The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1884-06-28
Science and Faith Not Antagonistic


Science and Faith Not Antagonistic.
Sermon Preached in Ascension Church, westmin-
ster, Nd, December 9th, 1888. by Rev..
Stewart Smith, Rector.
.H..- .-.s.H. uH ..-ss
Have faith in God.-St Mark XI:22.
We live in an age of inquiry Never
was the spirit of investigation so rife as it
is to-day Men learned and unlearned
take upon themselves to search into the
mysteries of nature, and to try the truth
of what has never before been doubted.
Things which have been kept sacred from
the touch of man for ages are now exposed
in the crucible of modern investigation;
and what is the result of this universal ac-
tivity? On every side men see the theo-
ries that have stood for centuries vanish
like the dreams of childhood. A feeling
of doubt and uncertainty steals over them,
and they are led on from step to step by
pride till they call in question the mysteries
of the faith, the very being of God, and begin
to think that it is within their power to
solve all the problems of the universe.
From this spirit arises the flood of infidelity
and skepticism which is now deluging both
Europe and America Men having some
knowledge of the truths of science attempt
to try the things of spirit by the same rules,
and to weigh the clements of faith and
matter in the same balance. They forget
what should ever be remembered-tha
there are two spheres of being; that the
universe is duality; and it is to this sub
ject that | would now invite your attention.
In the universe, | repeat, there are two
spheres of existence-the material and the
immaterial-and truth is not to be found
in either one extreme alone, nor, as is too
often supposed, in safe via media, but
in the free acceptance of both extremes,
admitting both truth and counter truth
Men who look only at one sphere fail to
comprehend that there is world beyond,
and are thus led to regard those laboringin
the other sphere as idlers, fools or heretics,
whose aim it is to counteract the good that
they themselves are doing,
Science has for its field of labor the
sphere of the material. The problem be-
fore it is to explain all natural phenomena.
It is its duty to uncover the secrets of
nature, and with the scalpel to lay bare her
most delicate organisms, 1t is emphatically
the realm of experiment. Theories must
be brought to the test of fact, and estab-
lished or thrown aside as they answer to
that test Certainty is the end sought.
Proof is demanded for every statement,
and until it is produced science cannot ac-
ceDt it. The material universe is regarded
as whole, There is no room for faith.
Everything that is not of the earth, earthly,
must be excluded God, spirits, prayer,
good, evil, and thousand other agencies
which are of vital import in the material
world, must be eliminated from its calcula-
tions or endless confusion will result, 1t
does not satisfy the mind of science to be
told that God made the world. No; it
must look back through the lapse of ages
and trace the changes which have taken
place. God and prayer and good and evil
are not seen from the standpoint of science,
but belong to a higher and different
sphere, and it is by confounding the do
minion of things separate and distinct that
modern science has come to be viewed as
the handmade of skepticism on the one
side, and Theology and scripture as rem
nants of superstition on the other Science
has a clear, plain course, vast enough, grand
enough for the ambition of an angel
Hers it is to study the anatomy of the
minutest animalcule that sport by millions
on needles point, or to trace the course
of worlds and systems to the utmost boun-
Diary of space. But there is a point be-
yond which she may not CO. A limit which
God Himself hath set, and the Almighty
has decreed thus far shalt thou come and
no further
Far be it from me to diminish aught of
the true glory of science; but let not her
votary, in his pride of heart, exclaim, as
he looks upon his great discoveries and
notes fresh applications of his laws: "See
what l have done, and forget that at best
he but ''thinks Gods thoughts after him"
Let us now turn for few moments to
the sphere of the immaterial, the realm of
faith; and as we enter hefe we must put
our shoes from off our feet, for the place
whereon we stand is holy ground. Here
God reigns; we are in the world of spirit.
Faith leads the way, and we must be pre-
pared to meet with mysteries at every turn.
In the place of force, motion and matter,
which we met on all sides in the material
world, we are brought face to face with
entities of higher order-God, devils,
spirits, life, death. Here new elements
and laws and forces are brought before us.
They are not, cannot be, subjected to the
same forms of logic and processes of anal
ysis as material things Experiment is al
most, if not entirely, excluded by the very
nature of the problems-problems so far
above us that we can find no language ad-
equate to express them, and are forced to
borrow terms from the material world.
Certainty here gives place to faith; proof
Yields to belief. As Moses covered his
face with veil to hide from the people
the reflection of Jehoyah's glory while he
declared his law, so God, in mercy to our
fallen race, has spread His veil Of mystery
over the higher sphere, that man may see a
little, yet not be dazzled by its brightness.
To this sphere belong such problems as
the Holy TRINITY, the Incarnation, the
Church, the power of prayer and the subtle
questions Of philosophy and theology. A
field of thought and speculation SO immense
that the mind wearies in its attempt to
grasp it, and utterly fails to comprehend.
But here, too, there are boundaries, which
are defined as sharply as in the material
sphere. The two spheres are separate and
distinct, and men should be content to
leave them so. The man Of science should
! be satisfied to probe to the uttermOst the