The Truth of Christianity: Being an Examination of the More Important Arguments For and Against Believing in That ReligionTurton, W. H. (William Harry)
Religion
The Truth of Christianity: Being an Examination of the More Important Arguments For and Against Believing in That Religion
Turton, W. H. (William Harry)
Apologetics
Next, as to the analogy of nature. Here we find nothing resembling a
neglect of small things. On the contrary, everything, down to the
minutest insect, seems finished with as much perfection as if it
alone existed in the universe. And this is surely what we should
expect. For true greatness does not exist in despising that which is
small; and it may be a very part of God's infinite greatness that
nothing should be too small for Him to care about, just as nothing
is too large. And while a Being, Who can govern the universe, and
attend to its millions of stars, is no doubt great--inconceivably
great; yet He is surely greater still--_inconceivably greater_--if
He can _also_ attend to our little planet, and its inhabitants; and
can do this so thoroughly, as not only to take an interest in the
human race, but in the welfare of each one of its members.
And the whole analogy of nature is in favour of His doing so; for
the forces of nature never deal with matter in bulk, but with each
particle separately. A stone, for instance, is attracted to the
ground, because, and only because, each particle of it is so
attracted. In the same way if God takes an interest in the human
race (and, as just said, it is hard to imagine His not doing so,
since it is His noblest work) it may be because, and only because,
He takes an interest in each individual member of it.
Thirdly, the difficulty of thus believing that God takes an interest
in the daily life of an individual man, though undoubtedly great, is
really no more than that of believing that He knows about it. For if
He knows about it, why should He not care about it? Yet, as said in
Chapter II., a world like ours cannot have been made without both
knowledge, and foreknowledge, on the part of its Maker. And though
we might at first be inclined to limit this to important matters, a
little consideration will show that such a distinction is untenable;
and that if God knows anything, He knows everything. And if He knows
everything, why should He not care about everything?
Fourthly, and this is very important, whether we are insignificant
or not, we are each of us _unique_. We are not like particles of
matter. Millions of these are (or may be) exactly alike, but no two
_men_ are exactly alike; not even to the same extent as plants and
animals. For each man is a separate spirit, a _personal being_
distinct from all else in the world. And since he possesses a free
will, his character is also distinct; for this depends to a large
extent on how he uses his free will, what he says, and what he does,
day by day. So it is out of the question to think that any two men
are exactly alike. And this is the common belief of mankind, for
however much we may think other people alike, we each feel sure that
there is no one else in the world exactly like _ourselves_.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account