Charles Bradlaugh: a Record of His Life and Work, Volume 2 (of 2): With an Account of his Parliamentary Struggle, Politics and Teachings. Seventh EditionRobertson, J. M. (John Mackinnon)
Religion
Charles Bradlaugh: a Record of His Life and Work, Volume 2 (of 2): With an Account of his Parliamentary Struggle, Politics and Teachings. Seventh Edition
Robertson, J. M. (John Mackinnon)
Bradlaugh, Charles, 1833-1891
Artificer," no "Overruling Providence." The latest treatises expressly
reject the arguments of the earlier for proving the "existence of God."
Thus the Theist himself "denies the existence" of a thousand Gods.[72]
The Atheist, as Mr Bradlaugh put it, merely denies a thousand and
one.[73] He argues that the most advanced Theism (as distinguished
from mere Pantheism) is only a modified form of the oldest; merely a
civilised fancy instead of an uncivilised; it is always a male person
in the image of man, with passions, emotions, limitations, qualities;
loving, hating, planning, punishing, rewarding; always the "magnified
non-natural man" of the primeval worshipper: a conception flatly and
absurdly opposed to the first philosophic requirements of the very
doctrine which embodies it. The God of Theism must always be the
analogue of the Theist. Hume, passing out of Theism, concluded that the
"Power" of the universe could only have a faint and remote analogy to
human personality. Further reasoning forces the conclusion that it can
have no conceivable analogy.
[Footnote 72: This fact is entirely ignored by Professor Flint in his
defence of the old plea of Foster and Chalmers against Mr Holyoake in
"Anti-Theistic Theories," App. ii.]
[Footnote 73: John Mill, after stating that his father held that
"concerning the origin of things nothing whatever can be known,"
remarks that "Dogmatic Atheism he looked upon as absurd; as most
of those whom the world has considered Atheists have always done"
("Autobiography," p. 39). It is difficult to guess what is here meant
by "dogmatic Atheism;" but certainly no statement made above is more
"dogmatic" than the proposition cited from Mill, senior. It clearly
involves rejection of all Theism.]
This very conclusion has actually been reached by many professed
Theists and professed Christians. Professor Max Müller has collected
instances in his lectures on "Anthropological Religion." But those
thinkers, like Dr Müller himself, have always in practice relapsed
into the personal conception which they philosophically affect to
repudiate. As Dr Müller puts it, the abstract Theism which allows to
Deity no human attributes whatever is too "cold" for popularity; and Dr
Müller is not ashamed, after smoothing the way with a trivial fallacy,
to recur to the doctrine and terminology of the multitude, giving the
Deity male sex because "we" cannot think of "Him" otherwise than as
male. The Atheist simply stands honestly to the conclusions which such
Theists have avowedly come to and then feebly let go.
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