brings not peace but a sword; precisely because, instead of adding to the beliefs of the world, it seeks to examine them and perhaps by the examination to diminish them, that it aroused passionate resentment. In this respect it stands entirely separate and apart from any other similar term, as all these implied a definite acceptance or rejection of some definite propositions. Agnosticism means none of these things. Huxley said of it: "Agnosticism, in fact, is not a creed but a method, the essence of which lies in a rigorous application of a single principle. That principle is of great antiquity; it is as old as Socrates; as old as the writer who said, 'Try all things, hold fast by that which is good'; it is the foundation of the Reformation, which simply illustrated the axiom that every man should be able to give reason for the faith that is in him; it is the great principle of Descartes; it is the fundamental axiom of modern science. Positively the principle may be expressed: In matters of the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any other consideration. And negatively: In matters of the intellect, do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable. That I take to be the agnostic faith, which, if a man keep whole and undefiled, he shall not be ashamed to look the universe in the face, whatever the future may have in store for him." CHAPTER XV THE BIBLE AND MIRACLES Why Huxley Came to Write about the Bible--A _Magna Charta_ of the Poor--The Theological Use of the Bible--The Doctrine of Biblical Infallibility--The Bible and Science--The Three Hypotheses of the Earth's History--Changes in the Past Proved--The Creation Hypothesis--Gladstone on Genesis--Genesis not a Record of Fact--The Hypothesis of Evolution--The New Testament--Theory of Inspiration--Reliance on the Miraculous--The Continuity of Nature no _a priori_ Argument against Miracles--Possibilities and Impossibilities--Miracles a Question of Evidence--Praise of the Bible.