Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, February 1900: Vol. 56, November, 1899 to April, 1900Various
Science
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, February 1900: Vol. 56, November, 1899 to April, 1900
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
It is the same in all right acceptance of religious truth. Here appears
a person in human history claiming to reveal facts beyond our sphere
of cognizance. Now, the first (1) step is belief in his competence
and truthfulness as a witness, just as in cases of science. His only
appeal is to reason, our only organ for apprehending truth. We, because
of the evidence presented to our reason, believe him competent and
truthful--i. e., trustworthy--and we take the second step (2), as in
case of search for scientific truth. We trust him, we have “faith”
in him. Then (3) we believe his testimony as to facts beyond our
cognizance, as to God, as to the inner world and life, as to his
own person and work, and his agency in helping us to the true life.
Here are the same three steps as in our believing the great facts of
science, and they are equally legitimate, and the belief is equally
legitimate, and with the same use of “faith” in both cases, which use
is legitimate if we have applied our reason correctly.
It may be said that there is this difference in the two cases: We are,
it may be, competent with training to perceive with our reason the
facts to which the scientists witness, whereas in religion we are not
competent by any training, in our present state, to see what Jesus
Christ testified to; therefore the believing him is not legitimate.
Space forbids arguing this point, but the writer is confident it can
be shown that this does not vitiate the process in the least. The
only point now argued is that reason is the only organ of man for
the apprehension of truth, and that “faith” acts the same part in
scientific and religious belief.
JOHN R. THURSTON.
WHITINSVILLE, MASS., _September 30, 1899_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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