Evolution and creation

by Herbert Junius Hardwicke

This war engrossed the attention of all classes at home, so that the philosophers were enabled to prosecute their studies unmolested. It also in many other ways was a means of furthering the scientific efforts of that and of future ages. For the first time the Macedonians beheld the ebbing and flowing of the tides; they discovered and examined the Chaldean astronomical instruments, and learnt their calculations, extending over several thousand years; and they observed the Chaldean division of the zodiac into twelve portions, and of the day and night into twelve hours each. The particulars of these they sent home to Aristotle. What a field was here opened out for Greek speculation! The Chaldeans had detected the precession of the equinoxes, and were well acquainted with the causes of eclipses; they printed from a revolving roller, on which they had engraved cuneiform letters; they possessed magnifying instruments; and were, in fact, the tail-end of a mighty and advanced Accadian civilisation which had been in existence for thousands of years. Not satisfied with these achievements, the conquering Alexander next subdued the ancient monarchy of Egypt, learnt the great feat of the Pharaohs—viz., the circumnavigation of Africa by the Cape of Good Hope and the pillars of Hercules, and founded the celebrated city of Alexandria. He died at Babylon B.C. 323, after which his huge empire was divided among his generals; his half brother, Ptolemy Soter, who had been governor of Egypt during Alexander’s lifetime, taking possession of that country, and establishing his seat of government at the new city of Alexandria.

This period marks the commencement of European civilisation. Owing to the excellent government adopted by Ptolemy, large numbers of Arabians, Jews, and Greeks were induced to take up their residence at Alexandria, which quickly became the centre of learning and first commercial city of the whole known world, and the resort of people of all nationalities. The celebrated museum, which was commenced by Ptolemy Soter and completed by his successor, Ptolemy Philadelphus, contained a library, which grew so largely that 400,000 volumes were soon acquired by it, and a daughter library, containing 300,000 volumes, built at the Serapion, or Temple of Serapis. Books were freely bought, transcribers engaged, apartments set aside, at the king’s expense, for the residence of Greek philosophers and students, and four faculties established, for literature, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine, including natural history. There were also in connection with the university botanical and zoological gardens, an astronomical observatory, with spheres, globes, parallactic rules, etc., and an anatomical theatre for the dissection of dead bodies. It was here that Euclid produced his celebrated geometrical demonstrations, which are at this day used in our schools. Here also Archimedes proclaimed his method for the determination of specific gravities, and invented the theory of the lever. Here Eratosthenes daily taught that the earth was a globe, and determined the interval between the tropics. The earth was described as possessing imaginary poles, axis, equator, arctic and antarctic circles, equinoxial points, solstices, climate, etc. Hipparchus taught the precession of the equinoxes, catalogued the stars, and adopted lines of latitude and longitude in describing the situations of places. Thus science progressed under the wise and beneficent rule of the Ptolemies.

But a dark cloud was already looming in the distance, which was destined to develop into a fierce storm, the effect of whose fury was felt for centuries afterwards. Julius Cæsar, in B.C. 30, defeated Cleopatra, then Queen of Egypt, and added that country to the Roman dominions, the museum and larger library being entirely destroyed during the siege of Alexandria. From this time learning and science began to decline. Numerous religious sects arose around Alexandria, the old mythologies were revived, and the priests once more gained influence. The temples of Jupiter Ammon and Apollo in Egypt, of Adonis and Ies in Phœnicia, of Dionysos in Greece, and of Bacchus in Rome, were again filled to overflowing, and miracles were performed in abundance. In the short space of about fifty years all the work of the Ptolemies appeared to have been undone, and the world once more given up to darkness, superstition, and ignorance, the popular frenzy being kept up by a number of ascetic monks, called Therapeutæ, who inhabited the hills around Alexandria, the desert and rocky plains of Arabia Petræa, and the barren hills of Syria, and travelled about the country, preaching in the open air to the ignorant and credulous multitudes. Matters progressed favourably for the revivalists for a short time; but there had shortly before occurred a circumstance which proved to be, for us, the most important event in the world’s history, and which considerably modified the Therapeut programme.

According to ancient records, it appears that a monk, of the ascetic order of Essenes, called Yahoshuah (Joshua) ben Pandira, was born in Syria, in the fourth year of the reign of Alexander Jannæus, or about B.C. 120; and, being educated in Egypt, under the supervision of Yahoshuah-ben Perachia, soon made himself specially obnoxious to the priests by his heterodox teaching. From the exceedingly scanty information to be obtained from the historical writers of the time, it appears that this young man had, in addition to his knowledge of Egyptian sorcery, a large acquaintance with the sublime and moral teachings of Confucius, for whose memory he appears to have had a profound respect. Observing the despicable manner in which the priests manipulated their sacred offices for their own advantage, robbing the poor and credulous people of their hard earnings and indulging in all kinds of immoralities, this young man boldly attacked these human parasites in the public places, calling them liars and hypocrites, preaching Socialistic and Communistic doctrines, and declaring that there was but one law necessary for man—viz., the golden rule of Confucius, “Do unto another,” etc. The wrath of the priests knew no bounds; a council was called to consider the matter, and the bold reformer was, it is said, sentenced to death for his noble efforts on behalf of suffering humanity. Whether or not this young man ever lived, or whether he was merely an ideal creation of the fanatical minds of these therapeut monks, suggested by necessity, it is impossible to say positively; for there are no really trustworthy records from which a safe conclusion can be deduced. It is, however, probable that such a man did actually exist, for it is not likely that, had he been but an idea, the fact of his having declared one law to be sufficient for man’s moral guidance would have been included among the fabulous performances afterwards attributed to him, as such a declaration was destructive of all priestcraft; besides which, we are told in the Babylonian Gemara to the Mishna that Yahoshua, “son of Pandira and Stada,” was stoned to death as a wizard in the city of Ludd, or Lydia, after which he was crucified on a tree on the eve of the Passover, about B.C. 70, which was the punishment generally inflicted on preachers of heresy and sedition. Whether he had an actual existence or was but an idea, it is an undisputed fact that his name has been, during the past eighteen hundred years, a household word, and that the whole face of European history has been moulded by the various sayings and doings fabulously attributed to him.

The reason of this is as follows. The therapeut monks of Alexandria, who flourished in the first and second centuries of our era, in attempting to revive the old mythological systems, and thus to deprive scientists and philosophers of their late rapidly-increasing power, were at a great disadvantage, owing to the length of time that had elapsed since the wonderful feats of the gods had been performed. They well understood the absolute necessity of keeping alive in the memories of the people the older miraculous events by the performance of fresh wonders in their own day; but the difficulty they had to encounter was in finding suitable individuals for the occasion. The Syrian Essene monk, who had infected a great number of the lower classes of society by his heretical and revolutionary teachings, which, at first sight, appeared likely to be damaging to the cause of the priesthood, was quickly requisitioned by these astute monks for the great purpose they had in view—viz., the reproduction on earth of the popular god Bacchus, the Greek Dionysos, and Phœnician Ies. They boldly declared that this man was, when on earth, an incarnate deity, and proceeded to attribute to him all the wonderful performances that had previously been imputed to the young sun-god Bacchus, such as miraculous birth from a virgin, resurrection from the grave three days after death, ascension to heaven, etc.; and, finally, gave him the Phœnician name of Bacchus, Ies, in its Greek form Iesous—Greek being, at that time, the prevailing language around Alexandria. The new religion gradually spread from Egypt over the European provinces of the Roman empire, and soon became such a great political power in the State that the incarnate fiend and Emperor Constantine, in A.D. 312, was induced to place himself at its head, and use its increasing influence to further his own wicked projects. The new Church, by this act, gained an enormous power; its priests became arrogant, the philosophers were even more persecuted than before, and learning was fast approaching its end. The only scientific work which the Church retained was the “Syntaxis” of Ptolemy, the Alexandrian astronomer, which taught that the earth was the fixed centre of the universe, around which all other heavenly bodies rotated. It also treated of the precession of the equinoxes, the milky way, and the distances of the various bodies in the heavens from the earth; but, as the geocentric theory was clearly taught in conformity with the Bible records and the religious convictions of the people, this system was gradually adopted by all classes of society, and became the recognised authority on astronomy.

A furious and important controversy about this time broke out between Arius, the leader of those who retained the original belief in the manhood of Jesus, and Athanasius, the leader of the Christians, who declared him to be divine, which culminated in the celebrated Council of Nicea, A.D. 325, at which it was decided that he was actually god. From this moment not only Arians, but all others who refused to believe in the god Jesus, were savagely persecuted, until, at last, science and learning received their death-blow by the destruction of the Serapion, under the order of the Emperor Theodosius, and the murder of Hypatia at Alexandria. This philosopher was in the habit of lecturing on mathematics at the university, and was so popular that the jealousy of Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, was aroused; she was seized by his fanatical followers as she was going to her lecture-room, stripped naked, dragged into a Christian church, and there brained by the club of Peter the Reader, in A.D. 414.

Justinian next ordered the teaching of philosophy to be discontinued at Athens, and closed all the schools. The sciences were made to conform to Genesis, which was declared to be the only true account of the origin of nature; and the earth was declared to be flat, the sky spreading over it like a dome—or, in the words of St. Augustine, like a skin—in which all the bodies moved to give light to man. Lactantius declared the globular theory to be heretical. “Is it possible,” he said, “that man can be so absurd as to believe that the crops and the trees on the other side of the earth hang downwards, and that men have their feet higher than their heads? If you ask them how they defend these monstrosities, how things do not fall away from the earth on that side, they reply that the nature of things is such that heavy bodies tend towards the centre, like the spokes of a wheel, while light bodies, as clouds, smoke, fire, tend from the centre to the heavens on all sides. Now, I am really at a loss what to say of those who, when they have once gone wrong, steadily persevere in their folly, and defend one absurd opinion by another.” St. Augustine also said that “it is impossible there should be inhabitants on the opposite side of the earth, since no such race is recorded by Scripture among the descendants of Adam;” and again: “In the day of judgment men on the other side of a globe could not see the Lord descending through the air.” Thus perished all the grand work effected by the Ptolemies. Science was annihilated, progress arrested, and the dark ages had commenced, which lasted until the time of Luther and Copernicus, in the commencement of the sixteenth century. Throughout this long and dreary period the most cruel enormities were practised upon unoffending people; the Church became gorged with wealth; the clergy gave themselves up to all kinds of lust and debauchery; relics were sold, dispensations bartered; and no one’s property or person was safe. Progress was, however, only arrested for a time.

About the year 570 Mohammed was born in Arabia, and in 610 he declared to the world that he had been commissioned by the angel Gabriel to preach the unity of god. He appears to have been a very remarkable religious enthusiast, who believed himself in his divine mission, and was eminently successful in his arduous undertaking. Idolatry was quickly abolished among the Arabs, and replaced by the religion of Mohammed. On the death of the prophet his successors as vigorously pursued the course he had entered upon. Ali, the general of Khalif Omar’s army, in A.D. 637, captured Jerusalem and conquered Syria in the name of the one true god and his prophet Mohammed. The Khalif rode from Medina to Jerusalem upon a red camel, and, as he entered the conquered city, issued the following proclamation: “In the name of the most merciful God. From Omar Ebno’l Alchitâb to the inhabitants of Œlia. They shall be protected and secured, both in their lives and their fortunes; and their churches shall neither be pulled down nor made use of by any but themselves.” Sophronius, the chief Christian priest, having invited the conqueror to pray in a Christian church, received a polite refusal, Omar contenting himself with kneeling on the steps outside, so that his followers might not have any excuse for seizing the edifice or otherwise annoying the conquered Christians. The Khalif and his followers then pressed northwards, conquered the Roman Emperor Heraclius, sent a fleet to the Hellespont, defeated the Roman fleet, and laid siege to Constantinople, then called Byzantium. Egypt was next conquered, the remnants of the Serapion destroyed, and the whole of North Africa added to the dominions of the Khalif. Spain was then seized upon, and the entire country, as far north as the Loire, annexed to the growing empire. In 732 Charles Martel succeeded in stopping the Saracen foe at Poictiers and driving him back to Spain, thus relieving the anxiety of the Church, which was now becoming intense. In 846 a Mussulman fleet sailed up the Tiber, menaced Rome, and carried away St. Peter’s altar to Africa, the Christian empire being saved from further trouble only by the Mohammedan power being divided into three Khalifates.

According to the Koran, the earth was a square plane, on the edges of which rested the heavenly vault, divided into seven stories, in the topmost of which dwelt god in his omnipotence. This theory, however, was quickly given up by the learned Saracens, Al-Mamun declaring it to be unscientific, and asserting that the earth was globular, with a circumference of about 24,000 miles, which was not far wrong. In 661 the Khalif Moawyah encouraged this new teaching, and ordered the writings of the Greek philosophers to be translated into Arabic. In 753 the Khalif Almansar recommended the study of astronomy, medicine, and law at Bagdad; and his grandson, Haroum-al-Raschid, ordered that every mosque should have a school attached to it, and established a large library at Bagdad for the use of learned men. The sciences of chemistry and geometry were revived, and algebra invented by the Saracens. At Cairo the Fatimist Library became the wonder of the world; and the great library of the Spanish Khalifs had 600,000 vols., its catalogue alone occupying 44 vols. Gibbon tells us that they “diffused the taste and the rewards of science from Samarcand and Bokhara to Fez and Cordova, and that the vizier of a sultan consecrated a sum of two hundred thousand pieces of gold to the foundation of a college at Bagdad, which he endowed with an annual revenue of fifteen thousand dinars.” The first medical college in Europe was founded by the Saracens at Salerno in Italy, and the first astronomical observatory was erected by them at Seville in Spain. The streets in Spain were lighted, baths were erected, and total abstinence universally practised. Thus we see that, while the power of the Church was gradually steeping central Europe in darkness, ignorance, and wretchedness, progress was on the march again in Western Asia, Africa, and Spain. During this period, however, there were not wanting in Europe bold men who attempted a revival of philosophy; but these were quickly suppressed by the Church. In A.D. 800 there appeared a man in Britain called John Erigena, who, having read Aristotle’s works, adopted his views and attempted to reconcile them with the Christian religion. There were also many Christian divines who had crossed the Mediterranean to study philosophy secretly from Mohammedan doctors. Erigena declared that every living thing evolved from something that had previously lived; that each particular life-form was but a part of general existence or mundane soul; and that all life must be eventually re-absorbed in deity. The Church became infuriated and alarmed at this heretical barbarian, who taught the pernicious doctrines of emanation and absorption, and steps were immediately taken to suppress him.