^. JAN 21 1918 BL 200 .K49 1917 Keyser, Leander Sylvester, 1856- A system of natural theism OTHER BOOKS BY DR. KEYSER A SYSTEM OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS. The Moral Teaching of Christianity. Octavo; 404 pages; $1.50, postpaid. ''It is not like others. It is different, and it is better. In its arrangement, in its style, in its completeness, in its scholarliness, in its doctrinal saneness, it is a great book." — J. Henry Harms, D.D., President of Newberry College. THE RATIONAL TEST. Biblical Doctrine upheld by Reason. 12 mo; 189 pages; 75 cents, postpaid. The following subjects are discussed in a vital way: Theism, Biblical Inspiration, the Trinity, the Creation of Man, the Fall of Man, the Miraculous Conception of Christ, the Incarnation, the Vicarious Atonement, the New Birth, the Resurrection, the Last Judgment. ELECTION AND CONVERSION. Examined in the Light of Revelation and Reason. 12 mo; 184 pages; 75 cents, net. The author upholds the doctrines of justification by faith alone, salvation by grace alone, and electio intuitu fidei. A SYSTEM OF CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE. A Compend and Guide for College and Seminary Instruc- tion. Paper covers; 43 pages (large); 25 cents; in lots of ten or more, 20 cents per copy. THEOLOGICAL OUTLINES AND THESES. A Manual of Encyclopedia, Introduction and Dogmatics. Paper covers; 52 pages (large); 40 cents. THE GERMAN LITERARY BOARD, P. O. Box 573, BUELINGTON, lOWA. / V- ( JAN 21 181 A SYSTEM ^^imim OF NATURAL THEISM LEANDER s/kEYSER, D.D. PROFESSOR OF THEISM, ETHICS AND CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE IN WITTENBERG COLLEGE AND OF SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY IN HAMMA DIVINITY SCHOOL, SPRINGFIELD, OHIO. AUTHOR OF "A SYSTEM OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS," "THE RATIONAL TEST," "a SYSTEM OF CHRIS- TIAN EVIDENCE." "election AND CONVERSION," "THEOLOGICAL OUTLINES AND THF^ES," ETC. BURLINGTON, IOWA THE GERMAN LITERARY BOARD 1917 Copyright, 1917, by E. NEUMANN Burlington, iowa FOREWORD Primarily this work is intended for a text-book in col- leges, theological seminaries, and other schools which may arrange for such a discipline in their curricula. For this reason the outlines and various divisions of the system are made conspicuous by means of numerals, captions, wide spaces, and different fonts of type. It is believed that this method will prove helpful in a number of ways. It will enable the reader and student to get a comprehensive view of the whole system and of its several articulations. It will aid the instructor in the assignment of lessons and the student in his preparation for the class-room. The instructor will be able to formulate his questions in a pointed and relevant way, which is an essential in doing first-rate pedagogical work. A systematic study and mas- tery of any subject will also have its value as a mental discipline. In this way, too, the student may be led to form the habit of making a scientific arrangement of the various subjects he desires to investigate. Knowledge that is well classified and co-ordinated is the most ser- viceable. The author also believes that a systematic arrangement of material and data will be just as acceptable to the general reader who may care to study such a theme as scientific Theism. Many great and valuable books have been written on the subject of Theism, and the author has no criticism 5 6 Foreword to pass on most of them. However, as an instructor in this discipHne, he has found that most of these works, valuable as they are, have little adaptation for text-book purposes, and are often too abstrusely expressed to en- lighten the general reader. The author is convinced that the positive arguments for the divine existence set forth in Part II of this work have not been invalidated by any of the latest, well- attested discoveries of science, but have rather been cor- roborated by them ; and in this respect his views coincide with those of many of the most profound recent writers on Theism. That there is need today of thorough and well-reasoned teaching on this subject — and teaching, too, that gives forth no uncertain sound — is patent to every one who is conversant with present-day college ideals and tendencies. Indeed, among all classes of thinkers, whether in college or out, there is a call and demand for a clear and positive presentation of the theistic proofs. A questionaire re- cently sent out by Professor James H. Leuba, of Bryn Mawr College, to a large number of the scientists of the country elicited the response that a majority of them are either agnostical regarding the existence of God, or have become actually atheistic. Professor Leuba's book has thus been characterized by an acute reviewer : "This is a plea, or rather the conclusion of a plea, for atheism, with its logical denial of immortality." We believe, therefore, that a work like the present one is sorely needed — provided, of course, we have been able to make the arguments effective and convincing. Whether we have succeeded or failed, our motive has been an earnest one. It has been to furnish a book for Foreword 7 readers everywhere who may wish to have at hand the arguments by which the dangerous tendencies to agnosti- cism and materiahsm may be counteracted. The author is especially anxious that the book may find its way into the curricula of many of the colleges of the country, whether Church or State institutions, so that our educated youth may be thoroughly grounded in theistic belief, and may be saved from plunging into the maelstrom of mate- rialistic science. The work might also be used as a sup- plementary text or reference book in the department of Apologetics in theological seminaries. The Author, wittenberg college, springfield, ohio. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Introductory Data (Definitions, Terms, etc.) 15 11. General Argument (for the Divine Exist- ence) 28 III. Teleological Argument 34 IV. Cosmological Argument 49 V. Ontological Argument 59 VI. Moral Argument 64 VII. Esthetic Argument 76 VIII. Atheism and Materialism 84 IX. Deism 90 X. Pantheism 94 XL Idealism 100 XII. NaturaHstic Evolution 108 XIII. Agnosticism, Positivism, Monism 115 XIV. The Divine Attributes (Self-existence, Eter- nity, etc.) 122 XV. Thesis on God's Goodness 130 XVI. The Divine Relations 140 Index 143 9 GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE SYSTEM PART I Introductory Data I. Definition and Terms. II. General Principles. III. The Idea of God. PART II Proofs of the Divine Existence I. 11. General. Teleological. III. Cosmological. IV. Ontological. V. Moral. VI. Esthetic. PART III Anti-Theistic Theories I. Atheism and Materialism. 11. Deism. III. Pantheism. IV. Idealism. V. Naturalistic Evolution. VL Agnosticism, Positivism and Monism, 11 12 A System of Natural Theism PART IV Divine Attributes and Relations I. The Divine Attributes. II. The Divine Relations. BIBLIOGRAPHY Most of the books in the following list will prove valu- able to the reader who wishes to consult them. The author is glad to acknowledge his indebtedness to a num- ber of these works, especially in the way of suggestion and inspiration. Flint: "Theism" and "Anti-Theistic Theories." Harris' "The Rational Basis of Theism." Bowne: "Studies in Theism." Janet-' "Final Causes." Martinean: "Studies of Religion," 2 vols. Diman' "The Theistic Argument." Miiller (Max): "Natural Religion." Valentine: "Natural Theology" and "Christian Theol- ogy," Vol. I. Fisher: "The Grounds of Theistic and Christian Belief." Orr: "The Christian View of God and the World." Fraser: "Philosophy of Theism." Iverach: "Theism in the Light of Present Science and Philosophy;" "Is God Knowable?" Mead-' "Supernatural Revelation," pages 1-64. MUey: "Systematic Theology," Vol. I. A System of Natural Theism 13 Beattie- ''A Treatise on Apologetics," Vol. I. Everett: "Theism and the Christian Faith." Stirling: "Philosophy and Theology." Ward: "Naturalism and Agnosticism" and "The Realm of Ends." Davidson: "Theism as Grounded in Human Nature." Schurm^n: "Belief in God: Its Origin, Nature and Basis." Sheldon: "UnbeHef in the Nineteenth Century." Dykes: "The Divine Worker in Creation and Provi- dence." Keyser: "The Rational Test," Chapter I. Lindsay: "Recent Advances in Theistic Philosophy." Balfour: "Theism and Humanism" (1915). Ward (William Hayes): "What I Believe and Why," Chapters I-XH (1915)- Micou: "Basic Ideas in Religion, or, Apologetic Theism" (1916). A SYSTEM OF NATURAL THEISM PART I INTRODUCTORY DATA CHAPTER I I. DEFINITION AND TERMS 1. Definition: Natural Theism is the science which treats of the exist- ence and character of God in the light of nature and reason. 2. Terms: Our science is known by various designations, namely : Natural Theism, Rational Theism, Natural Theology, and sometimes simply Theism. The term ''Natural Theism" seems to the author to be preferable for several reasons: (i) The word "Natural" clearly distinguishes our science from Revealed or Bib- lical Theism; (2) the word "Theism" is more suitable than the word "Theology" for students who do not intend to enter a theological seminary; (3) the adjective "Nat- ural" is preferred to the adjective "Rational" because 15 16 A System of Natural Theism the latter might suggest or imply that Christian Theism is not rational, whereas we believe the opposite to be true.^ The word "Theism" is derived from the Greek: 0co9, God. II. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 1. The place of reason: Reason has its uses and its limitations. Its processes should not be contemned. It is obviously a divinely im- planted power of the human mind, and it is rational to assume that it was intended to be used. Many minds also find pleasure in rational processes, and that would be an additional evidence that they are to be employed. No less true is it that the mind is so constituted that it cannot accept anything that seems to it to be incredible and irrational. On the other hand, the powers of human reason should not be over-estimated. There are many problems which human intellection has not yet solved, in spite of all its endeavors. Among these problems are the following: What is matter? What is mind? How are matter and mind correlated in the human brain ? What is life ? How can the mind cognize objective reality? How can the will determine itself in liberty? Mr. Edison declared some time ago that, with all his knowledge of the power of electricity, he did not yet know whether it is a sub- stance or only a force. Therefore, reason should be mod- est in pressing its claims ; it should "not think more highly of itself than it ought to think." I. Even the word "Natural," as used here, should be distinguished thus: its opposite is not "unnatural," but "supernatural." Christian Theism de- pends mostly on the supernatural revelation, while Natural Theism depends solely on the light of nature and reason. Introductory Data 17 In dealing with theistic problems in this work we shall use human reason with the foregoing principles ever in mind. We think it will be found that most of the methods of reasoning employed will lead to proper con- clusions ; at least, to those that are more tenable than the opposite conclusions would be. Yet we cannot presume to think that all our inductions and deductions will be convincing to all classes of minds. Perhaps no purely rational process can give the human mind absolute assur- ance of the existence of God, especially the mind that has once been caught in the meshes of atheism. That assur- ance doubtless can be obtained only through a clear-cut Christian experience. However, with all the limitations of our human faculties, we sincerely believe that the theistic position can be shown to be more reasonable than that of any of the anti-theistic theories. 2. Marks of God*s handiwork i^ If there is a God who made and sustains the universe, including human beings, it is reasonable to believe that we should be able to see marks of His handiwork in the creation. He surely would not leave Himself without a witness therein. These evidences should appear in the realms of both matter and mind. Every human artisan leaves such marks upon his handiwork. Why not the Divine Artisan? 3. Man's intuitions and mental processes reliable :' In this work the intuitions and general laws of human thinking will, for the most part, be regarded as trust- worthy. If man's cognitions of objective reality, time, 2. Cf. Valentine's "Natural Theology," pp. 1-3. 3. Cf. Valentine, iit supra, pp. 3, 4. 18 A System of Natural Theism space, cause and effect, moral distinctions, logical con- clusions, etc., are not in the main reliable, true knowledge and science are utterly impossible, and we might as well stop before we begin our investigations. However, in many places in this work, especially in dealing with Idealism, Positivism and Kant's Phenomenalism, we shall endeavor to show the rational grounds of our faith in the general intuitions and experiences of the human mind. 4. Theism a science : Theism is a true science, and for these reasons: It deals with observed and empirical facts, makes proper inductions from them, and arranges them in systematic order, just as is done in any other branch of science. Besides, the data it treats of are just as patent, just as outstanding, and just as potent in their influence as are the data of any other worthy domain of investigation. True, at times a priori methods must be used and philo- sophical principles appealed to, but this is true of all the sciences, however empirical; for no scientific mind can avoid raising philosophical questions. 5. History and development of our science: While there has always been reHgion among men, cen- turies passed before any attempt was made to formulate a science of religion. The greatest of the Greek and Roman philosophers — Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca — made efforts along this line, in connection with their treatment of other philosophic problems. However, it is only in modern times that Natural Theism has been so developed that it can rightfully take its place among the sciences that are worthy of the name. The same may Introductory Data 19 be said of practically all the sciences, whether physical, mental, moral or theistic. 6. Some vital relations of Theism: (i) To Christian theology: This relation is that of a part to the whole; that is, Christian theology includes all the light derived from nature and reason, and adds to it the clearer light of the divine revelation in the Bible. According to the Holy Scriptures themselves, the God who revealed His will in this special way also ''created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. i:i), and rules over the universe, and reveals His glory therein (Psalm 19: i). Christ, who came to redeem mankind, proved Himself master of the natural realm as well as of the spiritual. Therefore, it is correct to say that Christian Theology includes all the data of Natural Theism. No doubt all scientific theists in Bible lands are more or less influenced by the Christian revelation, whether they are distinctly conscious of it or not. As Christianity is one of the outstanding facts of the world, it cannot be ignored in any system of Theism that professes to be scientific. It is a patent fact that the greatest and most satisfactory systems of Natural Theism are those that have been wrought out by men who accept the Bible as a divine revelation. (2) To religion: Without the doctrine of God — a God who is a personal Being — there can be no religion deserving of the title. The very idea of religion involves communion with the supernatural. Men have attempted to establish a religion 20 A System of Natural Theism on the basis of an impersonal power in the universe (Pantheism), or on the worship of Humanity (Positiv- ism), but such forms of religion are extremely vague, and possess little, if any, practical value, as will be proved in subsequent theses. "The doctrine of God is the first doctrine of religion." (3) To morality: The theistic view of the cosmos furnishes the only ade- quate ground, sanction and inspiration of true morality. The denial of God's existence logically results in the negation of moral distinctions ; for if there is no personal God back of the universe, why should one thing be right and another wrong?* This subject will be elaborated in the chapter on the Moral Argument for the divine existence. (4) To the State- Since religion and morality are necessary to the wel- fare and perpetuity of the State, Theism lies at the very foundation of civic well-being. It is doubtful whether a government whose subjects were all atheists could sub- sist for any considerable time. At least, no country has ever ventured to try the experiment. A professed atheist cannot even take an oath in a civil court. Therefore, for the sake of the State the young people of our schools and colleges should be well grounded in the reasons for the theistic view of the world. (5) To science and philosophy: Theism furnishes the foundation for true science and philosophy; for it places back of all observed data and 4. Goldwin Smith: "The denial of the existence of God and of a future state is, in a word, the dethronement of conscience." Introductory Data 21 phenomena an ordering Mind, thus positing a real basis for system in science and for ultimate unity in philosophy. Without an ordering Intelligence back of all things as the Creator and Governor, the universe would have no order and system, and so would not be intelligible, and could not, therefore, be an object of investigation by the human mind. Intelligibleness in the cosmos connotes Intelligence as the cause of the cosmos. III. THE CONCEPTION OF GOD 1. Its content: There are variable conceptions of God among the peo- ple of the earth. They range from the crude, hazy and imperfect ideas of pagan people to the clear and correct view that God is the Supreme, Absolute and Infinite Personality who is the First Cause. 2. Its genesis: (i) A number of erroneous views regarding the rise of the idea of God have been advocated from time to time. Let us first examine these : a. Some persons hold that the idea of God arose from superstitious dread of the awful and mysterious in nature. This is not an adequate view, for, if it were true, then, when superstitious fear is removed by greater knowledge, the idea of God would fade away; but, instead of that being the result, the conception of God becomes clearer and belief in Him more persistent as men advance in knowledge of the universe and its wonders. It would be gratuitous and childish to hold that the belief of the many educated theists of today is primarily due to the supersti- tious fears of their primeval ancestors. 22 A System of Natural Theism b. Some unbelievers maintain that the crafty inven- tions of priests and kings account for the origin of the idea of God. This is an antiquated opinion. No well- informed person would hold it now-a-days. If men have no natural faculty for religion, how could designing men ever obtain so potent an influence over almost the entire human family? If there is no God, how could the idea of the divine Being arise in the minds even of impostors ? Besides, the many intelligent people today who believe in God could not be deluded in that way. c. Others hold that ancestral reverence gave rise to the idea of God. But it has been found that many nations who do not worship their forefathers, and never did worship them, have positive conceptions of a divine Being. Hence this explanation is inadequate. d. Traditions of a primitive revelation are regarded by some as the origin of the idea of God. This may in part explain why most men believe in God, especially if the tradition is founded on fact; yet it is not probable that mere tradition, in view of its uncertainty, would have kept the idea alive with so much persistency through all the ages, if there were not an innate disposition to believe in the divine Being. e. According to other speculatists, mere intuition or innate consciousness adequately accounts for the genesis of the God idea. This of itself would not be a sufficient explanation, for such an intuition or consciousness must itself be accounted for. It could not have come by chance, nor could the God idea have evolved without an adequate genetical basis and source. f . Today some theorists contend that the idea of God originated in purely rational processes. This view is con- Introductory Data 23 futed by the patent fact that many primitive people who believe in God never could have mastered the profound arguments of systematic Theism. Moreover, some pro- found philosophers have become very obscure in their conceptions of God, while others have landed in agnosti- cism and even atheism. (2) What, then, may be regarded as the true view of the origin of the idea of God? Only that view which affords an adequate explanation of all the facts in the case can be regarded as scientific: a. Man was created in the image of God. Of course, this is a proposition that remains to be proved ; but sup- posing for the moment that it is a fact, it would ade- quately account for man's innate capacity for knowing God and his longing for communion with Him. If man is not like God in some respects, he could have no idea of God, no communion with Him, no vital relation to Him. Therefore, man must bear the image of his Maker. b. There is, in addition, the view of a primitive reve- lation. While we do not believe that Natural Theism needs to insist on this item, yet, if such a revelation was made, it would have so deepened the idea of God in the mind of primitive man as to help to account adequately for the persistency and universality of the idea. c. A study of ethnology proves that man has a natural disposition to infer the existence of a Creator and Pre- server from the character of the cosmos. This inference is almost intuitive, and requires no profound logical proc- esses of thought. The only adequate explanation of this universal phenomenon is that the capacity for the God idea and the disposition to cherish it have been divinely 24 A System of Natural Theism implanted in man's mind. Surely the idea of God never could have evolved from a no-idea of God. 3. Its original form;^ (i) Wrong views: A number of erroneous views of the original form of the theistic idea are held by certain classes of advocates. We shall merely mention them here, and define them, reserving our reasons for rejecting them to the discussion of the true view under (2) below. The erroneous views are the following: a. Fetichism: The worship of natural objects, which are regarded by the votaries as possessed by spirits. Animism (from anima, soul) is practically the same form of supersti- tion. Fetichism is from facticius, which means "made by art," ficticious. b. Polytheism : The worship of many gods, which are regarded as more or less above and distinct from natural objects. Poly- theism is from ttoAv?, many, and ©eos, god. c. Henotheism: The idea of simply a national or tribal God, but not the one and only God of the whole universe. When a nation believes that it is presided over by only one God, while other nations are ruled by other gods, that nation would hold to the henotheistic religion. Henotheism is from cvos, one, and 0eo9, God. 5. For much of this section we are indebted to Valentine's "Natural Theology," which is of great value. Introductory Data 25 (2) The true view: We believe that the original conception was Mono- theism (Greek, fwvo^, one, and 0eo9, God), the conception of one God and only one, who presides over all nations and over the whole cosmos. Our reasons for holding this view, and rejecting the foregoing views under a, b and c are the following : a. Psychological reason: It would be easier for primitive man to conceive of only one God than of many gods. The natural develop- ment of the human mind is from one to many, from the singular to the plural, from the simple to the complex, from the homogeneous to the heterogeneous. All evo- lutionists define the process and development of the cos- mos in these terms and in this order. This argument may not appeal to some persons, because they are apt to think of men as they are today ; but let us try to imagine the primeval man as the first idea of God arises in his mind, and we shall see that his initial conception must have been of one God. Afterward the idea of more than one God would dawn upon his untutored thought. b. Philological reason: In most of the principal languages of the world the word for God comes from the same root. Many of the greatest linguists'' proclaim this view. While it may seem to point to nothing more than the unitary origin of the human family, yet the idea of one God would agree better with the fact of one root-word for God than would the idea of a plurality of gods. 6. Cf. Valentincp ut supra, p. x8. * 26 A System of Natural Theism c. Historical reason: The further back we trace the histories of the chief reHgions, the more nearly do they approach to the doc- trine of pure monotheism. This is simply a question of fact, not of mere theory and speculation. It is true of the religions of Eg}'pt, Babylonia, Persia, India and ^ ChinaJ History fails to record a single example of a nation or tribe that has advanced by its own efforts from a state of animism and polytheism to the monotheistic conception.^ On the other hand, history tells us of numerous cases of decline and degeneration in religion. In this place we appeal to the Bible only as one of the historical books of the world, and in it we find first the conception of one God, who "created the heavens and the earth," whereas afterward arose the tendency to degenerate into idolatry or polytheism. 'The Book of the Dead" is the oldest Egyptian document yet found ; it teaches monotheism, while later Egyptian theology has its pantheon. All this affords strong proof that the original form of the God idea was that of monotheism. d. Ethnological reason: As has been already indicated, there has been a general tendency among the nations which have been unenlight- 7 Valentine, pp. 19, 20; Max Muller, "Chips from a German Workshop;" Renouf: "Hibbert Lectures on the Religion of Ancient Egypt, pp. 92, 93; James Legge, "The Religion of China," pp. 11,. 16. ,, 8. Vide Tames Orr, "The Christian Conception of God and the World, pp. 75, 409-412 (the latter reference is very valuable). See also cogent statement by Dr. F. P. Ramsay in "The Princeton Theological Review for April, 1917, page 355- Dr. Ramsay says: "There is no known instance of monotheism being derived from Polytheism. . . So far as the present writer knows, there is not one scintilla of proof of the existence of any people whose ancestors were never monotheistic; and monotheism is as old as any trustworthy human records." Principal A. M. Fairbairn ( Mudies in the Philosophy of Religion," p. 12) and Max Muller C Is Fetichism a Primitive Form of Religion?" p. 105) make similar statements. (See Orr, nt supra, p. 4'59-) Introductory Data 27 ened by Christianity to degeneration in religion. The progress has been downward instead of upward. This fact would point to an original pure form of religion, namely, monotheism, while polytheism and fetichism would be later decadent and corrupted forms. PART II PROOFS OF THE DIVINE EXISTENCE CHAPTER II I. DEFINITION The General Argument is that form of theistic proof which is based on the universal belief in God and the universal religious instinct. II. DIVISIONS 1. The universal belief in God: ( I ) History and ethnology prove that all nations have a belief in a Supernatural Being or in supernatural beings. True, a certain class of scientists once contended that tribes had been found in central Africa and Australia who had no conception of divine or supernatural beings ; but later investigations have disproved their contention. Even if such tribes had been found, what would have I. In his excellent work, "Natural Theology," Dr. Milton Valentine calls the first class of proofs "The Presumptive Arguments," by which he means those arguments which, while they do not afTord a clearly logical demonstration, yet offer a more or less convincing presumption that there is a God. However, after a good deal of thought on the subject, we are con- vinced that these arguments are quite as convincing as are the other argu- ments. In lieu of a better term, therefore, we use the word "General, be- cause the proof deals with the general or universal belief in God, etc. The last two divisions included by Valentine under the "Presumptive Argument" belong more logically elsewhere, and are located in this work in what wc regard as the proper places. 28 General Argument 29 been their state of civilization? It surely would have been of the lowest type. But human beliefs, especially those of an exalted and morally potent character, should not be gauged by the most degraded forms. Would it not be more rational to form our conceptions of the divine Being and His existence from the highest forms of civili- zation? We do not determine our ideas of science, moral- ity and esthetics from the conceptions held by the lowest, crudest and basest tribes. Why, then, our ideas of God? Besides, such inferior tribes, if actually found, would be so exceptional as to prove the rule. However, the best results of research thus far lead us to conclude that there are no exceptions. Objection may be made on the ground that in many ^ tribes the conception of God or of gods is extremely crude, gross and grotesque. Very true ; but still the idea is present, and in most positive form. Pagan nations have crude ideas of other important facts and reaHties, such as would come under the head of physical science, civil government and moral distinctions. We must also admit that perhaps our own conceptions of the Deity fall far below the wonderful and glorious reality. Some scholars regard Buddhism as an exception to the / general belief in God or gods. They maintain that it is atheistic. However, we believe that deeper investigation proves Buddhism to have been originally and fundamen- tally monotheistic. Brahm was ''pure intelligence, sole and self -existent," and Buddha ''absolute light and per- fect wisdom." These are attributes that pertain only to a personal God. Professed atheism in civilized lands is sometimes looked upon as a disproof of the general rule. But this reason- / 30 A System of Natural Theism ing is not sound for the following considerations : First, atheism is rare and exceptional, rather proving than dis- proving the general rule; second, atheism is the result of a kind of speculative thinking that usually disregards the testimony of consciousness and experience; third, athe- ists always posit some primal cause in the place of God and predicate of it many Godlike qualities. (2) Now what is the clear inference from the univer- sal belief in God ? Surely it must connote that He exists. If there is no God, if there is nothing in the universe but material substance, how could the idea of God ever have arisen at all in the human mind ? Could mere materiality ever have evolved the conception of a divine Being? Water cannot rise higher than its source. And why should the idea of God have become so general, persistent, dominant and potent? If material substance is the only entity, and yet has led almost the entire human family to believe that there is a God, then material substance must be a universal falsifier. In that case you could not trust its testimony on any subject. Let us apply the scientific law of casuality to this argu- ment: every eflfect must have an adequate cause. If there is a God, and He created the world, and implanted in man's mind the germ of the God idea, we have an entirely adequate cause for the grand eflfect, namely, that practic- ally all men and nations believe in the divine existence. This view will also account adequately for the spontaneity of the idea in the universal human mind. Let us also apply the law of evolution to this locus. If there is no God back of the cosmos, the idea of God never could have arisen in the human mind; for nothing can be evolved that was not previously involved. The General Argument 31 idea of Deity could never have evolved from a no-God source. Mere material substance never could evolve by only its resident forces into any idea, much less so great an idea as that of a Supreme and Absolute Being. Water does not rise higher than its source. However, if God is back of and in the evolutionary process, an adequate cause has been assigned for the grand outcome. Should the objection be raised that, if there is a God, He would have bestowed upon the human family a clear and perfect conception of His being and character from the start, we would reply that God evidently has chosen the method of development rather than the method of initial completeness. Geology teaches that the lower forms of life appeared first; afterwards the higher forms. "First the corn, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear" seems to be God's modus operandi in nature. For purposes of His own, whose wisdom we may not ques- tion, He has ordained also that the conception of Him- self shall be a matter of development. The science of the day, which holds so strenuously to the doctrine of devel- opment, should interpose no objection to this method of the divine procedure. 2. The universal religious instinct: ( I ) Men in all the world not only believe in God, but also engage in acts of worship and devotion. The most recent ethnological researches prove that religious sen- timents exist in all nations and tribes. A few years ago the National Geographic Society sent out its scientific representatives to study the various ethnic tribes of the world. After the most careful and unbiased investiga- tions, all these men testified that they had found no 32 A System of Natural Theism people which did not have some form of religion, some religious sentiment. This was the testimony, not of theo- logians, but of purely scientific investigators, who could have had no e.r parte interest in the results. (2) Not only so, but the religious principle is ex- tremely potent in all nations, dominating individual and community life. It is not merely a negligible factor. Witness the predominant influence of religion in India, China and Japan. The same is true of peoples who are very low in the scale of civilization, as, for example, the jungle folk of Africa. (3) Everywhere the human heart has a crazing for Qod — "feels after Him, if perchance it may find Him" (Acts 17:27). The Psalmist puts this general yearning in vivid phrase: ''As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God : My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God" (Psalm 42:1, 2). (4) It will be said that there are exceptions, at least, in the so-called civilized countries ; that there are people who do not seem to have any desire for religion and religious worsliip. We reply, the apparent exceptions do not invalidate the rule, and that for the following reasons : a. There are men here and there who have obscure and crass ideas of the good and the beautiful as well as of the spiritual. Does this prove that there is not an inher- ent ethical and esthetic principle in human nature? b. Sin has come into the world, and has darkened man's spiritual insight ; has, in a measure, brought a feel- ing of constraint between God and men, and in many instances has partly seared the human conscience. c. Even unbelievers and rationalists often feel im- pelled to substitute some form of religion and worship General Argument 33 for the forms they seek to destroy. As conspicuous examples, note Comte, Strauss, Hseckel, Tyndal, etc. (5) Now what are the logical inferences from the foregoing facts? a. It is reasonable to believe that there must be a reality to complement and answer to this universal crav- ing for communion with God. In nature's realm food is provided to satisfy hunger, water for thirst, music for the ear, light and color for the eye. The only comple- ment for the universal religious craving would be a personal God. Is it probable that we have been constituted to have our bodily wants supplied, while our higher wants, those of the soul, must go unsatisfied? If such were the case, the cosmos would not be a rational one. b. Again, apply the laws of evolution and causality to this locus. Mere natural evolution from material sub- stance never could have produced a longing for God and an instinct to worship Him. Every effect must have an adequate cause. Whatever is evolved must, at some pre- vious time, have been germinally involved. If mere mate- rial substance is the ground and cause of all things, and has simply by its own resident forces evolved the theistic idea and the yearning for God, we would here have an effect that is greater than its cause ; which is scientifically absurd. Every cause must be as great as, or greater than, its effect. CHAPTER III TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT^ I. DEFINITIONS 1. Etymology of the term: reAo?, end, and Xoyos, discourse. 2. The TeleologicaP Argument is the proof of the divine existence which is based on the evidence of de- sign, purpose and adaptation in the creation. It is often called the argument of design, purpose or final cause. 3. The Final Cause is the end or purpose in the mind of the designer in the planning and making of a structure. It is called the Final Cause because its manifestation appears at the end of the process. In reality it is the primary cause, for it exists first of all in the mind of the designer. 4. The Efficient Cause is the force or forces em- ployed by the designer to bring about the desired eflfect. 5. Adaptation is the selection and use of the proper means to secure the desired end. 6. Final Cause and Efficient Cause are thus re- 1. On this argument compare the followinar valuable works: Valentine, ut supra, pp. 74-205 (most thorough-going) ; Orr, "The Christian View of God and the World," pp. 97-103, 415-418; Lindsay, "Recent Advances in Theistic Philosophy," pp. 170-215; Fisher, "The Grounds of Theistic and Christian Belief," pp. 29-55; Balfour, "Theism and Humanism," pp. 42-63 (rather unique in mode of presentation) ; Micou, "Basic Ideas in Religion," pp. 50-99 (also consult index); Bruce, "Apologetics," pp. 150-153 (clear and succinct); Ward, "What I Believe and Why," Chapters I-XII. 2. Sometimes called the Eutaxiological Argument when desipn in the universe as a whole is considered. From evrjla, order, and \6yos. 34 Teleological Argument 35 lated: The former determines what forces or energies shall constitute the latter and how they shall be employed throughout the process. Final Cause is dependent on the Efficient Causes that are available for accomplishing its purpose. Thus they are mutually dependent. Efficient Cause without Final Cause would bring only chaos ; Final Cause without Efficient Cause would be helpless. II. PROOFS OF DESIGN IN THE COSMOS^ 1. In organisms: The eye, the ear, the hand, foot, lungs, heart, man's entire anatomical structure; the structure of animals. The latest researches in physiology prove that the human eye has 800 complemental contrivances,* all of which are necessary to sight. Study its complicated structure, and note what a wonderful piece of mechanism it is. Its various parts are so constructed and combined as to bring about, so far as we can understand, only one purpose, namely, vision. If the mechanism of the eye was ever designed for any other purpose than sight, it has never dawned on the intelligence of man. However, even the 800 organic particulars do not exhaust the number in the eye, for it must be remembered that the substance of this organ is composed of atoms, molecules, and per- haps of vortices, ions and electrons, and all these had to be brought together in conformity with the plan and purpose of eye. The ear is scarcely less complicated. But how differ- ent from the eye! Its purpose being different, it has been organized on an entirely different model, and one 3. Many of the examples are selected from Valentine's presentation. 4. Kinsley, "Was Christ Divine?" p. 13. 36 A System of Natural Theism O that points just as inevitably to a definite purpose. The very fact that it is so different from the eye, because its purpose is so different, accentuates the proof of specific design for auditory ends. Every part of the human hand connotes a definite end in view. If the human hand were Hke that of the mon- key, man, with all his intelligence, could make little or no progress in mechanics, and that would make progress and civilization almost impossible. None of the arts and sciences could be developed. The human foot was evidently designed for the specific end of enabling man to walk, and walk uprightly. What a beneficent arrangement that was! Just one point: There is a ligament running crosswise of the instep which holds the parallel cords in their place in the graceful and necessary curve on the upper part of the foot. This fact is so patent and convincing a proof of confederate and specific purpose that it cannot be gainsaid. But note man's entire anatomical structure. All these various organs are combined into a unified plan. Res- spiration, circulation and digestion all join to produce a specific result, just as if they had been put together by marvelous foresight. Note this, too : the retina is only in the eye; the tympanum only in the ear; the olfactory nerves only in the nose; the palate only at the upper end of the throat; all these are placed just where they should be for their several highly specialized purposes. In the animal world the bird is organized on a highly specialized scheme for flying ; the fish for swimming ; the serpent for crawling; the quadruped for walking. Here is not only evidence of design, but also evidence of end- less diversity of design. Teleological Argument 37 2. In animal instinct : Design is seen in the marvelous instinct of the bees in making their combs on the precise mathematical model best adapted for their purpose, combining lightness, strength and proper dimensions. No less marvelous is the instinct of ants, wasps, spiders and many other in- sects. Who taught the wasps and hornets to make their papier machef Callow birds in the nest have only one way to be fed : almost immediately after they come from the shell, their instinct impels them to open their mouths for their food. Each species of animal instinctively takes its infantile food in its own way, and here again nature shows endless variety. "Each after its kind." 3. In chemistry and physics: In this realm there is patent proof of design. The combinations of atoms and molecules in various ways always bring about a highly specialized result. Oxygen and nitrogen are combined in precisely the right ratio to . form the volatile atmosphere which we breathe to sustain life, being fitted especially to the human organism. A different combination of these elements would be abso- lutely fatal to animal life of any kind. Thus chemistry dovetails into biology. Hydrogen and oxygen in specific ratio form water, which again is admirably adapted to human and animal need. Respecting water there is a specific fact that is worthy of attention. Cold almost invariably contracts substances. As water cools, it follows this general law to a certain degree of temperature ; then just at the right point — the "strategic" moment, we had almost said — it begins to expand by virtue of its crystalizing propensity, forms 38 A System of Natural Theism ice, becomes lighter than the water, and remains on the upper surface. If it continued to contract and grow heavier, the ice would sink to the bottom of all our rivers, ponds and lakes; soon they would be converted into a solid mass of ice during the winter, destroying all animal life in the water, and melting very little during the sum- mer. Neither would the warmth of summer ever suc- ceed in thawing the frost out of the ground. What a beneficent contrivance of nature do we see here! Fire for warmth is another beneficent arrangement. It also produces carbon dioxide and aqueous vapor, which are then absorbed by the trees and grasses as their food. As fire is the result of the combination of the oxygen of the air and the carbon of combustible substances, why does not a little blaze set the entire atmosphere into con- flagration? Because nature has herself placed an em- bargo on such a result. As Dr. Milton Valentine says: "Everything appears to be ordered so as to run in chan- nels of economic utility." 4. In biology: The growth, divisions and combinations of cells are so specific in bringing about the various forms of life and organisms that no one can fail to see here abundant proof of intentionality. 5. In psychology: The human mind usually acts with conscious and defi- nite purpose. Let it be remembered that the human mind is part of the cosmos, and is fitted into it in a most vital way. The very fact that it is a purposive mind implies the idea of purpose in the cosmos. Teleological Argument 39 6. In the universe as a whole: Its wise arrangement, its unity of plan, its mathemat- ical precision of movement, and its adaptation in innu- merable ways to human need — all these point indubitably to final cause in its origin and structure. Many persons who are not deeply impressed with the argument of design, when applied to individual structures in nature, are con- vinced of the validity of the design argument when applied to the entire cosmos,^ III. DESIGN CONNOTES AN INTELLIGENT DESIGNER 1. Intelligence is the most natural and spontaneous explanation of order, purpose and adaptation. There- fore, to seek another cause for these effects in the cos- mos, as Hume and Mill did, is to disregard the innate feelings and conceptions of the human mind. Besides, why should men try to find some obscure and indefinite cause when one may be seen lying clearly on the surface ? 2. The only cause of design that we know of is mind. We certainly can attribute purpose and finaHty to no other known source. Therefore, either mind is the cause of the wonderful confederation seen in the uni- verse, or else we know nothing of its causation. Our choice must lie between Theism and Agnosticism. 3. What is the only alternative of an intelligent First Cause? It is chance. We must choose between 5. However, we cannot agree to such methods of reasoning. Suppose you were to pass through a great factory or mill, constructed for the spe- cific purpose of turning out a certain product, would you say that the struc- ture as whole gives proof of design, but the smaller mechanisms do not? You surely would not reason in so lame a way. Every individual part of the structure is a work of design. If it were not, the factory would never turn its specific product. So with the universe. 40 A System of Natural Theism God and chance. But chance is utterly inadequate for the following reasons: (i) It is unthinkable that blind chance could ever produce anything but chaos. But the universe is a cos- mos, not a chaos. Let us think for a moment. Could an orderly world ever have evolved out of chaos without an ordering Intelligence? The outstanding principle of the cosmos is law. Scientific men today are constantly ringing the changes on "the reign of law." If the world was produced by chance, then chance produced the very antithesis of itself ! That certainly would be a marvelous exploit. It would be a greater miracle than the creation of the universe by an all-wise and all-powerful God. (2) In this connection let us note the mathematical law of probability in permutations and geometrical pro- gression : On ten bells 3,628,800 changes can be rung. How much probability would there be of these ten bells ever playing the tune, **My country, 'tis of thee," by pure chance? Everyone knows this never could occur. Yet a trained mind could so manipulate the ten bells as to play many tunes. Thus design and order always imply intel- ligence — mind. The figure 2, multiplied in geometrical progression, requires, in the fifth order, 19,729 figures to express it. Again, this indicates the degrees of improbability for mere chance to accompHsh any specific purpose. The 26 letters of the English alphabet are capable of so many different combinations that they would require 27 figures to express them. How much probability would there be that these letters would ever fall together into a book by pure fortuity ? Yet, human intelligence, work- Teleological Argument 41 ing with design, may combine them in such order as to form vast libraries. Take loo dice blocks, numbered from one to lOO, in your hand, and fling them promiscuously on the floor. How often would you have to repeat the performance to cause them to fall in a straight row and in numerical order? However, by using thought and purpose you can easily lay them down in that way. As has been said, the human eye has 800 complemental particulars, each of which is essential to sight. But this falls far short of the reality, for the eye is composed of an inconceivable number of atoms, molecules and living cells, to say nothing of vortices, ions, and electrons. There certainly would not be much chance for chance in this case. It should also be remembered that the eye is set in the midst of a congeries of many other organs, just as wonderful as itself, to which it is fitted and which are adapted to it. Divine intelligence back of this wonder- fully purposeful arrangement is the only adequate explanation. 4. The human mind, with all its rational, self-deter- mining and purposive powers, is a part of the cosmos, and is organically related to it. But the mental could not evolve from the non-mental, the purposive from the non- purposive, nor freedom from bald necessity. It is rational to believe that the Power that produced the human mind would be at least as purposive as its product. 5. All science is based on the principle that the cos- mos is intelligible to the human mind. Otherwise no kind of science would be possible ; no order would be dis- cernible; no classification of data could be made. As the cosmos is capable of being apprehended by intelligence, 42 A System of Natural Theism it must be the product of intelligence. This is practically the argument of Plato's doctrine of "Ideas" discernible in the cosmos. 6. The science of mathematics furnishes cogent proof that an intelligent Being designed and constructed the universe. By abstract processes the human mind can solve mathematical problems, and arrive at absolutely correct results. Now, when these principles are applied to the universe, as in mathematical astronomy, it is found that there is an exact correspondence between the prin- ciples and the empirical data. The universe is constructed according to a mathematical plan. Again this fact con- notes intelligence — a mathematical Mind — as the cause of the universe. 7. As a scientific hypothesis. Theism is an adequate explanation of the cosmos and its phenomena, with all its marks of intentionality. No other hypothesis is ade- quate. According to scientific procedure, we ought to adopt the hypothesis that furnishes an adequate explana- tion of all the data. 8. To rivet the conclusion, the evidences of design in the universe prove that intelligence and will must be its cause; but intelligence and will are the attributes of personality; therefore, the cause of the universe must be a Person — God. IV. OBJECTIONS TO TELEOLOGY STATED AND CONFUTED I. Objection: Nature and art are very different in their operations; therefore, design in the former may come from some other source than intelligence and per- sonality. This is the objection of Hume and Mill. Teleological Argument 43 Reply : Observe that this argument is based on a mere "may be." Without impugning the motives of the object- ors, it creates the impression that it is a makeshift to avoid a reasonable conclusion. At all events, it seeks for an obscure and unknown cause rather than to accept the obvious and natural one. The human mind intuitively attributes design to intelligence and intelligence to per- sonality. Therefore, the above objection runs counter to the normal processes of human thinking. 2. Objection: In nature the moving force is imma- nent (that is, within the structure) ; in art it is external. This is the chief argument of Pantheism. Reply: While it is true that in nature the moving principle is within the structure, yet there must be some- thing back of the immanent force to start and direct it along adaptive lines, or the result would be chaos instead of law and order. Blind force would surely be inade- quate to produce orderly results, whether brought about immanently or transcendentally. "Unconscious intelli- gence" is a contradiction of terms. There can be no intelligence which does not work in the light of its own consciousness. Besides, many works of art, like watches and other humanly contrived mechanisms, operate im- manently; yet no one ever thinks that they made them- selves or were put together by chance. How much less the wonderful mechanisms of nature? The very fact that the forces in nature's operations are immanent is all the more convincing proof of the wonderful intelli- gence and power of nature's Contriver. 3. Objection: Mere evolution, with its laws of natural selection and the survival of the fittest, is a suffi- cient explanation of the cosmos, including man. This is 44 A System of Natural Theism the argument of Materialism and Naturalistic Evolu- tion. Reply: Evolution, if scientifically proved to be true, would demand a Supreme Intelligence back of the won- derful process to initiate and direct it; for nothing can be evolved that was not previously involved; and surely mere chance could not establish a regular order and modus operandi. Mere evolution explains nothing ulti- mate. It is not a power and intelligence in itself; it is merely a mode of operation, a law of development. The fundamental question is, What is the cause of the evo- lutionary process? What or who formulated the laws of evolution? Materialism is always superficial, because it stops before it reaches the Primal Cause of all the laws of orderly development. Can a law devise, administer and execute itself? Such great evolutionists as A. R. Wallace, Richard Owen, St. George Mivart, Asa Gray, Richard Dana and John Fiske maintained that Theism is the necessary postulate of evolution. 4. Objection: ''Adaptation is the necessary law of existence/' Reply: This again is a superficial mode of reason- ing, for you might ask why it is so, even if it were the truth. But it is not true, for chaos might just as well exist as order, if there is no ordering Intelligence back of the world. The higher the organism the more diffi- cult to produce and preserve. Any one can see that disorder would be much easier to produce than order. A well-known principle is that intelligence is always required to "bring order out of chaos." Again, the cru- cial question is. Why should blind chance want to pro- duce a world at all, whether a chaos or a cosmos? On Teleological Argument 45 the other hand, if there is a God, we can easily see why He should create the universe. True science always seeks for the explanation that is adequate. 5. Objection: There are some things in nature that do not have any apparent purpose, and others that do not seem to be wisely contrived. Do not these facts invahdate Teleology? Reply: Admitting the above proposition to be true, we may well lay the emphasis on the words "apparent" and "seem.'' Our inability to see design, or the wisdom of design, in any object does not disprove design, but simply proves our inability to perceive it. There are few things, however, in which we cannot see some wise purpose, even if it be only for man's moral discipline. A perfect world, one in which there were no trials and mysteries, certainly would not be well adapted to bring out the sturdy and heroic human virtues. There may be people to whom this argument makes no appeal, but they prove by that very token that their moral standards are not of a high order ; that they would prefer an exist- ence of mere automatic pleasure (Epicureanism) to one that develops moral character. Again, the general rule is that nature reveals design ; we should not make the exceptions the rule. Still again, many things that once were supposed to be useless have in recent years been proven to have great utility. This would indicate that further progress in science may prove that all things have their use, and it is part of God's design that men's minds shall be developed by their efforts to discover all His great and wise purposes. Moreover, it has been good for man both mentally and morally to trust the wisdom and good will of the Power that is back of the 46 A System of Natural Theism Universe. No doubt, too, the advent of sin introduced some confusion into the realm of nature just as it has brought discord into the human sphere. Pessimism — the philosophy of the daunted and discouraged — may see only the apparent defects in the cosmos; rational optim- ism sees the evils, but "trusts in God and does its best." 6. Objection: There are areas in the world where chance seems to rule. We speak of accidents, good luck, bad luck, chance, fortuity. These words connote reality, not mere fancy or delusion. A hundred dice blocks thrown down haphazard would never fall in a straight row and in consecutive order. Rocks hurled from the crater of a volcano fall in great confusion upon the surrounding country. Reply: There is just enough of a realm of chance in the world to prove how utterly inadequate it would be to account for the innumerable evidences of design. The instances of chance simply accentuate the instances of order and purpose. In reality, however, there is no chance in the world; all is controlled by law; only in some cases the law does not come sufficiently within the range of human intelligence to enable us to see the evidences of its operation and the purpose of its De- signer. Every dice block cast upon the floor falls into its place by the operation of inevitable laws, such as force, momentum, gravity, hardness, friction, etc. So with every rock hurled from a volcano. Summation of the argument: Teleology is evident in the cosmos; design connotes intelligence and will; intelligence and will connote per- sonality; therefore the primal cause of the cosmos, with Teleological Argument 47 its order and design, must be a Person. This Person the Theist calls God. V. TELEOLOGY PROVES GOD TO BE ALL- WISE AND INFINITE 1. There are reasoners who concede that design con- notes intelligence and personality, and therefore a God back of the cosmos; but they deny that it proves Him to be all-wise and infinite. They base their objections on the defects and imperfections in the natural and human realms. They also contend that the universe is not infinite — and this we grant; therefore its Maker need not be infinite — which we do not grant. 2. In refutation we offer the following considera- tions : (i) The processes of the cosmos are so intricate, so complicated, so inconceivably numerous, so profound and mysterious, that the human mind almost spontaneously feels that the wisdom which invented and created all of them, and set them in operation, and now upholds them, must be infinite. (2) In contriving and making the universe, with all its complexity and extent, the possible contingencies that might have arisen would demand an infinite intelligence to provide for all of them, and prevent any miscarriage of the vast and intricate plan. (3) The universe is so vast, and therefore its ultimate purpose must so be far-reaching, as to require omniscience as its most reasonable ground. To contrive so vast a plan, and then to uphold all its infinitesimal parts in the great 48 A System of Natural Theism unity of the original design, would require a wisdom which, so far as we can see, would have to be infinite. (4) If God is infinite in wisdom, it is reasonable to be- lieve that He must be infinite in all His other attributes; or, to put it still more cogently, it would be utterly absurd to suppose that God could be infinite in one attribute and finite in His other attributes and the essence of His being. Therefore the argument from Teleology proves that God is an Infinite Being or Personality. CHAPTER IV COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT^ I. DEFINITIONS 1. The etymology of the term cosmology: ko?juo?, world, and A0709, discourse. However, the derivation of the word does not give a real clue to the argument, and therefore the definition given below must be committed and understood. 2. Cosmos means a world of order, and is therefore the antithesis of chaos. 3. The Cosmological Argument is the argument that the cosmos is an efifect produced by a Primal Cause, which, from the nature of the case, must be a Person. Sometimes it is called the argument from causality, or from cause and effect.^ II. THE PRINCIPLE OF CAUSALITY: 1. Statement: Every effect and event must have an adequate cause. Some objection has been raised to the words "effect" and "cause" when thus connected, on the ground, as Valen- tine^ says, that "then the proposition would involve only 1. Here consult the authors in loco cited in the first footnote for Chap- ter III. 2. Also called the ^Etiological Argument from airla, cause, and \6yos- 3. "Natural Theology," p. 6i. 49 50 A System of Natural Theism the self-evidence of verbal correlatives." However, the mode of reasoning employed to establish this objection strikes us as vague and abstruse. "Effect" and "cause" may be verbal correlatives, but "event" and "cause" are essential correlatives, and therefore the logical process is the same whether the word "event" or the word "effect" is used. The simple statement, "Every effect must have an adequate cause," at once impresses the normal mind as an axiomatic truth — one that stands in its own inherent right, and needs no more proof than the statement that two plus two equal four, or that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points. Indeed, to our mind the word "effect" is better than the word "event," for the mind at once grasps the simple idea of effect, while it must always make more or less effort to get the full concept of an event. The idea of an effect is simple, meaning a result of any kind, while that of an event is complex, involving always the connotation that it must be something that has had a beginning, something that has come into being where there was nothing of the kind before. Of course both forms of statement are true: "Every effect must have an adequate cause" and "Every event must have an adequate cause." 2. Proofs of the principle: (i) It is a primary intuition of the human mind, like an axiom in mathematics. This, on the face of it, is a strong reason for its acceptance without any attempt at logical demonstration. Very few people would try to prove that 2 plus 2 equal 4. Most men would say that it is a necessary intuition in a world constructed as the present cosmos is and with such a mental constitution as human beings possess. Cosmological Argument 51 (2) It is practically a universal concept. The only persons who profess to doubt it are those men who be- come confused by metaphysical speculations, and who, therefore, demand a logical proof for propositions that are known only by the mind's natural intuitions and not by logical processes. Even logic itself has no function unless it accepts as reliable the native human intuitions. (3) The science of the day is all based on the funda- mental proposition that effects are really caused. When- ever an effect is noted in the physical or the psychical realm, the scientist of today invariably seeks for its cause, and demands that the cause be adequate. (4) To hold that we only imagine a casual connec- tion, when there is none, after all, is to assert that man is afflicted with mental impotence; that his mind is elementally false in its functioning. Kant's view that there is no real "nexus" between cause and effect makes human thought abortive. Hume and Mill, lost in specu- lations and depending only on logical processes, taught that there is only a time relation, only the relation of ante- cedent and consequent, between what we call cause and effect; but this is wrong, and for at least two reasons: a. The mind intuitively concludes that there is a real pro- ducing force in the antecedent that precedes the effect; and why should not the intuitional faculty be as reliable as the logical faculty? b. The mind cannot rest satis- fied without asking the question why such and such con- sequences invariably follow such and such antecedents, if there is no causal relation between them. Surely mere parallelism and coincidence are not adequate explanations. We stand firmly on the basis of the universal intuitions, experiences and concepts of human thought. 52 A System of Natural Theism IV. THE UNIVERSE AN EFFECT I. The universe is real, not imaginary. We have al- ready presented our reasons for accepting the native in- tuitions of the human mind.* Here we will simply state that the speculations of Kant and other advocates of the phenomenalistic school are not valid. Their contention is as follows : We do not know "things in themselves" — called noiimena — but know only phenomena. There- fore the human mind may be so constructed that it im- poses its own ''forms of thought" upon phenomena, and thus we cannot be sure that its intuitions of outward reality are true to the facts. Things may not be at all what they seem. The phenomena apprehended by the mind may not correspond at all to the things themselves, because the mind may distort them by its own constitu- tional bent and make-up. In reply we say, it is true, we do not know the essence of things, but only their phenomena. But why should not the phenomena give to the mind a true report of objec- tive reality as far as the mind is able to comprehend it? Is the world based on false and hypocritical principles? There is no evidence that such is the case. Then why should it be assumed or even imagined, that the human mind is afflicted with hallucination, so that it distorts ob- jective reality, and does not, so far as it is endowed with the ability, apprehend things in their true aspects and relations? Should it be said that we are often deluded by mirages, ignes fatui, and other mere appearances, we reply that we usually are able sooner or later to cor- 4. The problem of the nature and validity of knowledge, called Epis- temology, is one of the outstanding problems of philosophy. It is treated searchingly and extensively in Dr. Samuel Harris's "The Philosophical Basis of Theism," Chapters II-VII. The reader is also referred to Hib- ben's clear exposition in his "The Problems of Philosophy," Chapter VI. Cosmological Argument 53 rect such delusions by discovering the reality in the case. Besides, if there were no objective reality, there would not even be a mirage. Somewhere in the vicinity there must be the real landscape that is imaged on the rari- fied air. If you move toward the mirage, it will pres- ently disappear, and you will know that it was only a reflection, and hence an optical illusion; but if you see a real landscape and approach it, you will find it there. Thus human experience is able to distinguish between an illusion and a reality. If all the world were an illusion, no such distinction could be made. Nothing is clearer, either, than that the human mind readily distinguishes between a mere coincidence and a real case of cause and effect. For instance, if two persons, without any previous understanding, should happen to meet at the intersection of two roads, we would say at once that it was simply a coincidence. However, if they should previously arrange by telephone to meet at that particular place, we would say the result was due to a real and ade- quate cause. What absurdity of reasoning it would be to attribute all antecedents and consequents to mere coin- cidence or fortuity ! Again, it is quite gratuitous to assume that the human mind is so constructed as to be mal-apropos to the cosmos in which it is placed. Being here, and being highly en- dowed with certain distinguishing qualities, it is much more reasonable to believe that it has been made to fit truly into the environment in which it has been placed. If it is not; if it is deluded in all its intuitions, or if it sees everything in distorted form, then the world, includ- ing man, is a hodgepodge, not a cosmos. Then, too, we might as well abandon all efforts at arriving at scientific 54 A System of Natural Theism and philosophical truth. In that case, too, the con- clusions of skepticism and agnosticism would be just as unreliable. Let us cease to think altogether, if all our thinking is a delusion and a snare. The philosophy of Idealism goes further than that of mere phenomenalism (Kant and Comte), but we shall deal with it under its proper head in Part III of this work. 2. Being real, the universe is finite, because it is made up, as to its physical constitution, of finite parts, called atoms, aions or electrons ; and no number of finite parts added together could ever reach infinity. The same prop- osition is true of the mental world ; no addition of finite minds could ever aggregate an infinite mind. We think this statement self-evident. Yet the objection has been raised that an infinite number of parts added together would sum up infinity. But that is an unthinkable assump- tion, for you never could arrive at an infinite number of parts. The infinite belongs to a different category from the finite. It is not something that is either physical or partible. Moreover, if you even could add together an in- finite number of minds, you would simply have that many different minds, not an infinite unitary mind. Therefore we maintain that the only tenable position is that the uni- verse, however vast, is finite. 3. Being finite, the universe must be dependent. All its parts are found to be dependent; therefore as a whole it must be dependent. 4. Being finite and dependent, the universe must have had a beginning ; for if it were eternal, it could not be finite and dependent. How could it be infinite in one way, that of eternity, and finite in other respects? Then, if it were eternal, it would be self -existent, for it never Cosmological Argument 55 would have been brought into being ; but we have already proved from its finity that it must be dependent as a whole and in all its parts. 5. If the universe is finite and dependent and had a beginning, its inception must have been an effect and an event that demand an adequate cause outside of itself. An effect cannot be its own cause. The universe, there- fore, could not be its own cause. This leads us logically to our next proposition. V. THE CAUSE OF THE UNIVERSE 1. The Creator: If the universe is finite and dependent or contingent and had a beginning, it must have been created. If there ever was a time when it was not, there is no thinkable way of its having been brought into being save by an act of creation. But creation demands a Creator. 2. The Creator the First Cause : If the Creator of the universe was not the First Cause, He must have been created by another Creator; but we know nothing of one or more such intermediary beings. At all events, our thought must go back finally to the Primal Creator, for thought cannot rest in the idea of an infinite series of causes suspended on nothing. Such a conception spells nihilism of thought. 3. The First Cause eternal and uncaused : There is something now — that is, something really ex- ists at the present time. All the universe, including our- selves, is evidence of that fact. No normal mind will deny so self-evident a proposition. Now, if there ever 56 A System of Natural Theism was a time when there was nothing, nothing could have ever been. Therefore something must have always ex- isted. From this it follows that the ultimate or primal cause must be eternal and self -existent, the uncaused Cause of all other existences. 4. The First Cause a Person: (i) The creation of the universe must have been a free, voluntary act, not a coerced one. It is unreason- able to believe that the eternal, self-existent, independent First Cause should have been compelled by anything in Himself to create a world; and of course there was noth- ing outside of Himself yet in existence to coerce Him. Therefore we maintain that the creation of the universe must have been a free act of the Creator; but freedom can be predicated only of a person, never of a thing; there- fore the First Cause (or the Creator) must be a Person. (2) The universe is a cosmos, evincing order and de- sign in its constitution ; but order and design connote in- telligence and freedom, and intelligence and freedom con- note personality. Therefore the cosmos demands a Per- son as its only adequate Cause. (3) Human beings are part of the cosmos, and they are persons. The only adequate cause for such an effect is a First Cause who is a Person. How could personal- ities ever have evolved from an impersonal source? Re- member we are seeking for the scientific principle of an adequate cause for all events and effects. (4) Human personalities — a very important part of the universe — have self -consciousness, freedom, morality, and spirituality. The only adequate cause that could have produced these personal qualities must be a personal Cosmological Argument 57 Creator. Mere materialistic evolution would have been utterly inadequate to produce these great and unique re- sults. Can the scientific mind of the day rest satisfied in assigning anything but an adequate cause for all the phen- omena of the cosmos? Let us remember that human per- sonalities are phenomena of the highest order. High results demand a high cause — one that is adequate. To assign a cause that is insufficient is contrary to the scien- tific methods and temper of the day. 5. The First Cause infinite: (i) If the Creator were not infinite, there would be something greater than He — that is, infinity — and He would not, after all, be the First Cause, self-existent and eternal. (2) H the Creator were not infinite in power, He would sometime become exhausted in sustaining so vast a universe. (3) If He were not infinite in wisdom, a contingency might sometime arise for which He was not prepared, and that would hurl Himself and the universe to ruin. His wisdom must be equal to every possible emergency. His knowledge must be perfect so that He can never be surprised and disconcerted. (4) If He were not infinite in love, justice, and self- control. He would sometime do wrong, and that would bring about His own destruction and that of His universe. (5) The number of possible contingencies in so vast a universe would demand that its Maker and Preserver be infinite in all His attributes. The principle of caus- ality requires an infinite personal Being back of all the data and phenomena of the universe. 58 A System of Natural Theism VI. AN OBJECTION STATED AND REFUTED 1. Objection: It is just as difficult to account for God as for the mate- rial universe. Therefore why not accept the hypothesis that the universe itself is eternal, self-existent and uncaused ? 2. Refutation : Something now exists ; therefore something must have always existed. If there ever was a time when nothing existed, nothing could have ever come into existence. Ex fiihilo nihil fit. Now, is it not more reasonable to believe that the primal entity was an ordering Mind than that it was mere blind force? Place God back of the universe, and you have an adequate cause and explanation of the universe and all its varied phenomena. Deny God's exist- ence, and you have no adequate explanation of the exist- ence of a single atom, to say nothing of all the various forms of life, intelligence, morality and spiritual belief and experience. You are plunged into intellectual, moral and spiritual agnosticism. Your science and philosophy break to pieces at their very fountain head. You have a universe without an adequate cause. Therefore the Cosmological Argument, based on the sound scientific and philosophic principle of causality, demands a personal God back of the cosmos as the only adequate cause of its being and diversified phenomena; therefore it is the only scientific hypothesis. CHAPTER V ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT^ I. DEFINITION 1. Etymology of the term: Qv, ovTo^, being, and Aoyo?, discourse. The etymology, however, does not in itself give a clear idea of the precise form of the argument in Theism. See definition follow- ing: 2. Meaning o£ the term as used in Theism: The Ontological Argument is the argument that is based on the idea possessed by the human mind of a perfect and absolute Being. II. HISTORICAL SKETCH 1. The germs of the argument are found in Plato, who taught that our minds, in examining the cosmos, discover the evidence of ideas. If they were not there, our minds would not find them. Hence, he reasoned, there must be a Mind back of the cosmos whose ideas are reflected in its constitution and order. 2. The argument was first elaborated and put into syllogistic form by Anselm (1093-1109 A. D.), who was its first real proponent and defender. The Anselmic form I. See footnote i, Chapter III, and consult the several authors in loco, especially Valentine, Orr and Micou. 59 60 A System of Natural Theism of the argument is given with sHght modification under III below. 3. It was further developed and modified by Des- cartes, Butler, Cousin, Leibnitz, and Sir William Hamilton. 4. In the most recent times it has been acutely advo- cated in revised form by Dorner, Valentine, Orr, Fisher, Harris, Lindsay and Micou. III. STATEMENT OF THE ARGUMENT 1. The mind possesses the idea of the perfect and ab- solute Being; 2. Existence is a necessary attribute of such a Being, or He would not be perfect and absolute ; 3. Therefore such a Being must exist. IV. CRITICISM OF THE ARGUMENT The first and second statements are true as separate statements ; but they are not related to each other as the major and minor premises of a syllogism, because the existence of a being is not necessarily included in the idea of a being. The mere idea of a thing does not neces- sitate or connote its existence. You may imagine a Cen- taur, but you know that such a creature has no existence ; it is purely a creature of the fancy. True, the idea of a perfect and absolute Being is a unique idea, as we shall show later; yet even then we must admit that the above threefold statement is not a true syllogism, and hence does not carry conviction to most minds. The very fact that few persons follow the reasoning and feel its force proves that it is at least obscure; that there is a dark place somewhere in the argument. Compare it with a true logical syllogism, and note the diflference : Ontological Argument 61 1. All men are mortal; 2. John Jones is a man ; 3. Therefore John Jones is mortal. Here we see that the man mentioned in the minor prem- ise belongs to the class named in the major premise. For that reason the conclusion is inevitable. However, the same relation does not subsist between the major and minor premises in the Ontological Argument. V. VALUE OF THE ONTOLOGICAL ARGU- MENT When properly stated, the argument has real value, even if it does not have convincing force. To some classes of minds it makes a very distinct appeal, while to a few it is regarded as the crowning proof of the divine existence. Let us note how far its validity extends. I. The idea of a perfect, absolute Being is, after some thought, found to be a necessary idea of the human mind. It is not a pure intuition, but follows necessarily from certain postulates of human thinking and experi- ence, such as the following : having the idea of the rela- tive, which all of us have, we cannot help thinking of the absolute; so the idea of the dependent implies the idea of the independent ; the derived the idea of the underived ; all effects and events the idea of an original uncaused Cause. We know that the relative, dependent and de- rived exist, for we see them all about us, and realize that we belong to the same category. But the moment you think of the contingent matters, that moment you get an inevitable conception of the ultimate uncontingent ground and basis of them all. Now, note : If the perfect and absolute Being does not 62 A System of Natural Theism exist, our necessary ideas are false, and our minds have been so constructed as to delude us. On the other hand, if the perfect and absolute Being really exists, our neces- sary ideas have a true basis, and the mind, when it func- tions fundamentally, may be trusted. Herein lies the singular force of this argument — that the idea of the per- fect Being is a necessary idea of the human mind, whereas the idea of an imaginary being, or even a finite being, is not a necessary one. 2. Let us now put the Ontological Argument in its proper syllogistic form: Major Premise : The human mind possesses the neces- sary idea of a perfect and absolute Being. Minor Premise: Existence is a necessary attribute of such a Being. Conclusion: Ergo, such a Being must exist, or our necessary ideas are null and void. You will observe that the legitimacy of the syllogism rests on the contingency of the or in the conclusion. On the ground that the intuitions and normal inferences of the human mind are valid and trustworthy, the method of reasoning is convincing. None but the phenomenalists will question it; and they, judged by their own theories of knowledge, cannot trust the vaHdity of their own ques- tioning. 3. The Ontological Argument may be combined with the Cosmological with singular force as follows: We have the idea of the perfect and absolute Being; and it comes to us, not as a freak of the imagination, but either as an intuition or a necessary inference. If there is no such Being, whence came the idea of Him to the human mind? How could it ever have arisen in human Ontological Argument 63 thought ? Nothing can rise higher than its source ; noth- ing can be evolved that was not previously involved. Therefore the only adequate explanation of our necessary idea of a perfect Being is the existence of that Being as the source and cause of the idea. CHAPTER VI MORAL ARGUMENT^ I. DEFINITION The Moral Argument is the proof of the divine exist- ence which is based on the moral constitution of man and the moral order of the world. II. RELATION TO COSMOLOGY There is a sense in which the Moral Argument might be regarded as a division of the Cosmological proof. The latter seeks to find the adequate cause for the cosmos, of which moral facts and phenomena are an integral part. Thus it might be thought that, in seeking for the adequate cause of morality, we are dealing purely and simply with the Cosmological Argument. However, there are four reasons why we believe the Moral Argument is suffi- ciently distinctive to deserve a place as a major division in our theistic system, co-ordinate with the other out- standing proofs. They are the following : 1. Cosmology deals more largely with the cosmos as a physical system, and touches only incidentally on moral phenomena. 2. The cardinal thought in the Cosmological Argu- ment is the view of the universe as contingent, finite I. See footnote i, Chapter III, and compare the several authors in loco. On this thesis Valentine, Balfour and Micou are especially cogent. 64 Moral Argument 65 and dependent, and therefore as demanding a personal, self -existent and eternal Cause to bring it into being and to sustain it in all its parts and relations. The moral order of the world would not, therefore, belong element- ally to this conception. 3. The ethical phenomenon is so unique in its very idea, involving conscience, freedom and moral distinc- tions, that it may well claim a place that is all its own among the theistic evidences. 4. Morality is so large, important and vital a fact in the world of humanity, and is so decisive for human welfare, that it should not be assigned merely a minor place in a system of Theism. In making evaluations, moral data are of more importance than all the physical facts of the universe. The best and noblest thinking would say that the physical has been made for the sake of the moral and spiritual, not the reverse. The summum bonum is ethical being and achievement, not merely pleas- ure and utility, whether physical or psychical. This being true, surely the argument for the divine existence derived from the moral data of the world deserves a major posi- tion; indeed, its importance would not permit it to be relegated to an inconspicuous or subordinate place. Even our highest conception of God must be that He is an ethical Being. Note the Trisagion of the Bible: "Holy, holy, holy art thou. Lord God Almighty." ni. STATEMENT OF THE ARGUMENT 1. Man's Moral nature: ( I ) That man has a moral constitution scarcely needs argument. He has a conscience faculty that discerns moral distinctions, creates a moral imperative within him, 66 A System of Natural Theism and gives him a sense of responsibility to the law over him and the moral Personality back of the law. True joy comes to him only from right being and conduct ; never from wrong. Moreover, the ethical phenomenon is prac- tically universal. There are no nations on the earth which do not have some sense of right and wrong. This fact is writ large on the human constitution everywhere. (2) Among ethicists there are differences of opinion as to the origin and nature of conscience, some holding that it is a distinct power of the human soul, innate and divinely implanted ; others maintain that it is an acquired power of functioning, the result of accumulated expe- riences. However, this diversity of view does not invah- date the fact of conscience, for, whatever may be its genesis, it persists everywhere in recognizing moral dis- tinctions, and is perhaps the most dominating factor in human life, especially in moulding the true character and securing the real advancement of the human race. (3) The fact of diversity of moral judgments among men does not nullify conscience or moral distinctions. That there is such variety of moral judgment must be admitted. Some tribes have practices that they regard as right, but that other nations condemn as entirely unethical. Even different individuals in civilized lands often subscribe to different moral codes, some condemn- ing what others approve. However, the fundamental or primary fact of moral distinctions still persists. The dif- ferences are only in the sphere of secondary moral judg- ments, not in the elemental realm of morality. There are no nations which utterly wipe out the difference between right and wrong. Even the pagan mother who sacrifices her babe to appease the gods does this because she thinks Moral Argument 67 it is right. As soon as her moral judgment is corrected by Christian teaching, she ceases her heathen practice, and rejoices in the higher Hght that has broken into her benighted mind. This proves that, however moral judg- ments may be obscured, the primary fact of moral distinc- tions and a cognizing moral faculty still remain intact. It should also be remembered that many tribes have very erroneous ideas of scientific facts. This does not prove that the human mind does not have a real scientific fac- ulty, nor that there is no true basis for science in the cosmos. Indeed, it cannot be denied that some tribes which have exceedingly crude idea of physical science, yet possess surprisingly high moral standards. It is said that the virtue of the Zulu women puts to shame the low standards of sexual virtue that frequently obtain in so-called civiHzed communities.^ (4) That moral judgments are capable of improve- ment does not destroy the moral faculty in man. All man's faculties are imperfectly developed in the immature state, and must be cultivated. Nobody holds that, on this account, man has no intellectual powers. (5) Sometimes it is objected that conscience, after all, is not an infallible guide even in its own sphere, that of morality, which proves, the opponent asserts, that con- science is not an innate power of the human mind. But the argument is not valid. No human faculty is infallible even in its distinct sphere. Sense perception is not infal- lible in cognizing the objective world; the logical faculty is not infallible in pursuing the praxis of ratiocination; the scientific faculty is liable to err ; the memory is imper- fect; so with all the psychical powers. Yet no one, be- 2. Valentine, "Theoretical Ethics," p. 44. 68 A System of Natural Theism cause of this general fallibility, denies the reality of man's mental make-up and of its several functioning powers. (6) That a distinct moral faculty is native to the human mind is evident from the unique character of its perceptions and feelings. Moral phenomena are sui generis. Ethics deals with the distinct sphere of the right and the wrong, which is different from the sphere of the physical, the purely pleasurable and utihtarian, the logical, the scientific, the esthetic. The question, 'Ts it right?" is the problem of ethics, and differs in kind, and not merely in degree or quality, from all other questions. Now, conscience is the specialized faculty for discerning this peculiar body of facts, namely, the ethical phenomena, the right and the wrong. Its objects of discernment are different in kind from those of sense perception, mathe- matical demonstration, logical practice, etc. The ethical emotions are also distinct from those that are stirred by any other psychical cognitions, being the feelings of ''ought," duty, moral approval, moral aversion, guilt and remorse. When you say, "I feel that such a course is right," you delimit that feeHng from every other feeling of which you are capable. All these facts prove conclu- sively that man has a moral constitution and a specific moral faculty or functioning power. (7) The outstanding and paramount character of moral phenomena help to prove the reality of man's moral nature. All true progress and civilization depend upon the recognition of moral distinctions and the practice of moral principles. Society itself could not cohere without such recognition and practice. Human government is based largely on the fact that man has an innate power of Moral Argument 69 distinguishing between right and wrong. Otherwise all penal sanctions would be vain and foolish. (8) It is not likely that man would have been framed in a cosmos where moral phenomena are so universal, dominant and vitally important without being endued with a specialized faculty for apprehending them. In other ways he is wonderfully fitted into the cosmical order; so it is reasonable to believe that he is adapted to the moral order, and it is unreasonable to think that he is not. (9) At this place we cannot enter the discussion of the doctrine of the freedom of the will ; we must be con- tent to say that universal consciousness attests that the human will has the power of choice; that man is not merely an automaton. This being true, the fact of free- dom of choice connotes that man must be a moral being, with the power to elect either right or wrong. Therefore, he must have a faculty to discern the difference and antagonism between them. 2. The moral order of the world : (i) No matter how we explain it, there is a power in the universe ''that makes for righteousness." It may not always appear on the surface, but pro founder study of nature in its relation to human life and history always discloses the truth. We see virtue rewarded, and applaud it ; crime punished, and sanction it. History has a way of vindicating the right even though sometimes tardily. No bad man is ever honored long by succeeding generations, whereas the men who have wrought for right principles are held in grateful esteem. "The memory of the right- eous is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot" (Prov. 10:7). 70 A System of Natural Theism (2) Society and government are based on a moral order; otherwise, they could not exist. (3) There are also natural consequences of right and wrong conduct, thus proving a moral order — at least, that the natural realm has been fitted to sustain and advance the ethical law. The debauchee sooner or later suffers the consequences of his immoral life, and he and others recognize his sufferings as condign retribution. On the other hand, the physically virtuous man is free from those sufferings which are intuitively regarded as penal. If he must suffer pain, it is generally looked upon as a natural consequence or a disciplinary measure, and not as a puni- tive affliction. And when sufferings are visited upon the innocent, men usually feel that it is a temporary wrong for which ample compensation will be made in the future life, when equity and justice shall prevail; when there shall be ''new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (2 Pet. 3: 13). (4) The world (and this includes both the natural and the human realms) is so constituted as to give man constant opportunity to choose between right and wrong. For example, here are two paths which a man may pur- sue — the one may lead to the house of sin, the other to the house of worship. The man has the power of option between the two. What stronger proof could there be that the natural realm is itself so constituted as to furnish an arena for moral action and achievement? 3. A moral economy demands a personal Creator and Governor: (i) The moral could never have evolved from the non-moral merely by means of natural or resident forces. If the doctrine of evolution is true at all, it postulates Moral Argument 71 a moral Being at the beginning of the process who in- volved seminally all the facts and principles that were subsequently evolved. (2) Moral qualities can be predicated only of persons. You cannot correctly assign moral attributes to a thing or an animal. Rational personality alone can constitute moral agency. Hence the ultimate ground of all moral data must be a Person — God. (3) Man's feeling of responsibility connotes a per- sonal Being to whom he is amenable. Man cannot have a sense of responsibility merely to an abstract law, if there is no lawgiver and executor back of it. Think of the absurdity of a man saying, "I feel that I must some day give an account to the laws of nature!" Much more rational and profound is the teaching of the great- est ethical book in the world: "So then every one of us shall give account of himself unto God" (Rom. 14:12). (4) The injustice and inequality now so apparent in the world demand an all-wise and righteous Being who will sometime right every wrong and usher in the ulti- mate triumph and reign of truth and justice. Without such a belief men must conclude that they live in a world of insoluble riddles, without any hope that they shall ever be deciphered. Such pessimism and hopelessness do not agree with the almost universal feeling of a golden age to come. Moreover, it would not agree with the patent fact that the world is a cosmos, that it has a moral order, and that man, its chief denizen, is an ethical being. (5) A profound philosopher like Kant, who could not appreciate the force of the other theistic arguments, was convinced of the divine existence through the Moral 72 A System of Natural Theism Argument. The gist of his teaching was this : Man's con- science feels the moral imperative within it and over it, and this so powerfully that it cannot be evaded; but a moral imperative connotes an objective moral law ; an objective moral law can be accounted for only by a real moral Personality who is its ground, source, author and administrant. To the man who has not stultified his con- science by wrong thinking or wrong doing, or both, the argument of the great critical philosopher surely must be convincing. (6) Theism affords an adequate explanation of the moral phenomena of the world. In positing an infinite and perfect moral Personality back of the universe as its Creator and Ruler, it certainly assigns a sufficient cause for all moral data and developments. No other concep- tion is adequate. Surely Materialism, Pantheism and Agnosticism are not adequate. Therefore, Theism is the most scientific hypothesis. (7) In order to be as thorough-going as possible in our argument, we must here take note of an objection that the skeptic is likely to raise : There is wrong in the world as well as right, immorality as well as morality. Must not wrong, therefore, have an eternal basis in fact? How could it ever have evolved if it is not eternal in seminal form? Reply: Right and wrong are not entities, but quali- ties. And they are qualities of certain kinds of entities, namely, rational personalities. Now right is a positive quality; therefore, as soon as there is a rational person,, he must be a moral being, if there is to be a moral econ- omy; and we have already proved that the world is such an economy. However, wrong, being only a negative Moral Argument 73 quality, that is, the negation of the right, it is not a necessary quaHty of a personal being. In a moral uni- verse the wrong is only an eternal possibility, and is contingent on the choice of a free being. A being who is not free would not be an ethical being ; he would be a machine or automaton. As a free being, it is possible for him to do wrong, but not necessary, for were it nec- essary, he would not be a free being. Thus we see that wrong is not necessarily existent from eternity, but is only a possibility contingent on free choice — a possibility which God never desired should become an actuality, but which He could not prevent by force and yet leave man a moral agent. Thus we say that wrong is not an eter- nal actuality, but only an eternal possibility. In this prin- ciple lies the uniqueness of ethical facts ; they are depend- ent on the initiating power of free will ; otherwise there could be no morality. Let us illustrate. In a certain class-room there is per- fect order. Does not that very fact, however, connote the possibility of disorder. But disorder is something that ought not to be made actual ; it ought to remain only a possibility. Again, suppose a student stands at the blackboard solving a problem in mathematics. There is a true way of solving it; but that fact connotes the pos- sibility of error. However, he should avoid bringing the error into actuality. Just so in the moral sphere — except that a moral error is a great deal more serious than merely an intellectual error. So we say that the right, the moral, being a positive quality or attribute, must be an eternal fact dwelling in a moral personality, or it never could have brought forth a moral cosmos with moral beings ; but the wrong or the 74 A System of Natural Theism immoral was only an eternal possibility, which should never have been converted into actuality. Should the objection be made that the eternal moral Personality — God — might have prevented the commission of the wrong, we reply : He could have done so only by destroying the freedom of the moral agents He had cre- ated, or by refraining from creating moral agents at all. Since man is in the world, and is a moral agent, we know that God created moral agents. In His wisdom He evidently knew that it was better to create moral beings than mere happy automata or mere material mechanisms. Since moral excellence is the noblest kind of excellence, the true ethicist cannot help approving God's choice and adventure. The man who says that God should not have made moral agents, but only automatically happy beings, proves by that very token that he has extremely crass moral ideals. He is a man who will "bear watching." He is an opportunist and an epicurean. 4. Moral influence of Theism: (i) Truth promotes human welfare; error blights it. li Theism is found to be useful in the highest sense of the term, as it is, that fact is a cogent argument in its favor. (2) Belief in a God to whom men realize that they are responsible and who takes pleasure in right doing and feels displeasure in wrong doing, must act as a stimulant to virtue and a deterrent to vice. History and experience prove that the clearer and stronger the belief in a personal God has been, the more salutary have been the results. (3) While atheism or agnosticism may construct some sort of an ethical system, it is most conspicuous for its failure, as, for example, Herbert Spencer's ''Data of Ethics," where the ideas of right and wrong are resolved Moral Argument 75 into mere utility and pleasure. Any system that thus interprets the ethical principles of the world cannot help lowering the standard of ethical practice, if generally accepted. (4) As a matter of fact, atheism leads to laxity of morals with individuals and communities. The atheists of a neighborhood are never its moral glory and inspira- tion ; they never help to bring about truly moral reforms, but are more apt to oppose them. The terrors of the French revolution might be taken as an example. Anarch- ists, nihilists, and other "dangerous classes" are almost invariably atheistic.^ On the other hand, the men who have really turned the currents of history and civilization upward have almost to a man been earnest and whole- hearted theists. As a rule, they have appealed to God to aid them in their unselfish moral endeavors. (5) If theists have ever been guilty of crimes, it was because they held gross and unethical conceptions of God. The history of the world furnishes scarcely an exception to the rule that men who have earnestly believed in the divine Being as the good and holy God to whom they were responsible have been men of upright and benevolent character. One might cite Moses, Samuel, Paul, and, in a still higher degree, Christ Himself, who beHeved in God and sought to do His will. 3. Goldwin Smith: "The denial of the existence of God and of a future state is, in a word, the dethronement of conscience." Although this state- ment is cited in a footnote in Chapter I, it is quoted here again on account of its relevancy. CHAPTER VII ESTHETICAL ARGUMENT I. DEFINITION The Esthetical Argument^ is the argument for the divine existence which is based on the presence of beauty and subHmity in the universe. II. THE FACT OF BEAUTY 1. In nature: There are beauty and sublimity in the natural realm. Let it be freely admitted that there is much in nature that is ugly and repulsive; much that is dreary and monoto- nous ; much that can be called neither attractive nor repel- lent. Yet, on the other hand, many parts of the natural realm are truly and even exquisitely lovely : the green of field, meadow and foliage; the variegated flowers; the undulating landscapes; the rivers and lakes sparkling in the sunshine; the glorious sunsets; the exquisite tinting of the plumage of many birds, especially of tanagers, humming birds and birds of Paradise; mountain scenery; the glory of the hills and valleys. All nature might have been made humdrum, but for some reason much of it has been arrayed in beauty and grandeur, and these attributes I. An eloquent chapter on the argument from the beautiful is found in Micou's ''Basic Ideas in Religion." A. J. Balfour has also employed this proof with lingular force and delicacy of style in his "Theism and Human- ism." 76 Esthetical Argument 77 are adapted to stir a responding chord in the mind of man, causing him interest and dehght. 2. In the human physique : No people appreciated the beauty of the human face and form more than did the Greeks, as their many works of art testify. The Venus de Milo is said to be the most truthful and beautiful replica of the female form. The Apollo Belvedere is the classic representation of mascu- line beauty. It may be freely admitted that there are many people who are far from attractive, while others are repulsive; yet there is much physical attractiveness among men, women and children. We may well ask why there is physical human beauty at all. Such beauty also strikes a responsive chord in the mind of man. 3. In human art : ( 1 ) The productions of human skill in drawing, paint- ing and sculpturing all bear witness to the fact there is a large element of the esthetic in the world. Man might have been so constituted as to drag out a monoto- nous existence without such a means of delight and exhilaration. (2) Literature also betokens an element of beauty in the world. True, much writing is prosaic enough, and "of the making of books there is no end." However, there are such things as literary art, the beauty of style, the smoothness of diction, the exquisite turning of phrases, the delight of pure simplicity and limpidness, the rhyme and rhythtn of poetry. Such appreciation is writ large on the human soul. We may well ask why. (3) In no human efforts is the fact of beauty more clearly evinced than in music. Listen to the sweet and 78 A System of Natural Theism simple melody ; to the soul-stirring oratorio ; to the sweep- ing orchestra. Man might have been made without this capacity. Why was music put into his soul?^ III. MAN'S ESTHETIC FACULTY To correspond with, and respond to, all the beauty in the world, man has an esthetic capacity. His eye sees the marvelous colors on the evening sky, or the profound depths of the starlit dome at night, and there is some- thing in his soul that appreciates. His eye alone could not feel such a thrill and uplift. He feels that it is a spiritual emotion. The same is true of his delight in all forms of beauty. While there are persons who are unre- sponsive to the appeal of beauty, there are multitudes whose chief pleasure in life is admiration of beauty in its varied forms and phenomena. The horse and the dog, however intelligent in other ways, show no appreciation of beauty, though they may at times be frightened by the terrible. Stand with your well-trained family horse on a hilltop, and try to interest him in the glory of the sun- set ; you will find that, if he notes it at all, he has no means of showing his appreciation. He has not been endued with the esthetic faculty. IV. THE RATIONAL INFERENCE 1. Evidence of design: Since so much beauty and grandeur mark the universe, and since man has a natural esthetic taste to match them, the rational conclusion is that the cosmical beauty and man's taste must have been designed to complement each «. We also speak of moral beauty by which we mean true moral excel- lence and symmetry. However, it is perhaps only a figure of speech. Esthetical Argument 79 other. If this is not true, the universe has not been con- structed on rational principles. Then how can it be a cosmos instead of a chaos? And how can it be intelligible to reason? However, if there was intentionality in fitting together the beauty of the cosmos and man's esthetic fac- ulty, intentionality connotes intelligence and will, which in turn connote personality. Therefore, the designer must be a Person — God. ^- 2. Evidence o£ beneficent design: The universe might have been made a dreary waste, and man might have been created without esthetic appre- ciation. But how dull and monotonous would have been his existence ! For what other reason, then, could beauty have been added to the cosmos than for man's delight? For what other reason could his taste for the beautiful have been given him? But such a purpose connotes, not only a personal Designer, but also a beneficent one. Hence reason drives us back to God as the intelligent cause of the esthetic element in the world and the esthetic taste in man. / 3. Evidence of divine love of the beautiful: There is much beauty in the world that is never seen by man. "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen," etc. In most out-of-the-way locaHties there is most ex- quisite beauty, and doubtless has been for centuries, for the moment man discovers it unexpectedly, it is there in its completeness, not adding to its pristine beauty because of his presence. How many rare flowers have bloomed and perished; how many lovely shells and plants have existed for centuries at the bottom of the sea ; how many consummately beautiful birds have lived and died; how 80 A System of Natural Theism many delicately tinted sunsets have flamed and faded — all of them before a human eye could behold them and a human soul rejoice in them! Then why all this unnoted beauty? Ah! was it unnoted? What is its rationale? Was it merely an age-long waste ? Was so much beauty created without a purpose? Suppose we simply assume that there is a Creator and Preserver who, like ourselves, loves the beautiful in all its forms, would not that assump- tion offer a rational explanation of all the phenomenal beauty and magnificence there are in the world? If this is not the true explication, there is none that is rational and adequate. Hence both teleology and cosmology in the realm of beauty point indubitably to a personal Creator and Sustainer. Here we must add that many objects that to human ken at first seem to be repellent are found, on closer investi- gation, to be rarely fascinating. Look at a toad's skin through a microscope, and note that it sparkles with gems of many facets. The same is true of a common pebble. The skin of the serpent is set with many diamonds. Per- haps when we come to see nature "face to face," we shall find that all her forms are beautiful. Even the atoms and electrons, and also the universal ether itself, may be made with rarely beautiful forms and colored with ex- quisite tints. Who knows but this may be the meaning of the New Testament Apocalypse, which speaks of the jasper walls, gates of pearl, golden streets, river and tree of life, and alabaster throne of the New Jerusalem? However that may be, the rational explanation of the unseen beauty in the world is that God Himself sees and appreciates it. Add to this the arguments in the preced- ing sections, namely, that God endowed man with the Esthetical Argument 81 esthetic faculty to mate with the beauty in nature, and you have ample reason for believing in a beneficent and beauty- loving Ordainer; and reason, too, that is founded, not merely on sentiment, but also on scientific processes of thought. 4. Purpose of the repulsive: ( 1 ) The skeptic is apt to raise the objection that there is much in the world that is disagreeable. Hence, pass- ing by all the beautiful and sublime in the world, he sees only the offensive, becomes pessimistic, and either denies that there is a God, or questions His goodness and love. It may be frankly admitted that the presence of the offensive in the world, and that in large amounts, is in many respects a mystery ; and perhaps no explanation can be given that will satisfy all minds. Yet so many amelio- rating explanations of the difficulty may be given that there is no sufficient reason to become atheistic or pessi- mistic over the problem. (2) The commonplace accentuates the interesting, and the repellent brings out more sharply the beautiful. Whatever might be the case in a perfect world, tenanted by perfect people, we know that in the world as it is we have a keener appreciation of the beautiful because of the presence of its opposite. After riding on the train for hours over the dreary, monotonous plains of the West, how you exclaim with delight when you suddenly come upon an irrigated area gleaming in rich and variegated hues in the sun ! Formed as we are, therefore, we appre- ciate beauty all the more by way of contrast. (3) After all, as has been said (section 3 above), all things may be beautiful in their essence, even the univer- 82 A System of Natural Theism sal ether, the electrons and the atoms. It may be that it is only the temporary functioning and condition of some parts of nature that are offensive in our present limited status. 1/ (4) There is very likely a moral purpose in the dis- agreeable and difficult. Object as we will to the present order of the world, we know that many of the finest, and especially the sturdiest and most heroic, virtues are pos- sible only in a world of struggle. Certainly if all nature were beautiful, pleasant and prolific in itself, there would be no chance to develop the noble virtues of diligence, bravery, patience, initiative and enterprise. Morally all men would be weak and supine. Now, if true moral excellence is the highest quality in the world, men ought not to find fault with the very regime that gives oppor- tunity for its achievement. Therefore it would seem that the Creator, being a moral Being Himself and desiring His world to be a moral economy, was profoundly wise in making the cosmos just as it is — with enough of the good and beautiful to stimulate man, and prevent his being daunted and overcome, and yet enough of the hard and unbeautiful to test and discipline his moral powers. Will the skeptic tell us what kind of regime could have accomplished this exalted purpose so effectively as the present one? (5) On theistic grounds there is a sure hope that sometime the problem of the commonplace and repellent will, Hke all the other puzzling problems of our mundane existence, be solved; for if there is a God who is good and beneficent, He will not forever leave the questions of the soul remain unanswered. On the other hand, the Atheist and Materialist have no such prospect ; according Esthetical Argument 83 to their theory, all men will sooner or later die and sink into eternal oblivion. Here the words of a great Book are assuring : "Now we see in a glass darkly ; but then face to face: now we know in part; but then we shall know even also as we are known" (i Cor. 13:12). 5. Purpose o£ the sublime: A few words should be added on this thesis. Nature is sometimes grandly beautiful ; she stirs within us feel- ings of reverence, worship and awe. The Alpine heights, the deep canons, the majestic sweep of the storm, the glory of the starlit heavens at night — all beget within us these noble emotions. Now what is the obvious purpose of the sublime in nature ? Is not to stir in man's soul the emotions that have been mentioned ? Can any other pur- pose be named? At all events, that purpose is accom- plished, and man is made better and happier thereby. If such is the purpose of the sublime in the universe, there must have been a personal Creator who held the purpose in mind and carried it out in the structure of the world. Who knows but that the Psalmist assigned the highest possible reason for sublimity and majesty in the universe when he exclaimed: 'The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork" (Ps. 19 : i) ? Yes ; if the universe is constructed on a rational plan at all, and is not a mere idle and purposeless mech- anism, the argument for the divine existence from the sublime and the beautiful is vindicated. The alternatives of a rational universe or an irrational one are set before every thinker, and he must make his choice. PART III ANTI-THEISTIC THEORIES^ CHAPTER VIII ATHEISM AND MATERIALISM I. DEFINITIONS 1. 0£ Atheism: Atheism is the teaching that there is no God. It is mere negation, and therefore is no science or philosophy. 2. Of Materialism: Materialism is the teaching that the only entity is material substance. 3. Distinction between Atheism and Materialism: Materialism is simply the positive pole of Atheism ; in addition to the mere negation of the divine existence, Materiahsm asserts positively that the only entity is mate- rial substance, which is the source, basis and explanation of all things. It is pure materialistic monism. All materialists are atheists, and all atheists who make any positive assertions dre materialists; hence in confuting the errors of the one class we confute those of the other. I. The classical work on all these defective world-views is Flint's "Anti- Theistic Theories." 84 Atheism and Materialism 85 11. ERRORS OF MATERIALISM^ 1. It is superficial: It stops with material substance, whereas thought can readily go back further— to a Supreme Personal God, who is the intelligent Creator and Preserver. But fur- ther back than Theism goes thought cannot travel without being lost in an unending series resting on nothing. The ultima thule of human thinking is the self-existent, per- sonal Being we call God. 2. It is based on chance: If there is nothing but material substance ; if there is no creative and superintending Intelligence back of the universe, it must be a mere happen-so, a mere fortuitous concourse of things and events. But the world is a cos- mos, not a chaos. How could chance ever produce a world whose most dominating principle is that of order and law? That would be tantamount to bringing some- thing out of nothing. It would make the effect greater than the cause.^ 3. It is opposed to the most universal belief o£ mankind : All nations are theistic. There is not a nation or tribe that is atheistic. If there is no God, nothing but material substance, how does it occur that almost all men believe in God? Could mere material substance, by means of mere resident forces, ever produce or evolve even the 3. Consult the following: Sheldon "Unbelief in the Nineteenth Cen- tury," pp. 42-77; Orr, "The Christian View of God and the World, pp. 142- ,To^'402. 403; Fisher', "The Grounds of Theistic and Christian Belief "pp 68-72T Christlieb, "Modern Doubt and Christian Belief. pp. i45-x6x, Micou. "Basic Ideas in Religion," pp. 207-229, and other references; Harrw, "The Philosophic Basis of Theism," pp. 428-554 (profound). 3. Vide Micou, ut supra, pp. 2i3f. 86 A System of Natural Theism idea of God ? How much less so universal and dominant an idea, so persistent a conviction! If material sub- stance causes all men to believe there is a God when there is none, then material substance must be a uni- versal liar. 4. Materialism makes the world eternal: The world cannot be eternal and uncreated for three reasons: (i) It is finite, contingent and dependent, be- cause all its parts are so, as we have shown in a pre- vious thesis, and therefore it cannot be self-existent, abso- lute and eternal. (2) It is a developing universe; so de- clared to be by the science of the day ; therefore it must have had a beginning, because if it were eternal and yet developing, it should have reached its present stage of evolution long ago, for it had eternity in which to unfold and progress. That which develops must have had a beginning; only that which is perfect and self-existent can be eternal. Therefore in positing the material world as eternal, Materialism is irrational. (3) The science of the day goes back to beginnings, and finds them. It teaches that there was a time when man, animals and vege- tables began to be ; when the present form of the universe had its genesis. Reasoning by analogy, we may conclude that material substance itself did not always exist, but had a beginning in time. 5. Materialism is unscientific because inadequate : It offers no adequate explanation of the advent of the following phenomena of the universe: Matter, force, life, sentiency, consciousness, freedom, morality, spiritu- ality. These are the outstanding facts, those that are crucial in working out a philosophy. A hypothesis that Atheism and Materialism 87 does not afford an adequate solution of any of the vital problems raised by the human mind is surely neither scientific nor philosophical. It fails precisely where it ought to show its strength and sufficiency. Compare the hypothesis of Theism, which offers an adequate explana- tion of all the facts and phenomena of the universe, be- cause it places a sufficient foundation under the whole structure. 6. Materialism is unpsychological : It denies the reality of mind, and attributes thought to mere brain secretion and molecular action. Feuerbach asserts: "Man is what he eats." Says Cabanis: "The brain secretes thought as the liver secretes bile." Here is the dictum of Carl Vogt : "As contraction is the func- tion of muscles, and as the kidneys secrete urine, so, and in the same way, does the brain generate thoughts, move- ments and feelings." Let us for a moment scrutinize the second of these statements, for all three mean the same thing. The liver secretes bile. True enough ; but the bile secreted by the liver is material substance, just as the liver itself is mate- rial substance. Not so with thought, which, while it has its connection with the brain, is not material at all, is not even a thing, an entity, but purely a psychical prod- uct and function. Bile and thought are so different in their very nature that they belong to entirely different categories. It is a sign of crude and superficial think- ing to put them into the same class. Bile is a substance ; thought is only a function of a substance. Bile is inert ; thought is self-moving. Bile is unconscious; thought is conscious. Bile is visible, palpable; thought and mind 88 A System of Natural Theism are invisible, impalpable. They are utterly different. If the brain as mere material substance produces mind and thought, then the effect is greater than the cause, and we have another case of something coming from nothing. Here again the maxim, ex nihilo nihil fit, must be applied. No ; mind and matter are different quiddities ; yet they are vitally united in human beings by an all-wise Creator for a clear, definite and exalted purpose. While by an empirical mode of reasoning we cannot explain the won- derful connection between mind and matter, the philos- ophy of dualism has the decided advantage that it assigns an adequate cause for all the known effects. 7. Moral weakness of Materialism: (i) It virtually destroys the validity of moral distinc- tions, and affords no true and adequate ground of right; for if there is no moral Person back of and in the uni- verse, what makes one thing right and another wrong? Hence Materialism, if generally accepted, would have a pernicious effect on individuals and society. (2) It affords no comfort and hope in sorrow, and would therefore lead to ennui and pessimism; which would also be harmful in their practical effects on the race. (3) It nullifies all expectation of personal and con- scious immortality, and hence affords no ray of hope of the ultimate solution of man's many perplexing prob- lems; no hope that the wrongs of life will ever be made right. Such hopelessness would surely be morally depleting. (4) In its very nature it is crass and debasing; of the earth, earthy; tending to destroy the higher and nobler Atheism and Materialism 89 aspirations of the soul. As a matter of fact, the material- istic schools do not uphold a high standard of morality, but are disposed to be hedonists in ethics. "Ye shall know them by their fruits." In a word, for moral upUft and exhilaration MateriaHsm will bear no comparison with Theism. CHAPTER IX DEISM L EXPLANATION 1. Definition: Deism is the view that God created the universe, then forsook it, and reHnquished it to the operation of second- ary causes. 2. Derivation of term: The word Deism is derived from the Latin Dens, God. Its etymology does not give a clue to its peculiar tech- nical meaning in scientific works. See next division. 3. Technical meaning: Deism believes in a personal God as the Creator of the universe with all its laws. However, it holds that, after creating the universe, God gave it over to the control of those laws. Hence it denies the divine immanence and providence, and is especially opposed to the doc- trine of a special divine revelation, such as we have in the Bible, and contends that the light of nature and rea- son is sufficient for man's guidance. It advocates the so-called "religion of nature," that is, that a study of nature gives to man all the light he needs to make him a truly religious being. 90 Deism 91 4. Comparison with Theism: The word Deism is derived from the Latin word for God, while Theism is derived from the Greek. So far, therefore, as their etymologies are concerned, Deism and Theism might mean the same thing. However, in scien- tific and philosophical works these words have come to have a technical significance. The two views agree in holding that God is a personal Being and that he created the heavens and the earth ; they differ in this : Deism re- jects the doctrine of the divine immanence and superin- tendence, while Theism accepts and upholds them. 5. Historical note: In its technical sense. Deism arose in England in the closing decades of the seventeenth century, and continued to flourish throughout the eighteenth century. Among its chief proponents were Lord Herbert, Tindal, Shafts- bury, Bolingbroke and Collins in England, and Thomas Paine in America. While all Deists believed in God as the Creator and in "the religion of nature," many of them were especially bitter in their hostility to the Bible. Hence they were usually known as "infidels," and some- times as "freethinkers." In more recent times, however, these terms are applied to all classes of persons who re- ject the Holy Scriptures as a special divine revelation. Near the close of the eighteenth century Deism had run its course as a movement, and developed into the univer- sal skepticism of Hume and Gibbon, although here and there were practical Deists all along, and there are some today. There is good historical evidence that English Deism was carried into France by Voltaire, and thence by him into Germany during the time of Frederick the 92 A System of Natural Theism Great. In France it became atheistic and materialistic, and in Germany it developed into Rationalism.^ 11. ERRORS 1. It is unreasonable to believe that God would create the world, especially one containing sentient and rational beings, and then sever His connection with it. If His creatures should fall into error and trouble, it is rational to believe that He would come to their rescue, and even give to them a special revelation of a way of escape. No true human father would forsake his children as the De- ists assert that God has forsaken His creation. It is far more reasonable to believe what we read in the greatest theistic book in the world : "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him" (Matt. 7:11)? 2. Men would soon lose their interest in and respect for a God who had so little solicitude for them as to leave them alone in their struggles and temptations. An ab- sentee God would soon be forgotten. 3. Hence, as a matter of fact. Deism has proved a failure morally and spiritually, for it has done little, if anything, to uplift humanity. It has evinced little power even to keep many of its advocates in the paths of com- mon virtue, as is obvious from an account of their prin- ciples and lives.^ 4. Historically it has always shown a tendency to degenerate into Atheism, Pantheism and Agnosticism. This tendency is perfectly natural, for men cannot long I. Cf. John Urquhart, "The Inspiration and Accuracy of the Holy Scriptures," pp. 142-144. 3. Cf. Home, "Introduction," Vol. i, pp. 22-26. Deism 93 rest in the conception of a merely transcendent Being who shows no interest in their welfare. Hence they are apt ultimately to conclude that they would rather believe in no personal God at all than in a God Hke that. 5. Philosophically Deism is wrongly based; for the universe, being finite and contingent (as we have already proved), cannot be independent; cannot in the very nature of the case uphold itself; therefore God, who created it, must continue to sustain it. 6. Scientifically considered, the cosmos is not an en- tity that has within itself the power of sustentation. It is made up of finite particles ; therefore as a whole it must be finite ; its parts are each and all dependent ; therefore it must as a whole be dependent. The scientific doctrine of the radiation of energy points to the fact that in and of itself the universe would finally waste away. Therefore it must be continuously dependent upon a Being who is infinite in all His attributes and resources, and who must, therefore, sustain an interested, intelligent and vital relation to it. Thus Deism as a world-view is not based on scientific, philosophical and rational principles.^ 3. An incisive critique on Deism is found in Christlicb, "Modern Doubt and Christian Belief," pp. 190-209. CHAPTER X PANTHEISM^ I. EXPLANATIONS 1. Etymology of term: Pantheism is derived from the Greek : nav, all, and 06o?, God. 2. Definition: Pantheism is the philosophy that identifies God and the world: the world is God and God is the world; God is the All and the All is God. It especially negates the trans- cendence and personality of God, and insists on the doc- trine that He is only immanent. 3. Classes o£ Pantheists: Some so-called Pantheists can scarcely be distinguished from the Materialists, save that they speak of an in- tangible, indwelling principle or spirit which acts very like an intelligent something. Other Pantheists veer toward Idealism, practically denying that material sub- stance is a real quiddity, but is, rather, an illusion of the mind. The Pantheism of Spinoza, which is perhaps the most conspicuous type, is purely monistic, teaching that I. On Pantheism consult the following: Christlieb, "Modern Doubt," etc., pp. 161-190; Micou, "Basic Ideas in Religion," 178-187, and many other references; Orr, "The Christian View," etc., pp. 49-59, 84, 368, 402; Fisher, "The Groundi," etc., pp. 63-67, 138, 398. 94 Pantheism 95 there is only one substance, which has two attributes, thought and extension, the former displaying the phe- nomena of mind, the latter those of matter. 11. ITS FUNDAMENTAL DEFECTS 1. It is too vague and abstruse to be of practical value as a world-view or philosophy. Who can obtain a clear conception of a theory that calls the universe God and God the universe? The universe is not a personal entity. Then how can it be called God? Thus it will be seen that in trying to get a conception of the theory, thought simply vapors off into mistiness. Then take the idea of the divine immanence on which Pantheism ever insists; how can God be the universe and at the same time immanent in it? If He is immanent. He must be something different from the universe. A thing cannot be immanent in itself, because it is itself. Hence Panthe- ism uses terms without meaning. Consider, again, Spi- noza's fundamental idea, that of one substance with its two attributes; what a hazy idea presents itself to the mind when you speak of a substance that has two such attributes as thought and extension? How can an at- tribute like thought give rise to an entity like mind? Is it not clearer and more rational to believe that mind is the basis of thought than the reverse? Can there be an attribute before there is an entity? The same argu- ment holds with regard to extension. A substance whose chief attribute is extension surely could not give reality to all the various forms of the material world. A world- view that is so indeterminate is not likely to be true. Com- pare with it the clearly defined conceptions of Theism. 2. Pantheism forces matter and mind into one sub- 96 A System of Natural Theism stance. It is unscientific thus to manipulate two different quiddities, especially without giving a fundamentally reasoned basis for such treatment. That matter and mind are different entities may be seen from their phe- nomena. You cannot convert terms of materiality into terms of mentality. Matter has no consciousness; mind has. Matter is not sentient; mind is. Matter does not think and reason ; mind does. Matter is inert ; mind is self-moving, self-determining. Matter has no person- aUty, never says "I"; mind has egoity, and says 'T\ Matter has no conscience, no morality ; mind has. Matter has no spiritual consciousness and quality ; mind is spirit- ually active and conscious. Thus it will be seen that matter and mind do not belong to the same category. They are marvellously joined and related, but they are different in quality and essence. Hence to force them into one substance, as Pantheism tries to do, is unscientific and irrational. The old aphorism, 'What is matter? Never mind; what is mind? No matter," even though meant to be facetious, expresses a fundamental and un- alterable truth. 3. Somewhat wedded to the merely phenomenalistic view of the world, Pantheism professedly denies the category of cause and effect, and yet is constantly com- pelled to use terms that mean the same thing. Thus it is fundamentally inconsistent in this respect. 4. It does not solve the ultimate problem of being (Ontology), but leaves it as great a mystery as ever. For example, what is the ultimate "Substance" of Spinoza, which has the two remarkable attributes of thought and extension? Is it mental stuff or material stuff, or is it merely a "thingless thing" ? These are serious questions, Pantheism 97 and are not meant to be humorous or sarcastic. Thus Pantheism does not solve the ultimate problem of On- tology, and in this respect has no advantage over Theism, while it fails, as Theism does not, to afford an adequate explanation of the varied phenomena in the material and psychical realms. 5. It assumes that there is thought in the cosmos, in- telligence, design; and yet it negates three essential elements o£ thought, namely, self-consciousness, feel- ing and will. In this respect it proves itself an irra- tional and insufficient world-view. 6. In trying to explain the evidences of thought in the universe, it reasons from the attributes it finds in the human personality, and yet denies personality to the ultimate Thinker, who has at least unfolded the cosmos in an intelligent way. Here again it punctures its own philosophy. 7. It mistakes the very nature of absolute person- ality by contending that personality implies limitation. This is a profound problem, but deep thinking leads to the conclusion that the only kind of entity that can be infinite is spiritual personality. The spiritual, or, in other words, the psychical, cannot be put into the cate- gories of material substance, which has spatial exten- sion and limitation, and therefore must be finite and de- pendent ; for whatever mind is as an entity or essence, its attribute of thought has no spatial limitation, but can project itself, by means of the imagination, even beyond the boundaries of the physical universe. Therefore we are not irrational in predicating infinity to the Absolute Spiritual Person, who must, by the very exigencies of thought itself, transcend the limits of the finite universe. 98 A System of Natural Theism 8. Here is a serious indictment against the moral character of Pantheism; it rejects the well-known fact of human freedom. It lands in pure determinism, and most pantheists not only do not deny this allegation, but rather argue strenuously against the freedom of the will, maintaining that the cosmos has developed as it has simply by inherent principles, and could have developed in no other way. Everything is just as it had to be. Some of the favorite phrases of this system of speculation are, "a predetermined will," ''a necessitated will." But such a will is no will at all,^ but a contradiction of terms, as if one were to speak of ''coerced freedom." Now, a sys- tem that negates divine and human freedom destroys mo- rality by that very token. Then how shall we account for the universal fact of morality in the human realm, of conscience, of the sense of freedom? Could pure deter- minism ever by its own forces alone evolve into the consciousness of a will in liberty? Here again Pan- theism is "weighed in the balance and found wanting." 9. By denying personality to God, Pantheism elimi- nates true religion; for man, being a person, can have real communion only with a personal God. Any other kind of communion than that which is personal is scarcely worthy of the name, and cannot rationally be called religious communion. 10. Although Pantheists may claim a kind of mysti- cal relation to the impersonal All, and therefore may profess a feeling of comfort and inspiration in their system; yet their claim is not rationally based. How can the impersonal universe speak any words of com- s. On the freedom of the will, cf. Micou, ut supra, pp. 332-359. who it profound. Pantheism 99 fort to the soul ? It does not know the soul's aspirations and sorrows ; therefore it cannot help and comfort. Men may sometimes get a kind of fanciful consolation from nature; but this comes only because by an effort of the imagination they put something into nature that their reason tells them is not there, if there is no personal God in and back of the natural world. 11. Pantheism denies the doctrine of personal, con- scious immortality. According to this system, the in- dividual is simply re-absorbed into the impersonal and unconscious All. In this doctrine it corresponds with Hinduism, which was pantheistic centuries before mod- ern Pantheism came into vogue. Whatever else may be said of this system, there surely are no comfort and in- spiration in the doctrine of re-absorption. In this regard Pantheism is decidedly weak in comparison with Theism, especially Christian Theism. 12. In the last place, Pantheism holds that the uni- verse, God, the All, comes to consciousness only in the personalities called men. This is both unscientific and a priori absurd, for how could the conscious ever evolve from an unconscious source? Here again would be a case of something coming from nothing; of water rising higher than its source. We insist on the fundamental truth: Ex nihilo nihil fit. Moreover, a consciousness that is broken up into innumerable fragments, each dis- tinct from the other, would be a poor kind of conscious- ness, and would be destitute of the unitary principle that is required in a true philosophy of the cosmos, which has written upon it everywhere unity of plan and purpose. Thus Pantheism will not stand the test of the rational process. , CHAPTER XI IDEALISM^ I. DEFINITION AND DISTINCTIONS 1. Definition: Idealism is the view that mind is the only entity ; hence that the material universe has no real objective existence, but is merely a subjective idea or illusion. 2. Distinctions: (i) It is the antithesis of Materialism, which says the only quiddity is material substance. Some idealists are pantheistic; others are positive in their belief in a personal God.^ Our reason for including Idealism in the list of Anti-theistic Theories is that we believe true The- ism is dualistic and not monistic — that is, it holds that there are two kinds of entities, the material and the psychical, or matter and mind, and that they are distinct, though vitally related. (2) In this work the term Idealism is used in the philosophical sense as above defined, namely, that mind is the only reaHty. The term is often used in what might 1. Books to consult: Sheldon, "Unbelief in the Nineteenth Century," pp. 11-41; Micou, ut supra^ pp. 183-187, and other references in index; Keyser, "A System of Christian Ethics," pp. 190, 191; Lindsay, "Recent Advances," etc., many references in index. 2. One of the best works advocating what " might be called Theistic Idealism is Snowden's "The World a Spiritual System." Though not con- vincing to the present writer, he acknowledges the cogency and beauty of Dr. Snowden's presentation. 100 Idealism 101 be called the ethical sense; in which sense it refers to high ideals or standards of excellence. The student should bear this distinction in mind. II. THE ARGUMENTS OF IDEALISM 1. We do not know things in themselves {nou- mena) : This is the chief contention of the ideahstic philosophy. It says we cognize only phenomena, not things per se. Take, for example, the sense of sight. We say we see a tree. However, we do not perceive the substance of the tree, if it has substance, but only the colors and form im- pinged upon the retina of the eye, which in some mys- terious way is borne by the optic nerve back into the brain, where it is transferred into the consciousness. Now, since we perceive only phenomena, we cannot prove by the empirical process that anything but phenomena really exist. The noumena which we think must exist may be only a *'form of thought" projected by our minds. True, there seems to us to be a real objective tree there, but you cannot prove it, because you perceive nothing but the appearance, the phenomenon. Perhaps ''things are not what they seem." In the idealistic system all the other senses are treated in the same way. You hear a sound, coming, as you think, from a bell ; but really only certain undulations strike your tympanum, and are thence carried by the audi- tory nerve to the consciousness. In reality you know that only such an impression has been made upon your mind. You do not hear the bell itself. Therefore so far as your consciousness goes, you cannot prove the actual existence of the bell. Even if you were to go 102 A System of Natural Theism near it, and look at it, you would perceive only its form and color. So if you were to feel it, your awareness would give you only the phenomena of hardness, coldness, roundness and roughness. The same is true, according to the argument of this system, regarding the sensations of taste and smell. It is the philosophy of pure phe- nomenalism. Kant and Comte advanced the same argu- ments, though the former was not an idealist, and the latter was an agnostic. 2. We are subject to illusions: The idealistic system makes much of illusions. For instance, the mirage is an optical illusion. So far as our awareness goes for the time being, we really think there is a landscape where it appears; but afterward we find that it was only an optical illusion, an image on the rari- fied air of the plain or desert. So may not all our seeing be a mere illusion? What empirical proof have we that it is not? Again we think the sun rises and sets; that the sun, moon and stars swing around the earth, while our own globe is stationary. It is a clear illusion of our entire sensory cognition. Not only does sight testify that the earth is standing still, but we also feel that it is station- ary. Thus these two senses seem to concur in their testimony that the universe is geocentric. And yet the physical facts are contrary to the attestations of experi- ence. It is the earth that moves. So we cannot say that in every case "seeing is believing." The sense of hearing, too, is often deceptive. Some- times we think we have heard a sound when there was complete silence, and very often we hear inaccurately. Idealism 103 3. Our mental constitution ; Kant argued that the mind may be so constituted as to impose its "own forms of thought" upon external objects. As we know only phenomena, we cannot be sure what the character of the real objects is, for the phe- nomena given off by objects must first pass through a mental process which may greatly modify them. So, while Kant did not deny objective reality — he was not an Idealist — his philosophy taught that objects may not be at all what they seem to be in our consciousness. From this position it was not a far step to the conclusion that there may be no objective reality, but only subjective im- pressions; and therefore mind may be the only entity. These are the arguments of Idealism. We must pro- ceed to examine them. III. FUNDAMENTAL ERRORS OF IDEALISM 1. It is too speculative and obscure, and is there- fore of little practical value. While we would not advo- cate mere Pragmatism in philosophy, ethics or religion, yet a system that cannot be understood by the vast major- ity of people, and that is so obscure as to require a men- tal strain even on the part of disciplined minds to grasp its main position, is not likely to be the true view of the world. A true world-view, it is reasonable to suppose, would have some real practical value, and ought to be intelligible at least to the majority of the people. 2. This theory makes the whole physical cosmos a chimera. We are not urging this as a final proof, yet it is hardly reasonable to suppose that so vast a universe of matter would exist only in the imagination ; would not be an actual world. It is almost incredible that there 104 A System of Natural Theism should be so much more seeming in the universe than reality. 3. The idealistic theory contradicts the universal human consciousness. With the exception of a few speculative philosophers, who live mostly in an academic atmosphere, all people believe in the objective reality of the physical world. In fact, most men never think of questioning its reality. Let a million men look at a tree, and without exception they would all declare that the tree is there and that it exists. While we are not offering this argument as absolute empirical proof, yet we would ask whether a philosophical system is likely to be true which is so patently opposed to the general experience of mankind. That certainly would make the universe an ir- rational one, to say the least. Why should the Power back of the universe inflict a general hallucination on the consciousness of mankind? A world-view ought to square with the outstanding facts of human experience. 4. No man, not even the Idealist himself, can live, and conform his conduct to the principles of this system. All men have to frame their behavior on the basis of the reality of material things. They cannot treat material objects as if they were non-existent. A man cannot pass through a wall as if it were not there. People do not go right through trees and houses and mountains as if they were only freaks of the fancy. If a million people were to pass single-file along a path in the center of which there stood a large tree, every one of them would go around it, and treat it as if it were there. Then why should the speculatist adopt a philosophy that cannot be practiced even by himself ? It is hardly reason- Idealism 105 able to think that so impractical a hypothesis would be the true one. 5. Idealism confuses illusions with actualities, and makes the exceptions the rule. Much of its argument is based on the illusions to which our senses are subject. However, these illusions are the exceptions, and ought not to be made the rule. Moreover, let us consider the exceptions. You will find that there are always ways of correcting our mistakes, and tracing back to the reali- ties. There, for example, is the mirage: first, it is a reality as a reflection or image on the air in certain meteorological conditions; second, it could not be there as an image if there were not a real landscape somewhere that produces it; third, if you will move nearer the mirage, it will presently disappear, and thus enable you to correct your error; fourth, when you approach a real landscape, it is found to be there, and is not a mere appearance. Therefore the argument from the mirage, so much used by Idealists, is valueless. The same is true of the apparent rising and setting of the sun. Science has been able to set men right in regard to the facts; but they have not thereby become convinced that the sun and earth have no actual exist- ence. If the sun and earth were not real, how could men have ever corrected the optical illusion? How would they know today that the earth revolves around the sun instead of the sun revolving around the earth ? The very fact that an Idealist even speaks of an optical illu- sion connotes that he must believe in an optical reality. 6. Let us look into the problem still more deeply. If the objective world has no reality, how can it produce phenomena? Can nothing have an appearance 106 A System of Natural Theism of being something? If there is no tree out yonder in the campus, how can there be the epiphany of a tree? This must be a strange, chaotic, irrational world if there can be phenomena without noumena to produce them. An appearance is only an exhibition of quality; but there must be a something or there could be no quality. 7. If the material world is not real, why does it invariably impinge upon man's consciousness as real? The most rational explanation of the mutual adaptation of the outer world to the inner human consciousness is that they were purposely made for each other. There is the outer world; here corresponding to it is the sub- jective receptivity; they seem to match each other, to be designed for each other. The eye is a highly specialized organ, marvellously contrived, for the very purpose of seeing the external world and enjoying its beauty and sublimity. So are all the senses organized, each for its own special purpose. 8. Let us analyze sense-perception and its content in consciousness still more deeply, taking sight for our example. You think you see a tree out on the campus. The physicist tells you that in reality the image of the tree is formed on the retina of your eye by means of the light-rays ; thence is conveyed by the optic nerve to the proper brain center, where, in some mysterious way, it is brought out into the field of consciousness. Now the Idealist declares that there is no tree, but only an illusory impression on the mind within. Then why does the tree appear to be out on the campus? It ought to appear within the brain! According to the Idealist, the mind plays us very strange pranks. If Idealism 107 so, what value can you attach to the Idealist's own proc- esses of reasoning? 9. We shall take a simple object, and subject it to as many tests o£ sense-perception as possible, to see what the indubitable conclusion must be. Here is a red, ripe, mellow apple. First I see it; the sense of sight says it is an apple. Next I feel it, and find it round and smooth and mellow, and the sense of touch declares it is an apple. Then I lift it to my nose, and the sense of smell concurs that it is an apple. Now I thrum upon it with my fingers, and it gives forth a dull, thudding sound, and the sense of hearing agrees that it is an apple. Lastly I eat it, and the sense of taste asserts it is an apple. Thus all my senses bear the same testimony. Here the five senses positively asseverate and concur that the apple is a reality, not a chimera. If such con- current testimony is not valid, man has been constituted insane, not rational. 10. Rejecting the plain testimony of consciousness. Idealism opens the way for the invalidation of all knowledge. This would make science and philosophy impossible, and render all thought processes nugatory and vain. 11. There is real moral peril in the ideaHstic scheme. From the negation of the testimony of consciousness in sense-perception, it is only a step to the negation of the testimony of conscience, and the next step is the negation of moral distinctions. In brief. Idealism as a philosophy surrounds everything with an air of unreality, and is therefore dreamy and impractical, and thus tends to disqualify its advocates for true and earnest moral endeavor. CHAPTER XII NATURALISTIC EVOLUTION^ I. DEFINITIONS 1. Of evolution in general: In general, evolution is the theoi-y that the cosmos has been evolved from crude, homogeneous material to its present heterogeneous and advanced status by means of resident forces. 2. Of theistic evolution: Theistic evolution is the view that God created the primordial material, and that evolution has since been His modus operandi in developing it to its present status. Natural Theism raises no objection to this view, except that it waits to see whether it can be scientifically proven or not. The author of this work does not believe that the scientific and rational proofs are sufficient to estab- lish the theory of theistic evolution properly so called, as will be seen later. 3. Of atheistic (naturalistic) evolution: Atheistic evolution is the theory that denies the exist- ence of God, asserts the eternity of matter and force, I. Literature: Fairhurst, "Organic Evolution Considered;" Patterson, "The Other Side of Evolution;" Townsend, "The Collapse of Evolution;" Dennert^ "At the Deathbed of Darwinism;" Sheldon, "Unbelief in the Nine- teenth Century," pp. 96-134; Orr, "The Christian View," etc., pp. 99-101, 128, X76-185, 250, 251, 409-412, 415-418; Micou, "Basic Ideas," etc., pp. 69- 99, 409-417, and many other references (consult index); Wright (Geo. F.), "Origin and Antiquity of Man." 108 Naturalistic Evolution 109 and attributes the development of the cosmos to purely natural forces. 11. ERRORS OF NATURALISTIC EVOLUTION 1. All the arguments urged against Materialism in a former thesis apply here. A review of them might be profitable. 2. Many noted scientists have rejected or do reject naturalistic evolution, among them : Agassiz, Dana, Gray, Lord Kelvin, Virchow, Sir William Dawson, J. W. Daw- son, Du Bois Raymond, Janet, John Fiske, and George Frederick Wright. 3. Mere evolution cannot account for the origin of matter, force and motion. Should the argument be made that you have to assume these things in order to have a cosmos at all, we reply that you must also assume intelligence as necessarily as you must assume mat- ter, force and motion ; for the cosmos displays evidences of law, order and design as outstanding facts. Law, order and design connote intelligence, and intelligence demands a Person — therefore God. To endue matter with the intelligence necessary to produce and evolve the cosmos is the height of absurdity, for we know that mat- ter is not personal. 4. Naturalistic evolution cannot account for the ori- gin o£ life. If, as most scientists today hold, the earth was once a molten or incandescent globe, no life — at least, no life as we know it today — could have existed upon it. In a blast furnace you see streams of molten ore flowing from immense melting pots. How many living germs would you say the fiery Hquid contains? You know there could be none. So when the earth cooled 110 A System of Natural Theism off, it could have contained no vital germs. There is today no scientific evidence of life from mere chemical action or from spontaneous generation. The law of biogenesis — that is, of life only from antecedent life — is the only biological law known to science. Then whence came life? Atheistic evolution has no reply to offer. Theism offers the only adequate solution. 5. Nor can naturalistic evolution give a rational basis for the following outstanding and dominating facts in the present status of the cosmos : Sentiency, conscious- ness, freedom, morality and spirituality. Think of it for a moment. If there is nothing but material sub- stance and blind force in the world, could sentiency have evolved from purely non-sentient substance? Could the conscious have evolved from the non- conscious, the moral from the non-moral, the free from the necessitated, the spiritual from the non-spiritual, the idea of a personal God from mere material atoms, molecules and electrical forces? That would be a case of getting something from nothing. Again we insist on the basal truth : Ex nihilo nihil fit. The difficulty with evolution is, it fails at all the strategic and crucial points, the very places where it is most needed and where it should speak most plainly. Anybody, even a child, can see that an oak evolves from an acorn; but we need just one instance showing that mind has evolved from material substance, or protoplasm from dead matter. 6. While there is considerable evidence in the geolog- ical ages of progress from lower to higher forms of life, there is also clear evidence of immense, unbridged gaps among many types, and there is no definite proof in either the past or the present of the transmutation of one Naturalistic Evolution 111 species into another by an evolutionary process. Rather, persistency of type seems to be the dominating law. Think of this for a moment: If evolution were the all- controlling law, the law that is to account for every- thing in the world, would it not be seen at work today in all its glory and force, developing matter into life, transmuting species into higher forms, and evolving mon- keys into men? Instead of showing its power today, however, it seems to have become iooperative, and we see another law, that of the persistency of type, in the sad- dle. We should like to ask why evolution resigned its position. 7. Again, evolution has left too many missing links. Everywhere there are great, deep and wide gulfs that have not been bridged. If evolution is the oligarch of the cosmos, and if these missing links ever existed, they should be at least fairly abundant in the fossil and other remains of the earth. There are many other such re- mains. Why do the missing links alone decline to appear ? To say that they will doubtless yet be discovered is to admit that evolution is still an unproved hypothesis. Note the gulf between man and the simian tribes. If man was evolved by a slow and gradual process from the monkey or chimpanzee, there must have been myriads of intermediate creatures once living upon the earth. Why has not one indisputable specimen been found? Should it be said that calcareous conditions are the only ones favorable to the preservation of fossils, and that at the time of the advent of the higher animal forms such conditions did not prevail, we reply : But the re- mains of many kinds of animals of comparatively recent times have been found, some of them of immense size. 112 A System of Natural Theism Why, then, should not at least a few of the "missing links" appear? The only explanation that seems to be reasonable is that they do not exist and never have existed. 8. Since historic times began, there is no evidence of progress in nature by its simple, native forces. All natural objects simply reproduce their kind, thrive for a while, then perish, in a ceaseless round. Only where man touches nature is there progress ; and even then, as soon as he removes his guiding hand, the cultured types revert invariably to their original wild and inferior forms. Man is the only being who makes progress, and this he does solely by the force of mind. Yet even the progress of the human family has been anything but steady, as will appear in the next section. 9. Evolution has not been proved by the history of the human family ; rather, it has been disproved. Many of the best and noblest representatives of the race ap- peared too soon for the theory: for example, Abraham, Moses, Christ ; among the heathen, Socrates, Plato, Aris- totle, Phidias, Homer, Sophocles, Cicero, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and many more. All these should have accom- modatingly waited till our present day of progress and civilization, or, better still, till some golden time in the future. Most of the nations had a high degree of civili- zation long before historic times began, as is evidenced by their archeological remains. The code of Hammu- rabi, formulated in the time of Abraham, disproves the theory of evolution. The law of Moses broke in cen- turies too soon for the comfort of our theorists. The further back you trace most of the ethnic religions, the purer they become both in principle and form. On the Naturalistic Evolution 113 other hand, the law of degeneration rather than of evo- lution marks the history of many of the nations. How many great nations have arisen, flourished for a time, and perished! Today, after all the millenniums of so- called evolutionary progress, there are many tribes which are as low in the scale of civilization as any historic primitive people can be proved to have been. That fact gives the theory of evolution a serious, if not a fatal, blow. Moreover, the evolutionists have been challenged again and again to cite a single example of a nation that has arisen out of fetichism to monotheism by its own native forces — that is, without help from nations already highly civilized.^ All these facts disprove the much- vaunted theory of evolution. 10. On a priori principles this hypothesis cannot be adequate. After all, evolution is only a law, only a modus operandi. Therefore, it is not a power, not an executor. No law can enforce itself. There must be a law -giver and an administrant, or no law could ever have originated, or, if originated, could have become operative. It is idle to speak of ''the reign of law" without positing a law-maker and executor. An impersonal law that can administer and execute itself is an absurdity. Thus, naturalistic evolution has been proved inade- quate, and therefore unscientific and unphilosophic. It is contradictory to its own fundamental and basal prin- ciple, namely, that nothing can be evolved that has not been previously involved by forces that are adequate. 2. Principal Fairbairn says: "They assume a theory of development which has not a single historical instance to verify it. Examples are wanted of people who have grown, without foreign influence, from Atheism into Fetichism, and from it through the intermediate stages into Mono- theism; and until such examples be given, hypotheses claiming to be 'Natural Histories of Religion' must be judged as hypotheses still." — "Studies in the Philosophy of Religion," p. 12. 114 A System of Natural Theism III. THE TRUE VIEW We regard the following as a statement of the only view that is adequate to the whole situation, and there- fore the view of Scientific Theism: God is the Creator, Preserver and Evolver. First, He created the primor- dial material. Without losing His transcendence, He became immanent in His creation, developing it through secondary causes for doubtless long eras ; at certain cru- cial steps, as was necessary, He added new creations and injected new forces; such epochs were the introduction of life, sentiency and man. This world-view should be called creation and evolution, with as marked an em- phasis on the former as on the latter. So far as regards the supernatural revelations made in the history of redemption, as recorded in the Old and New testaments, that thesis belongs to Christian Theism, not to the department of Natural Theism.^ 3. The author desires to say that he does not oppose what is known as theistic evolution in the interest of Natural Theism. If evolution should finally be proven by science to be true, it would demand a personal God both to initiate and direct the marvellous upward movement. To say that mere materiality and chance could do this, would be to believe in a miracle so great as to be preposterous. The only question, therefore, is this: Has the theory of evolution been scientifically established, or has it not? As stated in the text, the author's honest conviction is that, in the present state of scien- tific investigation and induction, the most reasonable view is expressed by using two terms, instead of only one, to account for the cosmos- creation and evolution. CHAPTER XIII AGNOSTICISM, POSITIVISM AND MONISM I AGNOSTICISM^ I. DEFINITION Agnosticism is the hypothesis that we do not and can- not know whether there is a God or not. The word is derived from a, not, and yvwo-nKos, knowing. II. ERRORS 1. It is contrary to the universal beliefs, intuitions and religious instincts of mankind. If we cannot know whether there is a God or not, why is the belief in God so persistent, dominating and widespread? Agnos- ticism has no answer to this pregnant question. 2. It is opposed to Christian experience wherever it has been honestly and earnestly tried. 3. Agnosticism is never true to its name — that is, never truly agnostical: it is always assertive and dog- matic in setting forth its claims, instead of being modest and humble, as its self-chosen name would imply. To be true to its principles and name, it ought not even to assert categorically that it does not know whether there I. See an excellent discussion in Sheldon^ "Unbelief in the Nineteenth Century," pp. 96-134; Orr, ut supra, is also profound, pp. 47-51. 80-86, 367. 373. 115 116 A System of Natural Theism is a God or not, for how can it be sure it does not know ? Thus it is driven around and around in a circle. How- ever, to be entirely fair with it, so far as regards Theism, it simply asserts that we do not at present have sufficient evidence to prove or disprove the existence of God as the power that created and controls the universe. 4. In its Spencerian form, it is quite assertive on this point : it calls the power back of and in the universe the Inscrutable Power, and then immediately proceeds to predicate of it many attributes that can belong only to the God of Theism. This procedure is inconsistent with the fundamental position of Agnosticism. If it knows that the Inscrutable Power is possessed of so many personal attributes, how can it call itself by its self- chosen name? And why can it not know just a little more — that the Power that possesses those personal attributes is and must be a Person? 5. It is narrow and one-sided in thinking that what cannot be proved by purely logical processes and physical demonstration cannot be proved at all. Many things are known by direct intuition and experience. Nobody but a misty speculatist tries to prove mathematical axioms by a discursive process, nor the categories of time, space and causality. These are known only by direct intui- tion. In the end, the only positive and satisfying proof of anything is experience. 6. Agnosticism gives up the theistic problem too soon. More penetrating and patient thought and re- search would lead the thinker to the conclusion, taking all the facts into honest consideration, that the only ade- quate explanation of the cosmos is that of Theism. Agnosticism is a mark of the collapse of thought. Agnosticism, Positivism and Monism 117 7. Like the other anti-theistic theories, Agnosticism affords no comfort, hope and moral inspiration. "Knownothingism" is, by its very nature, mentally and morally depleting. II POSITIVISM^ I. DEFINITIONS 1. As a philosophy: As an attempt at a philosophy. Positivism is the theory that all we can know is phenomena, and hence we know nothing of noumena — that is, the essence of things. It professes to deal only with the things which are known; hence its name Positivism. In regard to God, the soul and the substance of matter, it is agnostic. 2. As a religion: As a religion it deifies and worships "Humanity," and has a considerable cultus of forms and ceremonies largely borrowed from the Roman Catholic Church. (The founder of this system both in philosophy and religion was Auguste Comte.) II. ERRORS 1. Philosophical: It goes too far in negating all knozvledge of noumena. for we do know that they must exist, or there would ];i' 2. Literature: Wordsworth, "The One Religion," pp. 307-309; Balfour, "Religion of Humanity;" Sheldon, ut supra, pp. 78-95; Lindsay, as ai;uve, see index; Muir, "Modern Substitutes for Christianity, pp. 93-123. 118 A System of Natural Theism no basis for the phenomena which we observe. We also feel rationally assured that the noumena must correspond with the phenomena, or the latter would not be what they are; they might as well be something else. If this is not true, the universal experiences and intuitions of mankind are worthless, and the world is not a rational and con- sistent system. Under the theses of Cosmology and Idealism we have already dwelt sufficiently on these points. However, in the interest of thoroughness, these distinctions should be made: The phenomenalism of Kant held that we do not know what the true character of the noumena are, but it did not deny their reality. Idealism denies the reality of the noumena, and says they are merely ''forms of thought." Positivism simply gives up the whole ques- tion, and says we know nothing about the essence of things, and it is vain to try to know. 2. Religious: As a religion. Positivism is irrational and valueless, because "Humanity" is simply a collective abstraction, and therefore no real religious communion with it is pos- sible. Could ''Humanity" answer one's prayers? Re- member, the "Humanity" of this religion is not the really existent souls of the dead, but only the memory and influ- ence of their deeds as recorded in history. Such post- mortem influence has its inspirational value, for "their works do follow them" (Rev. 14:13), and "he, being dead, yet speaketh" (Heb. 11 : 4) ; but it is not something which men can consistently worship, or with which they can have personal communion. The religion of this cult does not naturally grow out of its philosophy, but is a mechanical attachment. The religion was an after- Agnosticism, Positivism and Monism 119 thought with Comte, who realized that human nature craves and needs religion. Ill MONISM I. DEFINITION Monism is the theory that there is only one substance. The word is derived from /xovo?, one. II. EXPLANATIONS 1. The several classes: (i) Materialism is monistic; it asserts that the only entity is material substance. Ernest Hackel is a matp- riaUstic monist. (2) Idealism is monistic, asserting that mind is the only entity. Berkeley was an idealistic monist; so is Snowden today. (3) Spinoza's Pantheism was monistic, for he re- duced everything to one substance, to which he assigned the two attributes of thought and extension. 2. The antithesis o£ Monism: Its opposite is Dualism, which is the theistic concep- tion ; that is, it believes in the reality of two substances, mind and matter, which, while never confused or consub- stantiated, are nevertheless vitally connected in the unitary plan of the cosmos. Dualism holds firmly to the distinction between God and the cosmos, and believes in the reality of both. While it holds that they are distinct, and are never iden- 120 A System of Natural Theism tified as in Pantheism, it maintains that God is not only transcendent, but also immanent. Let us now state precisely the view of Natural Theism as developed in this work: Before the creation of the universe there was monism, for God was the only being, the only entity; since the creation of the universe there is dualism, for God created material substance ex nihilo, and gave it real being, but never mingled it with His own essence. He also created mental substance in mak- ing the human mind, but this substance is similar to His own essence ; that is, it is psychical essence, not material ; but it is not the same essence as the divine. As the Greeks put it, God's essence and man's psuche are homoi- ousios, not homoousios — similar, but not the same. III. ERROR OF MONISM It is not necessary to expatiate on this thesis. We have already shown that it cannot be maintained in any of its forms— Materialism, Idealism, or Pantheism. Its fundamental error is that it attempts the rationally im- possible—the reduction of two such different categories as matter and mind into one substance. Matter may be thought of, and is organically related to mind in man's being, but it can never be converted into mind ; nor can mind ever be reduced to material substance. The great argument for Theism is that, by positing the Divine Mind first as the eternal and self-existent essence, we assign an adequate cause for the cosmos itself and all cosmical phenomena and processes. It is much more rational to believe that mind produced matter than that matter brought forth mind. The cause must always be greater than the effect. To our way of thinking, this Agnosticism, Positivism and Monism 121 is not only the most rational explanation of the universe, but the only rational one. We think this is as far as reason can go in pursuing the theistic argument. It may not convince the intellect of every thinker. Then conscience constrains us to add that the final and absolute certitude can be gained only by the experience of God in the soul. PART IV THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES AND RELATIONS CHAPTER XIV THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES I. DEFINITION A divine attribute is a quality or perfection that belongs inherently to the being of God. It is not an entity or quiddity, but a characteristic or condition of being, as we say virtue is an attribute of man. II. RATIONALE There are two ways by which Natural Theism deter- mines the divine attributes : First, from their manifesta- tions in the cosmos, including nature and man; second, from the processes of reason. However, in treating the subject these two methods are combined. In Christian Theism the divine attributes can be more fully treated, because that branch of scientific theology works in the light of God's special revelation of Himself to man. For example, the love of God is most clearly and impressively displayed in the plan of redemption, but mere human reason, without revelation, can say little or nothing rela- tive to that locus. What do nature and reason tell us about God's perfections? 122 The Divine Attributes 123 III. CLASSES OF ATTRIBUTES 1. Self-existence: By this attribute is meant that God has the ground and basis of His being in Himself alone. While this may be a difficult conception to some minds, yet reason teaches that the ultimate Being must be possessed inherently of this quality. As has been shown in former theses, some- thing exists now — a self-evident proposition; therefore something must have always existed; for if there had ever been a time when there was nothing, nothing could have ever been. Now, it is obvious that what has always existed could not have been produced by something else and could not be dependent for its existence on some- thing other than itself ; therefore, the source and ground of its being must be within itself. However, we have already shown by all the theistic arguments that the only adequate cause of the universe is a personal Being whom we call God. Thus, reason demands self-exist- ence as a necessary divine attribute. 2. Eternity : By this attribute we mean that God has always been and always will be. The rational basis for this attribute is the same as that which proves self-existence. There must have always been something, or nothing could have ever come into being. But the cosmos demands a per- sonal Being as its Primal Cause : therefore, God must be an eternal Being. 3. Personality : (i) Definition: By personality we mean that God is a Being who can say "1." He is the eternal and absolute 124 A System of Natural Theism Ego who knows, thinks and wills. He is the eternally self-conscious Being. (2) Argumentation: The Teleological Argument proves God to be Personal, because the design which is so palpable in the universe in its entirety and in all its parts connotes a Designer who is intelligent and free; but such a Being must be a person. The Cosmological Argument verifies God's personality, for there are per- sons in the cosmos, namely, human beings, and the only adequate ground for such personalities is a Person who brought them into existence ; the non-personal never could have evolved the personal. The Moral and Esthet- ical arguments postulate a personal God, for morality can be predicated only of persons and the beautiful can be truly appreciated only by persons. The Ontological Ar- gument leads to the same conclusion ; for the perfect and absolute Being could not be perfect and absolute without personality, since personality is one of the highest attri- butes conceivable. Speculative philosophers like Hegel, Fichte, Schelling and Von Hartmann, who talk about "Unconscious Intelligence" and "Unconscious Will," are using contradictory terms. If God is intelligent and free. He must be a Person. At this point, in the interest of thoroughness, we must notice the view, set forth by a certain class of speculatists, that God is not personal, but superpersonal. Herbert Spencer seemed to hold this opinion, or something akin to it, for he says: It is an "erroneous assumption that the choice is between personality and something lower than personality, whereas the choice is rather between personality and something higher." ^ One cannot help 1. "First Principles," page 109. The Divine Attributes 125 wondering what kind of a being that would be which was "something higher" than a self-conscious, rational, free and moral personality. If there is such a being, we evidently can have no conception of it. Certainly the ''Inscrutable Power," which Mr. Spencer wishes to substi- tute for a personal God as the ultimate ground and cause of the universe, is not "something higher" than a person, but, rather, something lower ; for Mr. Spencer studiously avoids attributing self-consciousness to it. We leave it to common sense : Which is the higher kind of being, one that has, or one that has not, the attribute of self-con- sciousness, the ability to say "I"? An advocate of the view that God is superpersonal is Dr. Paul Carus, who, in a recent book,^ says of God : "He is not personal, but superpersonal. He is not a great man, he is God. He is the life of our life ; he is the power that sustains the universe ; he is the law that permeates all ; he is the curse of sin and the blessing of righteousness ; he is the unity of being; he is love; he is the possibility of science and the truth of knowledge ; he is light ; he is the reality of existence in which we live and move and have our being; he is life and the condition of life, morality. To comprehend all in a word, he is the authority of conduct." Such dogmatic statements, given without argument or proof, need little refutation. What is there about them to prove that God is superpersonal! They are just as true if we conceive of God as a personal being; indeed, they comport much better with that idea. "He is the curse of sin and the blessing of righteousness." How can He be that without being a self-conscious and rational being? 2. "The Dawn of a New Religious Era" (1916), page 25. 126 A System of Natural Theism "He is love." Can a being love without self-conscious personality ? "He is the authority of conduct." How can there be moral authority worthy of the name without rational personality ? Either this author's statements con- note personality in God, which is a clear conception, or else they are a lot of abstractions of which no human mind can form a definite idea. We still maintain that reason must and does conclude that the highest and noblest attribute of any being is self-conscious, rational personal- ity, and any being devoid of that quality ranks lower in the scale. 4. Spirituality : This means that God's essence is spirit or mind, not matter. We have already vindicated the doctrine of Dualism. There are two kinds of "stuff" in existence: mind and matter. They belong to different categories, and therefore cannot be merged into one substance, as is done by Monism and Pantheism. Matter is subject to purely mechanical laws, and is inert and unfree. Mind has very different qualities; it is self-conscious, self- determining, moral and spiritual. Therefore, Dualism is the only adequate philosophy. But mind is greater than matter ; a quiddity of a nobler quality; therefore, matter never could have produced or evolved mind. The only rational and adequate hypothe- sis is that mind was first. Therefore, the ultimate Cause of the universe was the eternal, self-existent, personal Mind. 5. Unity : By this attribute we mean that God is one God and the only one of His kind. In scholastic phrase, He is unus The Divine Attributes 127 et unicus — that is, one and unique. He is sui generis, in a genus of His own, in a class by Himself. The oneness of God is proved rationally in several ways. The universe {iinus, one, and vertere, versum, to turn) displays such wonderful unity of plan and opera- tion that the only rational conclusion is that it is the product of one omniscient Mind. It would be idle to suppose that it was produced by two or more minds when its solidarity of plan is better explained on the principle of unity. Again, God is infinite; there can be only one Infinite. God is absolute ; there can be only one Absolute. God is independent; there can be only one Independent Being. God is self-existent; there can be only one such a Being. 6. Infinity : ( I ) Definition. By infinity is meant that God is without boundary or limitation of any kind. Some thinkers add the qualify- ing phrase : ''except those that belong to the perfection of His own character." By this modification they mean, for example, that God cannot do wrong, for, if He could, it would mean that He is not a perfect Being. However, difficult as the conception may be, the author is disposed to think that God is not limited in the way indicated; it would not be correct to say, "God cannot do wrong." We would rather put it thus: God is so perfect and absolute in His moral character that He will not do wrong. We would not even put a limit on the moral freedom of God. However, in so difficult a matter of metaphysics there is room for honest difference of opinion. 128 A System of Natural Theism As to the conception of spatial infinity, no one can understand it. In reality we cannot conceive of infinite space, and yet we cannot conceive of a line or point where space stops. Our minds are so formed that we always think in the categories of time and space, and cannot think otherwise. So we cannot in our present state of knowledge formulate a definite idea of infinity and eternity, and should be honest enough to admit our ignorance and inability. However, this is no reason for rejecting our necessary idea of the reality of these things, for, though we know there are time and space, no one can define them. What is time? What is space? These are still two of the unsolved problems of speculative philosophy. All we can say is that the ideas of time and space are necessary ideas, and so are the ideas of eternity and infinity. (2) Infinite divine attributes: a. Omniscience: God is all-wise. For the argument, see Chapter IV, Section 5 (3). b. Omnipotence: God is all-powerful. For the argu- ment, see Chapter IV, Section 5 (2). c. Omnipresence: God is everywhere present. If He were not present everywhere, something would occur in some part of His universe that would throw it out of accord and balance, and that would precipitate universal wreckage, and would perhaps involve God's own ruin. The personal presence of God in every place and in all places is beyond human comprehension, and yet reason requires this view of His personal ubiquity for the preser- vation of Himself and His universe. The Divine Attributes 129 7. Justice : This attribute signifies that God hates sin and wrong, and will punish them condignly. The Moral Argument would connote this fact, for if God is a moral Being, the attribute of perfect justice must pertain to Him. 8. Goodness : ; This means that God is loving, beneficent, kind, desir- ing the highest well-being of all His creatures. Skeptical and pessimistic philosophers have so often called the goodness of God in question, and have argued the subject so elaborately, that, in order to deal with it with any degree of adequacy, we must devote an entire chapter to its presentation. The time given to it will not be spent in vain, for the mentally and morally depleting influence of pessimism is evident on every hand today. CHAPTER XV THESIS ON god's GOODNESS^ I. WHY A SPECIAL THESIS The goodness of God has been so frequently assailed by agnostics, atheists and pessimists that the Theist today must meet the difficulties frankly and vindicate the divine character with sound argument. Mere abuse will not answer the objections of the skeptic or satisfy the honest doubts of the inquirer. An unbiased investigation of the cosmos as it actually is will reveal the fact that there are real difficulties. Let us examine them. II. DIFFICULTIES FRANKLY STATED 1. Organisms are often imperfect; many of them are apparently of a low order and crudely contrived; they are frequently deficient in strength, even for the purpose for which they were intended; and all of them are liable to derangement, and will finally wear out and cease to function. Even the eye, admirable a piece of mechanism as it is, has often been criticized by eminent anatomists for its apparent imperfections. 2. Organisms seldom, if ever, seem to be perfectly adapted to their environments. On account of their imperfect functioning, they bring on many distressing I. Valentine's "Natural Theology," (pp. 231-251) is especially fair and judical on this topic, and the author is glad to acknowledge his indebted- ness to that work. Consult also Orr, "The Christian View," etc., pp. 186-199. 130 Thesis on God's Goodness 131 diseases, especially in the human body. Animal organ- isms are not so susceptible to disease; yet even they may become ineffective and painful through accident. Thus nature sometimes appears to defeat her own pur- poses. 3. The earth in many ways does not seem to us to be the best possible: there are large zones of torrid heat and frigid cold, where life is very difficult and in some cases impossible. There are also large areas of sterility, as the desert of Sahara, and many dank, noi- some, miasmatic swamps. 4. A serious difficulty is the large amount of animal suffering in the world, due to the constitution of na- ture herself. The carnivorous species seem to be designed by nature for catching, holding, slaying and devouring their victims. Note the talons and beaks of the owls, hawks and eagles, and the claws of all the felines. These in- struments are just as highly specialized for their purpose as the eye is for sight and the ear for sound.^ 5. There is much unavoidable human suffering in the world. The innocent often suffer with the guilty, as in the case of storm, flood and war. The same is true of the many diseases to which human beings are subject. Sooner or later, too, death overtakes all men. On account of these difficulties many persons, look- ing only on the surface of things and making mere pleasure the summum bonum of life, have turned athe- istic. The theist as well as the atheist is cognizant of these difficultes, and has often been puzzled by them. 2. J. S. Mill, in his "Three Essays," makes a terrific indictment of nature on the score of her apparent cruelty. Naville, in "De Maistre," is only a little less severe. Tennyson, "In Memoriam," gives us the gory phrase, "nature red in tooth and claw." 132 A System of Natural Theism While it is no mark of depth of thought to recognize them, for even the child is often troubled by their pres- ence and prevalence, yet we must deal with them frankly, and must not close our eyes to the facts. So we turn to the positive side of the problem. III. MITIGATING EXPLANATIONS 1. Why we cannot explain away all the dif- ficulties : (i) We can explain nothing fully — time, space, cause, effect, matter, mind; therefore our inabiHty here is no exception to the rule. (2) If we could explain these difficulties perfectly, we could do the same with all our other problems; then where would there be any room for faith? Yet how many things must be taken on faith in this world! In how many ways we must trust nature and our fel- lowmen! All this proves that the present regimen is evidently intended to develop and discipHne our faith. (3) Sin has come into the zvorld. This is not a mat- ter of speculation. Whether we are Christians or not, we must admit the presence and fact of sin, for our consciences attest it. This fact will help to account for the disarranged natural order for the present age or dispensation, and also why the intellect of man has become obscured. 2. There may be divine goodness and wisdom even where they are not perfectly plain to our beclouded fac- ulties. God may simply be moving "in a mysterious way His wonders to perform." 3. We are finite and the world is subject to finity. Thesis on God's Goodness 133 So far as we can see in the present order, however it may be by and by, finiteness impHes imperfection. 4. Being the creatures of time and very greatly limited in our powers, we may see only a part of God's eternal plan. Perhaps when we come to see His whole order and purpose, we shall acclaim His infinite benefi- cence. Is it not better and braver to think in this hope- ful way than to abandon ourselves to despondency and cynicism ? 5. The doctrine of development and the survival of the fittest^ if it is the true theory, proves a progressive order moving toward a benign end. Those who accept this doctrine ought not, therefore, to relinquish belief in God and His goodness, for there could be no such beneficent movement if there were no purposeful mind to inaugurate it and carry it to the desired end. 6. The vast majority of nature's contrivances and adaptations are beneficial. If this were not so, the fit- test could not survive, and, indeed, the whole world would speed to ruin. There is a balance on the side of wisdom, kindliness and order, or the world could not continue. A majority on the side of chaos would have wrought havoc long ere this. 7. Animal tragedies may be explained by the fol- lowing alleviating circumstances : (i) There is more pleasure than pain in the sentient realm. Any one who is a student of nature is im- pressed with the general air of joy that nature and all her creatures wear. As a rule, nature is less cruel than man. With possibly an exception or two, there is no evidence that animals torture each other. That sort 134 A System of Natural Theism of wantonness and vindictiveness seems to be left to man. Even the cat playing with the mouse perhaps does not intend to torture its victim, but simply to grati- fying its playful disposition. (2) Death makes room for more animals, and thus the sum total of sentient happiness is increased; for, if all survived, the world would soon be over-crowded. (3) Speedy death is the general order in the animal world, and that is the most merciful regimen that could have been devised, providing death could not be entirely avoided. Suppose that a slow and lingering death were the usual order in the animal creation, how much greater would be the amount of suffering! (4) Perhaps many animals are not extremely setisi- tive to pain. At least, such is the belief of many of the most eminent naturalists.^ Wounded animals soon fall into a kind of stupor, as if nature herself provided an anesthetic for her sentient children. Nor do animals have clear ideas of death, such as men entertain; and they certainly are not troubled with any fear of what may come after death. (5) Here we offer a view that we have not seen sug- gested by writers on Theism. Personally we have so much faith in the wisdom and goodness of God who was able to make this wonderful universe as to believe that, in some way and at some time, He will mete out equal justice to all his sentient creatures which have ever suf- fered unjustly. While we have no oracular declaration to make, nor even an absolute conviction to express, we agree with a recent writer* that if God shall see fit to 3. See MiTart, "Lessons from Nature," pp. 368, 369, cited by Orr. 4. William Hayes Ward in "What I Believe and Why." Thesis on God's Goodness 135 bestow immortality on the best part of His animal world, we shall at least find no reason to object to His plan. By so doing He might sometime make every wrong right even in the animal world. There is some hint of this doctrine in the Bible, which speaks of a millennial age when "the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leop- ard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed : their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. * * * They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea" (Isa. II :6-9). 8. It should be remembered that pain is nowhere in nature ordained for its own sake, but is an incident along the way of progress. This may be an index that the ul- terior purpose of pain is disciplinary. 9. In the human world pain has its uses; (i) It heightens pleasure by contrast. (2) It warns us of peril, and thus helps to preserve health and life. (3) It leads to careful study and observance of nature's laws. (4) It stimulates men to exertion, invention and initiative. (5) It develops the noble virtue of patience and its cognate virtues. 10. Hardship disciplines men in strength and stur- diness; without it they would be weak physically and inane morally. 136 A System of Natural Theism 11. Danger develops courage. How else could the heroic virtues be cultivated ? Is it better to have supine beings, or beings who are morally noble, strong and brave ? 12. Mystery in the world and in human experience calls out the noble virtue of trust in God. If we could understand all things, there would be no opportunity for the exercise and development of this virtue. Where, then, would be the heroes of faith in a world without trial and mystery? In general it may be said that the world cannot be explained without taking into considera- tion moral values ; and since we know, as has been seen in the Moral Argument, that this world is a moral economy, the person who tries to explain it merely as a utihtarian and pleasure-giving administration will be balked at every step, and will ultimately land in pessi- mism. However, if moral excellence is the highest ex- cellence, we can see that a world of trial and mystery is the best regimen in which to acquire moral discipline ; indeed, how could true moral character be attained with- out moral testing? Therefore, whatever else may be said of the present regime, it is precisely adapted for the highest moral purposes. For the epicurean and hedonist it is not a satisfactory world; but the true and sturdy ethicist, who values moral achievement above mere pleas- ure, has no reason for complaint.^ Thus, respecting the problem of God's goodness in view of the present order of the world, men should not permit themselves to fall into pessimism. This leads us to our next division. 5. Most searching is Sheldon, "Unbelief in the Nineteenth Century," pp. 135-149; also Orr, "The Christian View," etc., pp. 5i-57» 66-72, 167-170, 186, 321, 401, 467. Thesis on God's Goodness 137 IV. CONTRAST BETWEEN PESSIMISM AND OPTIMISM 1. Characteristics of pessimism: (i) It exaggerates the evil and overlooks or mini- mises the good in the world. (2) It cares only for temporal and sensuous good, for the pleasurable, and fails to appreciate moral, spirit- ual and eternal values. It is blind to the moral use of discipline and hard tasks. (3) It becomes daunted in the presence of difficult- ies instead of bravely trying to surmount them and find exhilaration in the effort. (4) It means the eclipse of faith, hope and love — that splendid triumvirate of virtues. (5) It is another name for moral fiabbiness. It is given to complaint; it grows more and more cynical. It gives up to ennui, becomes blase. Instead of plow- ing up the weeds in its garden, mellowing and fertilizing the soil, and sowing useful seeds, it sits down and moans because nature or nature's God permits weeds to grow. It looks upon the world as a lapse and misfortune; an economy of sorrow and evil. Schopenhauer said : ''This is the worst possible world." Von Hartmann was not willing to go quite so far, but his view was doleful enough: *Tf this is not the worst world, it is at least worse than none." 2. Characteristics of rational optimism: (i) It recognises the evils of the world both as reality and evil. The optimism that fails to do this, or that calls the evil good, is not rational, but Utopian and flighty. 138 A System of Natural Theism (2) However, rational optimism sees and cherishes the good in the world, and believes that it predominates. (3) In so far from spending valuable time in bemoan- ing the evil, and speculating about its cause, it seeks to mitigate and reduce it, and make the good triumphant. (4) It sees in the world just as it is an arena for manly conflict and a school for the discipline and devel- opment of all the sterling and heroic virtues. (5) It trusts in God and the good, and is sure of ulti- mate victory. It never knows defeat. It is sustained by faith, hope and love. Its chief refrains are the fol- lowing : "All things work together for good to them that love God" (Rom. 8:28). "Our light affliction, which is but for the moment, worketh for us a far more exceed- ing and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17). It takes to itself the inspiration of William Cowper's impressive hymn : "God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform ; He plants His footsteps on the sea, And rides upon the storm. "Deep in unfathomable mines Of never- failing skill, He treasures up His bright designs. And works His sovereign will. "Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace; Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiHng face." Thesis on God's Goodness 139 (6) Therefore, to sum it all up, rational optimism believes in the infinite goodness of God, holding that He seeth high and wise; that He knows the end from the beginning, and so cannot be balked in His plans; that He does all things well; that He has made the universe friendly, even though we cannot always understand His ways; that He will "bring good out of evil and make the wrath of man to praise Him;" that He will ultimately cause right and truth to triumph over every foe. CHAPTER XVI THE DIVINE RELATIONS I. DEFINITION By the term divine relations we mean God's connection with the universe which He has created and which He sustains. II. CLASSIFICATION 1. Transcendence: This means that God is greater than the universe. It is finite; He is infinite. He is distinct in His essence from the universe ; not, as Pantheism holds, identified or consubstantiated with it. On this account He is able to exercise perfect control over it, and preserve it from destruction. As a personal Being, God must be transcendent re- specting His cosmos. If He were identical with the uni- verse, which is non-personal. He too would be non-per- sonal. That God is and must be a personal Being has been proved by all our foregoing arguments. While we cannot comprehend the doctrine of the divine trans- cendence, we at least have an intuitive conception of it, and reason teaches that no other view of God and the world is tenable. 140 The Divine Relations 141 2. Immanence : By this term is meant that God is present everywhere in His universe, and governs and cares for it according to the laws and principles which He has ordained. The proofs of God's immanence have already been presented and need no further elaboration. While im- manence may involve mystery, it is only like all the- other mysteries that surround us. The physicist teaches that the universal ether is the substratum of all palpable substance ; yet we cannot understand its composition nor the forces that cause it to produce the varied phenomena of the material universe. So the immanence of the per- sonal God in the cosmos may involve an insoluble mys- tery for the present; yet all the processes of reasoning lead to the conclusion that God must be a person and must be personally present in every part of His universe. Thus, in conclusion, reason proves, so far as reason can prove any proposition, the fact of the divine exist- ence in two ways: First positively by means of the several arguments employed in Part II of this work; second, negatively by the presentation of the arguments which show that all anti-theistic positions are logically untenable. As a necessary corollary to the positive and negative arguments, the divine attributes and relations are also established by the rational process. The chief purpose of this book will be accom- plished if the student and reader have been led to real- ize clearly and positively that our human life, in spite of all its limitations, trials and mysteries, is more than worth while, is even great and inspiring, because "God 142 A System of Natural Theism is in heaven, and all's well with the world." True, there may be lacunae in many a logical process; yet it is broadly and sanely rational to accept that doctrine which affords the greatest zest and incentive to the develop- ment of nobility of life and character; and surely such moral and spiritual uplift dwells most congenially with the theistic conception. INDEX Adaptation, 34, 39, 44, 45, 106, 130. Etiological Argument, 49. Agnosticism, 6, 7, 39, 58, 72, 74, 92, 115-117, 130. Animal instinct, 2>7. Animal suffering, 131, 133-135. Animism, 24. Anselm, 59. Apologetics, 7. Aristotle, 18. Atheism, 6, 20, 29, 30, 74, 75, 81, 82, 84-89, 92, 108-114, 130, 131. Attributes, the divine, 122-139. Balfour, A. J., 13, 64, 76. Berkeley, 119. Bible, the, 15, 19, 26, 32, 69, 70, 80, 83, 90, 91, 114, 118, 122, 135, 138. Biology, 2,7, 38. Brahm, 29. Buddhism, 29. Butler, 60. Cabanis, 87. Carus, Paul, 125, 126. Causality, law of, 23, 30, 33, 39, 42, 49-58, 63, 72, 85, 86, 89, 96, 110, 113, 116, 120. Chance, 22, 39-41, 44, 46, 85. Chemistry and Physics, 2,7, 38. Christian Theism (Theology), 15, 16, 19, 99, 114, 122. Christheb, Theodore, 85, 93, 94. Cicero, 18. Colleges, 5, 7. Comte, Auguste, 33, 54, 102, 117, 119. Conception of God, 21-27, 29. Conscience, 65-69, 121. Cosmological Argument, 49-58, 62. 63, 64, 65, 80, 118, 124. Cousin, 60. Cowper, William, 138. Creation and evolution, 114. Degeneration, 26, 27, 113. Deism, 90-93. Dennert, 108. Descartes, 60. Design, 34-48, 78, 79, 106, 109. Dorner, 60. Dualism, 88, 100. 119, 120, 126. Ear, eye, etc., 35, 2,6, 41. Edison, 16. Efficient cause, 34. Egypt, 26. Epicureanism, 45, 52, 74, 136. Epistemology, 17, 18, 101-103, 106, 107, 117, 118. Esthetical Argument, 76-83, 124. Ethnology, 26, 28, 29, 31, 85, 86. Eutaxiological Argument, 34. Evolution, 24, 25, 30, 31, 33. 41, 43, 44, 57, 70, 71, 85, 108-114, 133. Experience, 17, 30, 53, 58, 61, 74, 102, 104, 115, 118, 121. 143 Ex nihilo nihil fit, 58, 80, 88, 99, 110. Fairbairn, A. M., 26, 113. Fairhurst, 108. Feuerbach, 87. Fetichism, 24, 27, 113. Final cause, 34. First cause, the, 21, 30, 44, 46, 49, 55-57, 65, 126. Fisher, Geo. P., 12, 60, 85, 94. Flint, 12, 84. Freedom of the will, 69. Gaps unbridged by evolution, 109- 113. General Argument, 28-33. God, absolute, 21, 31, 59-63, 97, 127. —beneficent, 79, 122, 129, 130-138. —Creator, 17, 21, 23, 33, 55-58, 70-74, 80, 82, 85, 90, 91, 108, 114, 116. —eternal, 5^, 56, 120, 123, 126. —immanent, 43, 90, 91, 94, 95, 120, 141. -infinite, 21, 47, 48. 57, 93, 97, 127, 128, 140. —intelligent, 21, 39-48, 85, 97, 109, 124. —just, 129. — marks of handiwork, 17. —moral, 65, 66, 70-75, 82. —personal, 19, 20, 21, 33, 42, 46-48, 49, 56, 57, 58, 65, 66, 70-74, 79, 80, 85, 90, 91, 94, 97, 98, 99, 109, 114, 116, 123-126, 140. 141. —self-existent, 56, 120, 123, 126, 127, 129. — spiritual substance, 126, — supreme, 21, 31, 85. —transcendent, 43, 90. 91, 94, 95, 140, 141. — uncaused, 55, 56. — unus et unicus, 25, 126, 127. Goodness of God, 130-139. Haeckel, Ernest, 33, 119. Hamilton, Sir WilHam, 60. Handiwork, marks of God's, 17. Harris, Samuel, 12, 52, 60, 85. Hedonism, 89, 136. Henotheism, 24. Hibben, J. G., 52. Historical data, 18, 19, 26, 28, 29, 112. Home, 92. Humanity, religion of, 20, 117, 118. Hume, 39, 42, 51, 59, 91. Idealism, 18, 54, 94, 100-107, 118, 120. Illusions, 53, 102, 103, 105. Image of God in man, 23. Immortality, 88, 99, 134, 135. Intuitions, man's, 17, 18, 22, 23, 50, 51-54, 61, 62, 78, 101-103, 106, 107, 117, 118. 140. Introductory data, 15-27. Kant, 18, 51, 52, 54, 71, 72, 102, 103, 118. 144 Index Keyser, L. S., 100. Legge, James, 26. Leibnitz, 60. Leuba, J. H., 5. Lindsay, 13, 60, 100. Materialism, 7, 30, 33, 44, 72, 82, 84- 89, 94, 100, 119, 120. Matter and mind, 16, 87, 88, 95, 96, 100, 119, 120, 126. Micou, R. W., 13, 60, 64, 76, 85, 94, 100, 108. Mill, J. S., 39, 42, 51, 131. Missing links, 111. Mivart, 44, 134. Monism, 84, 94, 100, 119-121, 126. Monotheism, 25-27, 29. 113, 126, 127. Moral Argument, 64-75, 82, 88, 89, 124, 136. Morality and Theism, 20, 74, 75. Moral distinctions, 20, 29, 65, 66, 67, 68, 70, 88, 94, 98, 107. Moral nature, man's, 65-69. Moral order and economy, 69-74, 136. Miiller, Max, 26. Mystery, 136, 137. National Geographical Society, 31, 32. Naville, 131. Need of a work on Theism, 6, 7. Noumena, 52, 101-103, 105, 106, 117, 118. Objections to Teleology confuted, 42-46. Ontology, %. Ontological Argument, 59-63, 124. Optimism, 46, 137-139. Organisms, 35, 36, 45, 130, 131. Orr, James, 12, 26, 60, 85, 94, 108, 115, 130, 134, 136. Pantheism, 20, 72, 92, 94-99, 100, 119, 120, 126, 140. Patterson, Alexander, 108. Pessimism, 46, 71, 81, 88, 129, 130, 136, 137. Phenomena, 52, 101-103, 105, 106, 117, 120. Philology, 25. Philosophy and Theism, 18, 20, 38, 93, 95, 99, 100, 103, 104, 113, 117, 118, 126, 128, 129. Plato, 42, 59. Polytheism, 24, 26, 27. Positivism, 18, 117-119. Psychology, 25, 38, 87, 88. Presumptive proofs, 28. Purpose of this book, 5-7, 141, 142. Questionaire, a, 6. Ramsay, F. P., 26. Reason, 16, 17, 22, 23, 141. Redemption, 122. Relations, divine, 122, 140-142. Religion and Theism, 18, 19, 20, 27, 31-33, 98, 112, 118. Renouf, 26. Repulsive, the, 81-83. Revelation, divine, 15, 19, 23, 90, 122. Schopenhauer, 137. Science and Theism, 18, 20, 21, 32, 38, 41, 51, 93. Seminaries, theological, 5, 7. Sheldon, H. C, 13, 85, 100, 108, 115, 136. Sin, 32, 46, 132. Smith, Goldwin, 20, 75. Snowden, J. H., 100, 119. Socrates, 18. Spencer, Herbert, 74, 75, 116, 124, 125. Spinoza, 94, 95, 96, 119. State, the, and Theism, 20. Sublime, the, 83. Sufifering. the problem of, 131, 132- 136. Summum Bonum, 65, 131. Superpersonal, God not, 124-126. Teleological Argument, 34-48, 78- 81, 124. Tennyson, 131. Theism, an adequate world-view, 20, 23, 30, 41, 42, 51, 55, 56, 58, 63, 72, 86, 87, 89, 104, 110, 113, 114, 116, 120, 121, 124, 126. — comforting world-view, 82, 132- 139. —a morally uplifting world-view, 74, 75, 82, 89, 139, 141, 142. — definition, 15. —history, 18, 19. — importance, 5-7. — other terms, 15. —relations, 19-21. Townsend, L. T., 108. Tribal or national gods, 24. Trust in God, 136, 138, 139. Universal belief in God, 28-31, 85, 86, 115. Universal religious instinct, 31-33, 115. Unity of God, 25, 126, 127. Universe, the, 21, 39, 45, 46, 47, 52-58, 64, 65, 85, 86, 95, 97, 102, 103, 104, 120, 123, 127, 128, 134, 139, 141. Urquhart, John, 92. Valentine, Milton, 12, 17, 24, 25. 26, 28, 38, ^9, 60, 64. Vogt, Carl, 87. Von Hartmann, 124, 137. Ward, W. H., 13, 34. 134. Wright, Geo. F., 108, 109. Wrong, the, 72-74. DATE DUE DEMCO 38-297