688- At this moment, there are certain human races that are obviously diminishing. Will a time come when they will have completely disappeared from the earth?
“Yes, but others will have taken their place, as others will someday take yours.”
689- Are the human beings of today a new creation or are they the perfected descendants of primitive beings?
“They are the same spirits. They have returned to perfect themselves in new bodies, but they are still far from perfection. Thus, the present human race, which, through its growth, tends to invade the whole earth and to replace the races that are dying out, will also go through its own period of decrease and extinction. Other more perfected races will replace it. These will have descended from the present ones, just as the civilized human beings of the present day have descended from the brutes and primitives of early eras.”
690- From a purely physical point of view, are the bodies of the present race a special creation, or have they evolved from more primitive bodies by way of reproduction?
“The origin of the human race is lost in the night of time, but since all belong to one great human family, whatever the primitive roots of each race were, they have since been able to mix with one another and produce new types.”
691- From a physical standpoint, what is the distinctive and dominant characteristic of primitive races?
“The development of brute strength at the expense of intellectual prowess. The opposite is occurring nowadays: humans act more through their intelligence than through physical strength; and yet, they accomplish a hundred times more because they have placed the forces of nature at their service, which the animals cannot do.”
692- Is the improvement of animal and vegetable species through science contrary to natural law? Wouldn’t it be more in conformance with that law to allow things to follow their normal course?
“Everything must be done to arrive at perfection. Humans themselves are an instrument that God uses as a means for accomplishing the divine ends. Since perfection is the goal toward which nature tends, to favor such perfection is to correspond to those ends.”
– But in their efforts to improve various species, humans are generally motivated by a personal sentiment that has no other goal than to increase their own enjoyments. Doesn’t this diminish their merit?
“What does it matter that their merits are void provided progress is made? It is up to them to render their labor praiseworthy through their intention. Besides, by means of such labor they exercise and develop their intelligence, and it is from this aspect that they derive the greatest benefit.”
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