As the doctrine was the outcome of Man's premature attempt to explain the fact of his own imperfection, if it is to survive in the world of ideas it must be able to show, first and foremost, that the fact in question cannot be accounted for on other grounds.

Will it be able to do this, at a time when the idea of evolution is beginning to impregnate our mental atmosphere, and in doing so is making us realise that we are near of kin to all other living things, and that our lives, like theirs, are dominated by the master-law of _growth_?
That there is much moral evil in the world is undeniable.

Are we therefore to predicate original depravity of man's heart and soul?
But there is also much physical evil in the world,--pain, weakness, disease, decay, and death.

Are we therefore to predicate original depravity of man's body?
And this physical evil, this liability to disease, is not confined to man, but also affects all other living things.

Are we therefore to predicate original depravity of a new-born lamb, of a new-laid egg, of an acorn, of a grain of wheat?
Let us consider certain typical forms of moral evil, and see if we can account for them, without having recourse to the hypothesis of original sin.