New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-09-10

world, leaving tho scientific comprehension Oh Ma
ture to the natural powers of the human mnd. oti
we are authorized to believe that the reveal
tons Of Scripture when rightly interpreted, Will
not conflict with the scientific Interpretation OF
Nature. But the sacred narrative, Professor
Cocker airms is not TO be taken as literal history
but as poetic symbolic and unchronologicaIreprc-
sentaton of o similar character to the Hlndoo
Vedas, the Greek Diad, and the Morse Eddas' inc
product of an age in which prose was entirely super
seeded by poetry. The book of Genesis opens with q
psalm, grand symbolical hymn of creation. The
rhythmcal character of the passage and its stately
imaginative style combine to show that IL
is a poem. This general statement may bc accepted
even by the reader who hesitates to admit the 1ur
Their details in which the author describes the hter
airy history of the passage, with precision .na'
cannot be claimed for the poems of Homer OF ossih
at was composed" says DR.. Cocker, propaDiy ny
Adam and chanted in the tents OF the patriarchs III
their morning and evening devotons ior more 'i'"
two thousand years, to commemorate inc iac' AM.
keen alive the faith that the world is the WORK OF
the Triune God"
The relation of God to the world 10 justly deemed
by the author one OF the most pregnant oi
the day. whether regarded i'll theological OF sclen-
tifc point of view. The Christian Church, III all
aces. has taught that the continuance Of the Uni
Divine Causality. Every theory of an opposite
character has been pointedly condemned. The
Divine conservation Of the world is The catholic doc
trine of Chrstendom The religious life of the pres
ent age in its purest and most vigorous manliesa-
TONS earnestly asserts the belief that the Universe
is sustained by the direct and ccaseiess agency OF
God. This is the doctrine alike OF Nltzsch ana Niu
ler Chalmers and Harris, Young and Whedon, Chan-
ming and Martincau. Certain thinkers, however,
both in the present and previous age have adj
vanced theories which are not III accordance with
the conception of the immediate Divine agency Ill
the unfolding of tho Universe. although they may
be firm believers in personal God One school Is
represented by such writers rs Professor Tynda Dr.
Bcncc Jones, and Professor Bastian. Their funda-
mental principle is the inseparabty of matter
and force, and hence they do not recognize the
Divine VIII rs the sole cause Of the life of the Uni
verse; Molecular actions are the primal forces com
municated to matter at the creation, from which
proceed all the forms of energy in Nature. Our
idea of the grandeur, the unity, and the power OF
the first cause will not be lesSened we show that
one law of the union OF matter and force and Oh the
conservation of energy obtains throughout tho
organic as well the inorganic crea-
tionD Another school is represented by Baden
Powell, Professor Owen and DR.. Huxley, VINO deny
the distinction between matter and force, regarding
both as manifestations of some unknown snDstratum
which is identical with the Divine substance. Ac-
cording to their ideas, the Universe d2closeS o'hng
but innutablo law, absolute continuity, and noces-
sarv development. TLe grand princip.s OF the sell
evolving powers of Nature and the grand inluctVo
conclusion of universal and eternal ORDER"
saws Baden Powell, "are the bases OF all
rational theology This doctrine, Professor Baden
Powell admits as quoted by the author, summary
overridcs the Mosaic creation ronders miracles IRA
tonal, excludes a special providence, and disnis5es
prayer as a useless absurdity." third school
assumes the existence of plastic nature between
the Creator and his work by which TIE
phenomena of the Universe are produced.
This theory was propoundcd in the sew
onteenth century by DR.. Ralph Cuiworth'
the learned Platomist of Cambridge and has re-
Gently been revived by DR.. Layard and Nh Murphy
under tie namo of unconscious organizing htclli-
gence," to explain the facts of organic nature which
come under the relation of and ends or struc-
ture and function Common to all these hypothesis
is the denial of the immediate agency OF God as the
ONLY real and efficient force in nature They are all
attepts to account for the conservation of the world
By the conservation and transformation OF energy,
that is by secondary causes, which in fact are not
real causes but only conditions. They interpose
chasIn between God and the world, making the Uni
verse self-eyolving machine, aud God an isolated
abstraction.
Each of these theories is discussed in n course OF
elaborate ratocnation, which is distinguished alike
for its lucidity and strength of argument and is
freedom from controversial heat. 1ne hna conciu-
sion of the author is expressed in the words OF
Spinoza-not implying however, hio reception OF the
philosophical system of that celebrated Jew-that
Good is not simply the transltiyo but tho lnmaAent
cause of the Universe" Che superiuous insertion
OF the word simply it may be remarked, obscurcs the
sense of the passage, and ilnpairs the necessary
antithcsis demanded by the argument, between
"transitve" and "immanent." If the Divine Cars
atty be transitve passing out Of tie effect, IT can
not be imlnanent remaining in the effect. and II -
manent. il cannot be traGsitve. The two ideas
mutually exclude each other. But, to contisue the
statement of the author God is i'll mature, not merely
as n regulative principle impressing laws upon
Nature, but az a constitutve principle, the ever
present and Incorporating cause o. all Its pAeno-
ena. God is ilnmanent in Nature, which tie author
defines as matter swaycd by Divine power, and
organized and animated by the Divine life"-a def
milton which will be objected to by Macy az cx-
Guiding the sphere of consciousness, or conioundng
it with NATTER which is by no means in accordance
with the general scope of the work.
Tie relation of God to humanity, and the moral
government Of man, form the subjects of several in
teresng chapters which foE their profound analyses
and impressive suggestions challenge the thoughtful
study of reflective readers. Professor Cocker main
tans that human history is the special field of Di-
vine Providence. The education OF the race has pro-
ccedel much in the same manneras the education o.
the individual. Each epoch has demanded new con-
ditons, and has taken place in new sphere.
Christian civilization, in the opinion of the author,
is the consunmate bloom Of many ages. IL CON-
bines the moral culture Of the Hebrew, the poetry
and philosophy Of Greece, the jurisprudence of an
cient Rome and the treasures of modern science and
art 1t is not tie property of any single nation. 1t
tlln 1vhnln Garth In lis nnrnnses and nans