The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-06-03

who, even here, have the frat fruits Of the
spirit, who groan within ourselves, wait
ing for the adoption, to-wit, the redemp.
ton Of our bodies, show like q strain Of
heavenly music does the message come,
telling us Of the glory that awaits us ]"
Professor TyndaIl's "ProbIem OF
Problems or Science and the
Boul-Lecture by DIR. George ut
the Fourth street Church Last
Night.
"The problem of problems Of our day"
says Professor Tyndall, "is to find a le-
climate satisfaction for the religious
emotions" This ia no problem for the
Christian philosopher. he knows pre-.
cisely how, and on what sufficient source,
the religious emotions find their legiti-
mate satisfaction. II Is nc marvel, how.
ever, that Professor Tyndall considers
this a difficult problem, when he claims
that "the man Of to-day is the child
and product Of incalculable antecedent
time. His physical and intellectual tex.
tures" he adds shave been woven for him
during his passage through phases Of his.
tory and forms Of existence which lead
the mind back to an abSymnsl past" It
does seem rather difficult to account
for religious emotion, according to this
materialistic scheme Of the universe.
Man, body and soul, If We accept this
teaching, is a mechanical product, and
where is there any place for religious
emotion? Voltaire said that II there
were no God it would be necessary to in
vent one; and 30 the evolutionists seem
10 consider It necessary to invent q re.
ligion. But II man Is q mechanical "pro.
duct" there are no voluntary states Of
soul, and no reason OIL capacity for re-
ligious emotion.
The facts OF intuition are the great
embarrassment Of the materialists. John
Stuart Mill admits that "whatever is
known to us by consciousness is known
beyond the possibility Of question"
The intuitions are not acquired; they are
implanted; and the truths which are
thus attested are self-evident, universal
and necessary truths. There are some
facts Of consciousness that have very
important religious significance; as, for
instance, the consciousness Of existence,
and that life did not begin without a
cause, the consciousness OF freedom,
or Of power to will and act or to
refuse to will and act; the consciousness
Of dependence, and Of a feeling Of self
approval when we do what we believe TO
be right, and Of self.reproach when we do
what we know to be wrong. Now, on the
mechanical theory OF the universe, how
can these facts OF Consciousness be ex-
planned? Thought, feeling, conscience,
affection, moral freedom are Just as GER
tainly facts as extension, weight, growth,
heat, or grayitation. Did these moral
qualities exist in the primary particles
from which it is supposed we we're
evolved? Have they resulted from a GER
tain molecular action Of the brain?
When and by what power were they in.
troduced2 No satisfactory explanation
is possible.
According 10 the mechanical idea, there
is nosuch thing as morality; for moralco
duct must be free, and have reference to
some authoritative rule or law. There
can be no such thing as providence; for
there Ia nc creature; a ia simply a
chemical combination. hisdoctrine re-
duces US from powers 10 things, robs US
OF manhood and the image OF God, and
destroys all hope Of an immortal life.
Just 80 far rs we are the product Of
physical %causation, the sense oil moral OBJ.
litigation ceases. Now to this theory, by
Momsoever sanctioned, that all the phe-
nomena Of the universe, MAJ included, are
10 be regarded as development by inex-
orable law and by mechanical processes,
OF only one kind or substance, whether
body or soul, whether brute
or brain, whether dead protoplam
or living matter, we object, on
scientific grounds, that il does not account
for he facts. There is an impossible gulf
between the Creator and the creature, be.
tween men and things, between soul aud
body, between living and non-living mat.
ter, between cerebral movements and
mental sensations, between q molecnle
and an idea, which has never been bridged
over by any material philosophy. These
speculative theories reduce everything
In the universe to a relentless, physical
mechanism, despite the facts Of conscious.
mesa, and despite multiplied evidences Of
intelligent design. It Is "a %dishonoring
10 man, therefore, as It is infdel towards
God. "Man reveals God" says Hamil-,
ton; and unquestionably our noblest ideas
Of God come through the revelations Of
consciousness. God is not near US In the
way Of ~contlguity, but he is near us in
our feeling, In a spiritual finding, in u
very sense Of dependence for life and all
things, and in the consciousness OF a tilisl
relation.
No rational philosophy can ignore the
facts Of human history. The religions
Of the world, the longings Of the soul, the
ideas which nnderlie every mode Of wor-
ship, the universality Of prayer, shed
light on the question OF mans origin, the
character OF the life with which he was
endowed, the relation he sustains TO the
one Supreme Being and the grandeur
and glory Of his destiny In immortal
ity. Christianity has been defined Us
athe consciousness Of the unifcation oil
the divine and human" and every
truly spiritual man has this con-
~scionsness, and realizes this divine
oneness. Neander d~esignates as the fun
dsmental trait Of o%rieniAlism, in the Hin.
doc and other religion" the unrest Of the
human mind, as manifested In the Ian.
vuage oil sorrow and melancholy, in view
Of the limits Of the human nature, and in
uncontrolled longings after the Infinite,
and for absorption into God" This con-
scious unrest and emptiness Of soul has
manifested itself amongst all nations and
In every age. It is a trial Of human ma
turoG itself. II has found expression in
The literature Of all peoples. Johnson
has told It's story in RAsselAs. Many .
noet has breathed It forth In plaintiye
song. Nothing but aliying faith In God
and The future a satisfy arationalsoul.
"I buried my m%sterialism." said Robert
Hall, ain the grave OF my father" 10 +
great trial or exigency Of life, the
mechanical theory OF the uni.
verse does not meet our demands. These
demands are reasonable. The strength
.- Nkn .NAAnvl 1hfnh Ia