The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-06-02

tingS and divisions which men nave Inaue III as-
tempting to interpret what is called tho more
stable revelation of the two.
Itmay be said that science is so intricate, its
processes SO difficult that it i'll BELTS such an
one as ! am to dogmatize Or to reason much,
nor with vehemspce on the results OF science.
i know perfectly we'll my own station. know
perfectly we'll my temperament / am in my
place; ! am doing what | have right to do.
There are three classes Of men embraced in the
research Of science-the observers, the reason
oners, or those who deduce principles or
truths from observation, aud then those
who apply these truths to human life and
conduct Observation has itself become
an art The eye has to be educated, the ear
must be educated, just for art purposes we
educate the hand. All men do not see with
their eyes All men don't hear with their ears.
nor understand with their hearts-that is OF old
and the Scriptures. The senses have them
selves gone through sort of secondary eyolu-
tion of function, and the art of seeing all that
there is of any object of seeing it as it is in all
its relations. is not only advanced stage OF the
human mind, but it is trait OF genius. and as
few, so in this. The world has given to us
hardly two score of men who have the genius OF
large and accurate observation. But next come
those who have the gilt of deducing from the
facts and observations made deducing what are
called the laws of nature. They are the men
who know how the philosophy, or true bearings
of facts. lie. Observation and deduction are
often united in the same person, but the func-
selves separate. ALI scientific facts undergo a
probation. They pass through a period of
doubt, of reobservation, of experiment, ii they
are of the kind that will admit of experiment and
at length, result of the acceptance OF the sci
entifc world, they regarded as settled truths,
and as such they are entitled to the reception
and confidence Of mankind for reliability, and
they may compare favorably with any moral
truths which the religious world has accepted
But observation being one stage, and an i'm
portant one deduction being another, and the
ascertanment of the great truths around about
each of its classes genercally, there Is third
stage 1t is often stage which science itself
ignorantly derides, for the boast of many men is
that the deductions OF science have nothing to
do with the practical uses Of science, and that a
man who means to read what God has done,
must be absolutely indifferent to what the out
come shall be- and merely read and understand
the facts of the physical globe. But, though In
the ascertanment of truth a bias may be expe-
rienced from the probable uses as to pecunlary
values, as to comforts of mankind, as to repu-
tation as to properties, and so on. though these
are not to be allowed to come into the laboratory,
or into the researches of geology, yet when by
the simple and legitimate use of trained observa-
ton men have ascertained great truths, then
what are they good for2 TO feed simply the
pure idea of knowledge. What is knowledge
good for9 1t is good for the work it does for the
man who holds it; it is good for the community
and good for the race and there has therefore to
be third class of men connected with science,
not as the developers, but the men that apply
science Those who receive from experts and
authorities in science great truths and apply
them, or show how they could be applied to the
purposes of life-how they are related to the
elder theories-such men may not do the work
of observers, nor can observers do their work.
They are for their position and training. better
prepared to determine the value to society, and
especially to moral elements, than are scientists
themselves. Therefore, when man from the
laboratory, or from the field, says to me, You
should preach thus and so,' l say
that is my business" When 1 under
take to say that facts in science should be so
and So you say to me. DO your Cwn trade, it is
our business to ascertain the truth, it is your
business to grind it and make it into bread for
the health of the nation and therefore, as one
that stands observant Of the progress of thought
ascertain that and that once ascertained and
ratified as true, it is for me, as a religious
teacher, it is for every man that has the position
of teacher, and it is especially for the parent,
whose very function profundest is to bring up
his children in knowledge-it is for them to take
these truths and adjudicate them in regard to
their applications to actual human life
Now, science is not in my province, either by
original capacity, or training or experiences but
to state the influences of scientific teachings
upon systems of philosophy. upon theology. and
especially upon the moral education of men, that
is is my province | am at home there 1t has
been the business of my life, and have right
therefore to speak on this subject with some
authority.
proceed to inquire what are imperfect and false
notions. and what intelligent in regard to evolu-
tion What is the true doctrinel What is the
effect upon systematic theology, and what are
the distinctions between science and religion? In
evolution only vague notion exists, with null
titudes that science is infidellty and that ev0lu
ton in particular is revolutionary; that is
revolutionary with its doctrines of the church
Men of such views often say Il know that re-
ligion is true / don't want to hear anything
that threatens to uSettle my faith"
But anybody's faith that can be unsettled by
the access Of light and knowledge, better have it
unsettled. The intensity of their faith in their
own thoughts is deemed to be safer than alarger
view of Gods thoughts Others speak of evou-
ton as the pseudo science, theory that men de-
scended from monkeyS-or assembled as the case
may They have no conception of it as the his
tory. aud the only history, of the processes of
Gods work in the building of this world. They
dismiss it with jests-mostly veteran
jests, or, having smattering Of frag
ridicule to audiences as ignorant as they are
themselves. Now, the ascent of man from the
anthropoid apes is a mere hypothesis; it has not
been proved and in the broader sense of the
means of proving it. 1t stands in the light of
hypothesis pressed forward by a multitude of
probabilities, and the probabilities are so many
and the light which this hypothesis throws upon
history and human life. and phenomena is such
that quite incline not to the belief, but to the
Shppositlon that man is, in the order of nature,
In analogy with all the rest of Gods work, and
that in the ascending scale there was time
unknown, and methods not yet discovered by
which he left behind him his prior fellows, and
stood upon the spiritual ground which now dis
tinguishes him from the whole brute creation.
OF one thing am certain, that whatever may
have been the origin, it does not change either
the destiny. nor does it change the moral gran
deur of man. as he stands in the full light Of
civilization to-day. On the other hand, the
theory of evolution of the human race from the
inferior races-not proved, and Jet probable
throws light upon many obscure points of doc
trine, of theology, that have most sadly needed
light and solution. And before am done with
this series of lectures l shall discuss that
question; and / make these remarks here
because reporters have, and critics of the news
papers have said, that did not believe in the
axfansinn of man from the inferior aninals