As to the single or multiple origin of man, science as yet furnishes no answer. It is very probable that, in many cases, the species of one genus have descended from corresponding species of another by change of generic characters only. It is a remarkable fact that the orang possesses the peculiarly developed malar bones and the copper color characteristic of the Mongolian inhabitants of the regions in which this animal is found, while the gorilla exhibits the prognathic jaws and black hue of the African races near whom he dwells. This kind of geographical imitation is very common in the animal kingdom.
ζ. The Mosaic Account.
As some persons imagine that this hypothesis conflicts with the account of the creation of man given in Genesis, a comparison of some of the points involved is made below.
First: In Genesis i. 26, 27, we read, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” etc. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Those who believe that this “image” is a physical, material form, are not disposed to admit the entrance of anything apelike into its constitution, for the ascription of any such appearance to the Creator would be impious and revolting. But we are told that “God is a Spirit,” and Christ said to his disciples after his resurrection, “A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” Luke xxiv. 39. It will require little further argument to show that a mental and spiritual image is what is meant, as it is what truly exists. Man’s conscience, intelligence and creative ingenuity show that he possesses an “image of God” within him, the possession of which is really necessary to his limited comprehension of God and of God’s ways to man.
Second: In Genesis ii. 7, the text reads, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” The fact that man is the result of the modification of an apelike predecessor nowise conflicts with the above statement as to the materials of which his body is composed. Independently of origin, if the body of man be composed of dust, so must that of the ape be, since the composition of the two is identical. But the statement simply asserts that man was created of the same materials which compose the earth: their condition as “dust” depending merely on temperature and subdivision. The declaration, “Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return,” must be taken in a similar sense, for we know that the decaying body is resolved not only into its earthly constituents, but also into carbonic acid gas and water.
When God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, we are informed that he became, not a living body, but “a living soul.” His descent from a preëxistent being involved the possession of a living body; but when the Creator breathed into him we may suppose for the present that He infused into this body the immortal part, and at that moment man became a conscientious and responsible being.
II. Metaphysical Evolution.
It is infinitely improbable that a being endowed with such capacities for gradual progress as man has exhibited, should have been full fledged in accomplishments at the moment when he could first claim his high title, and abandon that of his simious ancestors. We are therefore required to admit the growth of human intelligence from a primitive state of inactivity and absolute ignorance; including the development of one important mode of its expression—speech; as well as that of the moral qualities, and of man’s social system—the form in which his ideas of morality were first displayed.
The expression “evolution of morality” need not offend, for the question in regard to the laws of this evolution is the really important part of the discussion, and it is to the opposing views on this point that the most serious interest attaches.