The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-04-17
RELIGION AND SCIENCE AGAIN.
Bob IngersoH has stirred things NJ
as he always does when he speaks. HI

BOD lngerS0u mas SurreQ things up,
as he always does when he speaks. His
address at Chicago is now being San
swered" and science and religion
are taking up their ancient jangle. Per
haps science has been responsible in its
day for more SkepticS than those an
tagonized against theology by any other
agency of the human intellect. Phil
osOphy has always been half-inclined
to religion, ever since the days when
the Neo-PlatOnists of Alexandria re-
cogniZed in Plato "the Attic Moses
down to the German thinker, Hegel,
with his proof-through the philosophy
of numbered the truth of the trinity.
Philosophy, like religion, deals with
the unseen and definitely unknowable.
On the other hand, science concerns
matter not mind nor spirit, facts not
consciousness, and phenomena not nOu-
mena- At first, in its outgrowth from
philosophy from Thales and Anaxi-
mander), science was little else. in
deed, than philosophy. The Greek
so-called scientists were spectators
about, not observers of, nature. Plato,
for instance. conceived of the existence
of an imaginary tenth planet (Antche),
which does not in actuality exist, pure
~ through philosophical speculation
1t required the shrewd observation OF
Aristotle (most scientific of all the
Creeks to give the real birth TO science.
From Aristotle TO Ptolemy, from PtOl-
envy 10 Calico and Copernicus, from
Copernicus to Newton, from Newton 10
Darwin and Herbert Spencer, science
has been step by step pursuing its own
road Of discovery apart from either
philosophy or religion. Thus, it would
not accept any mere theory before its
time, before 1t could be adopted as a
true scientific hypothesis. Lamarck
could not proclaim evolution before
Charles Darwin, nor Goethe nor Eras-
mus Darwin poetize for scientists.
Science has steadily disproved its own
hypothesis: Newton's corpuscular
theory of light, for instance, has been
discarded long ago; but science re-
serves to Itself Justly the right to prove
and disprove its own laws and theories
by its own data and methods.
But unhappily for humanity, theol-
ogy was not content TO permit science
to carry on its Investigations irrespec-
tive Of the church. The priest insisted
that the scientist should take Genesis
as the Bible OF creation, and believe
that Joshua made the sun stand still
in the valley az AjalOn- The inquisl-
tors denounced Calico a. they con
demned Giordano Bruno. Nor was il
the Catholic church alone that was
blind TO the new light Of science. Cop
ernicus was. in fact. aided from Rome.
while Calvin prosecuted Servetus IN
Geneva And even in = recent day the
late Professor Huxley found every
where in the realm Of scientific investi- !
CATION the warning OF trespasS. IS he I
phrased il: Hands Off-MOsss. Dur !
ing this generation. however, science
has been the sggreSsor rather than The I
sggrisved AssaiIed by the entire /
Christian world tha evolnfionlsrs not |
only turned at bSy. but attacked Chris .
tianity in turn Agassiz had turned !
from science 10 the Bible; bat Darvin's I
followers rejected the Bible A the I
theory Of prophetic rypes-or. as i = .
known. OF ''the missing Ink" !
has become more thoroughly expl0z- |
ed. many new problems have arisen /
concerning the Darwinlan doctrines OF /