The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-03-07
SCIENCE AND FAITH.

That the concluding decade OF the
nineteenth century marks the peein-
ming OF q reaction against the sciehtinc
skepticism Of the generation just pre-
ceding will, we think, be generally con-
ceded Science no longer Is ostenta
tiously held as q club over the head OF
religious belief, for the beating TO m
sensibility of faith. The novelty or tne
ingenious but insufficient hypotheses
of Darwin and Huxley along the lines
of scientific materialism, and or Her
bert Spencer along those of philosophic
agnosticism, has begun to fray at the
edges, and where once there was the
tension of battle there is today the Ian
ruid relaxation of incipient in
difference. Whether this nascent
reaction from materialism will yet
eventuate in recurrence "
extreme and unquestioning religious
liberalism or find vent In some new
method Of attack upon the faiths OF the
fathers Is as yet indeterminable; but
the publication Of few such books as
William w. Kinsley's "Old Faiths and
New Facts" New York: d. Appleton &
Coz will be likely to decide the matter
in behalf of rational and helpful spir-
ituality, allied to restful reasoning fac
ulties and intellects satisfied with the
eenuineness of properly interpreted re-
lgious claims.
MATURE OF THE DEITY.
Mr.. Kinsley's book Is subdivided into
three parts. Science and Prayer;
"Science and Christ" and Science and
the Life Beyond" The first OF these Is
the most interesting and the most con-
vincing. We shall. in this notice. con
fine ourselves to 1t. merely saying FOR
,1.n ny,ta
careful study by themselves.
In that chapter the author meets the
scientists on their own ground and
with their own weapons repels the
charge that prayer does not avail. But
before we undertake to follow the lire
Of y, Kinsley's contention as to the ef-
ficacy of prayer. let us first consider
the nature and the extent of the divine
presence. bearing In mind the authors
observation that 'if we would have
God become to us a definite personality,
a being whom we can love and to whom
we can pray, we must form for our
selves q conception of Him having
somewhat at least Of definite and APP
preciable outline, however inadequate
that outline may be to the great origi-
nal" For "if we are led to regard God
simply as an immensity filling force, as
m unknowable and unthinkable intel
ligence. we have absolutely nothing left
us to which either love or faith or hope
can cling"
For purposes of illustration Gods
Omnipresence Is likened by the author
TO an infinitely multiplied expansion OF
that unconscious, self-revealing power
Possessed by men of making their pres
ence felt by other means than the bod
lily senses Suppose, then" says he
and we call attention to rhetorical as
we'll as the substantial merit of the
QuOtatiOn-"God to be 4 spirit as dis
tinctly different and apart from this
universe as are our spirits from these
garments Of flesh that now enwrap
them; suppose He can see every object
and watch every phenomenon in every
part of His wide domain as readily ana
as perfectly as we can the things ana
the happenings In any single room In
which we may chance to be, His organs
of vision being not only telescoptc but
microscopic, and possessed. moreover,
Of what we understand by clairvoy-
ance, a power to see thrOuh the densest
substances, so that the most distant,
the most minute and the most OPAQUE
lies within easy and perfect visual
grasp; suppose His means of acquaint-
ance with such other qualities of His
material universe as are revealed to us
in part through our different organs OF
sense are also equally comprehensive
and exact; suppose He Is so perfectly
conversant with all the delegated
forces and the conditions that unfetter
them that He can release or enchain
them at His pleasure; suppose that His
will can operate as directly and as ef-
fectively everywhere over both dead
matter and living force as our wills do
to the utmost confines Of these meas
ing bodies OF ours, His will working in
precisely the same way, only with
wider sweep and a more commanding
power; suppose He Is placed so en- rap
port with every thinking being that He
not only knows what is passing in the
most secret self-communings of every
mind. but can opportunely introduce
His own thought and leave it to the
laws Of association and suggestion to
work its transformations; suppose He
can entertain at the same instant an
unlimited number of ideas without ex-
periencing any more embarrassment,
or even as much as we when we enter
tain the few possible to our capacity,
so that He can take ready cognizance
of everything occurring and divide His
attention among as many changes as
there are changes mOmentarily effected
throughout habitable space. suppose,
in other words, all the secrets of the
universe lie open before Him, and all
the forces are made servitors, directly
or indirectly. of His sovereign will
then we may affirm of Him not only
omnipotence and omniscience. but also
omnipreSence as O natural and neces-
aary result OF these two, and yet predi-
cate of Him no means of knowledge
or resource Of power or phase of per-
sonal presence we ourselves do not pos
ses in limited finite form, He differ
Ing from us in not a single attribute.
but simply in the perfectness and in the
unlimited comprehensiveness of every
one"
Such a view of the Deity violates no
canon Of science and Jars upon no prin-
ciple of reason. But it leaves unan-
swered the question whether God, in
the majesty Of His unbounded power,
cares for the feeble beings who,
through prayer crave His active inter-
ference among the affairs Of earth. and
Invites the personal affection, trust and
confidence Of each of His myriad sem
tient children. To the consideration of
this question the author now devotes
himself, laying aside all preconceived
opinions or inherited beliefs and view
ing the problem from the vantage
ground Of science itself.
IT.-WHAT SCIENCE SAYS.
The utmost frankness characterizes
Mr.. Kinsley's statement of the position
OF science. Says he: Scientists
smile at what they style the childish
credulity Of the Christians creed. Our
investigations, say they, have disclosed
universal reign Of unchangeable law,
not only in the production Of material,
but even Of mental phenomena. We
nave found that within the walls Of