EVOLUTION (CHRIST AND)
EVOLUTION (CHRIST AND) 553
This difficulty, Iiowever, on deeper considera- tion is not incompatible with a wider view of the Evolutionary process. There were several stages in the known pathway of the upward movement from the star mist, in which thfi prncess lieoan, to man, in whom terrestrial i-v(.lulioii liiids its c<iii summation, when frosli pliciioiiinwi :!|i|ii>an^l w hirh cannot be explained in Imns of tho.^c Ihal |iir ceded; 6.17. at the eiiier-i-iRo ot organic litu, of sentiency', and of ethit'al self-consciousness. So far, no rational bridge of theory has been found to span the gap between these diverse facts. It is, therefore, not unthinkable that there was in the Person of our Lord a superhuman element, which in Him mingled with the stream of human life, and started a fresh and higher line of evolution for the race. The question whether this was so in point of actual fact is thus purely one of evidence, and, if historically substantiated, must be accepted, whether we are able ultimately to ' account ' for it theoretically or not. Our canons of Evolution must make room for all the facts of life and history, or be finally discredited as inadequate and obscurantist.
i. Jesus Christ not ex/ilicaUe on natiiralistk grounds. — It is certain also that, so far, the innum- erable efforts which have been put forth during the past century, from almost every concei\-able point of view, to give a naturalistic i'.\|ilanati(in of the life and Person of .b^sus Clnist, l]a\(j not, in whole or in part, dispose.! of this prolilrDi. Tlioie is no single theory or combinatiuu of theories which meets with general acceptance, even among those who take up a purely critical attitude ; and when we confront them with the Christian consciousness which is the historical outcome of faith in the Divine nature and mission and work of Christ, they fail utterly to carry conviction. (This last fact has so far not had its true place in the settle- ment of the problem). The Personality of Jesus Christ is thus still the unsolved problem of history, and it is more than doubtful if any fresh treat- ment of the question will succeed in Ijringing Him Avithin the categories of an Agnostic Evolutionary Philosophy.
5. Curbeus Homo ?— The Tlieistic Evolutionist has next to face the old question of the purpose and aim of the Incarnation in the cosmic order. 'Cur Deus Homo?' becomes a more burning ques- tion than ever in a scheme of Evolutionary thought. Two hypotheses present themselves, according as we take an a priori or n posteriori standpoint, which may be called the Evolutionriri/ and the Redrmpflvi:. The first makes the Christ the consummation and crown of the process of cosmic Evolution, .and postulates the Tiuaniation as its ii.T,-x>ai y 'liitiax ; the second occM|ar> 1 hr oh I x(aii.l|i(.iiii of ( 'lirislian theology from tlio ll^^illllilll:, lliai, \\lirtlii'i- the In- carnation lay iiuijlicit or not in the [irocess, it was historically conditioned by the fact of the sinful and ' fallen ' state of humanity. The two views are not incompatible with one another, and both in combination are quite consistent with the teaching of Scripture. The upw.anl stiiiiim of linni.uiity for union with its Creator .as p.isonal lin.N ils his- torical witness in (I) th,' iini\ei al funrtion of worship, pr.-iyer, ami san ili,,-. .ami iJl the Helu'ew prophetic visi,, 11 ,>f the Ideal Sonani of Jehovah, and the M..ssianie hop,- ; an.l il Mijjests, as God is personal, a c-orrespoii,liii- a. I ,,f ^ II vovelation in a historical Person who would unilo in liimself Ihi' human aspiration .and Ihe lii\iiii' manifo-ial jmi : while the gradual ie\-c|ali aai-ni alod in lie- coming of Christ, and ree(.rdi'd in I lie ( )M and New Testaments, is in line wiih .all (lie kn<i\\n laws of God's evolutionary niel hods. On Hie oIImt li.and, it is unquestioii:i'lile Ih.al |||,. Sniplure dorhineof the Incarnation is indissolublv assoeiate.l w ith the
redemptive purjiose of God. This is its historical aim and character : ' He was manifested to take away sin' (1 Jn 3^ of. 1 Co 5i8-i» etc.). While, therefore, we are justified on a priori grounds in l)elieving that ' the Incarnation was no after- thoiiylit' (Dale, Fr//„irs-/,i/, with Christ, and Other S, raiijiis. jip. 10, -.'."i-jf. ), but that it would have lakeii pl.iee e\-eii if sin li.'id not entered the world, the/o/wi which it took was historically conditioned by the actual condition of humanity ; i.e. it was soteriological in its manifestation.
6. Three pregnant aspects of the historical In- carnation.— More particularly, the significance of the historical Incarnation as a redemptive and perfective process may be described under three pregnant headings. It was (1) the realization of the perfect type of humanity — Christ as the Ideal Man ; (2) the achievement of a great restorative or saving work — Christ as the sufficient Saviour ; (3) the beginning of a fresh departure in the up- ward Life of the Race— Christ as the Founder and Head of His Church, and the source of the higher spiritual movements of history. These three aspects of His work are specially related to His human life as our great Exemplar ; to His Cross and Passion as our Sacrifice and Reconciler ; to His Resurrection and Ascension into the unseen world, and His influence through His Spirit on the individual and wider life of mankind.