The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1907-03-15
DOUBT


following dissertation on Doubt. ="
probably expresses a state of mind not
uncommon in the theological ferment
of our times
Correctness of thought is conform
| ity of thought to things and Of thought
10 thought. have never met any
person who believed he did not know
that which he knew; but nothing is
more common than for us 10
think we know what We do not.
/ We never mistake our knowledge for
ignorance, except perhaps in extreme
metaphysics: but We constantly mis-
take our ignorance for knowledge.
And the remedy for this, so far as
there is a remedy, is the practice of
mental candor until il becomes q fixed
habit. The cultivation of an intellec-
! tuaI conscience He whose opinions
are ali convictions is as reckless in
/ Intellectually as he is morally whose
assertions are all categorical. Con-
viction has no more right 70 go be
yond evidence and just inference than
statement has TO 90 beyond convic-
ton. A man should be hardly less
careful not to deceive others by eX-
lpression. II is as hurtful 10 truth
10 decide when we ought to doubt.
as to doubt when We ought 10 de-
eide. We should feel no reluctance
/ to confess our ignorance always 10
Yourselves, and when circumstances
call for it, TO others. The phrase. Il
don't know" honestly and fairly used.
humbles us. but whe so used. il covers
much the larger part of truth. We
should use il honestly and fairly.
both to ourselves and others; always,
however, remembering that we are
! not 10 deny, even in thought. the ex-
! istence of a thing because We do not
| know of its existence. II is the lack
/ of such knowledge that constitutes
igronance. This lack is the very stuff
of which ignorance is made. If We
! knew all eXiStenceS, taking the term
as including both the actual and
/ the potential. We should know every
thing. for there is nothing else to
know. We have no more warrant for
! dogmatizing at random negatively
Jhan affirmatively. The forms OF Ian
guage force us very often 10 be dog
matte in expression, but this does not
oblige us TO be dOgmatic in thought
/ If we attempted to communicate in
discourse all the qualifications. and
all the shades and degrees of quail
ficatiOn that We realize. or
ought 10 realize in thinking.
We should only perplex or mislead
our hearers. It has been remarked
that no one ever means precisely
what he says, for no one ever says
precisely what he means. Doubt is
state of mind proper to any high de-
gree of uncertainty. Ii is a question
whether anything is uncertain in and
/ of itself-whether all contingency is
not in knowledge. none OF il in the
objects of knowledge. The sO-called
contingent events of tomorrow are at
this moment uncertain TO the whole
human race: but if they are known
To God. they have certainty relatively
10 him. He never doubts. Whether
We will or not. We must live with I'M
certainty and die with il. Relatively
to us ii extends over a part of truth
as surely as certainty does over an
other part. To doubt TOO much is 10
carry over by self-deception the un-
certain into the certain. Not 10 do
either should be matter of solici-
tude with every lover of truth The
repose Of conviction is very desirable
and very seductive. To doubt is never
| pleasant. often painful. sometimes az
joniZiug. And in so far as this prompts
TO inquiry and urges us to decision.
II is very useful; but when it induces
US to decide without inquiry or evi-
ueuCe. Ut WITHOUT the proper use Oh
them. the result is like declaring vic
tory before fighting the battle. II
We were so constituted that We could
not doubt. what security would there
be for truth? What could more Grip.
pie the mind than to deprive il either
/ OF the power of doubling or the power
/ of believing? To face frankly the ter
rorS OF uncertainty requires courage.
Indeed. TO think at all, responsibly.
nationally. and with absolute fidelity
tn truth. upon many subjects requires
the highest degree OF courage. It is
easier. perhaps. 10 stand before load
ed cannon and see the match applied.
than TO adopt a conclusion utterly de-
structive 70 past convictions long
cherished. and TO the authority upon
which they rested. in a mater OF vital