Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1895-07-11
FOUNDATIONS OF BELIEF.
Herbert Spencer Has Cornered the Bril-
liant Statesman Balfour.


Mr. n ,rbert Spencer's health Is unfor-
tunately precarious. but his answer to GER
tain criticisms Of him in Mr.. Arthur j.
Balfour's recently published book shows
that his intellectual strength has suffered
no decline. Indeed il Is not too much TO
saw that he has driven the brilliant states
man into a corner whence he will find it
difficult to emerge with the honors OF
war One OF the striking assumptions in
Mr.. BaIfour's book was that there are GER
tain needs and aspirations in man nature
which make the belief In ruling power
necessary. Mr.. Spencer shows that this
Is purely an anthropocentric argument
which proves too much. liz would force
us, he saws to accept the MohamInedan'
belief In paradise of hours and the Hin
docs belief that he may ascend to heaven
by placing himself under the wheel of
Juggernaut's car. 1t rests on the ludi-
crous assumption that the universe exists
solely to satisfy mans needs and aspira-
| tions whereas man is AN iniinitesimal
bubble on a globe that Is itself infnites-
imal compared with the totality of things"
| The surrounding world has not been ar
ranged TO fit the physical nature of nun,
but conversely the physical nature of man
has been nodded to fit the surrounding
i world.
But Mr.. Balfour falls into still great
err Inconsistency. While assuming that
there must be "a God because the ordered
system of phenomena is otherwise mex
plicable' he proceeds TO make the mega
tive assumption that man cannot under
stand how God created and sustains the
universe. Why should we assume an ex-
PLANTATION for the one mystery and not for
/ -. No. Qnl
four is content TO let one ultimate Difficult
ty remain without solution, why should he
feel impelled to tax our credulity by evoly-
ing out of his own inner consciousness a
solution for another ultimate dillicultyf
The question is searching one and ex-
poses the pitfalls that are always to be
found in the path of those who reason from
assumptions to facts.
One of the strongest positions in Mr..
Balfour's book was his demonstration that
in many things our conduct Is decided by
authority rather than by reason. Mr.
Spencer admits this, but calls attention &c
the fact that it is only by the exercise OF
reason that the claims of authority are ad
mitted, so that in the last analysis reason
must always be the final authority. More
, over waving for the time being the ques
ton of reason, we are confronted today by
two conflicting sources of authority-tha
of religion and that of science. And tax
ing Mr.. Balfour on his own ground /
will have to be admitted that the worl'
today Is coming TO pay more regard TO tn
|, authority Of science than that Of religion
. Investigation is constantly tending TO con
firm the postulates of science and just a
! constantly tending to disprove or max
. less certain many of the postulates of the
7 ology
Mr.. Spencer again agrees with his criti
in the postulate that out of the depths O
!" unfathomable mystery the certitudes of r.
!, ligion as well as of science may emerge
= But he combats the further assertion {
Mr.. Balfour that they actually do emerge
= or rather he maintains that 50 many col
Trajectory conceptions of God have emere
2 ed out of the mystery that surrounds I
= that they mutually destroy each othel
: Besides this it is 10 be remembered tina
. while time and investigation confirm I'll
= dicta Of science they rob many Of the a
:, sumptions of theology of their most robui
: attributes The world today has droppe
!, the old idea of God as magnitied maj
- the conception of n power which NANTES
!, itself in 30. 600, 900 of suns making ba
- gain with Abraham and being swayed
- anger, jealousy and revenge is today u
thinkabe Yet that was the primal co
ception of God when it emerged out
the mystery of things.
Those who accept religion on the a
>, thority of divine revelation will not
troubled by Mr.. Spencer's brilliant articl
but to those who try TO prove religion
- they would "a problem in geometry it W
p suggest many difficulties. New Yo
~ | Tribune.