THE LAW OF EVOLUTION.
[Sidenote: Whence? Where?]
To every intelligence the question concerning the purpose of all
things must at some time present itself. Every philosophical system
has for its ultimate problem the origin and the destiny of the
universe. Whence? Where?--the queries which arise before every human
soul, and which have stimulated the truth-seekers of every age in
their wearisome task of searching out nature's laws. Intelligent man
cannot rest satisfied with the recognition of the forces at work in
the universe, and the nature of their actions; he must know, also, the
resultant of the interaction of the forces, or how the whole universe
is affected by them; in short, man seeks the law of laws, by the
operation of which, things have become what they are, and by which
their destiny is controlled. This law when once discovered, is the
foundation of religion as well as of science, and will explain all
phenomena.
[Sidenote: The only rational philosophy is based on science.]
It was well toward the beginning of the last century before
philosophical doctrines rose above mere speculation, and were based
upon the actual observation of phenomena. As the scientific method of
gathering facts and reasoning from them became established, it was
observed that in all probability the great laws of nature were
themselves controlled by some greater law. While many attempts have
been made to formulate this law, yet it must be confessed, frankly,
that only the faintest outline of it is possesesd by the world of
science.
The sanest of modern philosophers, and the one who most completely
attempted to follow the method of science in philosophical writings,
was Herbert Spencer. Early in his life, he set himself the task of
constructing a system of philosophy which should be built upon man's
reliable knowledge of nature. A long life permitted him to realize
this ambition. Though his works are filled with conclusions which
cannot be accepted by most men, yet the facts used in his reasoning
are authentic. By the world at large, the philosophy of Herbert
Spencer is considered the only philosophy that harmonizes with the
knowledge of today.
[Sidenote: All things are continually changing.--This is the
foundation of evolution.]
After having discussed, with considerable fullness, the elements of
natural phenomena, such as space, time, matter, motion and force, Mr.
Spencer concludes that all evidence agrees in showing that "every
object, no less than the aggregate of objects, undergoes from instant
to instant some alteration of state."[A] That is to say that while the
universe is one of system and order, no object remains exactly as it
is, but changes every instant of time.
[Footnote A: First Principles, p. 287.]
In two directions only can this ceaseless change affect an object; it
either becomes more complex or more simple; it moves forward or
backward; it grows or decays. In the words of Spencer, "All things are
growing or decaying, accumulating matter or wearing away, integrating
or disintegrating."[A] This, then, is the greatest known fundamental
law of the universe, and of all things in it--that nothing stands
still, but either progresses (evolution), or retrogrades
(dissolution). Now, it has been found that under normal conditions all
things undergo a process of evolution; that is, become more complex,
or advance.[B] This, in its essence, is the law of evolution, about
which so much has been said during the last fifty years. Undoubtedly,
this law is correct, and in harmony with the known facts of the
universe. It certainly throws a flood of light upon the phenomena of
nature; though of itself, it tells little of the force behind it, in
obedience to which it operates.
[Footnote A: Loc. cit., p. 292.]
[Footnote B: Loc. cit., p. 337.]
Spencer himself most clearly realized the insufficiency of the law of
evolution alone, for he asks, "May we seek for some all-pervading
principle which underlies this all pervading process!"[A] and proceeds
to search out this "all-pervading principle" which at last he
determines to be the persistence of force--the operation of the
universal, indestructible, incomprehensible force, which appears as
gravitation, light, heat, electricity, magnetism, chemical affinity
and in other forms.[B]
[Footnote A: First Principles, p. 408.]
[Footnote B: Loc. cit., p. 494.]
[Sidenote: Evolution does not admit a final death.]
A natural question now is, Is there any limit to the changes undergone
by matter, and which we designate as evolution? "Will they go on
forever? or will there be an end to them?"[A] As far as our knowledge
goes, there is an end to all things, a death which is the greatest
known change, and as far as human experience goes, all things tend
toward a death-like state of rest. That this rest is permanent is not
possible under law of evolution; for it teaches that an ulterior
process initiates a new life; that there are alternate eras of
evolution and dissolution. "And thus there is suggested the conception
of a past during which there have been successive evolutions analogous
to that which is now going on; and a future during which successive
other such evolutions may go on ever the same in principle but never
the same in concrete result."[B] This is practically the same as
admitting eternal growth.
[Footnote A: Loc. cit., p. 496.]
[Footnote B: Loc. cit., p. 550.]
The final conclusion is that "we can no longer contemplate the visible
creation as having a definite beginning or end, or as being isolated.
It becomes unified with all existence before and after; and the force
which the universe presents falls into the same category with space
and time, as admitting of no limitation in thought."[A]
[Footnote A: Loc. cit., p. 564.]
[Sidenote: Spirit and matter are alike.]
It is interesting to note the conclusion concerning spirit and matter,
to which Mr. Spencer is led by the law of evolution. "The materialist
and spiritualist controversy is a mere war of words, in which the
disputants are equally absurd--each thinking that he understands that
which it is impossible for any man to understand. Though the relation
of subject and object renders necessary to us these antithetical
conceptions of spirit and matter; the one is no less than the other to
be regarded as but a sign of the Unknown Reality which underlies
both."[A]
[Footnote A: First Principles, pp. 570 and 572.]
While the law of evolution, as formulated by Spencer and accepted by
the majority of modern thinkers, is the nearest approach to the truth
possessed by the world of science, yet there is no disposition on the
part of the writer to defend the numerous absurdities into which
Spencer and his followers have fallen when reasoning upon special
cases.
[Sidenote: Evolution and natural selection do not necessarily go
together.]
Many years before Mr. Spencer's day, it had been suggested, vaguely,
that advancement seemed to be the great law of nature. Students of
botany and zoology were especially struck by this fact, for they
observed how animals and plants could be made to change and improve
under favorable conditions, by the intervention of man's protection.
In 1859, Mr. Charles Darwin published a theory to account for such
variation, in which he assumed that there is a tendency on the part of
all organisms to adapt themselves to their surroundings, and to change
their characteristics, if necessary, in this attempt. He further
showed that in the struggle for existence among animals and plants,
the individual best fitted for its environment usually survives. These
facts, Mr. Darwin thought, led to a process of natural selection, by
which, through long ages, deep changes were caused in the structure of
animals. In fact, Darwin held that the present-day plants and animals
have descended from extinct and very different ancestors.[A] The
experiences of daily life bear out the assertion that organic forms
may be changed greatly--witness the breeding of stock and crops,
practiced by all intelligent farmers--and all in all the theory seemed
so simple that numerous biologists immediately adopted it, and began
to generalize upon it. Having once accepted the principle that the
present-day species have descended from very unlike ancestors, it was
easy to assume that all organic nature had descended from one common
stock. It was claimed that man, in a distant past, was a monkey; still
earlier, perhaps, a reptile; still earlier a fish, and so on. From
that earliest form, man had become what he is by a system of natural
selection. In spite of the absence of proofs, such ideas became
current among the scientists of the day. In this view was included, of
course, the law of evolution or growth, and thus, too, the law became
associated with the notion that man has descended from the lower
animals. In fact, however, the law of evolution is just as true,
whether or not Darwin's theory of natural selection be adopted.
[Footnote A: Origin of Species, p. 6.]
In justice to Darwin, it should be said that he in nowise claimed that
natural selection was alone sufficient to cause the numerous changes
in organic form and life; but, on the contrary, held that it is only
one means of modification.[A]
[Footnote A: Origin of Species, p. 6; also Darwin and After Darwin
Romanes, Vol. II. pp. 2-6.]
Professor Huxley, who, from early manhood, was an eminent and ardent
supporter of the Darwinian hypothesis frankly says, "I adopt Mr.
Darwin's hypothesis, therefore, subject to the production of proof
that physiological species may be produced by selective breeding; and
for the reason that it is the only means at present within reach of
reducing the chaos of observed facts to order."[A] After writing a
book to establish the descent of man from apes, Professor Huxley is
obliged to confess that "the fossil remains of man hitherto discovered
do not seem to take us appreciably nearer to that lower pithecoid
form, by the modification of which he has, probably, become what he
is."[B]
[Footnote A: Man's Place in Nature, p. 128.]
[Footnote B: Loc. cit., p. 183.]
This is not the place to enter into this famous controversy. The
relation of the theory of natural selection to the law of evolution is
not established; that man and the great classes of animals and plants
have sprung from one source is far from having been proved; that the
first life came upon this earth by chance is as unthinkable as ever.
Even at the present writing, recent discoveries have been reported
which throw serious doubt upon natural selection as an all-sufficient
explanation of the wonderful variety of nature. The true scientific
position of the Darwinian hypothesis is yet to be determined.
The moderate law of evolution which claims that all normal beings are
advancing, without asserting that one form of life can pass into
another, is, however, being more and more generally accepted, for it
represents an eternal truth, of which every new discovery bears
evidence.
[Sidenote: Joseph Smith taught the law of eternal growth--evolution.]
Were it not that the law of evolution is of such fundamental value in
the understanding of natural phenomena, it would hardly be expected
that the calling of Joseph Smith would necessitate any reference to
it. Besides, upwards of fifteen years elapsed after the martyrdom of
Joseph and Hyrum Smith before the world of science conceived the
hypothesis. One of the leading doctrines of the Church resembles the
spirit of the law of universal growth so nearly that one is forced to
believe that the great truth embodied by this doctrine is the truth
shadowed forth by the law of evolution.
The doctrine of God, as taught by Joseph Smith, is the noblest of
which the human mind can conceive. No religion ascribes to God more
perfect attributes than does that of the Latter-day Saints. Yet the
Church, asserts that God was not always what he is today. Through
countless ages he has grown towards greater perfection, and at the
present, though in comparison with humankind, he is omniscient and
omnipotent, he is still progressing. Of the beginning of God, we have
no record, save that he told his servant Abraham, "I came down in the
beginning in the midst of all the intelligences thou hast seen."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of Abraham, 3:21.]
As told by Joseph Smith, in May, 1833, John the Apostle said of God,
Jesus Christ, "And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at
first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness;
and thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the
fulness at first."[A]
[Footnote A: Doctrine and Covenants, 93:12-14.]
[Sidenote: Man will develop until he becomes like God.]
Man, likewise, is to develop until, in comparison with his present
condition, he becomes a God. For instance, in speaking of the
salvation to which all men who live correct lives shall attain, the
Prophet says, "For salvation consists in the glory, authority,
majesty, power and dominion which Jehovah possesses;"[A] and in
another place, "Then shall they be Gods, because they have no end;
therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they
continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject
unto them. Then shall they be Gods, because they have all power."[B]
[Footnote A: Doctrine and Covenants, Lectures on Faith, 7:8.]
[Footnote B: Doctrine and Covenants, 132:20.]
That this is not a sudden elevation, but a gradual growth, is evident
from many of the writings of Joseph Smith, of which the following are
illustrations. "He that receiveth light and continueth in God,
receiveth more light, and that light groweth brighter and brighter
until the perfect day."[A] "For if you keep my commandments you shall
receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father;
therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace."[B]
[Footnote A: Ibid., 50:24.]
[Footnote B: Ibid., 93:20.]
In various sermons Joseph Smith enlarged upon the universal principle
of advancement, but few of them have been preserved for us. In a
sermon delivered in April, 1844, the following sentences occur, "God
himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits
enthroned in yonder heavens. You have got to learn how to be Gods
yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods
have done before you; namely, by going from one small degree to
another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to
grace, from exaltation to exaltation."[A]
[Footnote A: Contributor, vol. 4, pp. 254 and 255.]
[Sidenote: Joseph Smith anticipated science in the statement of the
law of evolution.]
The preceding quotations suffice to show that with regard to man,
Joseph Smith taught a doctrine of evolution which in grandeur and
extent surpasses the wildest speculations of the scientific
evolutionist. Yet Joseph Smith taught this doctrine as one of eternal
truth, taught him by God. There can be no doubt that the truth behind
Spencer's law of evolution, and the doctrine taught by the "Mormon"
prophet, are the same. The great marvel is that Joseph Smith, who knew
not the philosophies of men, should have anticipated by thirty years
or more the world of science in the enunciation of the most
fundamental law of the universe of living things.
[Sidenote: Animals are subject to evolution.]
Now, it is true that Joseph Smith did not extend this law to the lower
animals; but it must be remembered that his mission on earth was to
teach a system of redemption for men. Yet, it is an interesting
observation that he taught that men and animals had a spiritual
existence, before they were placed on earth. "For I, the Lord God,
created all things of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they
were naturally upon the face of the earth. And out of the ground made
I, the Lord God, to grow every tree, naturally, that is pleasant to
the sight of man; and man could behold it. And it became also a living
soul. For it was spiritual in the day that I created it; for it
remaineth in the sphere in which I, God, created it."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of Moses, 3:5 and 9. See also Doctrine and
Covenants, 29:31, 32.]
If, in common with men, animals and plants were created spiritually,
it may not be an idle speculation that the lower forms of life will
advance, in their respective fields, as man advances in his. However,
a statement in the above quotation must not be overlooked, "It
remaineth in the sphere in which I, God, created it." This would
preclude any notion that by endless development a plant may become an
animal, or that one of the lower classes of animals become a high
animal, or a man. Is not this the place where, perhaps, the evolution
of science has failed? All things advance, but each order of creation
within its own sphere. There is no jumping from order to order. The
limits of these orders are yet to be found.
Spencer's belief that one period of evolution follows another[A] is
brought strongly to mind in contemplating the doctrine of Joseph Smith
that man, and other things, had first a spiritual existence, now an
earthly life, then a higher existence after death. Is not the
parallelism strong--and may it not be that here, also, the "Mormon"
prophet could have shown the learned philosopher the correct way?
[Footnote A: First Principles, p. 550.]
[Sidenote: God is the compelling power of evolution.]
Finally, one other suggestion must be made. Spencer, after a long and
involved argument, concludes (or proves as he believes) that the great
law of evolution is a necessity that follows from the law of the
persistence of force. In chapter two of this series, the scientific
conception of the persistence of force was identified with the
operations of the Holy Spirit, as taught by Joseph Smith. This Spirit
is behind all phenomena; by it as a medium, God works his will with
the things of the universe, and enables man to move on to eternal
salvation, to advance, and become a God; every law is of necessity a
result of the operation of this Spirit. Here, again, the "Mormon"
prophet anticipated the world of science; and his conceptions are
simplier and more direct than those invented by the truth-seekers, who
depended upon themselves and their own powers.
Marvelous is this view of the founder of "Mormonism." Where did he
learn in his short life, amidst sufferings and persecution such as few
men have known, the greatest mysteries of the universe!