The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1927-02-02
WHY THEOLOGY DIVIDES
A. r. A. Laudou

A. r. A. Laudon
IITHOUT new ideas progress would be
M impossible. Yet the world has Away:
resented the pain of adjusting itself tt
the intrusion of a new idea; and consequently
has always crucified it's saviors. Conservatism
crucified Christ, imprisoned Gallileo, placed
chains on Columbus, burned John Huss at the
stake, ostracised Luther and cast it's chilling
shadow across the path of knowledge and dis
covery for untold ages. 1t is only in the last
hundred years that the true ambassadors of
God, the scientists, in fear and trembling were
allowed to tell the original story which an in
finite intelligence has written into his universe.
AS we scan the pages of history we are impress
ed with the sincere and abiding faith which the
scientist has in the Creators original wonder
story of Genesis as revealed in geology, paleon-
tology, physics, chemistry and a hundred kindred
sciences. That a small section of the clergy
should doubt the original handwriting, as well as
the genealogical processes observable all around
US, is not surprising. The gulf separating the
two sections is perhaps fundamental.
To the logical mind of the scientist, the phil
osopher and the larger section of the clergy the
idea of an orderly creation through law nee
essarily implies an orderly supreme intelligence
as its author wherein law, order and develop
ment are the supreme and fundamental factors.
Anything that destroys the idea of law and or
der necessarily destroys faith in supreme in
telligence. Hence mystery, magic, sorcery, mir
ace necessarily undermine faith in a supreme
intelligence. To such mind a principle or law
which successfully establishes a harmonious re-
latonship between all known facts and rational
ICES all phenomena fits at once into the idea of
intelligent orderly creation, furnishes an i'm
penetrable bulwark against atheistic mystic
attack and endows religion with the legitimate
crown of a rational basis.
On the other hand perhaps smaller section
of the clergy find their most satisfying evidence
of creator in mystery and miracle. Mystery
and miracle are presumed to be beyond the pale
of human understanding, in disaster, in disorder
and in the violation of natural law. The assump-
ton that God can only be found in mystery, mir
ace and disorder, necessarily implies that he can
not be found in natural law, is therefore beyond
our understanding and in the gaps of our know
ledge. 1t is for this very reason that large
section of the clergy has in all ages almost
Historically resisted the advance of all know
ledge, lest research into genealogical processes
should Danish the Creator from His universe, as
if the Creator existed in our ignorance. The fal-
lacy of putting the Creator only in the gaps IN
knowledge is apparent when we consider that
as knowledge grows the Creator would be ousted
from position aIter POSITION and When the iast
gap was filled Creator would be no more. The
one placing his faith in the known halls with de-
light any fact in nature as confirmation OF
his views the other placing his faith in the un-
known lives in constant dread lest some new
fact explain away his beloved mystery
Believing faith superior to fact, the mystic
has in all ages waged aggressive and relentless
war against the advance of all knowledge. I'm
errinplv il sees in evolution a universal solvent
of otherwise discordant facts threatening the last
citadel of disorderly Creator.
The fear and fury of mysticism is but high
compliment to the idea of orderly creation.
While the scientist knows that a conflict between
the truths of science and the truths of religion
is not only absurd, but utterly impossible, yet the
mystic makes conflict essential and fundament-
al.-Reprinted from the Minneapolis Tribune.