The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-09-21
Discourse By Rev. A. L. Hudson
at Unity Hall.
SKEPTICISM AND BELIEF
ILIFF CHURCH CROWDED To HEAR
DOCTOR HOLMAN.
The Popular Divine Listened to
With wrapt Attention Rev.
George Nj. jeffrey breaches His
First Sermon as Pastor of the
First Methodist Church.

and Belief his sermon being a strong
plea for the validity of permitting the
impulse of the heart TO believe in truth,
to have its proper share of influence in
the determinations of the mind. In
urging this he stood opposed to that
form Of agnosticism which refuses to
entertain any belief which is not forced
upon the intellect by proof amounting
to mathematical certainty. In agnosti-
cism at it's best he recognized a healthy
desire for intellectual honesty. But
when it becomes chronic and settles
down into a permanent refusal to be-
lieve anything short of mathematical
certainty, then it units a man from
taking any active interest in the deeper
concerns of life, and makes him a
mere idler in the camp.
At the same time the speaker said
that agnoSticism in some form was the
natural and inevitable result Of the
conditions of the time The beliefs of
the present generation show a strange
mixture of sceptlcism and credUity. III
coming out from under the shadow of
church authority into the sunlight of
freedom of Thought, we have cast off
mary old beliefs and taken up many
chain of logical reasoning. And all of
these beliefs. old and new, are dog
matically affirmed by some and dog
matically denied by others when
neltner affirmation nor denial is suscep-
tible to absolute proof. What wonder
il honest agnosticis7n withdraws from
such field and refuses to take part
on either side!
Again agnosticism is a revolt against
the basing OF beliefs upon mere emo
tional enthusiasm. The scholar looks
with pride at the achievements of man
in the field of physical science. Mea-
ger as its results are, what countless
lives have been devoted to the ascer-
tainment of it's truths! What pains
taking care has been used in eliminat-
ing every element of personal assump-
ton, preference or desire, and seeking
for the simple facts What quiet hero
ism is represented here IN life long
devotion to the search for truth amid
obscurity, privation, ridicule E,nd doubt!
When the scholar turns from contem-
plating such researches to listen to
some ignorant enthusiast fresh from
the glow of the revival meeting, who
declares as absolute and final truth his
personal opinions upon great life prob
lens which have puzzled the ages, and
insists that the scholar shall accept the
same opinions or suffer eternal pun
ishment for not believing them. it is
not strange that the scholar should
feel a supreme contempt for beliefs
based on anything so unreliable as the
desire of the heart to believe; nor that
he should decide for himself to believe
nothing that did not convince his rea-
son with the force of logical certainty.
But on the other hand where shall
such certainty be found outside of the
multiplication table! AS soon as we
have the ground of abstract statements,
such as that seven times eight are fifty
six, which gave no idea of concrete
reality, there are no truths that have
not been the subject of dispute and
that are not based to some extent upon
improved assumptions. We often hear
Of the weight of judicial decisions. But
how uncertain are the verdicts of jul
ries! How shifting and contradictory
the opinions of the courts The best
that can be said for the weight of jul
dicial decisions is that there is a prob
ability that they are correct.
Or again is this boosted certainty to
be found even within the field of the
physical sciences themselves! Every
branch of science is compelled to start
out with certain assumptions which are
in themselves improbable. The whole
fabric of science is based on the large
assumption that the universe is govern
ed by uniform and eternal laws But
what scientist would undertake to
prove it? All scientific investigation is
based upon the desire of the heart to
find out truth and the consequent as
sumption that there is such truth to
find. In this belief the scientist is as
dogmatic as a Mohammedan believer.
Even more in the practical affairs of
life we form positive convictions and
act upon them without waiting for log
ical certainty. In weighing evidence
and forming opinions about people, in
our relations of business and friend
ship, we act upon convictions in which
the impulse to believe is the chief fac
tor We know that outside appear
ances are often deceptive that seeming
friends are often treacierous, that bus
mess men Of highest credit often fail;
yet we go on trusting and believing
through the necessity arising from our
desire to form opinions, do business
and have friends.
In all departments Of human thought
and action we find that the impulse to
believe is potent. Logic and insight
are not the only things that produce
our beliefs. Our non-intellectual nature
does influence our convictions We
simply disbelieve those facts and theo-
ries for which we have no use We
dogunatize like infallible popes about
the things we wish to believe 1t is
only when someone else is dogmatizing
about things which we refuse to be-
Heve that we throw up our hands in
holy horror against the sin of dogma
tisrn.
In religion no less than in other
phases of life the question of having
religious beliefs at all, or not having
them, is really decided by the will. If
the heart does not care for a world of
religious reality the head will surely
never believe in one 1t is a question
of attitude. In general our attitude is
based upon two rules: We wish to
know the truth; we wish to avoid error.
But outside of religion we treat the
hrst rule as paramount, and run the
risk of error in order to take every
chance of finding the truth. In religion.
on the contrary, the agnostic ignores
the first rule altogether and acts as if
the chief thing in the universe were to
avoid error. Better never believe
anything at ALL" ne says, than run
the risk of being duped by your desires
into believing something which subse-
quent generations may find Incorrect"
But if we acted on this basis in other
matters, all human activity would
cease. We should form no opinions, in
order to avoid mistakes; we should
have no friends, no fear of being
duped; we should do no business lest
We might be cheated. Is it any better
to fail for want of business, than
through unwise credits? Would it be
more cheerful to go through life soli-
tary and friendless than some time to