, 1876-09-11

VAIL IlAk lllC[At 1HlCEFFOLhllnn kIt1CuEu 10 LSl
declarations. This + The only Christian dogma
affected by tho idea that man has come l,y a long
path, and the fact that large past Of the
Church and iargc number Of chnrcllmcn long
Of Genesis, shows how little tho religion evcn
Of tho Church need fcnr from the 9ctcncc which
removes nisn'e cratllo hack few millions OF
years. A large number Of Christians have for
time and manner Of mans origin, .nn't yet their
vlrtun and faith haya bocn ns lefty md active
a. the virtue and faith Of those who have en-
loycd The most perfect information Us 10 this
harm Inny 10 tho religious nottons of mahkinll,
little Of this harm Is destined to como by
| CONFLICTS over the Book Of Genesis. The almost
intcrnnaole descent Of man Is doctrine as
J II God has existed from eternity, His pursuIts
need not be- crowded Into the last Q, QUU years,
but may well hc e.rcwn along the ondlces patti;
the Christ-idca might NJ. we'll bo laid IN tile
! sublime eternity past rs In those recent ycnrs
which wo attempt to reach BY the short arms Of
\ history. 1t may at last provo defect pf Chris
lunar raee to chsrish @ @ until il oily s isw year.
ago. % this rs 1t may. VIC may rest IN two
conelus!oaaEtho one, That the dost5ine q Dc. DE-
harm to the Christian religion.
| Of Science is upon It's face more alarming.
Tho idea that tha life IN tho pf!u.al
@ only tu is hypo.e.. ms{t1 q leeent os5n stenee
Looking at man, ho y seen wholly built up, Of
atom 70 the full-groWn man oil the terlng
Kno% 1Ga oGa ss sns n a IT,
materials !n tle elements. II now there 10
forces In material that coul!l develop the germs
| Which In million ages could become man or
an oak, then the demand for personal or con-
| &ri011& f11H rHnHr8. anil wltrf hfa
organism dies. THIS Is tho self-esolution, tho
automatic theory which sets astsle God and In
mortality. This Is the natcrialism which
Threatens tho morals Of society and tie hopes
But II Il Is moro destructive than the former
theory, It ls more easily met on tho field Of mr.
gument; It might at some timc bccomc evident
that all life Inns come from simple forms such
,pS hs bs sA1s ssssss esss
creating power Il matter, docs not
sscm to ,,' eomo ~, within til -, The widest i range n
toric pathway, come to tR!s line between the
physical and the Spiritual, Ind has been able to
affirm nothing. When our rhrcnologfsts anrm-
ed feW years ugo that the brain determined char
actcr, That murder depended upon the fullncss Of
deficiency OF certain Drain cavities, they camo to
tho .sarno 1natcrlailsm aud threw tho thcolo-
Etans Into the sano alarm. When Dr. Holmes,
9Rs ss s @ gf9ea ea and
|
no soon received the appcllati0n Of atheist from
| those whose minds havo loug been trained In
tho school OF denuncIation. Tho cyolution1sts
l,ave simply come to the mysterious bounding
lation between good fond and good poetry and
| good reasoning, they haye come to the general
| relation between matter and life. We feel Ger.
pass; tRat there j. nothng IL seiraco R That can
| overthrow the spiritualfsin OF religion,
,lsclgion does not require the scientific
distinction between ulind and matter: II deals
| only with phenomena, and asks only for mat
the right, and beauty and virtue, and can fill up
that great ocean of events called He. The
rnotler Is not strenuous that you should call lcr
adorn te home viii viii @ her ski s fs9 her at 1er cor" s
vctsatfon, her beauty. Gtve III all the power to
| write poems such "a Homer'e Or 6llaAspearo's,
and the plrcnologists may hold anr viow they
brains, and thv plys|ologtsts may think as they
like about tue Influence Of food upon poetry.
What religion wants is not q definition Of mat
ter md definition Of spirit, bnk she wants ulal
}gst a. be T. Be- he spiTit as Plato aillrms Or
ltgion Invites him to her temple and cares moth
! Ing for chemist or phystologist. Here fs being
that to all appearances can reason, c1 lore, cnil
indeed oil tio world viii his aitlaxng w6rks. It
might be With BcEketcy sliat these works arc
only dreams Of ap intellect, or, with the tnate-
riallst, that they aFe notifications Of matter;
such wonderful Dreamer. Or cise such 4 Won l.
dcrful modification, TINT religion loves him and
blilds temple for hls prayer and song.
but, yol iiqn!re, L It be true that We need
here, shall We not need 1t when we come TO con-
struct tho hope Of anot,,er llfca Can 1natorial-
Ism admit Of Immortality Yes, bccausc no ono
will eyer be able 50 70 define lnaterialism as
to find in 1T the exclusion of future life. The
matorlallsln that can In some way 80 ogitate
| matter rs to mako human rarn come from u
grain Of dust, that .cau evolve a Deatrico or a
Jesus Christ from docomposcts rock, and which
| first made the rock, need not be limited nB to
tho future: Before sucll potent n.aterialiam
tho little line Of death need oppose no obstacle.
10 development which made man AZ
T. es ss5e VI. ~ e a %ang os .E s @n yGm e
look out upon the universe, and as
far as your poor powers will mlm[t OF, uoto Its
amazing yastness and unity and beauty, nee IFS
sss s m 0 vng s asH0as sqn "a BY
hero on this one small star, you cnnnot but fcel
that the matcriallsm which produced all this
pAgcAutry will alaks ngan the urns Of dust and
pour cut US Children aguin in tho lnnd that Is
far away.
hut this question OF a future life o. affected
by the popular sciences Ii better discussed along
With the lea Of God as atlccted by the theory
of eelfovoltltton: Do the theories Of Mr. Huxley
and Darwin involve blank atheisma What tils
individuals themselves think ~ tho results OF
their Science Is unimportunt; In their tcacllIngs
tl.crc is not involved any dlhliucuon Of the Idea
of Coy, and Just sueh God aa is defined III
tho Christian Confessions vi Faith. ur.utng
tho spontaneous origin uf life and then It's cvo-
lntton by natural causes from worm to man. md
We lsays not even touched the extstenr1 Ut q
conscious, personal Creator. Because by the
word "spontaneous" Science mca1s the
absence Of tho ordinary cAusc. Thus
II, most !fo beginning with germ,
there Should bo lIfe That wcro created
by tic sun aud water, II thuro should plant
grow from tfIe slln antl carth, but where there
Yas no seed, this would be "spontaneots n
life. But this phenomenon would uot nuke poa-
| stblc world without God, for bcfore Science
could ask ua to accept such an Inference II would
be compelled to anal yze the sunbeam ansl find
thai no Deity were there. TO lnti TINT the plant
possessed no vtt4'ixetl seed would only be all
invitation tos<lcacs to find what power that was
In the sunlight that transforms dust into lily
Or y rose. Christianity llas bcan accustomed til
find thu Greater III tho acuru ur in the germs Of
an!nal ltfe, but II lifc cau come from light or
water, then Christianity will find In light at,1 In
water the saMn presence Of It's t3ul. 1Ic,lcc no
theory Of Science thus far In Its co,rso isvolyes