|
The Origin of Man
THE HOMININE ANIMAL THEORY
By Alfred Acton, M.A., D.Th
[Reprinted from THE NEW PHILOSOPHY, Vol.
XXIV, Nos. 2-4, April—July—October, 1921]
We turn now to the Hominine
Animal theory. So far as we know this theory is confined solely to New
Churchmen. It seems, indeed, to have originated in a desire to accept
the theory of evolution and, at the same time, reconcile it with the
doctrine of the New Church, that man was created immediately by God,
and that between him and animals lies a discrete degree. The theory is
that after the formation of vegetable and animal kingdoms in the way
laid down by the evolution theory man was created, not by descent from
an animal, but by the creation of human seed in an animal ovum, or by
impregnation of an animal ovum by a human soul; the ovum thus
impregnated would then grow in the animal womb and be born of the
animal in the ordinary way; not from the animal, but through it.
To my mind the theory has
nothing whatever to recommend it. On the face of it, it is based not
on any fundamental view of the problems involved, but merely on the
desire to reconcile a doctrinal statement with what is held by a
godless science to be the true mode of creation. It is, moreover,
directly contradictory to the earlier theory put forth by the same
Swedenborg, whose doctrinal statement is nevertheless sought to be
established.
Aside from this desire I can
see no raison d'être for the theory whatsoever. It is neither
scientific nor doctrinal. It receives no confirmation from the facts
of observation, and it is opposed to the doctrine that influx is
according to reception.
Let me say a word on this
latter point. Animals are forms of affection. They are, in fact,
nothing but affections incorporated and playing their part in the
natural world. Each animal is, moreover, one particular affection, and
whatever the exact variety induced upon that animal by environment and
strengthened by heredity, the animal still remains internally the form
of that same affection. It cannot essentially change this form.
Now, the ovum of such an
animal can be nothing more than the form of that affection; and life,
flowing into such ovum, will be manifested according to such form.
Hence "man" born in an animal ovum would not be a man, because he
would lack that essential quality of man, namely, freedom and
rationality for the formation within himself of any and every
affection. This is inevitably the consequence of the law of influx as
revealed in the Writings, and confirmed by reason. Life is one, but
the forms of life are many; and variety, differentiation of quality,
depends not on life, but on the various forms receiving life. It is as
with the heat and light of the sun and the receptive vessels of the
earth. The heat and light are one; it is variety in their reception
that causes the varying phenomena of the world.
Moreover, there is something
spontaneously repellant in the thought that the animal kingdom is the
mother of man. And while of itself mere spontaneous repulsion can not
be considered as an argument of preponderating weight, still it should
not be altogether put aside, for it may well be based on a natural
perception of what is in harmony with the laws of truth implanted in
the soul. Our rejection, however, does not rest on natural repulsion
alone, but on other grounds, which we have already pointed out.
The Hominine Animal theory is
a separate hypotheses formed ad hoc. It is designed merely for
the explanation of a single phenomenon. It is no part or application
of a universal principle of creation, whether true or false—which is
the strength of evolution. According to this theory, creation proceeds
along the lines of evolution—whether by selection, heredity, mutation
or what not—from protoplasm to plants, and from plants to animals; and
then suddenly there is a change; the law ceases to operate as before,
and man is created by some new law. It may be objected that this is
not surprising, since man is the crown of creation; but the answer is
obvious that man is an animal; and, moreover, that the law of creation
is one, and proceeds according to the same order in greatests and in
leasts. For the Divine is everywhere the same.
It is this unity of the Divine
Law that gives us that clear test of the truth of a creation-theory,
to which we have alluded before, namely, that if a doctrine expresses
the true law of creation, that doctrine can be confirmed by the
evidences of the same law still at work creating at this day.
Existence is continual subsistence; or, the law of creation is the law
of subsistence.
But where do we find evidence
that the animal kingdom is the mother of man? When we talk of
mother-nature, our mind contemplates the vegetable kingdom, not the
animal. True, man lives on, is sustained by animal flesh. But aside
from the contention that man is not naturally a flesh-eater, it is
plain that the animal kingdom is not necessary for his existence; is
not his nursing mother. Not so, however, with the vegetable kingdom.
In this kingdom we spontaneously recognize the mother of our body,
without whom we could not for a moment continue on earth.
No! there is not a single
consideration that has come to us, that recommends this curious
Hominine Animal theory, the offspring of an unnatural union between a
godless science and a doctrinal tenet.
Click on link to continue
There are
many theories as to man's creation, but they are all embraced in the
four following heads, which also set forth the order in which we shall
discuss the subject. These heads are:
1. The
FIAT THEORY; that man was created by
God’s direct command, according to the ordinary understanding of the
story in Genesis.
2. The
EVOLUTIONARY THEORY; that man
has been gradually evolved from preceding forms of animal life by a
series of natural variations, developments and selections.
3. The
HOMININE ANIMAL THEORY; that man
originated from seed directly created by God in the ovum of a brute
animal.
4. Swedenborg's doctrine, which
may be called the
MOTHER NATURE THEORY; that man came into being by the
creation of human seed in ova provided by the vegetable kingdom. |
