The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-05-29
A LECTURE DELIVERED BY REV.
E. J. MULLALY, C. S. p, OF CHI
cAGo, IN THE LYcEUM THEA
TIRE, DULUTH.


TIRE, DULUTH.
Immortality of the SouI-Necessity
of Religion-The Battle of
the Future.
The following lecture was delivered
recently before "a large audience in
the Lyceum Theater, Duluth, Mimi,
by Rev. E. J. Mullaly, C. S. p, of Chi
cago. He said in part
Il am Catholic because | be-
lieve in human reason and it's validity.
l be ieve that there is an essential diff
ference between human reason and
animal instinct, not difference
merely in degree but difference in
kind, by which can reason about and
draw conclusions concerning myself
and the world about me, by which l
can control my own instincts within
reason and even crush them if | so
desire. | can reason from the cause
of thing to it's effect or from an
effect back to a cause. My observa-
ton tells me that the animal kingdom
is guided merely by it's instinct and
experience, and has no such quality
as my human reason. | can even
transcend the earth and go to the
heavenly bodies, nay even above and
beyond them, can ask the. whence,
the how, the why and the where of all
things.
God Is Necessary.
"2-I am a Catholic because | be-
lieve that beyond the universe and
still in it, transcending it, imminent
in it and yet apart from it, is an
immense, Unreasonable, transcend
ant, ubiquitous, omnipotent, omnis-
cient, all good, all just, all merciful,
all loving being whom we call God. |
believe in God because / cannot I'M
derstand anything that is except God
exists. Reputable modern science
and philosophy tell me that once upon
time in the space which our uni
verse occupies, there was absolutely
nothing, an aching void. | am con-
fronted with the fact that out of this
absolute nothingness a universe has
sprung, SO gigantic that my mind can
not even conceive it's magnitude. Ex-
plain it. | cannot unless there is be-
fore and independent of it an all
powerful being who called it into ex-
istence. God is the answer to my
question.
Science tells me that once upon a
time this vast universe was in the
form of a rapidly whirling gaseous
vapor | ask from whence came the
motion? One of the basic laws of ma
tural science, that of inertia, tells me
that body at rest cannot start NOV
ing except it is acted upon by some
forces external to it. Therefore,
when l ask this cause of the original
motion in the. universe, | am con-
fronted with the answer, the First
Cause. God. Science tells me of the
transformation or evolution of the uni
verse and I see that has been toward
a definite end There is evidence of
order and intelligent design all
through it. Explain it. / cannot I'M
less there is a Cod God is forced on
my intelligence with such an over
powering certainty that l cannot deny
His existence.
Evidence of God.
''The smallest form of life is indis-
putable evidence of the existence of a
great God The greatest scientists of
the nineteenth century demonstrated
beyond all doubt, and their proofs have
been confirmed repeatedly, that life
does not and in the nature of the case
cannot spring from non-life. Spon-
taneous generation is an absolute i'm
possibility. There was a time when
life of any sort whatsoever was non
existent. WheAce came it? Again the
answer, God.
Some scientists of the nineteenth
century have elaborated the theory of
evolution of species. 1t is only a
theory and in the nature of the case
is improbable The modern world
teen centuries before Darwin was born
ST. Augustine, the greatest doctor of
the early Church, enunciated the same
theory when he said that God created
only the seeds of things with latent
powers to develop, and he could not
decide from his own reason whether
but one type Of life or several distinct
types had been created. After fifteen
centuries of scientific endeavor, reput-
able men of science are unable to
change his conclusion. Evolution
destroys nothing of the belief in God,
it demands it. 1t only puts back the
origin of life for something else to ex-
plain. The only explanation is God.
Even though the body of man be
the result of evolution from lower
form, how explain mans spiritual
nature? The vast majority of man
kind have always believed in spirit
ual nature and how explain it unless
God is its author?
''Then explain the existence in the
world Of such things as right and
wrong, of conscience, of a moral law,
of justice and the demand for repara-
ton of violated justice? You cannot
explain it without God.
immortality of Soul.
"33-I am Catholic because I be-
Heyp in the Immortality of the human