Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1871-04-07
Written for the Perrysburg Journal.l
OUR DICTIONARY.
BY cARRETERo.

ATHEISM. Il have the honor Of being admit
ted tn circle of philosophers, as a member.
This company is composed Of atheists, deists
and harmonaliss. They are all acute reason !.
ers, possessed OF massive brains endowed with
powerful intellectual In culties and are ardent
lovers of truth. Believing that reason is the
star Of progression, the helm of human action,
the divine element, they hesitate not to use it,
have been favored person, sitting at the feet
OF wisdom, storing my mind with the philosophy
of these sages, and eagerly listening to their
calm. logical utterances, of utility aud worth.
Not long since, heard a passinnless discussion
by three of the company, on the question, :" Is
there Gnd ?' will give as nearly as possible,
the arguments adducsd:
Argument of the Ahcnt-The universe, and
all that in it is, is the resnt either of chance Of
design. or Of philosophical necessity. There is
no effect withaut its producing cause no cause
without its legitimate effect. Therefore. the
creation cannot be the res ult Of chance. Design
necessarily implies choice between two or more
methods. But nothing could have been differ
ent to what it has been. Hence, being choice
there could he no design. 1t is therefore, evident
g. severyt e exists o'philnsop' ioal u CO sity.
All we pei ceve could have been produced
by the motion and afFinites of matter. Two
gases having affinity for each other, broug ht
in contact by motion, unite and form water. Mo-
ton produces friction, and friction between in
hamable substances produces ignition. The
" A.
ter cools its surface and forms 1t into q solid
shell.
Water is drawn by the force OF grayitntion u
the center of the earth. Coming in contact with
the internal fire, steam is necessarily generated.
Its expansive fOrce upteaves the solid crust,
producing mountains. The upheaval of one
part OF the shell contracts some other part and
this contraction produces the ocean bed. Where
the shell is thin it is broken throu-h and we
have the volcano. When the uphesval occurs
IN the ocean bel 1t sends great tidal waves to-
wards the shore, and in the contraction of some
other part, fissure is made and we behold the
earthquake, as in the recent upheaval aud tidal
wave in the Pacific Ocean and consequent earth
quake along the coast Vegetables and animals
may be produced without the agency Of a God.
The progressive development of the earth is
proof To the point. Two elements having no af-
tinity for third may combine aud fu rm sub
stance which has. These three mar form an
entirely new substance having an affinity for a
fourth, and so on. Thus in a never-ending Sc
ries Of production it is easy to account for a u
that exists, Hence. it follows that since all
things could have been developed by motion and
affinity, there is no need Of God. | see no
necessity for alleging supernatural cause, fSr
effects whi,h could be Produced by natural ones,
and hence recognize none.
have ner seen, smelt. tasted. heard or felt Of
spirit. can only reason from what know. II
ls not enough that am unable 10 say that a
God does not exist. Il must be proved that one
does. The negative is always presumed unit
the affirmative isPrnytn.
Matter is necessarily eternal and infinite, God
could not be more. infer that mind is the re-
suit Of the combinations Of matter, as the odor
OF the Hover Is the result of the organization OF
the flower. The eause must exist bef're the ef-
feet. Ii Goo were the cause, he must have ex-
listed before matter But matter is eternal-has
always existed. Therefore God eAHuot be the
fl -, Il
ter, ofeOurse spirit is eternal. Ii must have
had an infinite existence before the formation Of
man. That existence was a conscins uncOn-
scous one. II conscious, we would remember
it. II unconscious. Il will become 80 again at
the death Of the body.
Matter always acts agreeably to its own ma
ture. There is no need of wisdom, intelligence,
OF God, since, had It all the intelligence we
could imagine, II could not have acted otherwise.
1t Is governed by no other power than that of
philosophical necessity. The facts Of nature
everywhere observable, / think, support my
views.
Argument Of The DeIst.--Nothing happens at
hap-haEard, but every thing is the eject Of
some cause. BY tue pecuarities Of the effect
may We judge of the producing cause. In fact
we have no other method Of judgement. Crea.
ton is an effect. In order, then, to determine
who or what was the creative force, we must
study that effect. In other words, we must rea-
S'h W SNuNh W llEiu tuhHCtlOH.
Adaptation Of Instruments 10 the effect de-
signed, is every where h be seem The forma-
ton Of the eve exhibits a wonderful adaptation
TO the faculty of sight 81 much sn, that the hu-
man mlnd eau suggest no Improvement. This
IS also the case in respect IN the ear and hear
ing, Throughout the entire domain Of nature,
We perceive the exhibition of intelligent design
Beauty and utility are combined in tho same Oh |
Jeet. Those qualities which eharacterizes the
effect must necessarily reside in the cause. In-
telligence, beauty. goodness and power, charae-
terlze the works of creation. They must there |
fore be inherent in the cause. Philosophical
necessity, being, Of course, law. cannot possess
these attributes Therefore, il is not the cause.
We must look elsewhere. Law contains power
but not intelligence. Law has no mind intel'-
Renes is the product OF mind. Our power can
not form even worm. Hence the power that
formed the universe must DO infinitely superior
to ours the Intelligence must be Infinitely su-
perior 10 human reason aud the mind, from
which the intelligence proceeds must b. indn- |
ilely greater. That mind term God.