The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-04-23
IS MATEmALrsM ADVANCIN0v

would seem that the answer 10 the question
whether materiallsm has been making way
must partly depend on the meaning at
tached 10 the word. Ny friend Prof.
Tyndall, "a ! think have said before, called
himself, and insisted upon being called,
materialist because, as a man OF science
he believed that In matter was the poten-
TALLY OF all things, while In sentiment
character and aspirations no human being
could be less material. In this l believe
he was the type Of many who, though they
have embraced the materiAlist hypothesis,
remain spiritual In character and aim.
Militarism, football and bridge seem TO
show that the flesh, whatever the source
OF It's prevalence, just now is strong.
It can scarcely be denied that between
the higher criticism on ono side and Oar
wins momentous discovery on the other
materialism, In the scientific and philo-
sophie sense, positive or negative, IL gain
Ing ground. We are called upon at all
events TO find new warrant for spiritual life.
for reliance on the dictates Of conscience,
for any hopes that we may have cherished OF
eIistenos beyond the grave, for confidence
In a divine order Of the universe. We can
no longer believe that the miscellany Of
Hebrew writings, many Of them Of doubtful
authorship and date, some Of them plainly
mythical. are a divine revelation. Nor
is anything TO DO hoped from an attempt
to evade the difioulty by suggesting that
Deity, in It's dealings with man, had to ac-
oommodate itself TO the DarWinian law Of
evolution. or the Gospels, criticism has
spared only the character and teachings
OF Jesus, which, on any hypothesis as to His
nature, have given birth TO Christendom.
In the authenticity, oontemporaneity, har-
mony Of the documents, We can conhde no
more. We can no longer sincerely accept
the evidence for the Incarnation, the I'm
maculate Conception, the miracles, the
Resurrection; or deem Il such as would
certainly have been given in proof Of q
revelation which was TO be the light Of the
world Moreover, the FAN being a myth,
as II Is now allowed almost on all hands to
! be, there is no ground for the Incarnation
and the Atonement, a disclosure which IN
Itself Is fatal TO the dogmAtio and tradi-
tlonal creed OF Christendom. Nor we must
sorrowtully confess, IL the collapse Of our
evidences limited 10 the case Of revelation.
! II extends 10 that Of natural religion. Bishop
Buffers proof Of immortality, resting on
the separate existence Of the soul as an
entity breathed into the body at birth and
released from II at death, has been swept
away by evolution. Theism itself has
been seriously called In question, and arRu-
ments founded on the proofs Of universal
benehoenoe, suoh as the writer's OF the
| Bridgewater Treaises deemed conclusive,
will unhappily no longer avail. The wrench
Is great; but through frank abandonment
Of that which olnnot be sustained lies our
only road to truth.
For the first time perhaps in history,
man stands With his unassisted reason, In
| dependent Of any revelation or tradition,
| in face Of the mystery Of his existence and
Of the order Of the universe. II there is
any historical precedent, II is probably the
position Of the Greek philosophers, But
! the Greek philosophers were children In
science. Their oosmio speculatons were
! ingenious guesses. Ethics they cultivated.
But In that region also they failed 10
! look seriously II they looked at all, at
| the questions which most deeply concern
US now. Besides, their minds were not
free from the bias Of traditional theism.
Socrates worshipped the gods Of the State,
and bequeathed an offering to Esculapius.
Little win be found In the Greek philosophy
at all helpful to present investigation. The
thought Of the Roman Stoics was given To-
the formation Of personal character. Nor
Is there much TO aid us IN the philosophy
| Of the Voltairean era 1t had no Darwin.
It Is extremely controversial, and therefore
wanting In breadth and in oalmness of
| vision. Besides, neither Voltaire nor
! Rousseau IL independent OF theistio tradi-
ton. VoltAire, as We remember, Rvowed
| his belief that the fear Of God was neoes-
! sary 10 save our throats from being out;
! and he built a church with the inscription,
sDeo Eredt voltaire,' which, II he had
said what he meant, would perhaps have
been 'Yoltaiiio Erexit Deus
/ No one surely can treat these questions
/ lightly. No one can think that even In a
social point OF view 10 matters nothing
whether death ends and cancels all or
| whether conscience is q delusion. DR..
osler may be right in saying that most
| people think little about q future life. This
! may be partly because the future life has
! been presented TO them in a glise which
/ no mind can grasp, and which is at variance
/ with their practical sense Of Justice and
| mercy. Still, the belief has been there:
| and 30 has the authority Of conscience.
! The churches are q momentous part Of our
social organization, and on these beliefs
/ they rest. Habit and opinion will sustain
/ them, probably are now sustaining many
| Of them, after the departure Of positive
| belief They may glide, as not q few Of
/ them are now gliding, into social reunions.
| more OF less spiritual in tone, under the
! direction Of a pastor, with side shows Of
various kinds. The Impression, perhaps
/ even the moral influence, may linRer when
| the definite belief has passed away. But
| the end Of this must come. Meantime,
| Inquiry has happily become earnest, calm
and tolerant. IL may yet end In Inducing
the germ-plasm 10 limit its unbounded pre-
tensions and leave room for the continued
existence Of spiritual life, and Of such hopes
a. may reasonably be attached thereto. A
new religion independent Of tradition may
yet lie born.
In the mean time there is natural ten
denoy 10 take refuge In fantastic specula-
tons Of the spirituGlist hind against which
We have 10 be on QUE guard.
GOODWIN SMITH.
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Mr. Tarbellia apNSoh