moral qualities no less than for his intellectual eminence. “ Between him and those who seek spiritual realities through the guidance of the Spirit of Christ there should he no lack of cordial sympathy. Goodness and truth are natural allies. Knowledge grows most rapidly when righteousness preserves peace. _ Wisdom is God's gift, and through wisdom men are blessed. Art and science and religious understanding are all of the realm of the. Spirit. Christ bade us seek that realm; it is the Kingdom of Heaven in which God’s will is done, and in which He reveals Himself. Our Master, we proclaim, is the light of the world. Let us walk, then, as children of light.”