British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Vol. LIV: July and October, 1871Various
History
British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Vol. LIV: July and October, 1871
Various
English periodicals
all-in-all and all inclusive; within the boundaries of the finite
mind. In its very wealth it reveals itself as manifold. But as the
poet and the philosopher may combine the manifold in the unity of
their own mind, why not also in the unity of the object revealing
itself to them?
It is to be observed, however, that the object which the poet's
insight attests and reveals, is not phenomenal, but substantial.
Hence no question arises as to its origin. It is only that which
enters on the theatre of phenomenal existence that demands a further
explanation. The entrance and the exit of phenomena are explained,
when we refer them to the substance out of which they have emerged,
and to which they return. But we do not ask for the origin of
substance, any more than for the origin of space, time, or number.
There is still another branch of the theistic evidence from intuition.
It is the instinct of worship. Our space admits of but a sentence
regarding it. It is seen in the mere uprise of the soul, spontaneously
doing homage to a higher than itself; in the sense of dependence, felt
by all men who 'know themselves;' in the need which the worshipper
feels of approaching One who is higher and holier than himself, and in
whom all perfection resides, who is recognisable by him, and is
interested in his state; in the workings of the filial instinct
seeking its source, and, as said St. Augustine, 'restless till it
rests in Thee;' in the suffrage of the heart rising amid the miseries
of its lot, and even against the surmises of the intellect, to the
'Rock that is higher than it;' in the soul's aspirations--its thirst
for the ideal, while it feels the necessity of an absolute centre or
ultimate standard of truth, beauty, and goodness; and even in the
passionate longings of the mystic to reach an utterly transcendent
good. All these things bear witness to an _instinct_, working often in
the dark, but always seeking its source. They are almost universal,
and they are certainly ineradicable. They show how deeply the roots of
the theistic faith are planted in the soil of the moral consciousness.
We cannot, however, pursue these several lines of proof in detail.
They form a fitting link of connection with the more strictly ethical
evidence, on which we must add a few paragraphs.
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