statement, must be carried back twenty thousand years; this is not
hypothesis, but fact. The record of the creation and the fall of man
will probably have to be subjected to a process of allegorising, but
with inevitable loss. Now, whoever refuses a matter of fact counts on
being severely handled; it is a different thing to refuse an allegory.
The modern doctrine named the "struggle for existence" is the old
difficulty, known as "the origin of evil," presented in a new shape. It
is rendered more formidable, as a stumbling-block to the benevolence of
the Author of nature, by making what was considered exceptional the
rule. It gathers up into one comprehensive statement the scattered
occasions of misery, and reveals a system whereby the few thrive at the
expense of the many. The apologist for Divine goodness has thus an
aggravation of his load, and needs to be freed from all unnecessary
trammels in the shaping of his creed.
[OPPOSING DOGMAS TO THE RECONCILED.]
It has not escaped attention, that the honours paid to the illustrious
Darwin, are an admission that our received Christianity is open to
revision. In consequence of a few conciliatory phrases, Darwin has been
credited with theism; nevertheless he has ridden rough-shod over all
that is characteristic in our established creeds. Can the creeds come
scathless out of the ordeal?
It is passing from the greater to the less, to dwell upon the increasing
difficulties connected with the Inspiration of the Bible. The
Church-of-Englander luckily escapes making shipwreck here; the legal
interpretation of the formularies saves him. Yet to mankind, generally,
it seems necessary that a superior weight should attach to a revealed
book; and the other Churches cling to some form of inspiration,
notwithstanding the growing difficulties attending it. Here too there
must be more freedom given to the men that would extricate the
situation. At all events, the doctrine should be made an open question.
Even Cardinal Newman suggests doubts as to its being an imperative
portion of the creed.
The attacks made on all sides against the Miraculous element in religion
will force on a change of front. When an eminent popular writer and
sincere friend of the Church of England surrenders miracles without the
slightest compunction, it needs not the elaborate argumentation of
"Supernatural Religion" to show that some new treatment of the question
is called for. But may it not be impossible to put the new wine into the
sworn bottles?
Like most great innovations, the proposal to liberate the clergy from
all restraint as to the opinions that they may promulgate, necessarily
encounters opposition. We are, therefore, bound to consider the reasons
on the other side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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