, 1879-07-27
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: SUNDAY 1879s1xTEEN

posed Of at the stake have passed away. The
age Of reason has dawned. Freedom Of con-
science, freedom of speech, and freecom OF the
press have opened the mort aacred subjects TO
public discussion. Religion hns bcen called into
court, and must provetlle truth OF It's doctrines.
tics,'' It's advocates "believers.'' Skepticism,
after long and forced silence, is allowed to
speak freely, and, as might be expected, has
become darinsly aggressive. The believer -
all that be holds most sacred ia called into oues-
ton. And so the literature OF our day teens
with religious controversy, not merely, as
hercfore, between one religious sect and
another, but between religion on the
ono hand, and open. unblushing in6delitv
be carried on in spirit Of camness and fair
ness But between the extreme parties who
often drop argument: entirely and fall to down.
right abuse OF each other there t8another class
and believing the truLn Of religion, try and bring
about reconciliation between the two. The
goodness of their motives is above question,
but, In the nature OF things, their efforts eau
never be productive OF any great results. In
religion there can be no middle course: - As
this on all hands will be admitted. II it be
false, we are justified In repudiasing 1t SO soon
as VIC hare obtained proofs of its falsity, such
as the constitution IT our minds entities us to
admit in that behalf. But we are bound by the
laws Of our intellectual nature not tn treat 1t rs
false before examination"
He who is accustomed to read between the
lines will easily perceive that these SENTENCES
imply great deal more than they express. II
religion Is either true or false, how Is its truth
or falsitY to be estab]isheda Science says BY
any method of Investigation which i5 con-
formable to the known laws Of reason. Until
ne know tbat religion is true We know that it
nav be false; our mind is In doubt. We cx-
anime its doctrines In precisely the same man
ner as we would examine the doctrines Of any
other theory, and, finding them either wholly
without proof or without sufficient proof,
ne refuse to accept it. Now this position no
''beieyer'' will admit Religion must ultl-
mately depend, not, like true science, upon SELF
evident truth. but upon dogma aIhc position
Of Christianity IN the present controversy has
been well stated ia recent article. In which the
Writer SAYS: "The assumption that the teach
ings Of the Scriptures stand upon common level
with the teachings Of science. aud are to be
called in question as any other subjects OF
human thought, cannot for moment be ad-
mitted BY the Gospel preacher. Ills duty is to
set before the people as infallible reTitles the
great doctrines OF tho Scriptures-,"* In
arguing TO the infallibility OF the Scriptures
from their inspiration. the ''be.iever" argues
to q conclusion from q premise which is not q
self-e7ilent truth and which is not ultimately
based upon selt-cvident truth. This Is in direct
coutravention Of the laws Of reason.
The iliogfcainess, the barrow -iuindcdness, the
utter nhsurdity Of sucl4 position, can bc fully
eomprehended only when VIC COME TO compare
Que form. OF religion With another. All re-
1igions may be false. All cannot possibly be
true. If any one form Of religion, Christianity,
for example, be true. then all others, as Brah-
minisn or Mohatpmedanism, must be false.
Therefore some religions are false. Aeain,
Then, We have the question, How is the
truth or fasitv Of any religion to be
established: Again SCIENCE replies. By the
test of reason" Again religion says " Dogma. u
And SO, in the perennial controversy between
science and religion, "skeptics aud be-
What is to bo the upshot Of ail this2 From
what We know of the past aud present, wnat
may We expect in the futurea BetW cen science
and religion there may exist Quasi-friendshp,
but at heart they are, aud must be, bitter
says is just and right, science saysis absurd. In
any science, strictly 80 Called" the most COM
plex forms of knowledge may be traced back
through simpler forms OF knowledge to axions.
These are the SIMPLE, seif-egident truths upon
which that science is built. Such science has q
firm found ation,-a foundation In reason. In
theology. the doctrines of Christianity depend
upon the infalibility OF Scripture, and this in
turn depends upon the:lnspiration OF Scripture.
But TIE inspiration OF Scripture is very tar from
being sclf-eyident truth.
Every advance in science Is witness In favor
OF scientific methods OF investigation, and in
that sense every such advance must injure re-
ugion. The "skeptival culture" If the day is
coufessedly due to the influence OF science.
which, on the authority OF its greatest expo
,penfs, Is still in its INFANCY What will have be-
come 81 Eeiigion when sc1e65s has reaehed It's
maturity, when people understand in its full
force and meaning the favorite aphorism of Sir
William Haniliop:
In the world there is nothing great hut man,
In man there is nothing great but mind
DUNCIAD.