登陆注册
19880000000004

第4章

Once more, as it is quite certain that the term "fowl" includes the bats,--for in Leviticus xi. 13-19 we read, "And these shall ye have in abomination among the fowls ... the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat,"--it is obvious that bats are also said to have been created at stage No. 3. And as bats are mammals, and their existence obviously presupposes that of terrestrial "beasts," it is quite clear that the latter could not have first appeared as No. 5. I need not repeat my reasons for doubting whether man came "last of all."As the latter half of Mr. Gladstone's sixfold order thus shows itself to be wholly unauthorised by, and inconsistent with, the plain language of the Pentateuch, I might decline to discuss the admissibility of its former half.

But I will add one or two remarks on this point also. Does Mr.

Gladstone mean to say that in any of the works he has cited, or indeed anywhere else, he can find scientific warranty for the assertion that there was a period of land--by which I suppose he means dry land (for submerged land must needs be as old as the separate existence of the sea)--"anterior to all life?"It may be so, or it may not be so; but where is the evidence which would justify any one in making a positive assertion on the subject? What competent palaeontologist will affirm, at this present moment, that he knows anything about the period at which life originated, or will assert more than the extreme probability that such origin was a long way antecedent to any traces of life at present known? What physical geologist will affirm that he knows when dry land began to exist, or will say more than that it was probably very much earlier than any extant direct evidence of terrestrial conditions indicates?

I think I know pretty well the answers which the authorities quoted by Mr. Gladstone would give to these questions; but Ileave it to them to give them if they think fit.

If I ventured to speculate on the matter at all, I should say it is by no means certain that sea is older than dry land, inasmuch as a solid terrestrial surface may very well have existed before the earth was cool enough to allow of the existence of fluid water. And, in this case, dry land may have existed before the sea. As to the first appearance of life, the whole argument of analogy, whatever it may be worth in such a case, is in favour of the absence of living beings until long after the hot water seas had constituted themselves; and of the subsequent appearance of aquatic before terrestrial forms of life.

But whether these "protoplasts" would, if we could examine them, be reckoned among the lowest microscopic algae, or fungi; or among those doubtful organisms which lie in the debatable land between animals and plants, is, in my judgment, a question on which a prudent biologist will reserve his opinion.

I think that I have now disposed of those parts of Mr.

Gladstone's defence in which I seem to discover a design to rescue his solemn "plea for revelation." But a great deal of the "Proem to Genesis" remains which I would gladly pass over in silence, were such a course consistent with the respect due to so distinguished a champion of the "reconcilers."I hope that my clients--the people of average opinions--have by this time some confidence in me; for when I tell them that, after all, Mr. Gladstone is of opinion that the "Mosaic record"was meant to give moral, and not scientific, instruction to those for whom it was written, they may be disposed to think that I must be misleading them. But let them listen further to what Mr. Gladstone says in a compendious but not exactly correct statement respecting my opinions:--<quote>

He holds the writer responsible for scientific precision: I look for nothing of the kind, but assign to him a statement general, which admits exceptions; popular, which aims mainly at producing moral impression; summary, which cannot but be open to more or less of criticism of detail. He thinks it is a lecture. I think it is a sermon" (p. 5).

<end quote>

I note, incidentally, that Mr. Gladstone appears to consider that the <i>differentia</i> between a lecture and a sermon is, that the former, so far as it deals with matters of fact, may be taken seriously, as meaning exactly what it says, while a sermon may not. I have quite enough on my hands without taking up the cudgels for the clergy, who will probably find Mr. Gladstone's definition unflattering.

But I am diverging from my proper business, which is to say that I have given no ground for the ascription of these opinions; and that, as a matter of fact, I do not hold them and never have held them. It is Mr. Gladstone, and not I, who will have it that the pentateuchal cosmogony is to be taken as science.

My belief, on the contrary, is, and long has been, that the pentateuchal story of the creation is simply a myth. I suppose it to be an hypothesis respecting the origin of the universe which some ancient thinker found himself able to reconcile with his knowledge, or what he thought was knowledge, of the nature of things, and therefore assumed to be true. As such, I hold it to be not merely an interesting, but a venerable, monument of a stage in the mental progress of mankind; and I find it difficult to suppose that any one who is acquainted with the cosmogonies of other nations--and especially with those of the Egyptians and the Babylonians, with whom the Israelites were in such frequent and intimate communication--should consider it to possess either more, or less, scientific importance than may be allotted to these.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 《无敌兽医》

    《无敌兽医》

    一年前,他在垃圾箱边捡到一只奄奄一息其丑无比的小狗。一年后的一天,小狗坑了他一回,然后,然后就变成了一个美到令人发指的小帅哥,身具各种变态能力,而且,还开始了改造他的试验……这是要一坑到底还是打造无敌?
  • 宠溺无罪

    宠溺无罪

    董先生一手撑着墙,凑近身前的女孩,徐声蛊惑:“你是女人,我是男人;你年轻,我成熟;你花样年华,白璧无暇,我事业有成,想安定成家。我觉得,我们挺般配的。”管你是黄金单身汉还是钻石单身汉,老大不小还单着,没有精神问题也有人格问题!苏小妞咬着牙一拳奉上,“去死吧,流氓!”
  • 幻古灵记

    幻古灵记

    万灵生,八荒乱……不一般的主角总是出现在混乱的时代,这是个老套的开始。不平凡的出生,注定了不平凡的经历。平乱世,扫八荒,非自本意,而是天命,本意可改,天命难违。
  • 斩魄弑魂

    斩魄弑魂

    钟田敏踏仙界;灭宗门;开大道;立九界,用剑道九式独杀天下,创造神人奇迹,引得各路美女纷纷想投入他的怀抱,他能把她们全部都纳入怀中么?且看他肿么耍手段,自成神仙家族体系,快乐似神仙的悠哉悠哉!
  • 灰色翅膀下日夜

    灰色翅膀下日夜

    从古至今,一直传说着,日界,夜界,人界,之中有一块心石,这块石头可以使任何东西起死回生,如用它做坏事可造成不可预料的严重后果。夜界二公主慕瑾汐偶然间知道自己的妹妹在出生后不久被日界所抱走、抚养,并且现在在人界生活。夜界二公主开始在人界寻找妹妹。冥谨慧第八部小说强势登陆!此部小说是《校草为校花的华丽蜕变》续集,第二部名称《校花和校草的恋爱未央》!重要通知:不好意思各位,更新时间改变了!从4月份的第二周开始更改为每周六,周日中午12点更新!!每周更新的三章改为两章,这样我才能勉强保证不断更,敬请各位读者理解!(定时发布,望各位读者仍不离不弃,我便死更到底!)
  • 岳飞(名人传记丛书)

    岳飞(名人传记丛书)

    他生在乱世,背负收复河山的梦想,带领岳家军驰骋沙场,尽忠报国。一腔热血却壮志难酬,正当壮年,却首奸臣迫害致死。本书绘声绘色地描述了民族英雄岳飞为收复失地、匡复国家而奋斗的精彩人生,让青少年了解岳飞赤胆忠心,矢志不渝的爱国精神,树立学习的榜样。
  • 大风往北吹

    大风往北吹

    当有一种生活可以安逸,谁会去辛苦拼搏。当有一种日子叫天上掉馅饼,谁会去做饭。生活,无外乎是一种品尝。就像是品味一块蛋糕,只有慢慢的品尝才会知道其中的酸甜苦辣。
  • 家常简易刀工分步图解

    家常简易刀工分步图解

    只需用简单的切割万式,就能让最家常的食材呈现出美丽又别致的样式,以及独特的口感。《美食天下(第2辑):家常简易刀工分步图解》选用最实用的切法,分步图解,详细演示,让您一看就懂,一学就会。
  • 小微的穿越记

    小微的穿越记

    穿越贞观,抓鬼斗妖泡公子逍遥盛世,五灵道法齐斗艺且看黄毛小丫头如何玩转乾坤,成为大唐第一女天师!
  • 冷酷王爷的弃情妃

    冷酷王爷的弃情妃

    好姐妹一朝穿越,一个,穿越到龙晋王朝,被生性风流其骨子里不知情为何物的混蛋二王爷缠上。一个穿越到龙秦王朝,受到了冷酷傲气三王爷的气!两个,都不是什么好男人,一个风流,一个冰山,看我们姐妹如何戏耍于你们,令你们成为我们的的爱情奴隶的!