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Evolution or creation?
329 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1976
11 people want to read
About the author
Arthur C. Custance
43 books8 followersFrom linked site:
About the Author
Arthur C. Custance was born and educated in England and moved to Canada in 1928. In his second year at the University of Toronto he was converted to faith in Christ. The experience so changed his thinking that he switched courses, obtaining an honours M.A. in Hebrew and Greek. In his 13 years of formal education, he explored many facets of knowledge and was particularly interested in anthropology and origins. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Ottawa in 1959 while serving as head of the Human Engineering Laboratories of the Defence Research Board in Ottawa (Canada) and was engaged in research work for 15 years. During that time he also wrote and published The Doorway Papers, and in retirement in 1970, he wrote 6 major books. His writings are characterized by a rare combination of scholarly thoroughness and biblical orthodoxy.
Biography of Arthur C. Custance
1910 - 1985
Arthur Custance was born in Norfolk, England. Upon completion of his primary and secondary education, he failed the Oxford and Cambridge Entrance Examinations (three times!). Just at this time the British Government had a scheme to “bring culture to the Colonies”, and offered to send him to the Canadian province of Ontario with the promise of 800 acres of land to build laboratories to bring improvements to farming.
About the Author
Arthur C. Custance was born and educated in England and moved to Canada in 1928. In his second year at the University of Toronto he was converted to faith in Christ. The experience so changed his thinking that he switched courses, obtaining an honours M.A. in Hebrew and Greek. In his 13 years of formal education, he explored many facets of knowledge and was particularly interested in anthropology and origins. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Ottawa in 1959 while serving as head of the Human Engineering Laboratories of the Defence Research Board in Ottawa (Canada) and was engaged in research work for 15 years. During that time he also wrote and published The Doorway Papers, and in retirement in 1970, he wrote 6 major books. His writings are characterized by a rare combination of scholarly thoroughness and biblical orthodoxy.
Biography of Arthur C. Custance
1910 - 1985
Arthur Custance was born in Norfolk, England. Upon completion of his primary and secondary education, he failed the Oxford and Cambridge Entrance Examinations (three times!). Just at this time the British Government had a scheme to “bring culture to the Colonies”, and offered to send him to the Canadian province of Ontario with the promise of 800 acres of land to build laboratories to bring improvements to farming.
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November 15, 2025
VOLUME IV OF CUSTANCE'S 'DOORWAY PAPERS'
Arthur C. Custance (1910-1985) had a Ph.D. in Education, and wrote a number of books, such as ‘Without Form and Void: A Study of the Meaning of Genesis 1.2,’ ‘The Mysterious Matter of Mind,’ 'Noah's Three Sons: Human History in Three Dimensions’ (The Doorway Papers, Volume I), ‘Genesis and Early Man’ (The Doorway Papers, Volume II), ‘Hidden Things of God's Revelation’ (The Doorway Papers, Volume VII), ‘Science and Faith’ (The Doorway Papers, Volume VIII), ‘The Flood: Local or Global?’ (The Doorway Papers, Volume IX), etc.
He wrote in the Preface of this 1976 collection, “This volume contains two papers that are rather longer than usual, dealing with the earth’s past geological history as it was being prepared for the introduction of man, and the unique constitution of man for whom the earth seems clearly to have been specifically designed. Three shorter papers deal with certain aspects of evolutionary theory to which not much attention is generally given in the literature of Christian writers.”
In the first paper, he suggests, “I am proposing that God was at work from the very first, moving toward this objective, the preparation of the earth as a stage for the coming of such a creature as man is… He had the right to adopt any plan that seemed best to Him. The plan He did adopt has allowed secular man to uncover to a remarkable degree the workings of Nature and to be in a position to discern… how much evidence there is of plan and purpose in the course of past events. Orderly preparation is everywhere apparent to the eye of faith; and throughout the whole process God has, I believe, combined creative activity with providential superintendence over the work of His hands.
“I think we need a new term to describe this providential creative superintendence, and I am proposing that we call it ‘Supernatural Selection.’… Let me just state… what I mean by this term. Among living creatures, offspring differ from their parents, and this fact provides a means whereby select lines may be allowed to disappear. If this occurs by accident, it is termed ‘Natural Selection.’ When it is performed by man, it is termed ‘Artificial Selection.’ Natural Selection is a purely fortuitous process involving no conscious direction as its strongest proponents see it… I believe there is evidence that the progress of forms from simple to complex has not been by chance but by design. This process has resulted, I suggest, from the operation of Supernatural Selection, a form of selection which has the purposefulness of Artificial Selection but also introduces supernatural forces.” (Pg. 21)
In another paper, he argues, “The plausibility of the scales-to-feathers transformation theory rests in the fact that both apparently spring from the epidermis and that on certain parts of the bird, feathers gradually give way to scales where the upper leg portion becomes the lower leg portion. But merely pronouncing the magic word ‘Evolution’ really explains nothing. It is much more reasonably taken as evidence that a wise Creator designed basic structure out of which He could subsequently create either scales, or feathers, or both at will. Even if by some chemical process it should be possible in time for scientists to induce scales to become feathers, or feathers scales, this would in no way weaken the evidence of creative activity, it merely gives us an insight into the wisdom of God in designing a basic living substance out of which He could later derive two very different structures as He saw fit.” (Pg. 69)
He recounts, “Almost every supposed illustration of Natural Selection used in standard textbooks can be shown to be quite unreasonable… On one occasion, a professor of mine was illustrating Natural Selection with the familiar example of the tiger and the horse. The theory is that tigers easily overtook the slower horses with shorter legs and thereby eliminated them while the longest-legged got away… Thus Nature selected automatically the horses with longer legs, eliminating the rest. This process… is taken to account for the evolution of faster and faster horses. While I was listening to all this, it occurred to me that only the faster tigers would ever get enough to eat; and they, too, therefore, ought to have been developing longer and longer legs.” (Pg. 76)
He asserts, “man has clearly been BUILT to maintain his body temperature against challenges with which no other species is likely to be faced in Nature. These circulatory adjustments involve a tremendously complex neuromuscular activity for which the human body seems to be expressly designed, and one can only suppose, therefore, that God knew what would happen to man after he fell and made provision for just such a contingency, a provision which He did not have to make when He designed all the other creatures…” (Pg. 261)
He speculates, “Man not only appears to have lower resistance to disease of bacterial and viral origin but he seems to be susceptible to more of such diseases. Animals do suffer from disease … but compared with man they are RELATIVELY disease-free… some authorities have suggested that all disease is essentially man-made. It is a little doubtful whether this can be wholly true, but it is possible that man is responsible for the conditions which have allowed most diseases to invade the animal world.” (Pg. 312)
This book may appeal to Christians studying such scientific issues.
Arthur C. Custance (1910-1985) had a Ph.D. in Education, and wrote a number of books, such as ‘Without Form and Void: A Study of the Meaning of Genesis 1.2,’ ‘The Mysterious Matter of Mind,’ 'Noah's Three Sons: Human History in Three Dimensions’ (The Doorway Papers, Volume I), ‘Genesis and Early Man’ (The Doorway Papers, Volume II), ‘Hidden Things of God's Revelation’ (The Doorway Papers, Volume VII), ‘Science and Faith’ (The Doorway Papers, Volume VIII), ‘The Flood: Local or Global?’ (The Doorway Papers, Volume IX), etc.
He wrote in the Preface of this 1976 collection, “This volume contains two papers that are rather longer than usual, dealing with the earth’s past geological history as it was being prepared for the introduction of man, and the unique constitution of man for whom the earth seems clearly to have been specifically designed. Three shorter papers deal with certain aspects of evolutionary theory to which not much attention is generally given in the literature of Christian writers.”
In the first paper, he suggests, “I am proposing that God was at work from the very first, moving toward this objective, the preparation of the earth as a stage for the coming of such a creature as man is… He had the right to adopt any plan that seemed best to Him. The plan He did adopt has allowed secular man to uncover to a remarkable degree the workings of Nature and to be in a position to discern… how much evidence there is of plan and purpose in the course of past events. Orderly preparation is everywhere apparent to the eye of faith; and throughout the whole process God has, I believe, combined creative activity with providential superintendence over the work of His hands.
“I think we need a new term to describe this providential creative superintendence, and I am proposing that we call it ‘Supernatural Selection.’… Let me just state… what I mean by this term. Among living creatures, offspring differ from their parents, and this fact provides a means whereby select lines may be allowed to disappear. If this occurs by accident, it is termed ‘Natural Selection.’ When it is performed by man, it is termed ‘Artificial Selection.’ Natural Selection is a purely fortuitous process involving no conscious direction as its strongest proponents see it… I believe there is evidence that the progress of forms from simple to complex has not been by chance but by design. This process has resulted, I suggest, from the operation of Supernatural Selection, a form of selection which has the purposefulness of Artificial Selection but also introduces supernatural forces.” (Pg. 21)
In another paper, he argues, “The plausibility of the scales-to-feathers transformation theory rests in the fact that both apparently spring from the epidermis and that on certain parts of the bird, feathers gradually give way to scales where the upper leg portion becomes the lower leg portion. But merely pronouncing the magic word ‘Evolution’ really explains nothing. It is much more reasonably taken as evidence that a wise Creator designed basic structure out of which He could subsequently create either scales, or feathers, or both at will. Even if by some chemical process it should be possible in time for scientists to induce scales to become feathers, or feathers scales, this would in no way weaken the evidence of creative activity, it merely gives us an insight into the wisdom of God in designing a basic living substance out of which He could later derive two very different structures as He saw fit.” (Pg. 69)
He recounts, “Almost every supposed illustration of Natural Selection used in standard textbooks can be shown to be quite unreasonable… On one occasion, a professor of mine was illustrating Natural Selection with the familiar example of the tiger and the horse. The theory is that tigers easily overtook the slower horses with shorter legs and thereby eliminated them while the longest-legged got away… Thus Nature selected automatically the horses with longer legs, eliminating the rest. This process… is taken to account for the evolution of faster and faster horses. While I was listening to all this, it occurred to me that only the faster tigers would ever get enough to eat; and they, too, therefore, ought to have been developing longer and longer legs.” (Pg. 76)
He asserts, “man has clearly been BUILT to maintain his body temperature against challenges with which no other species is likely to be faced in Nature. These circulatory adjustments involve a tremendously complex neuromuscular activity for which the human body seems to be expressly designed, and one can only suppose, therefore, that God knew what would happen to man after he fell and made provision for just such a contingency, a provision which He did not have to make when He designed all the other creatures…” (Pg. 261)
He speculates, “Man not only appears to have lower resistance to disease of bacterial and viral origin but he seems to be susceptible to more of such diseases. Animals do suffer from disease … but compared with man they are RELATIVELY disease-free… some authorities have suggested that all disease is essentially man-made. It is a little doubtful whether this can be wholly true, but it is possible that man is responsible for the conditions which have allowed most diseases to invade the animal world.” (Pg. 312)
This book may appeal to Christians studying such scientific issues.
August 28, 2017
Good theological points, but this book is mostly a discussion of the state of biology in the early 1960's. So this book can be skimmed (focus on the last paragraph of each chapter to get the meat of his arguments).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews