, 1877-08-05
UNBELIEF, AND HOW TO MEET IT.

MoNcUnE CONWAY sends to the Cincinnati
Commercial the results of his observations at
| tile Pan-Presbyterian Council. It strikes
him Us sad fact TINT the London disbe-
Levers remain unmoved while the Calvinistic
sheet-lightning is playing so drcadfuily about
their devoted heads. ''HuxLEr is unaware
that he has been used mp By McCosH, and
HERBERT SPENCER that the.work Of his life
has been laid in ruins By PArros, of Chi
eago." The 6eld-day of the Council, accord
| ing to CONWAY, was certain Monday, when
the question up for discussion was !: 1.-THE
Nature Of Unbehef, and How to Meet It.
The chief paper was read by DR.. FRAN
CTS L. PATTON, Of Chicago,-ths old-time
! antagonist of Prof. SWING. He set out with
the proposition that the generic cause of
unbelief is DEPRIVED nature, which in the
first place makes a man undesirous Of hear
ing the Gospel, and in the next place disin-
clined to accept it. Mr.. CONWAY says ssIt is
simply monstrous for an able and learned
divine to think Of building on such fiction
as that -; but Mr. CoswAxs opinion, per
haps, is no better than another mans. At
the same session, Dr.. A1cCosH read paper.
"Cut OF at an Advanced Age by the Call of
Time," in which he seemed to regard the
interplay of scientific discussion as war of
Kilkenny cats, one theory destroying on
other; but still he recognized the steady
advance Of anti~supernaturalistic thought
in all countries, end his proposition for meet
ing it practically was to train body of
apologists, other than the clergy, cs defend
ers OF the faith. Another speaker was Dr.
De PREssESsE, who, in felicitous French,
declared that in6delity had chiefly arisen
from the Church welding power over or in
the State,-thus assuming a position similar
to that of our OWL JOSEPH Cook. 4 less
hopeful view was that OF DR.. Thomas SMITH,
Of Etlinburg,' who said TINT infdelity was
much more due to literature than science.
even history being now written in IN
infdel spirit; and he thought that
,the popular form of it is Sec
ular1sm. DR.. FLINT, Professor of Theology
in the University Of Edinburg, lamented
TINT Europe was SO i'll supplied with Chris
tan scholars qualified to meet tie scientists
on their own grounds and put them to rout.
q,
will be observed, were fur from being of ono
mind; they could not agree either upon the
causes of unbelief or upon the remedy for
it.. While the defenders of the faith are in
this unsettled condition, it would be pre-
sumptuous for any mere layman to attempt
the answering OF these mighty questions,
nor would 1T be wise to judge the merits
Of the discussion from the report Of
Mr.. CONWAY, which, though it is
two columns in length, is SO col
pred by the prejudices Of the writer
as to be comparatively valueless. But there
is one idea which stands out prominently in
Ill the discussion, and TINT is, TINT the Chris
ian Church is suffering for the want of
teachers trained i'll the rudiments of modern !
science. Some Of the speakers at Edinburg
confessed this openly, and others proved it
" the unscientiflc methods Of their argu-
nents- There is vast difference, according
o the modern use of Language, between
clergyman scientifically trained and one
IN the sciences. A large body of
heologians hold that theology itself is q
cio1lce, and consequently that every Young {
nan who has received a thorough training 1
the Presbyterian theology is scientifically {
raned- 1t makes no difference whether he t
nows an echinoderm from protozoan, or ]
chunk OF old red sandstone from o Con- ,
ecf1cut valley rd-track,-if his faith is q
1mly anchored in tue doctrines of the {
'hurch, he is considered competent to pass t
pom all scientific questions. The discus I
ION at Edinburg is valuable, therefore, since +
shows departure from this old theory of q
geological education. When man like y
y. FLINT finds in Great Britain lack of G
'e scholarship required for the defense t
Christianity against scientific assaults. a
IS time for American teachers to i,
qulFe whether there may not be S
mllar deficiency in this country. 1t will c
ot do IN this advanced and curious age to q
,swer an in8del by pelting him with doc. c
ines. As we'll attempt to subdue mob by b