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The Commoner
VOL. 22, NO. 7
! r5 U.
Tampering With the
Mainspring
(Abstract of the address delivered by William
Jennings Bryan before the Baptist Fundamental
ists at their National Convention, Indianapolis,
Juno 13, 1922.)
1 accept with pleasure the invitation to pre
sent the objections to the doctrine of evolution
as applied to man. No observing person can fail
to see the growing antagonism between those
who have taken up the idea that man is a lineal
doscendent of the brute and those who accept the
Mosaic account of man's creation by separate act
of the Almighty. One view or the other must
necessarily triumph and dominate the church
and both sides, if they believe in the triumph of
tho truth, must necessarily believe that victory
will come to tho side whose position is right. ,
Both sides should, therefore, desire the fullest
and freest discussion in order that the contest
may bo as brief as possible, A divided church,
like a house divided against itself, cannot stand.
The burden of proof is on thoso who dissent from
the orthodox interpretation of the Bible.
I venture to submit three propositions as a .
hasis for the discussion three self-evident prop
ositions which I think neither side can afford to
dispute. If they are accepted, we have but to ap
ply them to the arguments presented on both
sides and we shall easily reach a conclusion sat
isfactory to all who prefer tho triumph of that .
which IS true to the triumph of that which they
THINK to be true, if in fact, they are mistaken. .
First: The ministry, as a calling, must be
considered fully equal in dignity and importance
to any other line of activity. We might even
claim MORE for the ministry but I desire to
state these propositions so conservatively that
they will compel acceptance.
The preacher deals with The Science of How
to Live, the most important of all the sciences.
While it is DESIRABLE that man shall under
stand all the sciences, it is NECESSARY that he,
shall understand The Science of How to Live.
If one had to choose between this science and
geology, for instance, it is more important to
know tho ROCK of AGES than to know the age
oX rocks. Noble men and women lived before
a book on geology was ever written; a knowl
edge of geology, useful as it is, does not insure
nobility of character. '
Tho preacher deals with the heart out of which
are tho issues of life, while the teacher dea's
with the mental machine which we call tho
mind. Morality is tho basis of society and mo
rality rests on the heart, not upon the mind.
Tho mind lias no morality, it will plot a murder
as complacently as it will plan service to society.
Tho mind is the servant of the heart it finds a
reason for doing what the heart wants to do. A
trained mind is more dangerous than an un
trained mind unless it has an enlightened, heart
to direct its energy.
Tuem'nlsler deals with the unseen and eternal
things while tho teacher deals with the things
that are vis'ble and temporal.
Second: The Christian church stands for the
equality of souls all souls are alike precious
in the sight of God. Christ died for ALL and His
appeal is to ALL "Come unto Me, ALL ye that
labor and are heavy laden" He established no
literary test for salvation. He Himself was
reared in a carpenter shop; fishermen and tent
makers were good enough to be His associates
and apostles "the common people heard Him
gladly." Christ's church today must stand upon
the same broad foundation; diplomas cannot bo
required with applications for membership. Only
about two per cent of the nation's students evor
enter a college or university and only about ten
per cent enter a high school. The church En
courages education but does not require it. A
church that appealed only to the so-called "in
telligent" would be neither large nor useful.
Christianity is for all who will hear Christ's call
and accept His salvation.
The brute hypothesis has never made headway
among the masses and, as I shall show, has
alienated from Christianity a large percentage of
those who have accepted it. What shall it prof
it the church if it shall gain all the college
graduates and lose its God, its Bible, and its
Christ? Education cannot be substituted for re
ligion. Those who think it can, misunderstand
both religion and man's highest need.
; Third: A. controversy between -honest, ad vo-
-'tatesvdf conflicting -doctrines should.be candid
-. gaid'cfralik. PjoUiic'uns make their campaigns
- orcpublib support on written platforms defining
their views; preachers and professors who be
lievo in evolution can hardly do less. .Darwin
has applied evolution to man and the family tree
outlined by him is tho only one that has any con
siderable' -liumbei of supporters. Evolutionists
should, thorefore, be willing to define evolution
as they understand it and give us their family
tree as they believe it to be. If they believe that
they are descended from apes let them put their
belief into writing and sign it, whether they are
proud of it or merely believe it because they
think they must. If they think they are de
scended from some other animal let them name
it. If they reject the Mosaic account of creation
and deny that man was made by separate act
and in the image ot God, let them frankly tell
us to what brute, or bird, or reptile, or fish, or
insect they pay their respect on father's day. If
Darwin's line of descent is worth accepting it is
worth stating.
Tho opponents of evolution .do not hesitate
to announce their belief in the Bible account of
creation, and, believing in the miracle of crea
tion, they believe in the other miracles recorded
in the Scriptures, including the virgin birth of
Christ and the resurrection. Those who follow
Darwin should be frank enough to tell us wheth
er, 1 ke Darwin, they call themselves agnostics,
deny that there has ever been any revelation, re
ject the diety of Christ and refuse to express an
opin'on as to a life beyond.
Evolutionists cannot hide behind Newton when
they are challenged to defend Darwin. The law
of gravitation can be conclusively proven by any
oro at any time; Darwin's hypothesis is still an
unsupported guess. Neither can the evolution
ists class Darwin's hypothesis with the fact that
the earth is round the rotundity of the earth
can bo proven by anyone. Gravitation and the
roundness of the earth are not only facts but
they do not disturb the philosophy of life, while
Darwinism, which has as yet found no fact to
support it (no species has yet been traced to an
other) entirely changes one's view of life. The
evolut'onists must explain, why they build upon
an absurd guess a philosophy of life which robs
a life of its spiritual element, takes from it chart
and compass and sets it adrift on a tempestuous
sea an intellectual ship without a moral rud
der. No truth can disturb the Christian re
ligion but Christians have a right to demand
proof before accepting any hypothesis.
These three propositions; viz., that there is no
work superior to the minister's work, that there
should be no educational test for Christ's re
ligic.u, and that there should be no evasion of
the issues raised, I present as the basis of the
discussion.
Now as to our side: We contend, first, that be
lief in God is the most fundamental of facts, the
first essential to a life worth while. "Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," this is
the first and great commandment. Upon belief
in God rest the influences that control life con
sciousness of God's presence in the life, a sense
of responsibility to God, prayer to the Heavenly
Father, belief in a future life with rewards and
punishmonts, hope for the coming of an uni
versal brotherhood, acceptance of the Bible as
the revealed will of God, and of Christ as Son of
God and Saviour of the world. A Christian life
is built upon these all go when belief in God is
abandoned.
Belief in God is the mainspring in life and as
vital to a correct life as the mainspring of a
watch is to a correct timekeeper. We contend
that Darwin's hypothesis impairs the mainspring
by weakening faith in God, oven when it does
not entirely destroy that faith. Atheistic evolu
tionists deny the existence of God while theistic
evolutionists accept all the arguments of the
materialists, rejecting only their final conclusion
the non-existence of a God; but some of them
put God so far away that He has no influence on
the life. Canon Barnes carried evolution back
to the time when electrons came out of the
"stuff" that, according to his theory, filled the
univorse. What compelling force can the con
sciousness of responsibility have if it is strained
through tho blood of all the lower forms of life'
And when does hope of immortality begin if
man. is linked to protoplasm by an unbroken line
The proof that the influence of Darwinism li
harmful not always but as a ruleis abund
ant. Professor Leuba, of Bryn Mawr CoJlege
states in his book on "Belief in God and i
mortality" that more than half of the prominent
scientists in the United States do not,Paccor5?ng
to their own statements, believe in a personal
God or a personal immortality. Ministers
tell me of the effect of Darwinism m un
dermining ..the faith of their own ;?so5
-parouts tell uie of their children returning
from college to scoff at the Bible; preachers as
sume to stand behind the pulpit and preach tho
Word of God when 'the Bible has ceased to be to
them an inspired Book.
Darwinism leads to mind-worship, an idolatrv
as dangerous as the worship of graven images It
exalts tho reason and belittles faith. It paralyzes
aspiration and ambition. If a man believes that
he is a descendent of the ape he can go to a zo
ological garden and speculate on how far he has
come; if he believes the Bible ho goes to church
and considers how far he has to go. The lazy
man may be content with the progress made by
ancestors but the Christian must push forward
But Darwinism -does not stop with the im
pairment of religious faith; it was tho basis upon
which Neitzsche laid the foundation for tho
world's bloodiest war. Benjamin Kidd, an Eng
lishman, in a recent book entitled "The Science
of PoWer," declares that Bernhardi's doctrine
that Might makes Right was built on Darwin
ism. Darwinism threatens world peace as ono
follower expressed it, "Enduring peace is im
possible because man is an animal and animals
will fight."
Darwinism is the disturbing factor in the in
dustrial wopld. It is driving out the spirit of
brotherhood and substituting the "survival of
the fittest" or in other words, "each one for
himself and the devil take the hindmost."
Darwinism robs the reformer of hope by sub
stituting the slow process of scientific breeding
for the doctrine that, the regeneration of the in
dividual being possible, a nation may be born in
a, day.
The disintegrating and demoralizing influence
of evolution is specially, menacing today when
the world is ready to lay down the devil's burden
and accept the easy yoke of Christ. Tho intel
lectuals have led civilization to the verge of a
bottomless abyss, learned men have built battle
ships, dreadnaughts and super-dreadnaughts;
, scientists have mixed poisonous gases and manu
factured liquid fire; the putting of the mind
above the heart has made war so hellish that
civilization was about to commit suicide. Tho
world needs an international anthem and thero
is none save the son that startled the shepherds
at Bethlehem; On earth peace, good will toward
men. Darwinism cannot save the world, it can
only make the wreck of civilization complete.
Darwin's God was' nowhere he could not find
Him; Darwin's Bible was nothing it was a
man-made book; Darwin's Christ was nobody
he had an ape for his ancestor on both his
father's and his mother V side. Evolution gives
no hope in the present crisis; it would rob Christ
of the glory of a virgin birth, of the majesty
of His deity, and of the triumph of His resurrec
tion. Such a Christ is impotent to save. No man
aspiring to be a God canjneet the needs of to
day they require a God condescending to be a
man.
The Christian church must rise to the full
height of its great mission; the Christ on whom
Christianity is built laid claim to power, uni
versal and eternal. ALL power in heaven and in
earth was given into His hands; His .disciples
were sent out to make converts of ALL nations
and to teach ALL that He had commanded and
lo, Ho is to be with His church ALWAYS.
Man has in him, not the blood of the beast but
the breath of the Almighty; he is on earth for a
purpose the world's destiny is in his hands. He
has not risen to his present height by a blind,
pushing power; he has been obedient to a spirit
ual gravitation that attracts him to God's throne.
As he rises he proves tho truth of the Master's
words, "I, if I -be lifted up, will draw all men
unto Me."
The progressive. party of Nebraska, which was
organized in protest against past control of tho
two old parties by machines, is to decide at tho
July primary whether it shall have a machine
of its own or whether the voters shall dictato
its policies. If wise counsel had prevailed at the
creation of the organization, it could have been
made a most effective weapon to secure popular
control of the government. If it had stayed out
of state politics as an organization until after
tho progressives of the old parties had made
their fights within them, and then endorsed what
ever progressives were nominated or put up a
ticket of progressives if the machines won, it
could have presented a solid front of progres
sive candidates against a divided reactionary
group.
y
Tho attorney general at'Washington has ruled
that it is not necessary for candidates for tho
isenato toinake a.jreport of .tlieir. .expenditures.
This woAildHueeni to tudica,te .that some Republican-
ds goingito.'.run'vforfenator;again in' Michi
gan. ' -
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