Free thought; Modernism (Christian theology) -- Catholic Church; Religion and science; Teaching, Freedom of
“The theory of miracles can be given up only when we shall cease
to contemplate man as a creature apart from the rest of creation,
and look upon him as a being developed within creation to what he
is now. Then, however, reason and language, as well as man
himself, are the products of a continuous evolution,” says _Wundt_
in his “Psychology of Nations.” _Fr. Müller_, in a text-book on
the science of language, argues: “According to _Darwin_ and to
modern natural science, man was not created but has evolved from a
lower organism during a process of thousands and thousands of
years.... For this reason, we must (?) assume that the first
language of primitive man could not have ranked above the speech
by which animals living in families communicate with each other.”
On the basis of this truly dogmatical presumption, that the
“miracle theory” of creation must not be accepted, they proceed
then to construe one hypothesis upon another, of the origin of
language, of thought, of conscience, of religion, according to the
method of _Darwin_ and _Spencer_, hypotheses of utmost
arbitrariness, and frequently most fantastic. “Ethnographical
researches,” so we are told by _E. Lehmann_, “made by travellers,
representatives of science and of practical life, in all parts of
the globe, ... are starting to-day, almost without exception, from
the tacit presumption that the civilization of peoples living in
the primitive state represent an early and low stage in a
historical chain of evolution.”
All these are suitable commentaries upon the trite proposition that
natural science, or more generally science, is incompatible with religious
belief. Of course research, like that described above, does not agree with
Faith. But the fault lies in its unscientific method, rather than in its
scientific character, in its latent atheistic presumption which prevents
an unbiassed conception of truth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account