The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1885-06-05
Science and Theology.

science ana Theology.
From an articlS b. Rev. 7. T. Me-.
Tho"'-s. e ,-.....Ay and Modern
.--e.s." IN YAs Century Tor May,
w aGbte u follows: ..WheH chemis.
try put the kay Of the physical Uni.
verse into the hand II science, It was
we'll enough to give up century, to the
dazzling picture it revealed. A cen.
tury OF concentrated and universal
gaze at the world out Of whose dust
We are made. and whose forces play in
the throbs Of our hearts, il not 100
much; but after having sat so long be.
fore the brilliant play of elemental
1ames, and seen ourselves reduced to
simple gas and force under laws for
whose strength adamant is NO measure,
We have become little FESTIVE and take
up again the old questions. Science
has NOT explained US to ourselves. nor
comprised VS. In lts retort, nor
measured us in its law of continuity.
You have shown me Of what am
made. how put together. and linked
my action to the invariable energy Of
the universe; now tell me what am;
explain to my consciousnes:, will,
thought, desire. love, generation.
confess myself to be all you say, but
know myself to be more; tell me what
that more is. Science. in its early and
wisely narrow sense, could not respond
to these demands. But it has enlarged
its vocation under two impulses. It
has pushed its researches until it has
reached verges beyond which IL can
not 90, yet sees forces and phenomena
that it cannot explain or even speak of
without using the nomenclature Of
metaphysics. In q recent able work
of science tho word spirit Is adopted
inro the scientific vocabulary. Again,
physical science has yielded to the
necessity Of allaying itself with other
ecienees.fnding itself on their Dor.
ders. Chemistry led up to biology,
and this in turn to psychology; aid sd
on to sociology, and history and re.
ligion, and even to metaphysics, whose
tools it had used with some disdain Of
their source. In short, it is found that
there is no such thing us specific
science, but that all sciences are parts
of one universal science. The broad
studies of Darwin and Herbert Spen.
Ger have done much toward establish
ing this conviction, which has brought
about what may be called county Of
the sciehces, Of an era Of good feeling!
The chemist sits down by a metaphy-
sician and says, Tell me what you
know about consciousness; and the
theologian listens eagerly to tho story
OF evolution. Unless we greatly mis-.
read tho temper of recent science, it
is ready to pass over certain phcno-
mena it has discovered and questions
it has raised to theology. And with
more confidence we may assert that
theology is parting with the conceit it
had assumed as queen of the Sciences
and clothing itself with its proper
humilitysis ready to accept q report
from any who can aid it IN its exalted
studies.
This comfy between the sciences, or
rather necessary correlation, not only
leads to good feeling and mutual re.
spect, but insures q fecdghiti0n Of
each others conclusions. Whatever
is true in one must be true in all.
Whatever is necessary to the perfection
of one cannot be ruled out of another.
That which is true in mans spiritual
life must be true in his social life; and
whatever is true in social life must not
contradict anything in his physical
life. We might reverse this, and say
that no true psychologist will define
the physical man SO as to exclude the
social man; nor will he so define the
social and political man as to shut out
the spiritual man; nor will he SO de-
fine the common humanity as to ex.
clude personality. He will leave
margin for other sciences whose claims
are as valid as those of his own. If,
for example, immortality is neces.
sary coordinate of mans moral nature,
an evident part of its contcnt,-the
chemist and Psychologist will not set
1t aside because they find no report of
it in their fields. II it is part of spir.
itual and moral science, it cannot be
rejected because it is not found in ply
steal science. So much, ut least, has
been gained by the new comfy in the
ences,-that opinions are respected,
and questions that belong to other de-
partments are relegated 10 them in d
scientific spirit.