New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-12-06
HOLM EI.kE'n GOD.

TIE IDEA or COP As AFFECTED BY MODERN
KNOTLEDiE by J'nN Fi-RE. lGmo pp. I7J.
UOu-ht"n. Nj HIN a. CO.
Mr.. John Fi,ke has made concessions to the
Almighty, and if his proposals are met by the other
party IN Incoming spirit OF COMPROMISE there i,
hope mat we may get rid Of the appearance of
antagon ,m between science and religion" which
will OF tself be of the greatest benefits ever
conferred upOn the human race" Such is the i'm
preston which can hardly avoid receiving from
"A reading of TINS little book. Mr.. FiskC, manner is
often unfortunate He writes one who regards
al his own deductions a demonstrated rlths: he
puts forth theories and dognatic propositions; and
when he lays down a ppstnlIte wc have to he on
our guard to distinguish whether the statement
GOV rs "A Il sputcd assumption or an admitted fact
Thus no ignores tho historical continuity of
Christianity and Judaism with calmncss almost
colossal; he seems 10 assume that Christianity was
something composed anew by human nteligences
vet exhibiting at the same time two lues of leye-
opmcnt, one in the Greek Churcn from the Greek
nature worship. the other in the Latin Church from
the Ro nan ancestor Worship he declares that the
primitive Jewish religion, far as SIC can trace IT,
in the Bible is fctichsn, or very crude poly
thcism, united with ancestor worship Now all
these opinions have been held by various persons.
but they are far from being demonstrated Truths
and TO treat them such is unscientGc. mislead-
inc and onensive 50, too. the fundamental dca or
the book, that "molern knowledge" or in other
words the doctrine Of universal evolution a,
taught by Mr.. Fske and Herbert Spencer, has so
irrepar,bly shattered Christianity and every other
religious system that we are driven to inquire how
much God we afford to keep without being
regarded as fools-thIs fundamental idea is OK
pressed in a tOno of intellectual superiority which
at once arOuscs the instinct Of opposition. Mr.
Fislles bumptiou,noss we really can think of
no other word To define the qualItv-s unfortunate
for him. for he is master Of style which but for
this defect, would be highly persuasive
Strongly as experts in theology will dissent from
his estimate of Christianity and his descriptions of
theological systems 1t must DO admitted that me
pursues the present inquiry in sincerely relirious
vein. lie is sensible of mans dependence upon an
all-pOwerlul Being and 1t is in the spirit of rever-
/ cnce that he asks what This Beng is Eyolution bo
argues leads MS to the belief ia anmltuQ spirit
of the universe, the eternal source of phenomena
the life which pulsAtes increasingly in every particle
of matter In the language of physics we speak of
this principle as Force. But Force is too abstract
/ term a mere symbol which acquires it's MEANING
only from the relations In which il ~ used LET ma
substitute the mole concrete word Power and we
/ have a name for God-an immaterial Power not
| localized outside the universe but immanept in it,
not anthropohOrPhlC anu yet IN some way above
our comprehension, quasi-persona the energy
which sets all thlngs in motion and is thus the
cause not only OF the orderly evolution of the
universe according 10 the laws OF nature but of the
laws of nature themselves The OF evolution
under this impulse shows what Mr.. Fiske calls
dramatic progress" and the glorious consumma-
ton toward which it Is tending is the production
of the highest and most perfect psy ehical lifo"
The outcome of the argument s that the infinite
and eternal Power that Is manifested In every
pulsation OF the universe is none other than the
| living God" This Is an answer into which we may