The_Trial

The_Trial

The Trial That Rocked the WorldThe authorJohn Scopes19001970 came to Tennessee fresh out of college. In the spring of 1925 he had just completed his first year as science teacher and part-time football coach at the high school in the little town of Dayton. In that year of 1925 he violated a state law by teaching the theory of evolution in a Tennessee high school.约翰斯各普斯1900-19701925年24岁的斯各普斯从肯尼亚大学毕业任田纳西州代顿镇中学的生物老师和

橄榄球队教练。1925年他由于教授达尔文的进化论而受到指控。代顿街上和斯各普斯所在的学校He was in court in a case known as the Scopes Trial.His trial was a highly publicized confrontation between defense attorney Clarence Darrow and director of the prosecution William Jennings Byran. Scopes was found guilty and fined a nominal sum but his conviction was later reversed on technical grounds. The name of John Scopes became synonymous with his trial which is popularly known as the Monkey Trial. A film called Inherit the Wind was made from the trial with much of the dialogue coming directly form transcripts of the court proceedings.

作为当年那次审判的当事人他写的本文以纪念当年的审判经过。由于神创论的支持者把进化论歪曲简化成“人是猴子变来的”这

次审判又被人们称为“猴子审判”。这次震惊世界的猴子审判至今在美国家喻户晓是名副其实的“世纪审判”。在20世纪0年代它被编成了百老汇戏剧《承受清风》Inherit the Wind 语出《圣经》

“扰害己家的必承受清风。愚昧人必作慧心人的仆人。”马上被视为经典之作。1960年被编成电影获得四项奥斯卡提名。And after the famous trial he was offered his teaching job back but he declined . Some of the professors who had come to testify on his behalf arranged a scholarship for him at the University of Chicago so that he could pursue the study of science . Later he became a geologist for an oil company .审判结束后斯各普斯放弃了教学并

离开了代顿。他接受了芝加哥大学的一项奖学金获得了地质学硕士学位并在委内瑞拉作一个石油工程师。Charles Robert

Darwin1809-1882British naturalist who revolutionized the study of biology with his theory of evolution based on natural selection. His most famous works include Origin of species1859 in which Darwin demonstrated that all living things evolved from earlier forms of life by the process of natural selection and The Descent of Man.达尔文1809-1882英国博物学家进化论的奠基者机能心理学的理论先驱。达尔文是19世纪英国杰出的生物学家正是他找到了生物发展的规律成为进化论的奠基者他的《物种起源》和《人类的进化》对近代生物科学产生了很大的影响具有划时代的意义他还提出

了“物竞天择适者生存”的理论His Origin of Species1859 and Decent of Men 1871 exerted a strong impact in the history of Western thought. In his books Darwin hypothesized that over the millennia man had evolved from lower forms of life. Humans were

special not because God had created them in His image but because they had successfully adapted to changing environmental conditions and had passed on their survivalmaking characteristics genetically. Survival of the fittest is the fact or principle of the survival of the forms of plant and animal life best fitted for existing conditions while related but less fit forms become extinct. 达尔文在书中用大量的资料阐述了地球上的各种生物是从非生物经过变异、遗传和自然选择由低级到高级从简单到复杂逐步进化而来的。按照这个推理人是从猿进化而来的通俗地说就是从猴子变来的。这也摧毁了各种唯心的神创论和物种不变论。达尔文的进化论提出后相信神创论的人士感到非常不安。他们说“达尔文在‘物种起源’一书中记述了有生命微生物的发展过程。他认为微生物的产生不需要任何超自然的力量或上帝的介入。这个学说令美国以及其它地方的很多人士深感不安特别是基督教徒他们认为是神创造一切。来历原教旨主义最先在美国基督教新教中出现时间是20世纪20年代。其观念形式在神学中是一种自我意识的对现代主义的批判。19世纪最后10年至一战期间达尔文主义广泛传播影响到社会各领域。它严重冲击了传统观念和文化尤其是对《圣经》构成了直接威胁。人们对《圣经》和道德提出了怀疑教会于是分裂成两派一派是自由主义20世纪早期称此思潮为“现代主义”。它对基督教教义进行了调整用现代哲学、历史和科学知识对传统教义和《圣经》重新解释目的是调和基督教教义和现代科学之间的矛