Now, if no man can endow a spermatozoön with the power to develop into a new human being; and if no woman can endow an ovum with power to do so; how is it possible for either parent to endow the fertilized ovum with that power, when it is no part of the body of either of them?
But the evolutionist maintains that the child has in fact, many of the qualities, characteristics and traits, both physical and mental, of its parents; that the parents transmit these qualities, characteristics and traits, to their child, by and through the spermatozoön and the ovum; that this is the only means by which the child could acquire the qualities, characteristics and traits of its parents. Hence, the evolutionist infers that heredity is based on the physical qualities and properties of the spermatozoön and ovum.
But, as I have already argued (Sec. 15) the spermatozoön and the ovum are, themselves, new, direct and special creations, and so is the embryo body. While the physical qualities and characteristics of the spermatozoön may affect the body and mind of the child, to some extent; yet the child remains a new, direct and special creation.
Neither Darwin, nor any other man, has ever shown how it is possible for the father, his body or any part of it, to impress, modify or affect the spermatozoön, or any part of it, in such a manner as to cause the child to resemble him in any particular; nor has it been shown how it is possible for the mother, her body or any part of it, to impress, modify or affect the ovum, or any part of it, in such a manner as to cause the child to resemble her. When we consider the great number of spermatozoä and ova that are produced; their small sizes and short lives; their location in the genital organs; and the lack of intellect, memory and will-power in every organ and part of the bodies of the parents, and the fact that the “gemmules” must reach the spermatozoön and the ovum through the blood, we are compelled to believe that it is impossible for the spermatozoön and ovum to transmit, unaided and alone, any quality, characteristic or trait of a parent to the child; and we are forced to infer that the Creator, directly and specially, endows the spermatozoön and ovum with power to convey to the child such qualities, characteristics, and traits of its parents as they do, in fact, carry to it.
Assuming for argument that certain qualities, characteristics and traits of the father and mother are transmitted to the child by and through the spermatozoön and ovum; this fact does not militate against my theory of special Creation; for it seems reasonable to suppose that the spermatozoön and ovum are specially endowed by the Creator, with such powers and potentialities as they possess. Moreover, the evolutionist and materialist are in this attitude; they cannot show how it is possible for the germ-cell (composed of the spermatozoön and ovum) to produce, unaided and alone, a child with the qualities, characteristics and traits of its parents; nor can they prove that the germ-cell and its daughter-cells do, in fact, automatically, produce the child without the aid of the Creator.
Assuming for argument that the spermatozoön, ovum, germ-cell and its daughter-cells appear to do automatically all the wonderful things that the evolutionist and materialist say they do, the question remains: do these senseless, unthinking atoms and cells, spontaneously and automatically build up the embryo body with all its organs and parts, or does the Creator, in fact, generate, guide and control the forces and motions, which group these cells into the embryo body? In other words: when the atoms and cells, which go to build up the embryo body, appear to act spontaneously and automatically, are they, in fact, moved, guided, controlled and grouped into the form of the embryo body by the Creator?
The facts in relation to the development and growth of the embryo are easily described and understood. But the real question is this: “What force or agency causes this development and growth?”
What force or agency causes the child to resemble its parents? Do the germ-cell and its daughter-cells spontaneously and automatically cause this resemblance; or does the Creator cause it?
Referring to the origin of life in the individual, Professor Martin says:
“At present we know nothing in physiology answering to the match which lights the furnace; those manifestations of energy we call life are handed down from generation to generation, as sacred fire in the temple of vesta from one watcher to another. Science may at some time teach us how to bring the chemical constituents of protoplasm into that combination in which they possess the faculty of starting the oxidations under those conditions which characterize life; then we shall have learnt to strike the vital match.” (Martin, Human Body, p. 312.)