MAMPALON, an aquatic animal (Cyno gale bennetti) of Borneo, of the civet family. It is otter-like in form, is about 18 inches long, has stout webbed plantigrade feet and is thor oughly adapted to an aquatic life while retain ing purely viverrine characteristics of structure.
MAN. See ANTHROPOLOGY; APE; ARCILE OLOGY; ETHNOLOGY; PRIMATES.
MAN, Christian Anthropology. The thor ough discussion of the theory of evolution for the past two generations has served to make it clear just what contributions to the problems of man's origin and place in the universe have been made by modern science. For a time it was felt that the whole mystery of man's exist ence was to be solved. It is now recognized that in spite of our great advance in knowledge, to use Bryce's expression the "mists that hang around man's origin and man's destiny are so far as scientific knowledge goes just as deep as ever." Only those who fail to appreciate that science does not solve mysteries, but multi plies them, are of the opinion that biology, not withstanding all its contributions to our knowl edge of man, has furnished the key to the prob lems of anthropology. More now than ever those who know our modern science feel that for any reasonably adequate understanding of man's nature and place in the universe a refer ence to the records of man's religious experi ence must be made. The time for the synthesis of Christian and scientific views with regard to man has oome to them, not with the purpose of reconciliation, for no reconciliation is needed, but for a proper understanding of the philoso phy of life that lies behind both science and faith.
The enthusiastic reception which always greets a novelty in thought even in the serious domain of science led many to exaggerate the significance of the theory of evolution (q.v.) through natural selection which came to occupy so much attention in the biology of the second half of the 19th century. As a result a wide spread impression prevailed that evolution had accounted so completely for the origin of all living beings from the lowest to the highest as they exist around us that the idea of creation and a Creator was no longer tenable. The closing words of Darwin's (Origin of Species' makes it very clear that the great English scientist himself had not, as a result of his elaboration of the theory of natural selection as an explanation for evolution, given up his belief in creation or the Creator nor felt that his scientific work had any tendency to produce dis belief in religious traditions in this matter. He said: °There is grandeur in this view of life with its several powers having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, while this planet has gone circling on according to the fixed law of grav ity, from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved."
What Darwin thus brought to be the basic thinking of scientists in the latter half of the 19th century was the theory of descent or derivative creation, that is, creation of one or more simple forms of life to which were given the power of developing with the production of higher forms. This teaching of derivative creation is not modern in origin, but on the contrary very old. Christian philosophers from the earliest times formulated opinions clearly expressive of this view. Saint Augustine sug gested that the original creation was of semina rerum, "the seeds of things." These seeds once brought into existence went on developing until the universe of living things which we see around us came into existence. This teaching of Saint Augustine became the Christian tradi tion down the centuries. Saint Thomas Aquinas (13th century), whose writings by the special direction of the Pope are the accepted authority in the Catholic theological schools of the world to-day, was a close disciple of Saint Augustine in this as in most other questions. Cornelius a Lapide (1567-1637), looked up to as an author ity scarcely less than Saint Thomas on biblical matters, followed Augustine's teaching. When St. George Mivart not long after the publica tion of Darwin's 'Origin of Species' pointed out in his 'Genesis of Speoies) that Suarez, the great Spanish theologian, taught this doctrine of derivative creation, it made quite a sensation among those who had been inclined to think of certain narrow literal interpretations of Scrip tural expressions as the constant Church tradi tion. The sensation subsided, however, when it came to be recognized that this teaching of Suarez far from being exceptional represented the most conservative Christian opinions since the time of the Fathers. Suarez actually wrote °a separate section of his metaphysics in op position to those who maintained the distinct creation of the various kinds — or substantial forms—of organic life." (Mivart). The crude anthropomorphic notion which had gained popular credence, that the Creator had as it were fashioned each of the species di rectly out of earthly materials, had not been accepted by earlier philosophic thinkers. So far as it came to be the belief of those who gave any attention to the subject, it was a late gloss on the Scriptural account of creation founded on the narrower views which became common only after Luther's movement made the literal interpretation of the Bible the sole rule of faith.