Systematic Theology (Volume 1 of 3)Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Religion
Systematic Theology (Volume 1 of 3)
Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Baptists -- Doctrines; Theology, Doctrinal
Bowne, Philos. of Theism, 31, 32—“Demonstration is only a
makeshift for helping ignorance to insight.... When we come to an
argument in which the whole nature is addressed, the argument must
seem weak or strong, according as the nature is feebly, or fully,
developed. The moral argument for theism cannot seem strong to one
without a conscience. The argument from cognitive interests will
be empty when there is no cognitive interest. Little souls find
very little that calls for explanation or that excites surprise,
and they are satisfied with a correspondingly small view of life
and existence. In such a case we cannot hope for universal
agreement. We can only proclaim the faith that is in us, in hope
that this proclamation may not be without some response in other
minds and hearts.... We have only probable evidence for the
uniformity of nature or for the affection of friends. We cannot
logically prove either. The deepest convictions are not the
certainties of logic, but the certainties of life.”
Remark 3. The arguments for the divine existence may be reduced to four,
namely: I. The Cosmological; II. The Teleological; III. The
Anthropological; and IV. The Ontological. We shall examine these in order,
seeking first to determine the precise conclusions to which they
respectively lead, and then to ascertain in what manner the four may be
combined.
I. The Cosmological Argument, or Argument from Change in Nature.
This is not properly an argument from effect to cause; for the proposition
that every effect must have a cause is simply identical, and means only
that every caused event must have a cause. It is rather an argument from
begun existence to a sufficient cause of that beginning, and may be
accurately stated as follows:
Everything begun, whether substance or phenomenon, owes its existence to
some producing cause. The universe, at least so far as its present form is
concerned, is a thing begun, and owes its existence to a cause which is
equal to its production. This cause must be indefinitely great.
It is to be noticed that this argument moves wholly in the realm
of nature. The argument from man’s constitution and beginning upon
the planet is treated under another head (see Anthropological
Argument). That the present form of the universe is not eternal in
the past, but has begun to be, not only personal observation but
the testimony of geology assures us. For statements of the
argument, see Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (Bohn’s transl.), 370;
Gillespie, Necessary Existence of God, 8:34-44; Bib. Sac.,
1849:613; 1850:613; Porter, Hum. Intellect, 570; Herbert Spencer,
First Principles, 93. It has often been claimed, as by Locke,
Clarke, and Robert Hall, that this argument is sufficient to
conduct the mind to an Eternal and Infinite First Cause. We
proceed therefore to mention
1. _The defects of the Cosmological Argument._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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