Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-05-16
THE EXISTENCE OF GOD.
Nr. Beecher Esapsizlng Twenty-Five
Children and Preaching GA EvOlu.
ton.

From the New York Times. May 14th.
There was a fine display Of flowers In Ply
mouth Church yesterday morning and Henry
Ward Beecher baptized twenty-five children
and babies before preaching the sermon Among
those who listened to him was ex-Congressman
the Rev. ]. Hyatt Smith. In the course of his
sermon, which treated of the inability of finite
minds to know and understand God, Mr..
Beecher said that to-day the existence of God
and the Divine nature were apparently of more
interest out OF the pulpit than in it. The bring
ing down of arguments to prove the existence
OF God into the court of human criticism was
apt to make men doubtful that God really ex-
lsted. 1t was safer, generally. not to try to
prove that God existed. but to take it for granted
Yet 1t was not fair to let it be said that Gods
existence would not stand the test Of reason.
Both atheism and agnosticism were very mis-
chievOus, and agnOSticism although much more
amiable than atheism, was quite as dangerous
Many men sentimentally accepted God, but
scientifically they were forced to say 1--WE don't
know" 1t was matter of grave doubt, they
said, whether all the phenomena of nature could
not be accounted for by secondary causes. Mr.
Beecher said he admired the writings of Huxley.
Spencer, Tyndall, Darwin and other investiga-
tors, and these men were certainly entitled to
credit for honestly searching after truth, but in
all points he could not agree with them He was
inoculated with the doctrine of evolution, Mr.
Beecher continued, more than forty years ago.
He found that doctrine in the Bible, and when
he found that it had been preached BY scientific
men he gladly accepted it: He held 1t to-day
with greater strength than ever. It was
going to give Christianity power it never be-
fore had. 1t let in Q flood of light on many
otherwise obscure things This age was much
indebted to Herbert Spencer for his presenta-
ton OF the history Of creation, but Mr. Rsec,.ar
mote avlyffh lots,
that tended to do aHsy with q Personal God
was demoralizing. y ali things rela evolved
from preceding elements, whore did the
force that inheres In natural ia"s come from?
Where did the elements themselves come from?
Admitting that the creation as It stood now
was not that which sprang up at the word Of
God; admitting that everything sprang from
something preceding, and that from something
preceding, and SO on and on for ages and ages,
until the very lowest elements were reached,
where did those element get their power to
evolve9 Did the whole creation spring from
absolute nothing7 Did natural law produce
itself? Was nothing more powerful than some
thing7
A good deal Of the difficulty which turned
men toward scientific agnosticism, Mr.. Beecher
went on, was the ver-conf1dence and positive
ness Of theology. Theological teachers had been
snpremely conceited in their knowledge Of God.
One would think they knew all about Gods ma
ture and all about creation. The Scriptures,
however, were very modest as to God. Every
where they made the declaration that God was
unknown and unknOwable. Nowhere did they
teach that our knowledge Of God could be alb
sOlute. The scope and grandeur of God were
too great for our limited faculties. When we
were told that God was infinite, we could not
know what infnity was. God could not be
bound by man. In conclusion. Mr.. Beecher
pointed out that only by moral intuition could
the existence Of God be known. and this moral
intuition did not need to be understandable to
be accepted.