Not the smallest feature that is
essential to make Christianity a religion for man, if it be such, will
be imperilled by this or any other well-established doctrine of
science. But precisely how much modification of existing opinion, how
much sepulture of traditionary relics, how much clearing away of rubbish
will be indispensable, it is now not easy to say. It is certain that it
must be conceded that we have as yet attained to no infallible
chronology. And it is equally certain that a larger amount of allegory
must be infused into the first chapters of Genesis than would have been
digestible by the theologians of the last generation, if we would ever
have theology and science stand upon the same plane. The question in the
child's catechism, '_Who was the first man?_' will by and by be easier
asked than answered. If, moreover, the narrative in Genesis refers to
some imaginary being supposed to have existed upon the earth about six
thousand years ago, it seems clear that this being cannot be regarded as
the 'federal head' of the human race, from whom 'all mankind have
descended by ordinary generation.
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