TRUTH-IDENTITIES OF RELIGION & SCIENCE. 47 it is needless to say, have been the points in which religion has had to give way, and rightly, in the conflict with science. How adorable is the revelation which has given to the humblest believer truth fundamental, universal, eternal. Thus the devout student finds in the truths of science not only signs of the glorious handiwork of the Almighty, but marks and evidence of His immanent Presence-not only illustrations of His attributes, and corroborations of His revelation, but some of the very truths and laws of His moral and spiritual governance-not only a resemblance or even an analogy, but a positive identity of law in the material and immaterial world. And in the progress of science examples of this essential unity of truth are constantly brought to light. For the deeper the scientist goes in his researches, and the nearer he gets to the fundamental principles of his science, the more will he find them to approximate to purely moral and spiritual truth-to truth in the abstract. There is not a science from mathematics to biology which does not offer distinct examples of this twin-manifestation of a single truth; and it is here proposed, in a few short papers, to describe in simple terms certain instances which can be made generally intelligible. Although we know so much of its falsity, the old saw, "seeing is believing," still has great power over us. It is so much easier to believe that which we can see and feel and touch, than that which appeals to the mind or heart only. So we may perchance obtain a surer hold of cherished truths, and glorify our Father anew for these manifestations of Himself to us. Old truths may come with a new power, in the guise of tangible physical fact, and show how the age of science has taken up the aspiration of the age of poetry to "justify the ways of God to man.' Of course by no amount of searching can we find out God in the higher and holier relations in which Christ has revealed Him, but having tasted of this grace we can confidently trace a Father's hand ruling the material world in which we live by laws which are identical with those He has revealed to us in spiritual things. The God of religion is the God of science, viewed through different media, but the one true and living God. The knowledge we have of Him through revelation is of a far higher and nobler character, but it is of the same God, enshrined in the mysteries of His Being, some of which are seen, if dimly, by science. We know the one by revelation, the other by the intellect; and in man's earthly state it is the heaven-quickened instinct of the heart which can alone apprehend the God of love. In Christ we know the Father, but in science He can only be seen as the Creator and Providence and Benevolence of the world. So that science can never tell of a higher God, because it can never apprehend more than a God of the physical cosmos. Revelation is the heaven-knowledge, science the earth-knowledge; and the earthy cannot comprehend the heavenly. But what science does know, and what it does tell, are of the same God, and God's truths in science are as assured and as imperial in their character as His truths in religion. Science tells of His ways and methods of working more than of His nature, and every act and decree of God must be in perfect harmony with all other expres 48 TRUTH-IDENTITIES OF RELIGION & SCIENCE. sions of His will. The workings of His Word which are seen in science must be in harmony with His will as expressed in revelation. Science exhibits the reflection of the nature of God in His works; religion tells us of the nature of God itself. This frequent correspondence between the moral and physical truth of man's world arises from the fact that man is compounded both of the material and the spiritual, and that in our present state at least the spiritual is largely conditioned by the material. So that man on his physical side, as part of the great scheme of nature, is governed by laws which obtain throughout the physical world; which laws also must largely affect his spiritual life. It is not at all improbable that religious teaching has missed much of its power over men in its tendency to ignore the corporeal in its absorption in the spiritual, and to forget that man is both body and soul, and not either alone. We hope that in our flesh shall we see God, and our risen Saviour ascended into heaven after He had shewn the wounds in His hands and feet to His disciples. Born with the seeds of death ever ripening within us, and stamped with the primal curse of sin, we can little imagine how this body was once a fit dwelling, a meet companion, for the soul of man made after God's image. Even in our own time, and with our present standard of humanity, we see how sin debases, degrades, and destroys, and how grace refines, elevates, and ennobles, this body of ours. We see how the soul within him moulds and fashions the body of a man-how even apart from the baleful influence of sin it stamps its character upon the body. Is not timidity betrayed in voice, manner, gait, look? Frankness and manliness, pride and determination, thoughtfulness and refinement, cautiousness and shrewdness, are they not all read in the ways and very walk of a man? Cunning and deceit, avarice and greed, lustfulness and cruelty, are they not all stamped upon the face and manner of men even as they prevail in the heart? And the more gross the sin of the soul, the more baneful and apparent is the effect on the body. In short, sin is certainly in most, probably in all, cases a physical as well as a moral evil. In rampant vices this is obvious to every one, openly proclaiming the bent of the heart. And it is impossible to draw the line at any kind of sin and say that its evil effect is on the soul only and not on the body. It is a fact of science that every thought of the mind is accompanied by a certain physical change in the nerve-cells of the brain; so that there is a certainty that the thinking and feeling can and does directly affect the corporeal part of man. Although it is more obvious and intense and immediate in its effect in certain kinds of sin, it is apparently true that all sin is "against the body." Does not this consideration give new emphasis to the Christian's lament over "this body of sin and death?" Sin is an offence not only against God, but also against a man's own self of soul and of body; and it is as unscientific as it is irreligious. Thus there can be no contradiction between religion and science, since they are but different manifestations to mankind of the same God. Proceeding from the one true and living God, their truth is one, and any opposition between them is of either religion or science falsely so called; and there is as much of the one amongst us as of the other. NOT ONE TO SPARE. 49 Many truths of religion are illustrated and even explained by science, and because all things are one in Him, there is not a truth in science which has not its counterpart in religion--or rather what in our nearer view of material things we call its counterpart is in very truth its higher, deeper, inner meaning, its essential truth. So that all scientific truth is more or less directly religious truth, and speaking from the view-point of the Christian, no scientific fundamental truth can be truly and fully apprehended without its religious equivalent, which is indeed its raison détre, its very soul and life. Without this spiritual meaning the most brilliant of scientific achievements lose the best of their radiance and beauty; while if they but catch this ray of Divine light, they flash with a splendour and effulgence each of their own, like jewels brought from darkness into the sun's noontide. So in the light of another world truths of science not merely illustrate truths of religion, but enforce and illumine them with a power all their own. This is indeed the true 'religion of science.' Not One to Spare. "WHICH shall it be? which shall it be?" "Tell me again what Robert said!" Which I, though willing, could not share; "Come, John," said I, "We'll choose among them as they lie I saw on Jamie's rough red cheek, From "THE "He's but a baby too," said I, Could he be spared? Nay, He who gave "And so," said John, "I would not dare And knelt by Mary, child of love. He lifted up a curl that lay And shook his head, "Nay, love, not The while my heart beat audibly. I can not, will not let him go." Impressions of England in 1883. BY REV. J. F. STEVENSON, LL.B., D.D. * As you know, I have spent some weeks in the Mother Country this summer. You may be glad to have a few impressions of my visitimpressions made by the noble mother on one of her sons after some years of absence. It is worth thinking of, this old England; for she is still the beating heart and the thinking brain from which come the chief impulses that make and mould the nations that speak her language. One thing that strikes us in looking afresh at the British people is a certain healthiness of appearance, a sort of prosperous well-to-do dress, which gives them an air of comfort and iscontentment very pleasant to see. The people look, in general, a happy people. The men walk the streets with an elastic tread, and look round with a quiet assurance, as though the whole city belonged to them. The women look fresh and comely, they are handsome in face and figure, and the elder among them carry the burden of years with dignity and grace. As for the younger of them there are none sweeter or lovelier in the world-not even in our own Canada. And the children, the merry, laughing children, they are a perpetual joy as they keep the air of the house ringing with their frank hilarity. Life is, I think, less strenuous, less over-strained with anxiety in the mother-land than on this side the sca. The expression of worn, careful eagerness that disturbs the faces of so many in Canada and the States, is not so common in England. Men fill their places more easily and more contentedly. They do not so often grow extremely wealthy, but they care less about it. A moderate competency suffices them. They believe less than we do in the almightiness of money. Money is to them more a means to an end -the end being a quiet, peaceful, regular life. The substance of an Address recently delivered to the congregation of Emmanuel Church, Montreal, Canada. IMPRESSIONS OF ENGLAND IN 1883. 51 Another remark I made on my visit to England, was the much better order of the streets and public places as compared with years ago. Order is, indeed, a great characteristic of England. It is visible even on the face of the country itself. It is, very emphatically, a country subdued to the will of man. To be sure, there have been twelve or thirteen hundred years of occupation in which to subdue it. But the work is effectually done. It is wonderful to look at the neat fields with the trim quickset hedgerows, and the wild flowers clustered in the hedges, all looking as if finished with a camel's hair pencil. But what I wish to speak of now is the greatly improved order in the temperance world of England. There is improvement of this sort in every department. There is vastly less drunkenness. I scarcely saw a drunken man in the streets all the time I was there. On the other hand, the blue ribbon of temperance is almost everywhere to be found. The city merchants, the prominent clergy, the physicians, the political leaders, are all taking up the temperance movement as one of the principal powers and necessities of the day. Very soon it will be the fashion not to drink, and then fashion will do what, alas! conscience has failed to do-banish drunkenness from the land. So much easier is it to obey the voice of society than the voice of God. Yet, so that it be done, we will rejoice, and not criticise the means too closely. The whole people, and especially the poorest class of the people, is lifted a grade higher in the moral and mental scale. The men are kindlier and gentler men, the women are more womanly women, with more of respect for themselves and of sympathy for others. And as a consequence of that, there is less grinding poverty, and, therefore, less of political discontent. Men are realizing that their welfare is mainly in their own hands, and that it is only a small part of the ills of human life that kings or governments can cause or cure. Indeed, the masses of the English people seem to me singularly reasonable and moderate in their political views. . It is striking also to one living on this continent to see the dignity and self-respect of the British House of Commons. I am not about to draw invidious comparisons. Washington is a great city, no doubt, and Congress a venerable assembly. Ottawa has its charms also, and our Dominion Parliament is an institution which has many claims on our respect. All in good time. I, for one, take no despairing view of our political future. We are building up here a great, free, noble nation, and our progress so far is full of satisfaction and of hope. But, after all, the British House of Commons, as it is the oldest, so it is the noblest and most dignified representative assembly in the world. It is illustrious with the glory of a splendid history; its walls have echoed to the eloquence of the greatest statesmen that ever lived and spoke. As one looks upon its benches, one thinks of Pym and Hampden, of Russell and Sidney, of Pitt and Fox, of Grattan and Sheridan, of Burke and Canning, of Peel and Palmerston, of Shiel and Macaulay, of Beaconsfield and Gladstone! O yes, England is the mighty mother of nations, and her House of Commons is the source and the model of constitutional government to all the free peoples of the world! I may say a word in passing on the remarkable convenience and comfort of ordinary life in the old country, as compared with our own. |