THE PRESENT CONTROVERSY—THE CURE

[I]. Truth Must be Classified Scientifically[46]
[1]. The Realms of Truth Must be Classified[46]
[2]. The Faculties of Investigation Must be Distinguished[47]
[3]. The Different Kinds of Truth Must be Separated[52]
[4]. The Primacy of Primary Truth Must be Maintained[52]
[p 6][II]. Truth Must be Investigated Scientifically[55]
[1]. Faith Must be Given Precedence Over Reason[55]
[a]. The Method of the Rationalist[56]
[b]. The Method of the Believer[61]
[2]. The Spiritual Realm Must be Given Primacy Over the Natural[68]
[a]. By Surrendering the Heart to God[70]
[b]. By Interpreting Natural Truth in the Light of the Bible[76]

[p 7]The Church, the Schools and Evolution

CHAPTER I
The Present Controversy—the Cause

It must be so self-evident as to be axiomatic that there are two distinct realms in God's universe. One is the realm that contains the Creator, and the other that which contains His creation. Of course, if we are pantheists, we will not admit that classification; but those who believe and accept the Word of God are not pantheists.

It is inevitable, therefore, that the facts, the verities, the truths of the universe should be classified according to their realms; those having to do with the Person and relationships of the Creator being separable into one realm, and those having to do with His creation into another.

That this classification is universally recognized, is a matter of common knowledge. That class of truth which has to do with God we call supernatural, or spiritual, truth, and that which relates to His creation we call natural, or scientific, truth.

It is precisely because of this classification that there are two separate institutions in the world, each of which is working in one of these realms. The Church accepts it as her function to receive and propagate spiritual truth, as God has revealed Himself in His character; while the Schools accept it as their function [p 8] to study and teach scientific truth, as God has revealed Himself in His works. This is the entire logic of the existence in the world of these two separate institutions, both of which are engaged in the investigation and propagation of truth.

But although the Church and the Schools are entirely separate institutions, and although they are engaged, one in the spread of spiritual truth and the other in the diffusion of scientific truth, yet truth is an eternal unity. This must be so, in the nature of things, for all truth proceeds from and reveals the one and only God Who is its Source and of Whom it is the consistent and perfect expression.

Conflict between these two realms of truth is, therefore, eternally impossible. Men talk of a conflict between science and the Bible, but no such conflict exists. If there is any contradiction, it is not between the statements of Scripture and the facts of science, but between the false interpretations of Scripture and the immature conclusions of science. Herbert Spencer was right when he said: It is incredible that there should be two orders of truth in absolute and everlasting opposition.