Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-10-08
In THE PULPIT.
As,uuNu snnnuN Nnxrrv.n,N nAEH
"uh,i,tiauitN nuI tVrlution''-s uisrnursc
DetINcrch IN the muraNtsn church,
sunday, October itn,


Tho fool hath said in his heart, thc.o a. mo
Goa. Us. Ntv., l.
No sauC man, IN the full possession oi
his faculties, eau be an atheist. AS tho
PSalmist declares, only "tho TOOL hath said
in his heart, there is no God" Men who
are not fools have indeed said with tnolr
lips that they did not believe in God. But
they were either desperately wicked, and
wliully affirmed what was not true, (prub
ably for the sake OC making u sensation and
thus making money by their lectures y OF
they were honestly mistaken in their dec
aratiun. They did believe in God, but
not In the definition of God commonly put
forth TO this last class have belonged
SOmo Of the wiSest and best mon in the
world. Socrates was denounced rs an atho
ist, aud killed for II, because he did not
believe IN the gods pictured and worship
prd hy the AthCniaus Yet ho did believe
Ia God, aud his faith was more correct aud
noble far than that Ot his Judges and muir
dcrCTs And since his time there have
been not a few ike hm ia this respect.
The evil was not theirs So much Us that of
those around them, who by their false aud
narrow definitions OF God forced men to
declare, II they were honest, | do not bo.
levc in such 4 God. lu such cases at the
present time, If the parties would but
calmly and patiently compare their beliefs,
il Is probable that the most ui them would
b5 brought to see that their differences are
chiefly uUy about words and definitions,
not ab'ut the facts underlying them.
From all that we know Ol the most prom
iucnt uphOdcrs ut the philosophy OF cNo
lutiOn, they are neither fools nor desper-
atcly wicked, and therefore not really
a., atheists. ludeCd, the most OF them have
explicitly and emphauCaily protested
a. fr.F h.EH H.al l'.l zff.h ~ -
really immlttIiLl to our argument. Even
a, II these individual men were all atheists,
, 1t would be no proof that evolution Is
GthestIC. And what | wish to show il
3 that tr0lutl0H HCcCSSitdtCS bGliGf W GOT.
Absolute atheism is u logical impossi.
= biLty to the consistent cyOlutlOntSt. Hence
while We md very few men Of the leaders
III this philosophy who are perfectly con
sistcut which indeed We could hndly
expect IN a system OF thought 50 intricate
y and comprehensive, We yet lind that
ueariy all OF them are agreed that there ~
9 a supraseusuous being, distinct from aud
greater than the phenomena OF the uuI.
verse, and indeed the ultimate cause OF
them all, Ia 50 far this philosophy there
tOr5 agrees with our religion, and has duue
D ydiutbe service to theology Uy the manner
q ia which II demonstrates the fact aud
u mahesit one Of the foundation stones upon
=, wuIch its whole system res;s.
j GOD Exists.
While our religion atiirms nothing don
ni.e rs to the h0r Of the universe, It doe:
positively declare that God did make il
snd does preserve and govern IT, and al
.c hngs therein. This Is u fundamental
-, datum of revelation. Aud it is no less
i, fundamental a datum oi evolution. Toe
- mauy Christian philosophers had rather
h,v ,,r ! IN an thnFrFy All
, mans belief in Cod by making II tn,
=, declaration OF 4 tp,Cial faculty of the
;, mind the faith faculty as Max Muller
= calls IL, which had u different authority
/, from that O! the other mental powers, q
mere "iuspred belief" or "IeyelatiOn'
> as sir WIN. Hamilton thought it to be, L
u be held aS it were in defiance OF the Laws
- of our mind. Herbert Spencer, however
? makes our belief to De Of equal realtt!
>, aud validity with any other declaration o
~ the soul. He oudcavUrs to show tina
=, this fundamental CognitiJu IS neither, a
,r tlC idaaIst asserts, an illusion, nor as th
49, skCp.ic thinks of doubtful worth, nor u
a is held by the natural realIst, an iucxplic
I able intuition but that 1t Is II Legitimate
, dclIveraGCe of Consciousness, elabOratIu!
Ia us materials after the laws Of its norma
acton 1t, therefore, " has 4 highc
warrant than any other whatever" Just a
We have right TO beleye our eyes, o
ears, or our reason when 1t tells US tha
~ two and two make four, that a straigh
line IS the shortest distance between tw,
" pOiIts, or that every effect must have
10 cause, so we have the same right to believ
j. our mind when it tells Us there must be
l. God This Mr.. Spencer declares an,
70 proves in the most emphatic aud COlvino
al ing manner, to impress upon US tha
J." while all that We eau know through th
~ senses is only appearances the fact of al
~ ultimate reality " behind these appear
~ auCcs is known even more certainly. Bu
1t now, he says, stop We only know tina
this reality exists. We clunOt know {
~ thing about i. 1t must ever remain un
" known and unknowabo. And in thi
Professors Tyndal. Huxley, the late Mr.
Darwin and some others agree with him
They all speak of the great unknown
~ and the " absolutely inscrutable." Tha
'o Is why they are called agnostics, But,
< repeat, thoy are only individual men
There are hundreds of other individual
~ who believe in evolution, aud yet are nc
iS agnOstics. The term does not apply I
IL evolution at all. And indeed Spencer au
j. the rest repeatedly show themselves TO b
70 better and wiser than their prOiessiO
u, would make them or rather that eyoIu
We tiOu is more consistent than any indlyidua
NC evOlutiOnst,
10 God the Absolute Infinite Power.
In the first place Mr.. Spencer, whe
speaking for his system aud elabOratin
its laws, over and over again declares h
great unknown to be known as cause
=" the first cause " of everything that /,
10 This is involved in that corner stone doc
90 triue which is the very basis of his system
III the law OF the correlation and cOnservatiO
vi of forces, or. as he calls it, the persstenc
u of force. Just as not an atom
u, matter is ever lost or destroyed IN I'll
oi universe, 80 according TO this law, not
4u particle of force is ever annhilated, br
d only undergocs different changes Of fOrt
90 or manifestation. That light, electricity
lS aud all other forces, are only 30 man
% different manifestations of one substanc
~ which ID the sum of them all just as rail-
er clouds, dew, rivers, the pillows of IL
NC ocean, are only so many different forms
cy the one substance water. You can chang
" heat into electricity, or into light, aud yC
~ only change the form of the substance, n
H. the substance itself, which always remaii
" undimnished the same 1t persists
er spite of and through all change. Now,
20 the language of Spencer, The manifest
X tiOns, as occurring in ourselves or outsit
or of us, do not persist but that which pc
Oy sists in the unknown cause of these ma
W. ifestatious." This is the immutabl
"Absolute Being" by whom all thinl