"The Survival of the Fittest."
By William Nelson Glenn
THIS is a prominent plank in the platform of the evolutionists, who claim science as their god and guide in all things. According to religious fashion in these days of "progression," we have been examining the Bible in the light of this theory, and find that the inspired word agrees with science, and therefore must be true. With this point settled, we confidently refer to the sacred pages to learn what it teaches in regard to fitness for survival. Some examples in the past will serve as illustrations. Just after Adam's first act of disobedience, the Lord told Satan (the original opposer of God and his word) that the seed of the woman (Christ) should bruise his head. Gen. 3:15. This is a plain declaration as to who should survive the contest. A good practical illustration is found in the effect of the deluge in the days of Noah. Here the entire population of the earth was destroyed, excepting only Noah and his family. They proved to be the "fittest" on this occasion; and why? The answer is in Gen. 7:1: "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation." Another instance is found in the case of Sodom. The people had again become so reckless in their disregard of the true God that he determined to cut them off. Only one man in all the cities of the plain believed the word of the Lord, and he alone, with two daughters, survived. We pass on to the captivity of Israel in Egypt. God would deliver his people, and through his servant Moses demanded of the king that he should let them go. Pharaoh replied in characteristic infidel jargon: "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." Ex. 5:2. And his spiritualist coadjutors backed him in his obstinacy. But Israel fled, pursued by the Egyptian army. The Lord's people were delivered through the Red Sea, and they survived, while Pharaoh and his host were destroyed. We will now follow this same people, who were permitted to win victory after victory as long as they remained true to the God of Heaven, on their journey to Canaan. Of all the company from twenty years old and upward, only two remained faithful in all things. These survived, and entered the promised land, while those who had rejected the counsel of God through his servants were left to perish in the wilderness. Many more instances of a like nature might be cited, but these are enough to show that in every instance where the issue between God and his opponents has come to a crisis, his representatives have survived. We will now carry the test into the future, and note the prospect of the two classes on the basis of this scientific discovery. A striking contrast is found in Ps. 1. After a plain statement of the case, the conclusion is drawn thus: "Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the Judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish." In Ps. 37 is a full exposition of the doctrine, verse 9 containing a specimen conclusion: "For evil-doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." Jesus gave his disciples this commission: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16:15, 16. This is his test of fitness for survival. And the apostle John wrote: "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:12. This is the general tenor of the Scriptures, and on this point it is not necessary to quote further. Seeing, then, that a future existence depends upon a "survival of the fittest," and that the test lies in obedience to the divine will, what prospect have they who deny the God of the Bible, and the Redeemer he has provided? "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 1 Pet. 4:18. W. N. GLENN.