The Churches and Modern Thought: An inquiry into the grounds of unbelief and an appeal for candourPhelips, Vivian
Religion
The Churches and Modern Thought: An inquiry into the grounds of unbelief and an appeal for candour
Phelips, Vivian
Rationalism
again, this particular quality of the mind which enables him to keep
to his resolution is, like all other qualities of the mind, itself
the product of heredity and environment.
The Determinism of science and the Freewill of metaphysics are
essentially antagonistic. Determinism is completely subversive
of Christian teaching. It is directly opposed to the Thirty-nine
Articles of religion. Not only does it imply that man is not to blame
for his actions, but that, if there be a God, He, and He alone, is to
blame. Christian theologists are therefore its strenuous opponents. In
their apologetic efforts one finds the strangest misconceptions
of what is meant in a broad sense by heredity and environment. The
best apology I have seen so far is by the Rev. P. N. Waggett, in a
tractate called Science and Conduct. [229] Father Waggett seems to
realise better than most of his fellow-clerics the enormous influence
of heredity and environment. Still he comes to the conclusion that
"when, under given circumstances," a man "does what, under those
circumstances, and with his given constitution, he usually does
not do," he is exercising "some inward spring." The fallacy in this
argument is the common one. The effect of environment up to the moment
of action has not been considered. The obscurity of the expression
"given constitution" is doubtless unintentional, but it is none
the less misleading. Father Waggett would be the first to admit that
something must have occurred meanwhile to account for the new frame of
mind. It is for him to show that an alteration in environment is not
all that has occurred, and that there is room for this "inward spring."
Will not the acceptance of this doctrine have a paralysing effect
upon us? On the contrary. We shall be better able to discern where
our salvation lies. We shall pay far more attention to the real
forces which determine conduct. We shall devote our energies to
combating bad heredity with good environment; and we shall do this
with the knowledge that not only ourselves and our associates, but our
descendants also, will reap the benefit. We shall fly from unhealthy
thoughts, and avoid the surroundings likely to give rise to them. We
shall welcome healthy thoughts and seek helpful surroundings.
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