The Relations Between Religion And Science
Frederick Temple
18 chapters
4 hour read
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18 chapters
FREDERICK, LORD BISHOP OF EXETER
FREDERICK, LORD BISHOP OF EXETER
London MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1903 First Edition , 8vo, 1884. Reprinted January and February (twice) , 1885, April , 1885; Re-issue ( Crown 8vo), November , 1885, 1903. OXFORD: HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY...
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REV. JOHN BAMPTON,
REV. JOHN BAMPTON,
CANON OF SALISBURY. —"I give and bequeath my Lands and Estates to the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford for ever, to have and to hold all and singular the said Lands or Estates upon trust, and to the intents and purposes hereinafter mentioned; that is to say, I will and appoint that the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford for the time being shall take and receive all the rents, issues, and profits thereof, and (after all taxes, reparations, and necessary deduc
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THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC BELIEF.
THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC BELIEF.
The subject introduced: Scientific belief. Mathematics and Metaphysics excluded. The Postulate of Science: the Uniformity of Nature. Hume's account of it. Kant's account of it. Insufficiency of both accounts. Science traced back to observation of the Human Will. The development of Science from this origin. The increasing generality of the Postulate: which nevertheless can never attain to universality....
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THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC BELIEF.
THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC BELIEF.
'O Lord, how manifold are Thy works: in wisdom hast Thou made them all; the earth is full of Thy riches.' — Psalm civ. 24. Those who believe that the creation and government of the world are the work of a Being Whom it is their duty to love with all their hearts, Who loves them with a love beyond all other love, to Whom they look for guidance now and unending happiness hereafter, have a double motive for studying the forms and operations of Nature; because over and above whatever they may gain o
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THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF.
THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF.
The voice within. The objection of the alleged relativity of knowledge. Absolute knowledge of our own personal identity. Failure to show this to be relative; in particular by Mr. Herbert Spencer. The Moral Law. The command to live according to that Law; Duty. The command to believe in the supremacy of that Law; the lower Faith. The Last Judgment. The hope of Immortality. The personification of the Moral Law in Almighty God; the higher Faith. The spiritual faculty the recipient of Revelation, if
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THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF.
THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF.
'So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him.' Genesis i. 27. The order of phenomena is not the highest revelation of God, nor is the voice of Science the only nor the most commanding voice that speaks to us about Him. The belief in Him and in the character which we assign to Him does not spring from any observation of phenomena, but from the declaration made to us through the spiritual faculty. There is within us a voice which tells of a supreme Law unchanged through
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APPARENT CONFLICT BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION ON FREE-WILL.
APPARENT CONFLICT BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION ON FREE-WILL.
Contradiction of Free-Will to doctrine of Uniformity. Butler's examination of the question. Hume's solution. Kant's solution. Determinism. The real result of examination of the facts. Interference of the will always possible, but comparatively rare. The need of a fixed nature for our self-discipline, and so for our spiritual life....
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APPARENT CONFLICT BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION ON FREE-WILL.
APPARENT CONFLICT BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION ON FREE-WILL.
'So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him.' Genesis i. 27. Religion and Science both begin with the human will. The will is to Science the first example of power, the origin of the conception of cause; the bodily effort made by the will lies at the root of the conception of force. It is by comparing other forces with that force that Science begins its march. And the will is to religion the recipient of the Divine command. To the will the inner voice addresses itsel
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APPARENT CONFLICT BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION.
APPARENT CONFLICT BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION.
Foundation of the doctrine of Evolution. Great development in recent times. Objection felt by many religious men. Alleged to destroy argument from design. Paley's argument examined. Doctrine of Evolution adds force to the argument, and removes objections to it. Argument from progress; from beauty; from unity. The conflict not real....
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APPARENT CONFLICT BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION.
APPARENT CONFLICT BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION.
'For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.' Romans i. 20. The regularity of nature is the first postulate of Science; but it requires the very slightest observation to show us that, along with this regularity, there exists a vast irregularity which Science can only deal with by exclusion from its province. The world as we see it is full of changes; and these changes when patie
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REVELATION THE MEANS OF DEVELOPING AND COMPLETING SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE.
REVELATION THE MEANS OF DEVELOPING AND COMPLETING SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE.
The evolution of Knowledge. Does not affect the truth of Science. Nor of Religion. Special characteristic of evolution of Religious Knowledge, that it is due to Revelation. All higher Religions have claimed to be Revelations. The evolution of Religious Knowledge in the Old Testament; yet the Old Testament a Revelation. Still more the New Testament. The miraculous element in Revelation. Its place and need. Harmony of this mode of evolution with the teaching of the Spiritual Faculty....
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REVELATION THE MEANS OF DEVELOPING AND COMPLETING SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE.
REVELATION THE MEANS OF DEVELOPING AND COMPLETING SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE.
'God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the Fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son.' Hebrews i. 1. The doctrine of Evolution has been applied not only to the formation of all created things, but to the development of human knowledge; and this with perfect justice, though with some risk of misunderstanding. It is certain, and, indeed, it is obvious, that knowledge grows. The ordinary experience of mankind becomes larger and clearer i
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APPARENT COLLISION BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION.
APPARENT COLLISION BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION.
Evolution examined. The formation of the habitable world. The formation of the creatures which inhabit it. Transmission of characteristics. Variations perpetually introduced. Natural selection. On the other side, life not yet accounted for by Evolution. Cause of variations not yet examined. Moral Law incapable of being evolved. Account given in Genesis not at variance with doctrine of Evolution. Evolution of man not inconsistent with dignity of humanity....
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APPARENT COLLISION BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION.
APPARENT COLLISION BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION.
'Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves.' Psalm c. 3. Religion is rooted in our spiritual nature and its fundamental truths are as independent of experience for their hold on our consciences as the truths of mathematics for their hold on our reason. But as a matter of fact Religion has taken the form of a revelation. And this introduces a new contact between Religion and Science, and of necessity a new possibility of collision. There is not only possibl
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APPARENT COLLISION OF SCIENCE WITH THE CLAIM TO SUPERNATURAL POWER.
APPARENT COLLISION OF SCIENCE WITH THE CLAIM TO SUPERNATURAL POWER.
The claim to work miracles parallel to the freedom of the will. The miracles of Revelation need not be miracles of Science. Our Lord's Resurrection, and His miracles of healing, possibly not miraculous in the scientific sense. Different aspect of miracles now and at the time when the Revelation was given. Miracles attested by the Apostles, by our Lord's character, by our Lord's power. Nature of evidence required to prove miracles; not such as to put physical above spiritual evidence; not such as
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APPARENT COLLISION OF SCIENCE WITH THE CLAIM TO SUPERNATURAL POWER.
APPARENT COLLISION OF SCIENCE WITH THE CLAIM TO SUPERNATURAL POWER.
'Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake.' St. John xiv. 11. Science and Religion come into apparent collision on the question of the freedom of the will. Science and Revelation come into a similar apparent collision on the possibility of miracles. The cases are precisely parallel. In each individual man the uniformity of nature is broken to leave room for the moral force of the will to assert its independent existence. This breach of
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THE CONCLUSION OF THE ARGUMENT.
THE CONCLUSION OF THE ARGUMENT.
Uniformity of nature not demonstrated, but established, except in two cases; the interference of human will and of Divine Will. The exception no bar to the progress of Science. Unity to be found not in the physical world, but in the physical and moral combined. The Moral Law rests on itself. Our recognition of it on our own character and choice. But we expect it to show its marks in the physical world: and these are the purpose visible in Creation, the effects produced by Revelation. Nevertheles
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THE CONCLUSION OF THE ARGUMENT.
THE CONCLUSION OF THE ARGUMENT.
'No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.' 1 Cor . xii. 3. It is now the proper time to review the argument of these Lectures, and to endeavour to trace, if possible, the source of the estrangement which just at present separates Religion and Science. The postulate of Science is admitted on all hands to be the uniformity of nature, and the proof of this postulate has been found to consist in an induction from the facts which nature presents and our senses observe. Uniformity
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