Picture - Cosmic Polymath

EVERYTHING CONTROLLED AND UNDER SUPERVISION 235
§ 42. Everything Controlled and under Supervision.
The view here advanced accords, on the whole, with the account of creation given in the Old Testament.
According to that account there was a succession of events, one thing was formed after another : the inorganic first
and then the organic ; the plant and then the animal in an ascending series, and, last of all, man . The seven, or
rather the six days (for the seventh, according to Scripture, was a day of rest), occupied by the creative acts evidently
represent six epochs of time ;
each period being undetermined, and as far as man is concerned, indeterminable.
That the six days of Scripture do not mean six ordinary days of twenty-four hours each, goes without saying,
if regard be had to the nature of the heavenly bodies, the slow formation of the crust of the earth, and the pro-
duction thereon of plants and animals, as revealed by their fossil remains in successive geologic strata.
It is not my province to deal with theological tenets, but it may be stated that the progressive and continuous
view of creation set forth in Genesis, which requires an ever-present, originating, controlling, and
directing Creator, lends powerful support to the doctrine that all things are pre-arranged and pre-determined. It
gives emphasis to the following passages in the New and Old Testament : " Behold the fowls of the air : for they
sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much
better than they ? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature ? And why take ye
thought for raiment ? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin : And
yet I say unto you. That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so
clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not nmch more clothe
you, ye of little faith ? . . . Are
not two sparrows sold for a farthing ? And one of them shall not fall on the
ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of
more value than many sparrows." ^ " Nay but, man, who art thou that rephest against God ? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it. Why hast thou made me thus ? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of
the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour ? " ^ " But in a great house there are
not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth : and
some to honour, and some to dishonour." *
" Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay : for shall the work say of
him that made it. He made me not ! or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it. He had no understand-
ing ?.. .
Woe
unto him that striveth with his Maker ! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.
Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it. What makest thou ? or thy work. He hath no hands ? " *
The doctrine of predestination as here recorded directly raises the question of " necessity " and of " free
will," but into this I need not enter further than to say that man cannot be granted a free will and a free hand
in any other sense than it is granted to all animated created things. He assuredly cannot interfere with the order
and progress of creation. He has hmits assigned to everything he does, as other animals have. Even plants are
hedged in by boundaries which they may not overstep. All things in the ultimate sense are fore -ordained, and foreseen.
Anything short of this would mean an end of law and order, and a reign of anarchy and confusion. To
those who advocate the doctrine of free will I would respectfully suggest, that to an absolutely omniscient Being,
Who foresees the end from the beginning, the element of free will does not necessarily or wholly clash with the idea
of responsibihty. One may know that a confirmed drunkard will indulge when he has an opportunity ; the
drunkard, however, is the responsible party. This explanation is satisfactory only up to a point, for it may still
be said that what is, is as God made it, with all its tendencies and potentiaUties.
If the Creator be taxed with partiality, favouritism, and unfairness, it may truly be said that as Creator He
has a perfect right to do what He pleases with every created thing. He is the Alpha and Omega : His will in
everything is supreme and final. No garrulousness on our part is permissible. It is absolutely clear to my
mind that the Creator is omniscient and all-powerful, and that He not only made and is making the universe, but
that He supervised and continues to supervise all the details of His overwhelmingly stupendous task. The Creator
is omnijrresent as well as omniscient, and notliing is too great or too little to claim and occupy His all-embracmg
attention. He is also eternal : He was, and is, and ever shall be. There can be no such thing as a partial Creator.
He must be-all powerful and everywhere present in time and space. Law and order must characterise His every
act. Every action and reaction bespeaks unmistakable design. The means and ends are never separated. No
force and no material are ever wasted. There is no blundering and no confusion when the ultimate purpose is
considered and grasped. The tremendous upheavals in the physical universe, and the ravages of war, pestilence,
' The Gospel of Matthew, eliapter vi., verses 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 ; chapter x., verses 29, 30, and :il.
* The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, chapter i.\., verses 20 and 21.
' The Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy, chaptei- ii., verse 20.
« The book of the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter xxix., verse 16 ; chapter xlv., verse y.