Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-20
THE FIRST CAUSE.
Second of the Series of Sermons on
the Existence of God.
ATHEIST, THEIST AND AGNOSTlC,
Each Has His Opinions Of the Power That
Set the World Agoing.
nup CrIIH THAT VIZ CINNnT YN0W
THE CLAIM THAT We CANNOT KNOW
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH.

the essential assertion of religion, the asser-
tion of the existence of God. / said there is
naturally great deal of doubt in the world
to-day growing out of certain intellectual
conditions of our time; and that it takes one
of two shapes in the minds of most thought
ful doubters-either it is atheism, which is
denial, or it is agnosticism, which is refusal
to affirm.
l SAID also that doubt gets into the mind
by, three gates: BY the gate of conscience,
by the gate of sentiment, by the gate of rea-
son. l come now to the argument for God.
The argument begins with five facts and
question.
Fact No. 1.-The world is.
All about ne is world with real things
in it and real people moving among them.
The wind blows in the branches, the clouds
drift along the sky, the grass is green along
the edges of the streets, the pages of the pa
per rustic in the hands of the reader
Fact No. 2-I am.
In the midst of this visible, and audible,
and tangible world, exist distinct from it
all; distinct even from my own body, which
is but the house in which / live; distinct
even from my own thoughts which are but
happen to me, through which 1 pass, OF
which that indefnable self which is behind
all sensation and all thought is conscious.
Fact No. 3-There is change.
In the world and in me there is perpetual
change. Sound changes into silence, heat
into light, there is motion, there is move
ment of the pulse. there is succession of
thought following thought.
CAUSE AND EFFECT,
Fact No. 4-Charge implies cause.
This is the lesson of experience We
learn by lessons which long ante-dated the
alphabet in our schooling that when any,
thing happens there is invariably a reason
for it. Indeed, this fact is one of the in
evitable condition of all thinking. We
are so that we cannot even think of an un-
caused change. There are two ideas which
are as inseparably united in the mind as the
ideas of light nd darkness, or of heat and
cold, so that We cannot possibly think ofone
without thinking of the other. These two
ideas are change and cause.
Fact No. 5-Cause means first cause
Back OF all causes there must be some
where and somehow first cause. But is
that fact? Can we conceive of a first
cause? Must not the very mental necessity
OF which 1 just spoke, compel us to seek
cause even or the first cause?
Let US think of that. How do we know that
there is such fact or force as cause at all?
The senses do not show it. All that they
tell is the fact of sequence. The senses,
prompted bv experience, assure us that if
this happens that will follow. If fire and
flesh come together there will be pain. We
say fire causes pain. But the senses do not
perceive any mysterious tie" which we
may call cause. So far as the senses 60
Hume may be right, who said that cause is
nothing but conf junction. The idea of
cause, our assurance that there is such a fact
as cause, is due to the irresistible action of
our mind. Cause is a mental fact We
must think OF cause when we see change,
But J. the causes which We can discover
are only secondary causes. That is, they
simply refer the mind back. They are like
the messengers whom Jacob sent to meet
Esau, their whole message is that the mas
ter is behind them. A shadow stirs on the
ground beside our feet, there is change
what causes 1t? Why, leaf has moved In
the tree 4bove US. Does that satisfy the
desire for cause? No. What made that leaf
move from Its place? Why, the wind blew.
And why does the wind blow? And so we
begin to get into that wide space wider than
the open sky between the stars, where there
are plenty of questions, but no answers,
But we have not found cause yet.
TWO POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS.
Here are two conditions of things, both of
which are outside the mental circumference.
both of which are equally inconceivabIe,
but between which we must make our choice.
Is there an endless chain of causes, going
back into the eternities of eternity and
without any beginning ever? Or is there at
last an uncaused cause? But this choice is
simply between cause and no-cause The
only real cause is an uncaused cause. Is
there tnen-this is the dilemma-such fact
as cause or not? But it has been already
shown that cause is a mental fact, and
mental fact is just as valuable and just as
true and trustworthy as a physical fact
We can be just as sure about it. Indeed, il
might not be very difficult to prove that we
can be even more sure about it. The minds
of all reasonable beings-with the execution
of few metaphysicians-affirmt that change
implies cause. And this affirmation means
with equal emphasis that cause implies
first cause. There is then behind all this
world about ME and within me first cause.
Here are the five facts: That the world
is; that l am; that there is change;
that change involves cause; that cause
means first cause. The question which
follows is: What is this first cause?
To this question there are three possible
answers: There is the answer to the atheist.
The atheist saws the first cause is matter;
behind the changes of lite lies matter en-
dowed with force. There is the answer OF
the theist. The theist SAYS the first cause is
mind; behind the manifold changes of the |
world lies mind endowed with will There |
is the answer OF the agnostic. The agnostic |
says do not know. This answer may mean |
any one of three conditions of mind.
THE AGNosT1c's REASONS.
1t may mean Incidence. 1t NAV mean |
that in the face of question which con- |
Germs all that is of most account in the des |
TIMES OF man, which asks whether or not |
there is God above us, and a future before |
us, the agnoStlc does not care enough to care
to study out the answer. e. 1t NAV mean
cowardice. That is what Mr.. MalIock
maintains it does mean. The aenostic NAV
really in his heart believe that there is no
God at all, but he NAV not like to saw so.
The title of atheist is one which, recent dis
cussion has reminded US, most people. even
philosophers, do not care Qike SheIly) to
have set after their names. (3.) Or, it NAV
mean an assertion of impossibiity. This is
the most general agnostic position. The ag-
nostic holds that his answer must forever be
81 do not know" because he simply cannot
know. 1t is impossible. This is worth
considering.
The statement upon which all agnostics
will agree is that we cannot know God. |
''There may be God" they saw. "or not:
we cannot tell" And the reasonings |
which support this statement are based |
up q the assertion that the terms in which |
the idea OF God is stated are such as to show
that knowledge is impossible. 1.-The mind
is so" we are informed, that it cannot
grasp the idea of an Infinite personality.
/ - =. l..