, 1872-11-07
THE PHYSICAL VALUE OF PRAYER

The Common Ground of Science and
Theology. md Their Point of DiTerg-
ence-0Pposing Theories OF Priests
and SaVans.
Professor Itudau il, the Popular Science Monthly.
The editor Of the Contemporary Reuieu is lib
eral enough to grant me space for few pf1ef re-
hections Oh g. subject, a former reference TO
which in these pages has, believe, brought
down upon him and me- considerable amount OF
It may be interesting to some it glance at a
few cases illustrative Of the history Of the hn-
man mind in relation to this and kindred sub
jecta. In the fourth century, the belief in anti
podea was deemed unscriptural and herettcaL
The Ros hactantus vas as angay wsh tne Psa,
ne, and quite as unsparing IN his denuncia-
tions Of their tmonstrositieB." Lactan-
thus was irritated because, in his mind, BY
education and habit, cosmogony and religion
simultaneously dissolved. II tho early part
OF the seventeenth century the notion that the
earth was fixed, and that the Sun and Etars re-
volved round it daily, WAS interviewer in sim
liar manner with religious feeling, the separa-
mostly and nndalng persecution. Men still
living can remember the indignation excited by
the first revelations of geology regarding the
age OF the earth, the association between chro-
nology and religion being for the time indissolu-
bic. In our day, however; the nest-ln1ormeo
clergymen are prepared to admit that our views
of the universe and its author are not impaired,
but improved, by the abandonment OF the Mo-
saic account Of the creation. Look, finally, at
the excitement caused by the publication Of the
"Origiu Of Species," and compare 1t With the
calm attendant On the appearance Of the TAR
more outspoken and, from the old point OF view,
more impious s'Descent Of Man."
Thus religion survives after the removal OF
what had been long considered essential to it.
In our daya the antipodes are accepted, the h1lty
of the earth is given up, the period OF creation
and the reputed age Of the world are alike DIS
sipated evolution Is looked upon without terror,
and other changes have occurred in the same d.
rection too numerous to be dwelt upon here. In
fact, from the earliest times to the present, re-
igion has been undergoing process OF pu1In-
cation, freeing itself slowly and painfully from
the physical errors which the busy and uniu-
formed intellect mingled with the aspiration OF
the soul, and which ignorance sought to perpet-
ton remains to be performed, while others OPP
pose this notion with the confidence nc
and the warmth Of ancient times. The
bone OF contention at present 1a tha
physical value of prayer: 1t is not ny ny
wish to excite surprise, much less to draw forth
protest by the employment OF this phrase.
would simply ask any Intelligent person to look
the problem honestly and steadily III the faco,
then to say whether, in the estimation OF the
great body Of those who sincerely resort to 1t,
III
eions, invoke power which checks and aug
ments the descent Of rain, which changes the
force and direction Of Winds which affects the
growth Of corn and the health of men aud cat
t1e-a power, in short, which, when Appealed to
under pressing circumstances, produces the pre-
else effects caused by physical energy in the or
dinary course of things. To any person Who
deals sincerely with the subject, and refuses to
blur his moral vision by intellectual subtleties,
this, think, will appear q true statement OF the
It ia under this aspect alone that the scientific
student, 30 far as I represent him, has any wish
to medd1e with prayer. Forced upon his atten-
tion ss form Of physical energy, or as the
subjecting it to those methods Of examination
from which all our present knowledge OF the
physical universe is derived. And If his re-
searches lead him to o conclusion adverse to its
claims; il his inquiries rivet him still closer to
the philosophy embodied in the words, "He
maketh bis sun to shine on the evil and On the
good, and sendeth rain upon the Just and upon
the unjust" he contends only for the olsplace-
ment Of prayer: not for its extinction he SIM
ply says physical nature IL not 1ts lee1'mate 90
main.
This conclusion, moreover, must be based on
pure physical evidence, and not on any inherent
nnreasonablenesB in the act of prayer. The the
ory that the system of nature is under the con-
troll of being who changes phenomena in COM
pliance with tie prayers OF men, is, in my opin-
ion. q perfectly legitimate one. It may, Of
course. be rendered futile by being associated
With conceptions which contradict it, but such
conceptions form necessary part Of the theory.
| It is Q matter OF experience that earthly
father. who is at the same time both wise and
tender, listens to the requests Of his children,
and. if thew do not ask amiss, takes pleasure IN
granting their requests. We know also that
this compliance extends to the alteration, within
certain limits, Of the current of events on
earth. with this suggestion offered by our ex-
| perience, it is no departure from sciantifo
method to place behind natural phenomena a
| universal father, who, in answer to the prayers
| Of bis children, alters the currents Of those
| phenomena. Thus far theology and and science
| 70 hand in hand. The conception Of an ether,
| Tor example, trembling with the waves Of Light,
| is suggested by the ordinary phenomena OF
wave-motion in water and in air; and in like
manner the conception Of personal volition IN
nature is suggested by the ordinary action Of
| man upon earth. I, therefore, urge no impossi-
bilities, though you constantly charge me with
doing so. I do not even urge inconsistency, but,
/ on the contrary, frankly admit that you have as
good right to place your conception at the root
Of the phenomena as I have to place mine.
| But, without verihcation, 8 theoretic concep.
tion is mere fgment Of the intellect. and am
sorry to find US parting company at this point.
The region Of theory, both in science and theol-
oev lies behind the world of the eensea, but the