The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1897-05-22

Cope.
When you bring in volition you bring
in cataclysms; you introduce forces and
changes outside of the resident forces of
pure evolution, and of an utterly differ
ent order. Accordingly, we have not
evolution, that is, not anything like the
evolution which Darwin or Professor
Gray talked about. but we have pro-
gress, advancement, the old words that
we have been familiar with for genera
tions.
When Julius Caesar took a Roman
army to Gaul and Britain, and subdued
Europe under Roman law, this great
change in government, civilization and
social conditions was not produced by
unconscious resident forces. like those
that made an oak but by extraneous
will. When English missionaries
brought Christianity to Madagascar.
and when French army made that
island colony of France. something
else than resident forces did the work.
The new civilization of the age of steam
and electricity has in it nothing of the
nature of evolution by resident forces;
it has been created by stout purpose
looking to definite lines of progress.
These forces act from the outside. They
are like the progress by which choice
edible fruits and flowers are created,
not under mere resident forces, but
these forces directed and guided and
hindered by the will and purpose of
the gardener. When we come to talk
Of men and human institutions we must
speak of will and purpose, and not of
resident forces, of advancement, not of
evolution. Applied to society. or to phil.
osophy. or to religion, the word evolution
is but metaphor, and a misleading
one.
In his anxiety to bring all religion
under law, DIR. Abbott belittles miracles.
He says:
"We are coming to see that there is no
distinction between the supernatural and
the natural; that the natural is all su-
pernatural, and that the supernatu-
raj is all most natural. Mira
cles are, therefore, no longer regarded
by intelligent scholars as violations of
the laws of nature. In a word,
the immanence of God is coming to be
recognized as the fundamental fact in the
new theology-God in everything; all
power belonging unto him all phenomena,
save only those of human sinfulness,
manifestations of him.
Now. we venture to say that all this is
moonshine. Men have not made huge
mistake in generally supposing that
there is distinction between the nat
ural and the supernatural. Many, if
not most, intelligent scholars do regard
miracles as violations of the laws of
nature. The notion of the immanence
of God in everything. in any such sense
that he, by constant and multitudinous-
ly repeated acts of will, performs each
Of the infinite processes of nature, and
that all phenomena are manifestations
of him. is not held by most sane think
ers. Most intelligent scholars would
think it almost unthinkable that all hu-
man actions are phenomena of Gods will.
except human sinfulness; that is, that
man does the SHINING and God does the
repenting. These Observation-Disclosures are
not accepted. we declare. nor do we be-
lieve they are coming to be accepted by
sound. logical thinkers. They are the
language Of poetry, not of theology.
Besides, the doctrine of Gods imma-
nence. so-called = something different
from his presence-contradicts the doc
trine of resident forces. The atom or
the planet moves by a resident force.
We have no reason to believe that God
keeps up the pushing e Pfhe planet, or
that he gives separate volition to de-
termine the angle of residence of each
bounding molecule. So the act of
mans will is the mans act. whether it
be a holy act or a sinful act, and not
Gods act; that is common sense. The
forces resident in nature are different
thing from the human or the divine
will.
What we call the natural is the action
of these resident forces; what we call
the supernatural is the action of will
controlling, directing, restraining the
resident forces of nature. We usually
call an act of the unseen God, thus in
terfering with the regular action of the
resident forces, supernatural and mi
raculous. But we perform a virtual
miracle every time we lift an arm. We
interfere with the regular operation OF
the laws of nature. We can see the hu-
man will producing it's interferences and
we do not call them miracles. Gods
miracles are the same as ours only we
cannot see his arm move or his will ema.
mating from him. Will is all superna-
tural and we understand what Gods
miracles are because we understand our
own. There is no new philosophy in
this, no new theology; only the old phil
osophy and theology which see in will
something different from resident ma
tural forces, and difference between
Gods act and mans act, and distinc-
tion between the natural and the super.
natural. We need no new evolutionary
or revolutionary theology. only progress
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