Part 1

Produced by Curtis Weyant, Leonard Johnson and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by Case Western Reserve University Preservation Department Digital Library)

RELATIONS OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION.

Uniform with this Volume.

=I. NATURE AND THE BIBLE.=

A Course of Lectures on the Morse Foundation of the Union Theological Seminary, by J. W. DAWSON, LL.D. 12mo. $1.75.

"Professor Dawson discusses his topic from the various standpoints of a student of nature, not from the single standpoint which has mostly been occupied by theologians The book is not a _partisan_ publication. It will be found by those opposed to be perfectly candid and fair, admitting difficulties in their full force, and not seeking to evade, misinterpret, or exaggerate any fact or argument"--_Interior_.

=II. CHRISTIANITY AND POSITIVISM.=

A Series of Lectures to the Times on Natural Theology and Apologetics. By JAMES MCCOSH, D.D., LL.D., President of Princeton College. 12mo. $1.75.

"This book grapples directly with the vital questions. Every reader must admire its fairness It is all the better adapted to popular reading from having been written to be delivered to an audience. Indeed, the thinking is generally so clear, and the style so animated and luminous, that any person of average intelligence and culture may understand and enjoy the discussion and no such person who has begun to read the work will be likely to rest satisfied till he has finished it. It is in some parts eloquent and beautiful, and is throughout forcible and effective for its end. Would that thousands of the young people of our country, and of all classes whose faith may be in peril, might read it with the attention it deserves" _Independent_.

=III. CHRISTIANITY AND SCIENCE.=

A Series of Lectures. By Rev. A. P. PEABODY, D.D., of Harvard College. $1.75.

"One of the best books we have read in a long time,--a manly, candid, noble, reasonable defence of the Christian faith. We do not see how any thoughtful person can read it in vain. Dr Peabody plants himself fairly on the very postulates of scientific men, and proceeds to show how all that they claim for true science is fulfilled in the religion of Jesus"--_Illustrated Christian Weekly_.

ROBERT CARTER AND BROTHERS.

THE RELATIONS

OF

SCIENCE AND RELIGION.

The Morse Lecture, 1880,

_CONNECTED WITH THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK._

BY

HENRY CALDERWOOD, LL.D.,

PROFESSOR OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, AUTHOR OF "RELATIONS OF MIND AND BRAIN," ETC.

NEW YORK: ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS,

530 BROADWAY.

1881.

Copyright, 1881, BY ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS.

CAMBRIDGE: PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON.

ST. JOHNLAND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY SUFFOLK CO., N. Y.

_EXTRACT FROM THE DEED OF TRUST, ESTABLISHING THE MORSE LECTURESHIP._

"The general subject of the Lectures, I desire to be:

"The relation of the Bible to any of the Sciences, as Geography, Geology, History, and Ethnology, the vindication of the inspiration and authenticity of the Bible, against attacks made on scientific grounds, and the relation of the facts and truths contained in the Word of God, to the principles, methods and aims of any of the Sciences.

"Upon one or more of these topics a course of ten public Lectures shall be given at least once in two or three years, by a Lecturer, ordinarily to be chosen two years in advance of the time for delivering of the Lectures.

"The appointment of the Lecturer shall be by the concurrent action of the Founder of the Lectureship, during his life, the Board of Directors, and the faculty of said Seminary.

"The funds shall be securely invested, and the interest of the same shall be devoted to the payment of the Lecturer, and to the publication of the Lectures within a year after the delivery of the same.

"The copyright of the Lectures shall be vested in the Seminary."

(_Signed_) SAMUEL F. B. MORSE.

PREFACE.

The aim of the present volume is to indicate the measure of harmony traceable between recent advances in science, and the fundamental characteristics of religious thought, and the extent to which harmony is possible. This attempt has been made in the hope of contributing towards a better understanding of the relative positions of scientists and theologians, thereby aiding the formation of public opinion on questions appearing to involve serious antagonism.

The plan followed is to bring under review the great fields of scientific inquiry, advancing from unorganized existence to Man; to present the most recent results of research in these separate fields, without extending to minute details; as far as possible, to allow scientific observers to state results in their own words; and then to examine carefully the reasonings deduced from ascertained facts, and the bearing of facts and inferences on religious thought.

The general result is that marked modifications of thought concerning the structure and order of the universe have arisen on account of scientific discoveries, to be accepted by theologians, as by all thinkers; that the bearing of these modifications on religious conceptions has been greatly mistaken by many scientific observers; and that it must be held clear by scientists and theologians alike, that while scientific methods are reliable within their own spheres, science can bear no testimony, and can offer no criticism, as to the supernatural, inasmuch as science is only an explanation of ascertained facts by recognition of natural law. In accordance with this last statement, it is maintained, that science does not reach, far less deal with, the problem concerning the origin of Nature, the solution of which can be found only by transcending Nature, that is, by recognizing the supernatural.

In the course followed I believe the purpose of the eminent Physicist who founded the lecture, has been rigidly kept in view.

I desire here to express to the President and Professors of Union Theological Seminary, my sense of their great kindness while I delivered the course of lectures in New York, and specially for so arranging as to allow of including the full course within eight lectures,--a form which has been retained in publication.

I have also to express my thanks for the kind manner in which these lectures were received in Edinburgh, where, with the exception of the two first, the course was, by request, redelivered.

H. C.

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, _January 31st, 1881_

CONTENTS.

LECTURE I.

CONDITIONS OF THE INQUIRY.

Advantages resulting from recent advances in physical science -- Advance does not unsettle the whole mass of conviction -- Religion and science agree in seeking a rational basis, and both present a body of harmonized conceptions -- Diversity of view is to be expected in both spheres -- Needless anxiety as to alleged conflict between science and religion -- The first requisite is to trace the boundaries of the two departments of thought -- Description of religion, natural and revealed -- Description of science, its method and sphere -- Common starting ground for both -- Each supplies inducement for seeking a harmony 9

LECTURE II.

EXPERIENCE GATHERED FROM PAST CONFLICTS.

Value of the lessons from past failures -- Discussions as to "spontaneous generation" -- Range of experiments and mode of conducting them -- Difficulties in excluding germinal forms, and in determining the temperature at which their destruction was ensured -- Hopefulness awakened by earlier investigations -- Acknowledged failure as the result of more rigid tests -- Conclusions of Pasteur, Roberts, Tyndall -- Close of the discussion as maintained by Bastian -- Dr. Draper's "History of the Conflict between Religion and Science" -- Objections to the plan of the book -- Misleading representations of conflict -- Alleged scriptural view of the nature of the world, incapable of vindication -- The Bible not a book of science, but a revelation of the way of deliverance for sinful man 43

LECTURE III.

INORGANIC ELEMENTS IN THE UNIVERSE.

Two forms of existence to be recognized -- Matter and Energy -- Distinction of the two -- Tait on energy -- MATTER -- Its indestructibility and uncreatability by any process at the command of man -- The atomic theory as related to the divisibility and compressibility of matter -- Scientific belief, as analogous to theologic -- ENERGY -- Perpetual change in form and distribution of materials -- Position, motion, and force -- Transmutation or conversion of energy -- Conservation of Energy -- Deterioration and dissipation of energy -- Heat as a form of motion -- Results of scientific research are such as to support religious thought concerning the origin of the world -- The changeable can not be the eternal -- Science here reaches its _ultimatum_ as to the structure of the world, and gives all the support possible to the reality of the supernatural 82

LECTURE IV.

ORGANIZED EXISTENCE. LIFE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.

The new problem -- Origin of life, relation of the organized to the unorganized -- Origin of species -- Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection -- Characteristics of life -- The prominent features of Mr. Darwin's theory -- Power of adaptability to environment inherent in organism -- History of the steps by which the author was led to the adoption of his theory -- Wallace's "Contributions" -- Darwin's acknowledgment that science does not favor the belief that living creatures are produced from inorganic matter -- Admission of creation of life -- Favorable impression made by the theory -- Common ancestry of allied species -- Rejection of fixedness of species -- Difficulties which beset the theory -- All change does not indicate progress -- Difficulty connected with the early stages of evolution -- Persistence of species 119

LECTURE V.

RELATIONS OF LOWER AND HIGHER ORGANISMS.

Fertilization of flowering plants -- Relation of pollen to the seed vessels -- Need for transference of pollen -- Means to prevent self-fertilization -- Relation between animal life and vegetable -- Search for honey by bees and other insects -- Bearing the pollen to distant flowers -- Distribution of work among insects and birds -- Evidence of adaptation -- Interdependence of lower and higher organisms -- ANTS -- Their exclusion from certain flowers -- Their work, perseverance, intelligence, slave-holding, extracting honey from other insects, constructing bridges 162

LECTURE VI.

HIGHER ORGANISMS; -- RESEMBLANCES AND CONTRASTS.

Sensibility and motor activity characteristic of animal life -- Both uniformly provided for by identical arrangements of nerve system -- Two distinct lines of nerve fibre combined in a nerve centre -- Structure of nerve fibre -- Isolation -- Combination -- Brain structure -- White matter, and grey -- Subdivisions of the organ -- Complexity of brain structure according to complexity of organism -- Brain in insects, fishes, reptiles, smaller quadrupeds, larger quadrupeds, monkeys, apes, man -- Close resemblance of the brain of the ape to the human brain -- Researches as to brain function by means of electric excitation of the organ -- Fritsch and Hitzig -- Ferrier -- Identification of sensory and of motor centres -- Silence of front and back regions -- Confirmatory evidence from brain diseases 204

LECTURE VII.

MAN'S PLACE IN THE WORLD.

Human organism modelled on the same plan as lower organisms -- Prevailing opinion opposes an attempt to refer all human activity to organism -- Religious thought not directly involved -- Science must include the study of human life -- Science by discovery of the structure and functions of the nerve system has explained many phases of action formerly regarded as voluntary -- The contrast remains between muscular action and human conduct -- Acquired aptitudes -- Intellectual superiority -- Hæckel's suggestion of "mind cells" -- Adverse evidence -- Nerve cells, varied sizes, the largest found in the spinal canal, as well as in the brain -- Government of human conduct -- Man's application of a higher law -- Benevolence, as an illustration -- Contrast with struggle for existence -- Man's ideal law, constituting the _ought_ in human conduct 239

LECTURE VIII.

DIVINE INTERPOSITION FOR MORAL GOVERNMENT.

Summary of recent scientific conclusions with which religious thought is to be harmonized -- Religious conceptions as to divine interposition, in their relation to fixed law -- MIRACLE -- Its place as evidence for the Messiahship of Jesus Christ -- Credibility of miracles -- Our Saviour's miracles -- Their benevolent purpose as bearing on their evidential value -- How related to the laws of nature -- Incapable of explanation by these laws -- They do not conflict with these laws in any intelligible sense -- Meaning of the old formula, "a violation of the laws of nature" -- Importance of the scientific position that violation of natural law is inconsistent with our knowledge of the government of the world -- Method and result in miracle-working, as related to natural law -- Explanation of the antagonism of scientific thought to the conception of miracle -- PRAYER -- How its answer stands related to natural law -- The cruder thoughts concerning the province of prayer -- All law, fixed law, whether physical, intellectual, or moral -- These laws a harmony -- It is in recognition of this, with subordination of physical to moral, that the spirit of prayer lives -- Fixed law is concerned with varying conditions, and with varying results -- Interpretation of "fixed law" -- Dependence of physical results on moral action -- That there are two spheres is no help out of difficulty -- Nothing in scientific teaching to warrant denial of the doctrine that God interposes for moral ends -- Warrant for prayer rests on a divine promise, involving moral conditions -- To ask evidence of its answer, irrespective of these conditions, is to seek evidence in neglect of that which is essential for the result -- The answer of prayer must be in all cases more an evidence of divine righteousness than it is of divine power 275

APPENDIX.

I. Relations of Science and Religion 313

II. Spontaneous Generation 313

III. Energy and Force 314

IV. All Organized Existence is Constructed on a Common Plan 314

V. Embryology 316

VI. Non-advancement of Lower Orders 319

VII. Protoplasm 319

VIII. Number of Species of Insects 320

IX. Fertilization of Flowers by Insects 320

X. Ants 320

XI. Likeness of the Ape's Brain to the Human Brain 321

XII. The Large Sized or Multipolar Cells 322

XIII. The Conception of Duty 323

RELATIONS OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION.

LECTURE I.

CONDITIONS OF THE INQUIRY.

Among the many advantages enjoyed by the present generation, one of the most conspicuous is that arising from the large advance made in physical science. The high value of this is apparent from whatever standpoint it is regarded. The vastly wider range of knowledge, the increase of appliances for inquiry, the greater facilities for work of all kinds, the freer intercommunion of all the divisions of our race, and the greater altitude from which the whole realm of existence can be contemplated; all these involve an immense gain for the present century.

With these advantages, however, there comes the difficulty of using them aright, a difficulty which we may expect to be greater when we are dealing with wider and more general aspects of existence, than when we are concerned with more restricted ranges of knowledge. It may be a much easier thing to state precisely how recent advances have affected a particular branch of science, such as astronomy or geology, than to say how they bear upon the general conception of the universe. Yet, while the latter is the more difficult question, it is that with which men generally must be more concerned. Only a very limited number of men can belong to the ranks of specialists devoted to a single branch of science. All men, specialists as well as others, are concerned with the wider question as to the true conception of the universe, and the bearing it has on human life and destiny. It is impossible to imagine that marked advance can be made in any of the sciences, without its having some bearing on the more general problem in which all men are practically interested. Each specialist perceives this more or less clearly as he is working out the result of complicated observations or calculations. The public mind may be said rather to _feel_ that some modification of common belief is taking place, while there is great uncertainty as to the actual change. What gives a sense of security to the general conviction of educated men is that all increase of knowledge is clear gain, and that all advance is secured on familiar and well-tried lines. Progress is transition, and in a sense unsettling; but it is also accumulation, and thus in a more enduring sense, consolidating. Fresh observation in some one department of research does not overthrow all that was credited previously. It extends the area of knowledge, or carries us into a more minute acquaintance with particulars, and only in a restricted way modifies accepted positions, by introducing relations formerly unrecognized. Thus, progress in a particular science does not unsettle scientific belief.

In a manner exactly analogous, because resting on the same intellectual conditions, the combined advance of the whole order of sciences does not unsettle the mass of conviction belonging to instructed and ordinarily reflective men. It must, indeed, modify the form of general conviction, as it quickens intellectual interest, for the public mind receives, not reluctantly but gladly, additional results gathered under carefully tested scientific methods. This is nothing more than saying, that love of truth, and submission to the laws of evidence, are characteristic of all disciplined intelligence. Scientific inquirers are the trained instructors of the race, and others receive what they communicate, with true sense of its abiding worth. At the same time, such inquirers work from an intellectual basis which is common to all, finding application in all fields of activity. Upon that basis all men lean as they shape and regulate their life, finding themselves involved in disaster, or confirmed in a wise course, according as they are partial or thorough in their adherence to the conditions of rational life. As the mass of human interests can not be isolated from the results discovered in the path of advancing science; so neither can any form of inquiry be separated from the conditions which are common to all intellectual life, including even the least cultivated. So it happens that the race as a whole has a clear share in all the products of science, such as it has not in the products of industry. Rational conditions provide for a community of interest in intellectual work and results, greater than can be approached by all the value of material production.

These few general and very obvious considerations bring us into direct line with the relations of religion and science. Religion has a rational basis, as the condition of its practical worth. It takes its start from that common intellectual basis, which affords to science its essential conditions. Religion and science are exactly alike in these respects, that both present a body of harmonized conceptions, a clearly defined circle of intelligible statements, and both have a definite bearing on human action. Their practical value depends upon conformity with the common requirements of intelligence, and harmony with recognized fact. I place this declaration in the foreground of the present discussion, not only as a clear avowal of the footing on which religion presents its claims to acceptance, but more especially as a distinct and broad acknowledgment that the whole range of tests afforded by the entire circle of the sciences is legitimately applied to religion, and is to be deliberately met.

The object of the present course of lectures is to consider the relations of science to the Christian religion, as authoritatively revealed in the Bible, and as understood and accepted by those who profess themselves Christians, in grateful acknowledgment of what the Scriptures declare. The relations now to be dealt with are those subsisting between religion as presented in the Bible, (which is in the hands of all, to be examined and dealt with by scientific inquirers), and science as presented to us in the present day, for the acceptance of all. The claim to universal acceptance found here on both sides, is that which gives special interest and true logical importance to the problem. Christianity professes to discover a religion to be accepted of all men, and a practice to be observed by all: science professes to give an account of the state of things around us in the world, to be accepted by all, and acknowledged in practice if men would adapt themselves to the natural conditions of their life. This claim to universal acceptance is not affected on either side by the fact that diversities of interpretation and application emerge among the upholders of Christianity, and the expounders of science. Such diversities are well known to exist in both spheres of thought. It needs to be recognized at all times, and prominently stated in such a discussion as the present, that under the conditions determining the attainment of knowledge, there must be diversity of opinion. Indeed, the wider the area of acquired truth, the more extensive becomes the field of possible differences, both in respect of what is involved under conclusions already reached, and of what may transcend the boundaries of present knowledge. It is, therefore, no marvel that there is large diversity of opinion among scientific men, on many problems arising out of universally accepted positions. It is only by the same necessity that there is diversity of opinion on matters of religion. The materials of study are set before us in the mass, and our knowledge is to be obtained by the slow processes of intellectual procedure, in accordance with which some things become clear, while many more remain obscure. Whether we are dealing with book knowledge, or with knowledge obtained by direct observation of existing things, does not affect this matter. The intellectual conditions are the same in both cases, and it is from exactly the same intellectual source that inevitable conflict of opinion arises.