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plan, however that may be possible. It determines evolution itself as well as the direction in
which evolution moves. This ever creating life, “of which every individual and every species is
an experiment,” is Bergson’s God, a God who is finite, who is limited in power, and who is
seemingly impersonal, though Hermann says that “we shall, perhaps, not go far wrong in
believing that he will be ‘the ideal tendency of things’ made personal.”[Eucken and Bergson, p.
163.] Haas speaks of Bergson as a vitalistic pantheist rather than a theist. At any rate, his God is
a God that is wholly within the world. This view may have a special appeal for the modern
liberal theologian, but is even less in harmony with the narrative of creation than theistic
evolution.
QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY.
What is the real alternative to the doctrine of creation?
Wherein lies the importance of the doctrine of creation? Should the first chapters of Genesis be
allowed to have any bearing on the scientific study of the origin of things? Does the Bible in any
way determine the time when the world was created? What extremes should be avoided as to
the relation of God and the world to each other? Should the Bible always be interpreted in
harmony with widely accepted scientific theories? What is the status of the hypothesis of
evolution in the scientific world today? What is the characteristic element in the Darwinian
theory of evolution? How do you account for its widespread repudiation at the present time?
How does Bergson’s Creative Evolution or the Neo-vitalism of Hans Driesch affect the
mechanistic view of the universe? In what respect is theistic evolution an improvement over
naturalistic evolution?
LITERATURE.
Bavinck, Geref. Dogm. II. pp. 426-543; ibid., Schepping of Ontwikkeling; Kuyper,
Dict. Dogm., De Creatione, pp. 3-127; De Creaturis A, pp. 5-54; B. pp. 3-42; ibid., Evolutie; Vos
Geref. Dogm. I, De Schepping; Hodge. Syst. Theol. I, pp. 550-574; Shedd, Dogm. Theol. I, pp.
463-526; McPherson, Chr. Dogm., pp. 163-174; Dabney, Syst. and Polemic Theol., pp. 247-274;
Harris, God, Creator and Lord of All, I, pp. 463-518; Hepp, Calvinism and the Philosophy of
Nature, Chap. V; Honig, Geref. Dogm., pp. 281-324; Noordtzij, God’s Woord en der Eeuwen
Getuigenis, pp. 77-98; Aalders, De Goddelijke Openbaring in de Eerste Drie Hoofdstukken van
Genesis; Geesink, Van’s Heeren Ordinantien, Inleidend Deel, pp. 216-332; various works of
Darwin, Wallace, Weissman, Osborne, Spencer, Haeckel, Thomson, and others on Evolution;
Dennert, The Deathbed of Darwinism; Dawson, The Bible Confirmed by Science; Fleming,
Evolution and Creation; Hamilton, The Basis of Evolutionary Faith; Johnson, Can the Christian
Now Believe in Evolution? McCrady, Reason and Revelation; More, The Dogma of Evolution;
Morton, The Bankruptcy of Evolution; O’Toole, The Case Against Evolution; Price, The
Fundamentals of Geology; ibid., The Phantom of Organic Evolution; Messenger, Evolution and
Theology; Rimmer, The Theory of Evolution and the Facts of Science.