Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1858-10-06
ATHEISM.


t%uralist, of worldwide fame, it is reported, is
an atheist. We do not believe the report
for we cannot see how it is possible, that a
man who is a scholar, having had the advan-
tage of an extensive investigation, both 'in
the Heavens above and in the earth beneath"
could doubt the existence of a God. In his
varied travels he has had the opportunity ofin-
vestigating nature in all its varieties of con-
sulting man in all his dispositions-and he
cannot have failed to recognize order, regu-
larity and system in all things-the peculiar
adaptation o every thing to the use to which
it is applied-and hence of recognizing in
this order and system, the hand of an Al
mighty regulator, who has ordained every
thing for the best. Indeed, we have never
believed in what appeared to us to be an
anomaly, IN intelligent atheist. We have
heard men express a disbelief in the existence
of a God, but we have looked upon it as an
hallucination of the mind under which they
temporarily labored-to be removed by re-
Election and further investigation. For a
man of so much experience, and of so enlar-
ged a mind, as Humboldt, to be an atheist,
is inconsistent and almost an impossibility.
He must have 'looked through Nature up to
Natures God" He must have looked into
his W formation-its admirable adaptation
to the high purpose to which it has been APP
piled the nature and operations of his own
mind-and the utter impossibility of a body
thus wonderfully constructed and endowed
having sprung into existence by chance, or
by any elementary combination for, thus
being evidently designed in his physical and
mental conformation, there must have been
a Being to design-to plan-and to adapt all
things to the purposes for which they were
intended.
That such a man should deny the Creator
of his existence, we cannot believe. Igno-
rance or pride may deny the existence Of a
God-but for an intelligent and experienced
man, who has reached the extended age of
eighty years, to do so, appears to us to be in
credible. But to those who would thus an
initiate Deity, the task remains to form a
more plausible and rational theory for the
creation not only of men, but of the various
globes which we see, and of the diversified
animated beings by which they are popula-
ted. If there were no wisdom displayed in
the creation of these objects-if we did not
see order and system stamped upon all crea-
= 1sor &c ~,O, III ~ok NJ Sko,ao1 ooo-SoE;o~
Of a future existence-if he witnessed the
) Earring of systems and confusion pervading
creation-then, indeed, he might entertain
doubts of everything being under the super
intending control of a Great Supreme Being.
But he witnesses the beauty and harmony
{ which pervade everything-when his own
aspirations after future existence are so strong
and convincing that there is such a state O.
: existence-to doubt that there is a Supreme
Ruler of the universe, seems to us to be not
only folly, but madness-it argues menta
e disorganization. But, we have heard it ar
gued, we cannot see God and understand thu
:. mOdus operGndi by which he conducts thu
. machinery of the universe, and hence we dis
believe in His existence. That is, becaus,
l he cannot equal the knowledge and wisdom
4 of God, he will not believe in the e~xistenc
n of such a being. Suppose we strike Him on
d of existence, and how much better off is tn
: skeptic Can he imagine the world creating
and regulating itself?
Can he believe, that by elementary arrange
ment, man and the various animals come ir
y to existence? Who created the elements
. Did they form themselves, and then fall int
a harmonious cooperation to form all that W
now see? The man who can believe thi
i would not reject the belief in the reality of
God, from fear of being charged with credV
l. lily. When we see that a clock or waite
keeps time, we naturally infer that it W;
made for that particular purpose by an int
e ligent being. Why, then, should we doub
when we see everything upon earth and
N the heavens formed and adapted to some sp
y cifc, and we may say, indispensable use; ma.
r. that this has all been arranged by a superb
mind? We nave no patience with atheism
~ if, indeed, there be such a thing-for v
n consider it q wanton rejection of the ligl
st which has been impaired to US by an all-wi
er and an all-merciful Father, tho creator ar
u upholder of all things. We hold that educ
ted persons cannot be atheists.