The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-11-20
SCIENCE AND RELIGION
Instructive Discourse by
Rev. Dr.. Stoddard of st.
Johns Free Church.
THE PROBLEM FOR CHRISTIANS.
Do Not Try To Reconcile Religion
and Science, But Trust
In God.

bhO SNSOho - L
New Thoughts for the Coming Ceu-
tury." He chose as his text the first and
last verses of the Bible. 'In the Begin
ming God created the Heavens and the
EARTH" and 1.-THE grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you ALL" His words
in part were:-
Science. as far as she goes. 10 virtually
infallible. She is infsllibls within her
own limits. This mistakes aud errors of
science come from her assum ptIon that
there ia nothing true or real but that
which can bs seen or tested in y scisntihc
way. We claim on the other hand that
truths TO which science with her tnduc-
tive science Can never attain.
A WISE N HOLY BEING.
Back of Nil law and force we believe
there is a personal wise and holy being
called God. who has given men power,
not only TO know his works but to know
and love him. Aud We have our books
on religion a. science has her euclid and
her calculus. Closing these books which
tell us OF the laws of heaven and sarth.
we open our Bible and read, In the be-
ginning God created the heavens and
the earth; and consequently. ordained
these very laws WHICH science has
WE'LL bbddS IKE "0 tok4 v Gh0
last verse of the Bible and
read THE grace of our Lord Jes us Christ
be with you ALL But grace il q power OF
which science knews nothing, for Ii can
uot bs weighed or tested, nor even dis
covered by the most delicate instrument.
Now. between these two texts, The Bible
Is full Of realities of which science takes
Prayer. as q power iu the world; and
mans soul. q spirit as distinct from his
body.
SCIENCE N RELIGION.
I'm the realm of the affections, science,
II logical. tells US that might Is right.
There is but one right. aud that Is the
right OF the strongest. There Is not room
live. others must die. The larger spirit
conlemns s~elfshness. is kindly, despises
10 one. has pity, sympathy. q sense of
obligation to the weak. q sense of love
for others greater than its love for self.
"ln tue realm OF morality the scientific
spirit has no reason TO give for morality
save a selfish Que. It Is for q mau's well
being and for the good of society that a
man be honest. Gle u and good. But the
answer to this is aud ALWAYS has peeu:
We want euj,ymen5 here aud now.
What care we for society or IL his life Is
all FOR the futureS Let us eat aud drink,
for tomorrow we die. Hang the future
anu uauR soclesy. Leu US ENJOY tuls
world fos ourselves aud get all we can
out of this life, which is all science ia
sure of, get rid of all the work we can
and do it as poorly as possible for the
most money. This has ALWAYS been
the weak point of the scientific
methods. Is has no foundation for
morality. The larger spirit, believing in
God, has such q fouudabion: First, In tho
holy character and then in the holy oul-
mands OF that God. 3 ye holy he
says. for l am holy 1t follows after
right In spite of weakness in itself be-
cause its faith in God is strong. We re-
peat that these Two spirits are already In
the world today. The scientiho spirit
has been during the last half century by
far the strongest, but the larger spirit
is not dead and is asserting itself again.
Aud hat is why, with all science has
done us. we IRE Il unhappy age. 1t Is
this contradiction between the two spirits
of the times which makes life so sad and
tragic.
THE PROBLEM FOR CHRISTIANS.
The problem for us all. dear friends, Is
not to reconcile religion ana science, no
man ran do that. Besides it ha5 already
been done. God did 1t when he created
the worla. The problem for us is 10 see
clearly for ourselves that there are two
sides OF Que truIh. two distinct but har-
monious, revelations from one God, not
UppUskL6s Dub upplcmouLhEy &uu 0Ue-
tined In the future to be yoke fellows,
drawing on together the chariot OF u re-
generated humanity. We want to GET
into this large, hopeful faith. We are get
Ting into it. A timid theologi IN and a
narrow man of science will soon be men
of the past-and this reminds me
| tina ! cannot close without a warming.
We are to go forward into a larger, fuller
| faith. not backward into n smaller one.
Beware of this. See that you do not
become a reaction1st. The rea5tionist Ia
| u man who sees that the modern life Is
out Of joint, but does not see why. He
| thinks il Is because it Is modern lie. He
therefore condemns the whole thing.
He proposes to right the time by goi ng
back four or five centuries. Ii he is q
politician, the reactionist want an old
! fashioned monarch. II he Is au e~cclesi~
astic he becomes a ritus list. II he is
lgnorantly religious he fakes up some old
| theological notion or processes con-
version to some extinct religion.
lutely false. The time is out OF
joint but it 10 for the same reason that q
nan house is out of joint on the 1st OF
May. He 10 moving. We are mind NOV
ing. We are having to sell n good de u OF
old mental furniture aud 30 BUY soma
new and it 10 a dangerous and uncom-
Portable work. Az q writer says, g
are OF our way co the new house, but
pnrt OF the fur1iture Is in the new b ouae
part In The old QUE, part u on thu side
walk and part on u truck we don'G just
Know where. Iu the mex sermon I hope
to tell you how TO get settled. Today
| just remind you that in NOV
ing You must expect great
discomfort, but that you will make a ter
rible mistake il you become discouraged
and 30 back to the old monldy. rat eaten.
smoking. ehimneyed house which you
have given up. Go on. Keep your
furniture, u GO IN 60 the new house.
1t Is hard, l know. What. with science
failing us that we are machines, yet max
ing US immensely comfortable, DENYING
The next world. yet euriching this; what
with the fact that wniis we feel we
onght to be happy we are not, but more
miserable in some respects than our faith
era; what, with the fact that our spiritual
nature Is ever telling us that we have
mad q mistake and are not using all our
faculties, and ale on the wrong road. we
are naturally confused. Bat trust God
aud go on. Keep what science God has
given you, but neglect not the voice and
teaching Of that larger spirit which We
have described. Hold both revelations
aud go forward, not back ward.
BE TRUE TO GOD.
God has settled all these difficulties
and in good time Ii you are true to Him
aud yourself. Your better self. you viii