The Theistic Argument as Affected by Recent Theories |
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absolute accept affirm argu argument from design argument of design assert attributes belief causation claimed concede conceive conception conclusion consciousness deny Descartes distinct divine existence doctrine ence evidence evolution experience explanation external world fact faculties final cause finite force ground harmony Hence highest human hypothesis ical idea inductive reasoning infer infinite inquiry instinct intel intellectual intelligence intuition knowledge logical man's moral manifestations matter means ment mental metaphysical method mind modern moral constitution moral law natural selection natural theology nomena notion objection operation organic origin ourselves phenom phenomena philosophy positivism precisely present principle problem progress proof purpose question race rational reach reality reason recognize regard relation relativity of knowledge religion rests result retina revealed rience Schopenhauer scientific scientific method sense simply Spencer spirit supreme cause term theism theistic theory things thought tion trace truth ture uncon universe whole wholly
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Page 220 - I can discover no logical haltingplace between the admission that such is the case, and the further concession that all vital action may, with equal propriety, be said to be the result of the molecular forces of the protoplasm which displays it. And if so, it must be true, in the same sense and to the same extent, that the thoughts to which I am now giving utterance, and your thoughts regarding them, are the expression- of molecular changes in that matter of life which is the source of our other...
Page 139 - It is true that a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion. For, while the mind of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them and go no further, but, when it beholdeth the chain of them confederate and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity.
Page 208 - Therefore am I still A lover of the meadows and the woods And mountains, and of all that we behold From this green earth ; of all the mighty world Of eye and ear; both what they half create, And what perceive ; well pleased to recognize In nature and the language of the sense The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse, The guide, the guardian of my heart and soul, Of all my moral being.
Page 177 - That gravity should be innate, inherent and essential to matter, so that one body may act upon another at a distance through a vacuum, without the mediation of any thing else, by and through which their action and force may be conveyed from one to another, is to me so great an absurdity, that I believe no man who has in philosophical matters a competent faculty of thinking, can ever fall into it.
Page 245 - If, as is the case, we feel responsibility, are ashamed, are frightened, at transgressing the voice of conscience, this implies that there is One to whom we are responsible, before whom we are ashamed, whose claims upon us we fear. If, on doing wrong, we feel the same tearful, broken-hearted sorrow which overwhelms us on hurting a mother ; if, on doing right, we enjoy the same sunny serenity of mind, the same soothing, satisfactory delight which follows on our receiving praise from a father, we certainly...
Page 7 - The imagination of man is naturally sublime, delighted with whatever is remote and extraordinary, and running, without control, into the most distant parts of space and time, in order to avoid the objects which custom has rendered too familiar to it.
Page 245 - If, on doing wrong, we feel the same tearful, brokenhearted sorrow which overwhelms us on hurting a mother; if on doing right, we enjoy the same sunny serenity of mind, the same soothing, satisfactory delight which follows on our receiving praise from a father, we certainly have within us the image of some person, to whom our love and veneration look, in whose smile we find our happiness, for whom we yearn, towards whom we direct our pleadings, in whose anger we are troubled and waste away.
Page 8 - While we cannot give a satisfactory reason, why we believe, after a thousand experiments, that a stone will fall, or fire burn ; can we ever satisfy ourselves concerning any determination, which we may form, with regard to the / origin of worlds, and the situation of nature, from, and to
Page 354 - I have seen all the works that are done under the sun ; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
Page 12 - As to the first question, we may observe that what we call a mind is nothing but a heap or collection of different perceptions, united together by certain relations, and supposed, though falsely, to be endowed with a perfect simplicity and identity.