The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-11-22
PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
TENNYSON'S VIEWS ON SUBJECT
DISCUSSED BY PROF, SHEATH.

LII briAiiahu anu FrOWeriuL ADDRESS Be-
fore the Mems Club ut the United Church
Last Evening-The Great Realities Are
Unprovable-A Large and Appreciative
Audience.
Professor e. III. Sheath delivered a
very interesting and able address to
the Mems club Of the United church
last night. A large congregation listen
ed to the talk which was interspersed
with quotations from the author In
question. The following is brief analy-
sis Of the address:
From the beginning to the end Of
his life Tennyson was interested in the
deeper problems of the human mind.
His entire life was a struggle with
doubt. The scientific trend Of the age
naturally gives rise to doubts of per-
sonal God and Immortality Many Of
his poems therefore are result Of his
struggle in regard to the great prob
lens of philosophy.
Attention Is called to Tennyson's So
luton of two Of these problems First.
the problem Of the being and nature Of
God, and, secondly, the relation Of God
to the world.
"The Being and Nature Of God-To
fully understand Tennyson's position
one must understand his distinction be-
tween knowledge and faith. This dis
tinction is shown very clearly in the
first verse of the prologue to In Menu
Oriam:'
'Sfrnnor III iyov~ ,to1
Whom we, that have not seen thy face,
By faith and faith alone embrace,
Believing where we cannot prove
''The great realities, such as God, the
relation of body and mind, the immor-
tality of the soul, ETC., are unprovable.
But we must not, like the skeptic, re-
ject them on this account. We must
turn to the believing part Of our ma
ture
"This, then, is Tennyson's position
with reference to the distinction be-
tween knowledge and faith. Knowl-
edge is limited to the perceivable and
the demonstrable. Faith reaches be-
yond the boundaries Of knowledge and
lays hold upon the eternal ver1ties. God
Is a great unknowable but believable
reality, an object of faith. What is the
nature of God? God is a personal be-
ing. Tennyson grants that there is
some force in the objection made to
the word personality as being 'anthro-
pomorphic,' but yet he holds that our
highest view of God must be more or
less anthropomorphic.'
'But God is not merely personal be-
ing. He is also love. Our interpreta-
ton of the world as dark and unfair is
mere illusion due to the darkness in
us. According to Tennyson, God is a.
personal being, and the essence Of His
nature is love.
Kant and his school of philosophy
had tried to show that a God and per-
sonal God were not movable. Ten
nyson was familiar with this position
and in sympathy with it. The so-called
design argument Of natural theology
had no weight with Tennyson. 1t falls
short of a demonstration of the nature
of God as personal intelligence.
''Let us study the position Of Tenny-
son in the light of modern science. The
mechanical conception of nature pre-
walls in modern science. This concep-
ton bears directly against the design
argument for the existence Of a person.
al God.
"Tennyson was in sympathy with
much of modern science and philosophy.
But he did not rest with agnosticism.
There is another part to mans being.
This is trust and faith. Although a.
personal God cannot be deduced from
physical phenomena, he is nevertheless
a reality Faith is necessary in order
to get at natures secret meaning
Tennyson solved the problem Of God
as personal by making Him not an OBJ
iect of proof or knowledge, but an OBJ
| iect of faith. He came to the conclu-
sion that we cannot prove Gods love
from the course Of nature. We must
accept it on faith.
"We have, then as Tennyson's doc
| trine concerning the first problem Of
the philosophy of religion, the being
and nature of God, the following points:
| /, that God is; 2, that God is personal;l
8. that God is love; 4, that these great
truths are not provable-they are not
objects of knowledge, but, on the other
hand they are believable.
What was Tennyson's position with
reference to Gods relation to the world +?
1t was, briefly, that there was nothing
in the universe but wind. There are
two kings in the universe, God the eter-
nal spirit and the finite spirit. The
message of Tennyson in the philosophy
| of religion comes to us, telling us to be
of good cheer. God is a spirit and God
| is love-"