The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Theistic Conception Of The World, by B. F. Cocker, D.D., LL.D.

[285] We do not by any means assert that two substances can not occupy the same point in space at the same moment in time. We accept the Hegelian maxim that "two substances may occupy the same point in space at the same time provided their qualities are essentially different." If the qualities of the ether are essentially different from gross matter, then to call ether "matter" is to confound and mislead the mind. May not ether be a "tertium quid" between matter and mind?

[286] Prof. Clerk Maxwell, in Nature, vol. ii. p. 421.

[287] Sir William Thomson, in Nature, vol. iv. p. 266.

[288] Sir W. Thomson, in Nature, vol. i. p. 551.

[289] Nature, vol. ii. p. 421.

[290] Philosophical Magazine, 1868.

[291] Thomson and Tait, "Natural Philosophy," vol. i. p. 164.

[292] Nature, vol. viii. p. 280; also Challis, "Principles of Mathematics and Physics," pp. 685-687.

[293] American Journal of Science and Arts, vol. xlix. pp. 32, 33.

[294] How gravitation may result from the interception of the Cosmic Force of Repulsion is explained by Prof. Norton at pp. 26-28, and still more fully in vol. iii. 3d Series, May, 1872, pp. 332, 336.

[295] American Journal of Science and Arts, vol. xlix. p. 34.

[296] American Journal of Science and Arts, vol. xlix. p. 33.

[297] See vol. i. pp. 217-284.

[298] "Intellectual System of the Universe," vol. i. p. 224.

[302] "Intellectual System of the Universe," vol. i. pp. 223-4.

[303] Todd, Bowman, and Beale, "Physiological Anatomy and Physiology of Man," p. 25.

[304] "Habit and Intelligence," vol. ii. p. 5.

[307] Ibid. pp. 6, 7.

[308] "On Natural Selection," p. 360.

[309] "Genesis of Species," p. 294.

[310] "Habit and Intelligence," vol. ii. p. 5.

[311] "Habit and Intelligence," vol. ii. p. 160.

[312] "Scientific Basis of Faith," p. 43.

[313] "Scientific Basis of Faith," p. 14.

[314] "Habit and Intelligence," vol. ii. pp. 4, 7.

[316] Ibid. vol. i. p. 89.

[317] "Scientific Basis of Faith," pp. 351, 352.

[318] "Scientific Basis of Faith," pp. 46, 47.

[319] Ibid. pp. 51, 52.

[320] "Habit and Intelligence," vol. ii. p. 7. "Pantheism asserts the absolute UNITY and permanence of SUBSTANCE with its two attributes of matter and force(= extension and thought), and their innumerable modifications which go to form all the phenomena of the universe."—Dr. Cohn. Under this definition, Mr. Murphy must be ranked a Pantheist. He knows but of ONE SUBSTANCE underlying all phenomena.

[321] "Scientific Basis of Faith," p. 29.

[326] "Intellectual System of the Universe," vol. i. p. 223.

[327] "Scientific Basis of Faith," p. 52.

[328] "Intellectual System," vol. i. p. 224.

[329] "On Natural Selection," p. 372.

[330] Tyndall, "Fragments of Science," p. 104.

[331] "Unity of Worlds," p. 230.

[333] By the statical properties of matter we understand extension, limit, position, impenetrability, and inertia. We have no idea that there is a vis inertiæ in matter. Vis inertiæ is a forceless force, which is an absurdity. Inertness in matter is not a force, but the opposite of a force—a passivity which requires a force in order to change.

[334] Faraday, "Correlation and Conservation of Forces," p. 368.

[335] Clerk Maxwell, in Nature, vol. ii. p. 421; Herschel, "Familiar Lectures on Science," p. 467.

[336] Professor Norton, in the American Journal of Science and Arts, July, 1864, p. 64; Herschel, "Familiar Lectures on Science," p. 467; Dr. Carpenter, "Human Physiology," p. 542.

[337] Revue des Deux Mondes, 1867.

[339] Dr. Carpenter, in Nature, vol. vi. p. 312.

[340] Herschel, "Familiar Lectures on Science," p. 467.

[341] For other illustrations, see Cooke's "Religion of Chemistry," pp. 326-8; Grove, "Correlation and Conservation of Forces," pp. 116, 117.

[342] Dr. Cohn, of the University of Breslau, in Nature, vol. vii. p. 137.

[343] Carpenter, "Human Physiology," p. 542; Herschel, "Outlines of Astronomy," pp. 233, 234; Wallace, "On Natural Selection," p. 368; Murphy, "Scientific Basis of Faith," p. 51; Laycock, "Mind and Brain," vol. i. pp. 225, 258-9, 304.

[344] "First Principles," p. 235.

[345] Letter to the author.

[346] The distinction made by Dr. Carpenter between molecular (bioplasmic) and somatic (individual) life is important: molecular life is a cosmic force, somatic life is an individualized force; the former is the direct action of Deity, the second is the indwelling of a created but yet dependent spiritual entity in a vitalized organism.

[347] "On the Mutual Relation of the Vital and Physical Forces," Philosophical Transactions, 1850, p. 730. See also Laycock, "Mind and Brain," vol. i. p. 304; Wallace, in Nature, vol. vi. p. 285.

[348] Huxley, "Introduction to the Classification of Animals."

[349] Nature, vol. iv. p. 269.

[350] "God in Nature," in Old and New, 1872, p. 163.

[351] Methodist Quarterly Review, July, 1871, p. 499.

[352] "All atomic forces are incessant forces that are made up of impulses which are renewed every instant."—Professor Norton, in the American Journal of Science and Arts, vol. iii. 3d Series, p. 331.

[353] Sir W. Thomson, in Nature, vol. iv. p. 266.

[354] Grove, "Correlation and Conservation of Forces," pp. 15, 18, 199. See also the words of Dr. Mayer in the same volume, p. 341.

[355] Mr. Wallace, the author of the theory of natural selection, denies its applicability to man. Man is "a being apart," a "being superior to nature." "He has not only escaped 'natural selection' himself, but he is actually able to take away some of that power from nature which, before his appearance, she universally exercised" ("On Natural Selection," pp. 325, 326). See also Lubbock's "Prehistoric Times," last chapter.

[356] "Lectures on the History of Rome," vol. ii. p. 59.

[357] Laurent, "Études sur l'Histoire de l'Humanité," vol. v. p. 14.

[358] Cousin, "History of Philosophy," vol. i. p. 160.

[359] "Nichomachean Ethics," bk. i. ch. ii.

[360] Ibid. bk. i. ch. x.

[361] Ibid. bk. x. ch. viii.

[362] Nitzsch, "System of Christian Doctrine," p. 172.

[363] Müller, "Christian Doctrine of Sin," vol. ii. p. 146.

[364] Acts xvii. 25-28.

[365] Laurent, "Études sur l'Histoire de l'Humanité," vol. v. p. 12. Not all the Stoics seem to have understood this "necessity" in so rigorous a sense. Cleanthes would exempt the evil actions of men from necessity: "Nothing takes place without Thee, O Deity, except that which bad men do through their own want of reason; but even that which is evil is overruled by Thee for good, and is made to harmonize with the plan of the world."—Hymn to Zeus.

[366] Laurent, "Études sur l'Histoire de l'Humanité," vol. v. p. 12.

[367] The statement of the text will remain unaffected by any theory as to the derivation of the material organism of the primitive man. If the hypothesis be true that "man is the descendant of some pre-existent generic type, the which, if it were now living, we would probably call an ape," this can only be affirmed of the body of man, and the statement is still correct that "God formed man of the dust of the earth." The body of the ape and the body of man are formed of the same materials. But, as Prof. Cope, a thorough-going Evolutionist, remarks, this material nature can not bear or be "the image of God," for "God is a spirit," and "a spirit hath not flesh and bones" (Luke xxiv. 39). The image of God must inhere in that spiritual nature which was inbreathed by God, and consists in reason, conscience, and moral liberty. (See Cope, "On the Hypothesis of Evolution," pp. 33, 34.) This theory as to the descent of man's material organism from some pre-existent generic type does not by any means involve the conclusion of Sir J. Lubbock that "the primitive condition of mankind was one of utter barbarism." We may grant that the primitive condition of man was one of childhood ignorance and inexperience, a state in which his intellectual and moral nature was undeveloped; but this is not "Savagism." Barbarism is the lapse and deterioration of man. Even if it could be shown that primeval man was destitute of the industrious arts, "it would not afford the slightest presumption that he was also ignorant of duty or ignorant of God" ("Primeval Man," by the Duke of Argyll, p. 132). "Whenever we can trace back a religion to its first beginnings, we find it free from many blemishes that affect it in its later stages" (Max Müller, "Chips from a German Workshop," vol. i., preface). The most ancient form of religion was the Monotheistic (Grimm, "Deutsche Mythologie," p. xliv. 3d ed.). See also "Les Origines Indo-Européennes," vol. ii. p. 720, by M. Adolphe Pictet.

[368] Agassiz and Gould's "Zoology," p. 238.

[369] "On Limbs," p. 88.

[370] "On the Skeleton and Teeth," p. 228.

[371] "Anatomy of the Vertebrates," vol. iii. p. 796.

[372] "The Harmonies of Nature," by Dr. C. Hartwig, pp. 46, 47.

[373] "Typical Forms and Special Ends," R. McCosh and Dr. Dickie, p. 352.

[374] "History of Philosophy," vol. i. p. 169.

[375] "Geographical Studies," p. 34.

[376] Ritter, "Geographical Studies," p. 314; Guyot, "Earth and Man," p. 34.

[377] Ritter, "Geographical Studies," p. 34; Guyot, "Earth and Man," p. 35.

[378] See Guyot, "Earth and Man", pp. 268-270.

[379] Cousin, "History of Philosophy," vol. i. pp. 169-170.

[380] "Adam and the Adamites."

[381] Article "Ararat," in Smith's Dictionary.

[382] It is called in Ptolemy Naxuana, and by Moses Chorenensis, the Armenian historian, Idsheuan, but at the place itself Nachidsheuan, which signifies "the first place of descent." See Whiston's note on p. 87, vol. i. of Josephus.

[383] "Antiquities," bk. i. chap. iii. § 5.

[384] Ibid. bk. i. chap. iii. § 6. Scaliger was the first to draw the attention of scholars to the writings of Berosus. In his work "De Emendatione Temporum" he has collected his fragments, and vindicated their authenticity. Berosus is always quoted with respect by English divines, and Niebuhr has sustained his claims to be regarded as a reliable authority. In more than one place he speaks of Armenia as the resting-place of the ark. See Rawlinson's "Historical Evidences," p. 63, and note liii.

[385] "Antiquities," bk. i. chap, iii. § 6.

[386] "For instance, in the very second verse, the great discovery of Schlegel, which the word Indo-European embodies—the affinity of the principal nations of Europe with the Arian or Indo-Persic stock—is sufficiently indicated by the conjunction of the Madai or Medes (whose native name is Mada) with Gomer of the Cymry, and Javan of the Ionians. Again, one of the most recent and unexpected results of modern linguistic inquiry is the proof which it has furnished of an ethnic connection between the Ethiopians or Cushites, who adjoined on Egypt, and the primitive inhabitants of Babylonia; a connection which was positively denied by an eminent ethnologist only a few years ago, but which has now been sufficiently established from the cuneiform monuments. In the tenth chapter of Genesis (vers. 8-10) we find this truth thus briefly stated: 'And Cush begat Nimrod,' the 'beginning of whose kingdom was Babel' (ver. 11). So we have had it recently made evident from the same monuments that 'out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh'—or that the Semitic Assyrians proceeded from Babylonia and founded Nineveh long after the Cushite foundation of Babylon. Again, the Hamitic descent of the early inhabitants of Canaan, which had often been called in question, has recently come to be looked upon as almost certain, apart from the evidence of Scripture; and the double mention of Sheba, both among the sons of Ham, and also among those of Shem (vers. 7 and 28), has been illustrated by the discovery that there are two races of Arabs—one (the Joktanian) Semitic, the other (the Himyaric) Cushite or Ethiopic."—Rawlinson's "Historical Evidences," pp. 71, 72.

[387] Asiatic Society's Journal, vol. xv.

[388] Rawlinson's "Herodotus," vol. i. p. 523.

[389] "Cosmos," vol. i. p. 348.

[390] Article "Botany," Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. v.; also "Geographical Botany;" and Guyot, "Earth and Man," p. 251.

[391] Guyot, "Earth and Man," p. 255.

[392] Guyot, "Earth and Man," pp. 264, 265; Wallace, "On Natural Selection," pp. 324-6; Martineau, "Essays," 1st Series, p. 126.

[393] Guyot, "Earth and Man," p. 304.

[394] See Article "Philosophy," in Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible." See also Shairp, "Culture and Religion," pp. 40-46.

[395] "Palestine was from the beginning an isolated land, as Israel was an isolated people, and therefore for thousands of years both have been unintelligible to the world at large. No great highway led through Palestine from people to people; all passed by it, and not over it; all its coast was without favorable harbors. No one of the pagan states of antiquity could come into close geographical, mercantile, political, and religious relations with a people existing under the sway of Jehovah."—Ritter, "Geographical Studies," p. 43.

[396] Article "Philosophy," in Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible."

[397] Ritter, "Geographical Studies," pp. 342, 343.

[398] Guyot, "Earth and Man," p. 307.

[399] "The conjugal tie was held sacred, and polygamy prohibited."—De Pressensé, "Religions before Christ," p. 160.

[400] Merivale, "Conversion of the Roman Empire," p. 92.

[401] "God," said Plato, "is supremely good" ("Republic," book ii. ch. 18); and "virtue is likeness or assimilation to God" ("Theætetus," § 384).

[402] Milman, "Latin Christianity," vol. i. p. 357.

[403] Guyot, "Earth and Man," p. 322.

[404] Wallace, "On Natural Selection," p. 326.

[405] "First Principles," p. 38.

[407] Buchanan, "Modern Atheism," p. 285.

[408] "Scientific Basis of Faith," p. 6.

[409] "First Principles," p. 43.

[410] Without referring to the writings of theologians, we may take any definition of religion which incidentally occurs in general literature. For example, Froude defines religion as "the attitude of reverence in which noble-minded men instinctively place themselves toward the Unknown Power which made man and his dwelling-place. It is the natural accompaniment of their lives, the sanctification of their actions and their acquirements. It is what gives to man in the midst of the rest of Creation his special elevation and dignity" ("History of England," vol. xii. p. 560).