The ascent through Christ; a study of the doctrine of redemption in the light of the theory of evolution

Front matter

Gee y pO Tie

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Ce wie y

II

A work of this kind, challenging as it must all discordant views on a difficult subject, cannot but meet with criticism of a more or less unsympathetic kind. The very fact that it occupies a middle position between extremes exposes it to a severe cross-fire from two bitterly hostile quarters—that of the theological obscurantist on the one hand, that of the scientific dogmatist on the other. The exceptionably kind reception which the book has received (in spite of this double challenge) both from the religious and secular press, has been a great and happy surprise to the writer, and fills him with the hope that it attains, at least to some extent, its purpose of extending a helping hand to the man who is equally repelled by the cold and barren negations that greet him on the mountain heights of Agnostic thought, and by the outworn formulas of the traditional creed. To enable such aman at once to escape from the ruins of a dead orthodoxy, and to avoid the icy desert of the “Everlasting No,” where so many seek

Preface xi a futile refuge from the religious cravings of the nature, was the aim consistently borne in mind by the writer. This he endeavoured to realise, not by minimising the characteristic and opposing truths that rise up on the one side and the other, but by including both extremes within a more comprehensive scheme of thought. Contradictions are not to be solved by denial, but by inclusion. Mountains may be impassable from summit to summit, but they are all joined at the base in the “mother earth ” that supports them alli, and viewed from the common ground of the valley, we see that we could not do without any of them in the perfect landscape, which needs contrast as one of the main conditions of its charm. The policy of “whittling away differences between antagonistic schools of thought is a method of harmonising religion and science which results in an armed truce, never in a lasting peace. That “consummation, devoutly to be wished,” can only’ be attained by making room for all differences which are the reflection of the real contrasts of life, and so including them in the embrace of a larger friendship. After all, the worst of them are but family differences, since the Universe is one,

The advantage of pursuing this method is seen in the cordial reception given to the book by the representatives of the most diverse schools of thought. Two instances may be mentioned in particular. Rev. Hugh Price Hughes, editor of one of the leading Methodist weeklies in this country, and representing a party that prides itself on holding with unfaltering grasp the Evangelicalism of the Founder of Methodism, ina leading article on the book when it first appeared, gave this estimate of its general conclusions : ‘“‘‘ The Ascent Through Christ’ may be regarded asa . . . sequelto Prof. Henry Drummond’s greatest work, ‘The Ascent of Man.’ Prof. Drummond, in the light of Evolutionary Science, brought Man to Paradise . . . Mr. Griffith-Jones has taken up the thrilling and astounding history of our race at the point where Drummond stopped. . . . Wedonot commend it to those who are wholly untrained in modern science and modern thought, although the conclusions reached ought to satisfy the ultra-orthodox.”

By way of complement to this criticism, the writer may be permitted to cite the opinion of a leading anthropolokii ae Preface gisi i1 this country—an Ex-presiderit of the Anthropological Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science of Great Britain—-who personally assured him that, so far as he knew, this was the first book of a theological nature which fully conceded to the anthropologist all that he could fairly claim in his department ; and that the fact that this was done without surrendering anything that appeared essential to the Christian Faith, showed that a permanent reconciliation might ultimately be looked for between the two sciences. These judgments, passed by thoroughly independent men, widely divergent in their theological leanings, at least justify the leading principles on which the following inquiry is carried on, and suggest some measure of success in the results achieved.

Ill

THE writer has carefully considered the criticisms passed on the general argument of the book, but does not find himself called upon to modify it in any vital matter, and after several years of continued thinking on the subject, he adheres broadly to the exposition of his views here given. There are, however, certain strictures passed on particular sections on which a passing word may be allowed.

1. He has been charged with making the validity of the Incarnation of the Son of God dependent on the historicity of the Gospel narratives of the Virgin Birth of our Lord. He has carefully looked through the chapter in question, but has failed to see a trace of this assumption. On the contrary, he frankly accepts the possibility of the Incarnation occurring along both lines of human generation, or in spite of all natural laws. The question is purely one of evidence in the first instance, and of the interpretation of that evidence, in the second. ‘That it is possible to hold to a firm belief in the Incarnation while relegating the Birthnarratives to the region of poetic legend, is conceded in the book itself (v., p. 265) ; and there is, perhaps, an increasing number of theologians in this country who occupy this position. This, however, proves little. Faith has a way of surviving the wreck of all its forms under certain spiritual conditions; and that there are many who retain a faith in this particular doctrine, while rejecting the event

Preface xiii with which it has hitherto been indissolubly: associated, only illustrates the great diversity of present-day opinion as to what are the essentials and non-essentials of the historic Faith. The real question is, whether these stories are substantially true in point of fact—the literary form in which they have come down to us is of quite secondary importance—and if, as the writer for his part, feels the evidence for their historicity is, on the whole, decisive, then we may well ask what is the religious significance of an event so unique, and what light the historic fact throws on the everlasting mystery. The treatment of the subject in the text follows these lines.

2. The admission made on pp. 289, 290, that the time does not seem to have yet come for the complete restatement of the doctrine of the Atonement on Evolutionary lines, has been construed into a fatal defect in the argument of the book, and is even charged against the author by Dr. P. T. Forsyth as a “ a giving away of his case.” That distinguished critic, by accidentally omitting one word from his quotation does the writer some injustice, distorting a frank admission into a practical admission of failure on a vital point, and suggests an zmpasse in the treatment which, to say the least, is premature and hasty. Dr. Forsyth seems, like many thinkers of philosophic leanings, to imagine that “Evolution” is a term that can have no meaning as applied to the world of “personalities,” being essentially a biological theory—a restriction of the term which is arbitrary and confusing. In its largest application, it is a philosophy, not indeed of all Being, but of all Becoming, and is competent, under proper categories, of taking. cognisance of every event in however august a region it may take place; and as such may properly investigate the significance of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and its doctrinal bearings both on lifeand thought. And if as yet the full co-ordination of our inner thought concerning this stupendous Event with the formulas of the New Philosophy is far from complete—are we to conclude that great mysteries must be relegated to the class of insoluble problems because the light comes upon them by slow and painful degrees? That would be, truly, to come to a lame and impotent result. The Atonement, it is (of course) true, was an event not in a world of organisms but of person-

XIV Preface alities, but it was consummated in history, and as such can be dealt with as an event of history. Whatever may be the rational explanation of the Mystery of the Cross (if such an explanation be possible), the fact remains that the Crucifixion was unquestionably a fresh starting-point in the higher evolution of the race. To this, the whole subsequent course of history bears eloquent testimony, The Cross created Christendom, and Christendom is simply the latest and highest step in the evolution of Man. Looking back upon it through the accumulated experience of nineteen centuries of the effect of that unique Event, we are just beginning to recognise its unspeakable importance as one of the momenta, the essential crises, in the upward march of the race. Further, it is a very great mistake to look at the Cross as though it were independent of the train of events that led up to it, and that immediately flowed from it. It was the decisive moment in the historical Incarnation, but the two piers on which that mighty consummation leaned were the Virgin Birthand the Empty . Tomb, spanned by the Perfect Life, as it crossed the river of Vicarious Sacrifice. °

3. Nor is it quite true that the laws of Biological Evolution do not help us to a truer understanding of the mystery of the Atonement. Light may be reflected from below, as well as descend from above. Some idea of the premonitions of that crowning fact may be seen in the lower processes of development as given in the text (pp. 290-6), and evidence is constantly accumulating of the vital place occupied by sacrifice as a factor in the upward march of life from the mollusc to Man. Much more might be written on this matter, but not here. Those who desire to make themselves acquainted with the best thinking on the subject will do well to read the recent works of Miss Emily Caillard, a course which might be well followed up by studying some remarkable articles by Rev. W. W. Peyton in the Contemporary Review for last year, on “The Crucifixion as an Evolutionary Force,” and “The Crucifixion and the War in Creation.”

4. The limits laid Been in the plan of the work have necessitated the inadequate treatment of some questions which, though but remotely connected with the immediate subject, are of great intrinsic interest. It is not the writer’s fault that these have been but lightly touched upon, or not

Preface — XV at all. This, as stated in the opening words of the original preface, is not a text-book of Systematic Theology, but a “study ” of certain aspects of religious truth in the light of the theory of Evolution. There is, for instance, a tract of thought of great practical importance which has not even been mentioned here—the bearing of the same theory on the tenets of Natural Theology, especially on the doctrine of Providence as hitherto held among Christian believers of all ages. Perhaps there is no central truth of religion which has been more obscured by the discoveries and generalisations of evolutionary Biology than that of the love and tenderness of the Creator towards His creatures, The apparent cruelty and pitilessness of natural law, the seeming waste of material and life in Nature, the blind persistence of the lower forces of the Universe in total apparent disregard of the higher and more delicate interests of life and sentiency have come home to many with disastrous results to their faith. So far as is known to the writer, there is no book yet published that frankly meets this Mystery of Pain with definite reference to the special and acute emphasis laid upon it by the Darwinian theory, though many helpful suggestions have been thrown out that tend to mitigate the difficulty. He believes, however, that it is possible to throw some further light on this dark subject ; and if health and opportunity are afforded him during the next year or two, he hopes to complete a smaller work dealing with the problem. Meanwhile, he sends this word of greeting to his unknown friends across the Atlantic, in trust that the movement towards a larger faith and a truer vision of the facts of life which characterises the religious thinking of the day may be helped on at least a little way by this effort to throw fresh light on the central doctrines of the Christian Religion.

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PREFACE ae)

HIS work is not a treatise in Systematic Theology,

nor yet an attempt to reconstruct the whole contents of the Christian Faith on an Evolutionary basis. It is, as the sub-title suggests, a study of certain spiritual facts, which cluster round the Mystery of Divine Redemption, viewed in the light of that great principle of Development which has taken possession of the mind of.to-day, and which seems destined, in its broader aspects, permanently to affect human thought in all. its departments. These facts are, Sin and its correlative theory of the Fall of Man; the Person of Christ, His atoning death and Resurrection, and the New Life in Him, which embodies the highest moral and spiritual evolution of human character, and which is the Christian’s surest ground for believing in a blessed Immortality ; together with such subsidiary problems as radiate from these “focal centres,” This definitive statement as regards the purpose of this book will enable the reader to understand both the. emphasis laid on certain parts of the.

xVi1L

XVill Preface subject, and the many omissions which, in a .more systematic treatise, would have seemed strange and unjustifiable.

Some years ago, the writer, finding himself seriously affected by the general unsettlement of religious thought resulting from the disturbing influence of the Theory of Evolution on all historic beliefs, determined to make an attempt to remodel the contents of his faith in accordance with such of its principles as seemed safely established. He was struck at the outset with the paucity of really helpful works on all but the very elements of the subject. Almost all the existing works on the relations between Christianity and Evolution— and their number even at that time was legion—dealt with prolegomena, and disappointingly stopped short just as the crucial difficulties of the situation became most insistent,—a disappointment all the keener in view of the thorough manner in which the preliminary questions were in many cases cleared up. Especially was this the case with the problem of Sin, which lies athwart the threshold of every system of Christian doctrine. How far had the new science of human origins swept away the immemorial belief in the Fall of Man? The new psychology, had it broken down the last remaining wall of partition between Man and ‘Brute? Was it any longer permissible to believe in the inspiration of such “ unscientific ” conceptions of creation as are given in the first chapter of Genesis, and of such “idyllic myths” as the story of Eden in the second and third chapters? Was such a “ Fall” as is there described consistent, even in a metaphorical

Preface _ XIX sense, with a frank acceptance of the doctrine of human development as it is now universally held among reputable anthropologists? Till such questions were cleared out of the way, it seemed useless to proceed to the consideration of doctrines depending logically on these regulative beliefs for their validity. Here then was ample room for investigation,—in truth an undiscovered country to be explored; and into it the writer plunged with all the ardour of youth at escaping from the “ welltrimmed lawns” of the traditional faith, tempered with not a little trepidation at the possibilities of a shattered faith which might await him “in the tangle and the storm” ahead. To say that in the event he found himself emerging from the strenuous quest for a rehabilitated faith close to the point from which he started, but on higher ground and with an ampler and clearer outlook on both faith and life, is to put into a sentence the substantial message of this book. There were certain first principles to be dealt with at the outset, necessitating a careful study of the philosophy of Evolution. Fortunately, there was abundance of help to this end to be gained from the copious literature already in existence on the bearings of the theory on the general principles of religious thought, and, in particular, on Man’s place in the organic series. The result of much reading on these preliminary but essential questions is given in the Introduction, without a study of which (especially pp .26-39, and pp. §6— 70) the subsequent developments of the argument may appear in some directions doubtful. The next step was to ascertain how far the idea of a spiritual lapse

XX Preface or fall in the race was compatible with the supposed unbroken upward movement of Evolution; and here the writer was greatly astonished to find that, whereas most scientific thinkers altogether scouted such a possibility, they were all the time busily engaged: in accumulating a vast array of facts in the fields of organic nature which went far, even apart from the testimony of history and conscience, to show the @ friort reasonableness of the old belief. As this grew clear it seemed to the writer that a thorough treatment of the subject might be useful to others as well as to himself, and so by degrees the First Book took its present form and proportions. So far as he is aware, this is the first attempt to deal with the question of the Fall fer se in its critical, psychological, and anthropological aspects. That the difficulties . with which the subject teems have all been disposed of, it would doubtless be too much to expect; it is to be hoped at least that some useful material towards a restatement of the doctrine on a scientific basis has been brought together, so that the present mischievous hesitancy, manifest both in the pulpit and out of it, in dealing with the problem of individual and racial sin, may come to an end.

The first half of the volume is devoted to this, the great initial theological problem of all ages; Recent literature relating to the Incarnation and the Resurréc-. tion is so copious, and on the whole so satisfactory, that the writer has felt free to deal with these great facts: with a lighter hand, only dwelling in any detail on such: aspects as are more directly affected: by the Evolutionary hypothesis. The Virgin-Birth of Jesus

Preface XX is one of these, and therefore is treated with some thoroughness. In the Third Book, the problems of the Future of the Race, both in this life and in that which lies “behind the veil,’ are also carefully considered, inasmuch as on these points there is much distressful unsettlement of thought among even devout Christians. As regards the Atonement, the law of sacrifice has been enriched by innumerable illustrations drawn from the fields of organic evolution; and the function of Death in the animal creation, as a necessary condition of the emergence of life from lower to higher forms, gives a prophetic forecast of the deeper and higher Mystery in which the Son of God gives His life for the world. There is, of course, nothing ethical in the principle of “Selection by Death” which rules in the organic world ; but it is a true premonition on its own plane of the spiritual “Redemption by Death” whereby the higher evolution of the Race has been secured to us through the Vicarious Sacrifice of our Lord on the Cross.

In a work embodying so much miscellaneous reading, it is very difficult to make adequate acknowledgment of one’s indebtedness to others. Such particular acknowledgment as seemed possible is given in the form of references in the footnotes. The writer feels, however, that a special debt of gratitude is owing on his part (1) to Dr. Martineau, for his masterly treatment of the ultimate problems of Ethics and Natural Religion in his two great works on these subjects ; (2) to Prof. Le Conte, for his fresh and ever-interesting (though incomplete) co-ordination of Evolution and Religious Thought; (3) to Dr. Fairbairn, for his profound and

XX11 Preface stimulating works “Studies in the Life of Christ” and “The Place of Christ in Modern Theology”; (4) to Dr. Milligan, for many suggestions on the subject of the Resurrection, in his work on that topic ; (5) to Canon Gore, for much help in dealing with various aspects of the Incarnation ; (6) to Prof. Illingworth, for the stimulus derived from his masterly work on “ Personality, Human and Divine”; and last, but by no means least, to Prof. W. N. Clarke, of Hamilton, N.Y., whose work entitled “An Outline of Christian Theology” is full of fresh suggestion and spiritual uplifting. My personal thanks are also due to my friends Mr. Arthur Porritt, for valuable literary advice in matters of detail; Mr. Jas. A. Craig, for his generosity in preparing the Index; and the Rev. H. H. Snell, for some acute criticisms regarding certain portions of the argument submitted to him in manuscript.

E. GRIFFITH-JONES.

January, 189g

TABLE OF CONTENTS ag)

INTRODUCTION _ Man's Place in Evolution

PAGE

CHAP, I.—Some Modern Expansions . «2« co 3

§ I. Changes of outlook brought about by the | modern intellectual movement . : : 3

1, Our view of the Physical Universe has been vastly enlarged - ° ° 3 2. Our idea of Time has been trahetormibd : 4 3. Space and Time have been filled with a orig

‘perspective of Life . : ° ° ° 5 4. These expansions have had a profound subjec-

tive reaction on Man himself : . . q

§ II. Disturbing effects: of these successive expansions on the Religious Situation . = 8

Relations between Anthropology and Theology are

close and vital , = P * . 9 Man’s distinctive place in Creation seems threatened "

by the Evolutionary Theory ; ‘ ‘ 1o

§ III. The need for Readjustment is thus imperative, 11

Two classes to whom the idea of Repeiyetment is repellent. . 1I Still, in the interests of Sra sy lone to vitae a reasonable faith, an attempt must be made to restate the old faith in the thought and ‘language ofto-day , . > > * 432 xxiii

XXiV Contents

CHAP. Il.—What is Evolution? : Spi aS

Ancient and modern theories—in what sense they differ e ° ® cS) e © © ° SA 16 § I. Exposition and criticism of Le Conte’s definition of term “Evolution” . : ee EG i, “A continuous progressive change” « e © 37 @. “‘ According to certain laws” — a. Law of Heredity. : ‘ ee ft) 6. Law of Spontaneity . . . e 19 c. Law of Progress of the Whole . e 20 3. “ By means of resident forces” ° e 2 The term “ Continuity of Nature” . ey | § IT. So-called “ breaks ” in the Continuity of Nature 26 1. Appearance of Life : ° ° : - 26 2. Appearance of Sentiency 3 ° . . 28 3. Appearance of Se/f-consciousness . . 2) tig These “ breaks” do not imply a hse failure of continuity . e ° 33

§ III. Where the Christian Evolutionist parts company with the Materialist ; * : «834

Divine Immanence and Transcendence é . 35 The need of an adequate theory of Causation “2 99

§ IV. Some factors of Evolution ° . : e 39

CHAP. Til.—Evolution and Man . 2. « « 43

Questions at issue. ; “ . y A 43 ' § I, Man is physically descended from the Brute Creation ; 3 : ; ; Rien 1

- § II. Does this reduce him completely within the same category? No . , ‘ = : en ag What the Coming of Man implied— t. Arrest of physical development a : 50 2. Supersession of law of “ Natural Selection” as

the principle of survival . : 3 “Sa 3. First appearance of Self-consciousness . 53

There will never be a higher creature on earth than Man e e e © @ if e ® 55

Contents

§ III. But is not this “self-conscious” element a * by-product ” of animal psychology? No .

Romanes’ attempt to bridge the chasm between animal and human psychology.

His doctrine of “ Recepts.” The ae underlying 1s e e s

BOOK I Evolution and the Fall of Man CHAP. I.—Genesis and Creation—First Account

The age-long conflict over the interpretation of the * Mosaic ” account of Creation . ‘ : .

§ I. The literal interpretation of Genesis i. finally discredited : : : : ‘ . :

§ II. But its inner spiritual message is more impressive thanever . : : . ‘ . °

60 60 61

62 65

§ III. This suggests the inevitable conetoiien that we | have been running after a false issue. » § IV. The significance of Genesis i. is religious . °

1, Standpoint of Writer that of a devout spectator 2. His interest in the Universe is spiritual, not physical ° ry 6 ° e ® °

XXVi Contents

PAGE 3. His treatment of process of Creation is pictorial and poetic, not literal and scientific . - 83 What Genesis i. gives us is thus not so much a Creation, as a Creator . e e e 88 “Tt is not Science, but Theology” = « . * go

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CHAP. Il,—Genesis and Creation—Second Account 92

§ I. Differentie of the Two Accounts of Creation in Genesis : ; . ° e 92 § Il. The Jehovist Story of the Fall . ° ° © 695

§ III. Methods of interpretation. Is it History, Legend, or Myth? ° : : ‘ - 98

§ IV. If a Myth, this need not disturb our faith in its Divine Inspiration . 3 . ° ° 102 As compared with the Ethnic Creation-myths— 1.,It contains certain features in common. ° 104 2. But it is unique in its nao meee d vividness, and human interest . ‘ 3 ¢ 105 3. And in its supreme spiritual Aetnting ° * 105 We are here taken into the “laboratory of Inspiration ” e e ° e e e ) 106

§ V. The Jehovist narrative contains a cycle of Feallmyths . o CR hng < 3 : ° « 108

1, The Fall of Adam. “ Self-will the root of sin”. yo§ 2. The Fall of Cain. ‘ Disobedience against God breeds hatred among men”. : : * 109g

3. The Fall of Lamech. “Civilisation is not in _ itself a guarantee of progress” . . e 10

4. The Fall of the Angels, ‘ Destructive influence of unnatural relationships”. : . °°. EIT

5., The Fall and neuen at Babel. “The tragedy of intellectual pride” . ° ° * {12 ad

§ VI. Summary and some reflections. These succes- _ sive lapses are meant to teach us— I. The persistence of Sin. sy e e e 113

2. Its resourcefulness e ° e 113

3. The silver edge of the eloud: “Redemption draweth nigh”. ° e ° . - ¥I4

Contents

CHAP, III,—The Biblical Doctrine of Sin ate

§ I. The Bible starts with two assumptions > e

1. Man is partly within the order of ae aa partly above it . .

2, His present spiritual condielost is abt en it was meant to be ° ° ° e °

§ TI. More particularly—

1, The Divine and human personalities stand in a striking relation and contrast . e °

2. The Divine Will expresses itself in direct come

mands and prohibitions . °

3. Temptation finds its origin wzthout, but its now tunity within , . ° °

4. Sin is not an “accident of siiritual growth,” but

a stumble, a fall : . ° ° °

5. Its penalties are complex : > ® ?

§ Ili. Later development of doctrine of Sin in Old

‘Testament. ° ° ° ° ° °

1. Scriptural terms for Sin e e ® ®

2. Summary of meanings . 3. What the Law of Moses effected in id develooing the sense of Sin ; . ° ° e

§ IV. Christ’s teaching on the nature of Sin : :

1, He emphasised the caer of motive as the root of Sin. . - ° . e 2. Thereis a sda atihamnkiy order of evil béings ° 3. Divine and human aspects of Sin , ° ° 4. All sins are not equally sinful ° . 5. Christ’s sacrifice for Sin is the greatest eB velation of its sinfulness . ° ° ° °