THE EVOLUTION OF RELIGION

THERE is not much to be found on this planet that is not the result of evolution. All our animals and plants have been evolved from something which, as a rule, was much smaller and not so well fitted for the environment in which it found itself. Our laws, our languages, and our religions have all been evolved from something much simpler; the whole world is in a constant state of transition. The north pole of our earth is now marking out an approximate circle in the northern heavens. At the present time it points very nearly to the North Star. In 37,500 years the pole will have marked a circle in the northern heavens, and will again be very near the Polar Star. It will, however, have moved a perceptible distance in the direction of the constellation Hercules.

Let us see now what will take place while this great clock of Nature is making one turn on the dial of the heavens. All the languages that exist in the world at the present day will have passed away. Our laws and literature and our mode of life will be completely changed; and by that time, if we have any religion at all, we shall have changed it at least twelve times.

Man is an animal, and is governed by exactly the same laws as those which govern all other animals. He is by no means an exception to the general rule. Man has probably been on the earth in the form of a man for more than a million years, and has gradually advanced to his present physical and mental condition.

The common dog is related to the wolf. By artificial selection the fierce nature of some such animal as the wolf has been completely changed, and the dog has become one of the most loving and intelligent animals in the world. By careful breeding we have dogs that weigh 220 lbs. each, and others that weigh only a single pound. The difference between a greyhound and a bulldog is so great that an inhabitant of Mars might take them for totally different animals. There are probably a hundred different breeds of dogs, all from the same ancestry. There may be a thousand varieties of pigeons, differing in a marked degree from each other, yet all have been bred from the common rock-pigeon. The original horse was a little animal not much bigger than a fox, but by careful selection we now have many horses that weigh three quarters of a ton each. I believe there are some that weigh fully a ton.

It will therefore be seen that very great changes can be produced by artificial selection. If dogs were left to themselves to breed as they liked, in a few years we should have only yellow dogs of moderate size, such as one sees at Constantinople.

Should there arrive on this planet a race of men much more powerful than ourselves, who were able to manipulate us as we do horses and cattle, they would be able in a few hundred years to produce a considerable number of different breeds of men. Some would be blonds with blue eyes, very slim, and probably about eight feet in height; others would be short and very broad, with dark complexion and curly hair; other breeds would be of ordinary size, very athletic, and suitable for soldiers. We should even have a bantam race of men, probably not more than eighteen inches in height. But this is not likely to occur.

We have not been able so far to change greatly the size or shape of the race, not because it is impossible, but because we have not attempted to do so. We have, however, succeeded in producing both giants and dwarfs in regard to mental endowment.

The largest dog is about only 220 times as heavy as the smallest; but the mind of Humboldt, of Darwin, or of Spencer, is certainly a thousand times as great as that of the ordinary Salvation Army preacher.

About eighteen hundred years ago we commenced to modify the thinking power of the brain of man ; that is to say, we produced a most elaborate and ridiculous system of theology, abounding in many of the most absurd and silly fables that one could possibly imagine. These were presented to mankind as being absolute facts, and everyone who did not accept and believe all these ridiculous fables was put to death, generally by being burnt alive. This went on from year to year, with many additions to the fables which mankind were ordered to accept and believe. A class of very crafty and unscrupulous men managed to get their living by presenting these fables to the people; but men were always appearing who could not possibly believe some of the most ridiculous. The doctrine that it was possible for the priest to take some wheaten flour, manufacture it into a bit of bread, and then, by certain incantations, change it into the flesh of someone who had lived hundreds of years before, was too much for one to believe, and many millions lost their lives because they expressed their doubts about the truth of this preposterous doctrine. Hundreds of thousands were burnt alive at the stake, and it is certain that many millions-some historians say a thousand millions-were done to death, until a breed of men was produced by artificial selection that could

believe the most preposterous doctrines. In fact, the man who actually took pleasure in exercising his faith on something that he knew to be false, and in persuading himself that he believed it, stood the best chance of living and propagating his specie. It was in this way that we produced a race of men who could think on almost any subject except religion. An eminent philosopher has said that the inability of a great number of mankind at the present time to exercise their reason on religious matters is due to clerical selection, and it is this peculiarity of our people that is such a curiosity to the Chinese. They cannot understand how a nation can be so wise on certain scientific and mechanical lines, and still be completely without the power of reasoning on religious matters. They ask themselves: "How is it possible for a people who can invent and make locomotives, watches, and the wonderful machinery of Europe and America, to be able to believe in the existence of devils?" To the Chinese a belief in devils is the most debasing form of superstition. Our religion is essentially a devil-religion, because it has vastly more devils than gods. The Devil is the cornerstone of the whole edifice; the place occupied by the Devil, and the fact that our whole religious system fairly bristles with devils, caused the Chinese to give it a descriptive name "The Devil-Religion." To-day this is the official name of the Christian religion throughout the great Chinese Empire. Question: Have we not reached a stage in civilisation which will enable us to abandon the belief in devils altogether? Why should we spend our money, and dwarf the minds of our children, by teaching them demonology in the public schools?

Bible Pictures.

THE DEVIL 2. ANGELS.

Although the Devil claimed the ownership of the entire world and the kingdoms thereof, he very often had trouble with the angels, and in some cases was overpowered and even locked up, as will be seen by the following quotation and the picture taken from the Bible: "And I saw an angel come down from Heaven, "having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain "in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old "serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him "a thousand years. And cast him into a bottomless pit, "and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand "years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season" (Rev. xx, 1-4).

I have to express my regrets to my Chinese readers that I have not been able to find in any of our religious literature the exact date that His Satanic Majesty was locked up, nor the date of his release. Neither have I been able to find anything relating to the time that he will be allowed to run at large to the wreck and ruin of the world.

To face p. 172.