Christianity in relation to Freethought, Scepticism, and Faith: Three discourses by the Bishop of Peterborough with special replies by Mr. C. BradlaughBradlaugh, Charles
Religion
Christianity in relation to Freethought, Scepticism, and Faith: Three discourses by the Bishop of Peterborough with special replies by Mr. C. Bradlaugh
Last night, I endeavoured to show you what scepticism is, and what it
leads to. We saw that scepticism is not simply doubt, but that it is
doubt of a particular kind. It is that state of doubt which arises
from insisting on referring every question for solution to one part,
and one only, of our nature, to the sceptical understanding. It is
that state of doubt which arises from refusing to believe until it
has been made scientifically and mathematically impossible to doubt.
And we saw what this leads to; we saw that it necessarily leads to
the destruction of all belief properly so-called, to the destruction
of every kind of assent, except assent to scientific and demonstrated
facts; that it puts an end to all belief which rests upon moral
certainty, as distinguished from scientific certainty, and therefore
it puts an end to all belief that appeals to any part of our nature
except the understanding; all belief with which the heart and spirit
of man have anything to do; all belief of the higher and nobler kind;
all belief that arises out of the higher and nobler part of our
nature; all belief that is in character and essence moral, and all
the higher and nobler life which arises out of such belief. We saw
that scepticism was essentially fatal to morality; that there is no
scientific demonstration of morality, and that in order to be moral
it is necessary to exercise an act of faith; that morality cannot
justify itself to the sceptical understanding; as we saw that as
religion is not capable of scientific demonstration, as it does
appeal to something else than the logical faculty, as it does appeal
to man’s heart and spirit, it cannot justify itself to the sceptical
intellect; and that scepticism is necessarily as fatal to religion as
it is to morality, and to all belief except scientific belief.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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