Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1878-07-10
Tho First Cause Intelligent,


There are three different views OF
the origin Of things entertained In
different minds
|, The first Ii that Of the material
lit, who piiirms that ma tier, force and
motion, are eternal, aud, Of course,
unereated,
2, Another class OF minds believe
In the eternal existence Of matter and
also Of mind I, 9, God aud that Goo
created or formed aud arranged all
things ont Of pre- existing matter
that the eternal mind II the source Of
all force or power and gave to matter
all It's laws-lhat mind is tho worker
aud matter It's working tools,
3, Another view h, that there Is
aud was an eternal mind, and that this
eternal mind created matter out Of
nothing, aud then formed this matter
into all material things,
As Tor myself | do not affirm that
God made matter out OF nothing,
because can not possibly form any
conception Of such n thing being
done neither do | deny II, simply
because do not know that lie did
not, do not krow that matter is
eternal aud do not know that 1t Is
not SO. But ! do affirm II as my pro-
found conviction that, II matter {.
eternal, it does not by any means, &C
count for the existence OF the vcgcta'
bic and animal creations on tie face
Of the earth,
We find n race OF intelligent IN
man beings on the earth, and we
know that this race Of beings has not
always existed, Each individual has
a beginning and each generation OF
the race has beginning, hence the
race itself must have had a beginning.
The science of geology abundantly
and concluslvely proves that there was
a time when there were no vegetables,
no animals, no human being on the
earth. Now there are intelligent be-
ings on the earth, ard it is impossible
to conceive how n non.intelligent
cause could produce mind or intelli-
cence. can as easily conceive how
bare nothing could produce something,
as I can that mere dead, unorgonized,
unconscious matter, can produce in.
telligencc. But intelligence docs now
exist and there is no rational way OF
accounting for its existence here, but
by the hypothesis or suppositlon that
intelligence or mind always existed.
Granted, an eternal mind; and it is
easy to see that this eternal mind
could organize beings out Of matter
and produce minds in his own image
interior to himself.
Should it now be said, that mind or
intelligence is an effect OF organiza
tion-that there is no soul or spirit in
man, but that consciousness, thinking,
knowing, and all mental phenomena
and operations, are produced by the
brain and nervous system-that they
are merely movements or functions OF
the material organs-then we ask
what is the power that moves these
organs, or this human m machine, in Or
der to produce all meutal phenomena
And who or what in the first place
produced these wonderful organs and
arranged them into a systematic ma
chine, so as to produce mind, intell'-
gence and all mental phenomena
Mere inert, unconscious, unthinking
matter, could no more make machine
to produce intelligence than nothing
could produce something. Hence,
there must have been an eternal intel
ligence. spirit or mind, in order to
produce the world of intelligence that
now eXlsts +. b.
South Woodstock.