The idea of God in relation to theology

Front matter

FOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER m THE IDEA OF GOD IN RELATION TO

THEOLOGY

ICM "CM ICO

Chapter I. Belief In God

Worship of God constitutes an integral part of human life. The religious aspect of history is an index of the intellectual, moral, social, and political conditions of the race. The lowest orders of society and the most advanced live, move, and have their being, very largely controlled by the thoughts clustering around the central idea that behind or beyond the observed phenomena of nature exists the supernatural as a creating and modifying cause. The determining characteristics of the idea of God vary with different peoples according to experience, but the conception itself is so general and significant that from this standpoint as from no other one may accurately perceive the progress of the world's thought, the development of national life, the growth of moral consciousness, the motive of individual effort.

Does so universal a fact rest for its validity upon a logical demonstration ? No one questions the value of logic in applying this truth to matters of conduct and thought. Indeed, the processes of reasoning are constructive in faith. But our question lies deeper : Does reasoning create belief? "Canst thou by searching find out God?"1 This question does not imply that God is unthinkable. Nay, the idea itself may condition thought ; but to say that God is the sine qua non of thought is certainly not to prove His absolute existence. A truth which exists for thought is conditioned by it. For the same reason a truth which is the result of thought is not absolute. The logical faculty is itself more independent than a fact which is logically proved. If by method of proof we mean the syllogism, the result of the process is limited by the nature of the premises. The very character of the truth to be proved precludes the possibility of such a thing.

The stock arguments which have been constructed in support of the truth of God's existence have been mercilessly shattered by logicians. They who have conquered by the sword of reason have perished by the same weapon. The best that has been done has made God's existence a postulate of reason. No proof, as such, has resulted in putting the fact beyond dispute.

Among all these attempts to prove the existence of God the ontological argument is the most conclusive. From the days of Anselm until now this form of thought has been recognized as containing the elements of a satisfactory solution to the difficulty presented in our question. But the most complete arrangement of these elements which modern philosophical literature contains 1 is satisfactory, not as proof, but as a statement of a fact lying deeper in human consciousness than cognition, in the strict use of that term, can possibly go. To say that the very fact of self-consciousness demands a higher self in which the reflected phases of experience, the self and the not-self, are unified is, of course, to prove the necessity of the higher self in a process of complete thought ; but this necessity is a logical necessity only, and hence the higher self is not real in the sense of having objective existence. In the fact that this higher self exists for reason knowledge lies the weakness of the ontological argument.

The cosmological argument is equally unsatisfactory. This is an attempt to prove from the assumed facts of finite, conditioned, and contingent existence the reality of the infinite, absolute, ontologically necessary, perfect Being. Without the assumption the argument vanishes away. Now, the nature of the assumption is that of a partial truth. The finite, the conditioned, the contingent have relative meaning only. From the point of view of the universe as a complete whole these things are unreal. We cannot say, from either the individual or the universal standpoint, that they are more than objects of thought. In contemplating the facts of finite existence the mind naturally seeks the higher sphere of the infinite which alone gives meaning to the finite as an idea. But the infinite, in this case, is only a condition of thought. Likewise the idea of a first cause may be the completion of a logical process in which the causal notion finds rest, but to suppose that this notion is identical with the perfect Being is at once to beg the question under discussion. On the basis of Aristotelian realism the argument is valid, but if Peripatetic dogmatism is not final authority in metaphysics, the argument must be abandoned.

Of a different character, but still less satisfactory, is the so-called teleological argument. It is an attempt to build up first of all the premise that there is manifested everywhere in nature and life a worthy design. This is the minor premise of the argument which concludes that there exists a single designing and creative reason as the supreme cause of the world. We need not stop to question the major premise

1 Principal Caird, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion.

BELIEF IN GOD which in all cases of this argument is assumed rather than inferred. But the second proposition is supposed to be based on actual observation. To be true, all existences must have as their end something worthy of a Creator. It is not enough to find in the world things of beauty which awaken our admiration, nor even to discover that the action of one thing upon another is according to fixed mechanical laws. We must be able to show that the individual activities of the forces of the universe produce ends worthy of a rational mind. What is the worthy end produced by the simple recurrence of events as seen in the movements of heavenly bodies ? Of course, these phenomena exhibit a balance and certainty which are interesting to the mind of the observer. In the organic world there is also observed complete adjustment of parts to the whole, but what design is exhibited in flowers which are born to blush unseen, and in the countless forms of growth which in no sense adorn anything but the pages of text-books on biology ? If we take careful observations in human life, the evidence of lack of worthy design is also superabundant. Ideals of good are not generally realized. People are born, live, and die without any purpose being achieved in their lives. The living and dying of thousands produce no worthy effect that human eyes can see. To human vision much of the so-called development in mankind is meaningless movement. There is just enough truth in the design idea to popularize the argument, certainly not enough to make it conclusive. We can even go so far as to say that to an absolute mind all existence may be meaningful, and that all facts give evidence of worthy ends, but this probability, since it is probability, destroys the argument, as such.

As proofs these arguments are not conclusive. But this is not equivalent to saying they perform no part in matters of belief ; indeed, to a certain type of mind they are strong enough to materially affect the attitude of will which we designate faith. That is to say, from the logical standpoint they do not necessitate belief in the existence of God, while practically they serve a worthy purpose in the lives of those affected by them. This is due, however, not to the proofs, as such, but to the elements of truth which they all contain. Some genuine phases of experience are to be found in all these arguments. And if faith is ever inspired by means of these forms of statement, the credit is to be given to the facts which, to most minds at least, are as effective in the religious realm without the arguments as with them. The evidences of order and design in the world and human life are sufficient to inspire in some the feeling of reverence and the idea of a purposing mind. The sight of the starry heavens, the majestic movement of the heavenly bodies, sense-perceptions taken up by the imagination and carried to the very limits of thought, may awaken the sense of the sublime, which to an appreciative, interpretative soul is the felt presence of God. Likewise the facts associated with the ontological argument may awaken faith in the Absolute. In self-consciousness may be found the elements of this belief. By self-consciousness we mean, not the idea of it, but that mysterious thing itself. In every conscious state the whole mind is present. What characterizes a single " field " is the focal point therein. The state of consciousness in which I occupies the centre and not-I the " margin " is not at once a clearly defined idea, but is primarily a feeling consisting of or having associated with it rudimentary intellection and impulse. Not least of the characteristics in this elementary stage of ideation concerning the self is the consciousness of dependence. The self acts and is acted upon. An original instinct is thus set free. The sense of otherness is sufficient in many cases to lead almost immediately to an act of faith in which the self recognizes that upon which it depends as good and to which it yields itself for life. This instinct for God is at the very root of self-consciousness. When taken up by the higher activities of intellection the fact of God's existence becomes self-evident.

This experience is the element of value in the ontological argument, but does not exhaust the subject of consciousness as a means of guaranteeing the truth of God's existence. All knowledge is mental experience. Scientific knowledge is mediated by the senses. That this is not all of truth individual experience loudly testifies. Ever since Kant wrote the Critique of Pure Reason philosophy has reckoned seriously with the problem of a knowledge as real as, if not more so than, that which is grasped and coordinated by means of the " reason" categories. There is a world of truth to which "reason" is blind. It is that phase of the conscious process in which are articulated the fears and the hopes of the human heart, the soul's appreciation of the true, the beautiful, and the good, those meaningful aspirations of mankind for a better life, and those imperative commands of duty. Are these things data for genuine knowledge ? When we examine the experience of the race as reflected in history, when we interrogate ourselves as to the worthful elements of life, we are impressed with the importance which such facts have in making up the body of accepted truth. Without judgments of value civilization could not exist, and character, the greatest of all realities, would be meaningless. Out

BELIEF IN GOD of these experiences springs belief in God. Human life is aimless without Him. Duty is significant only as the personal, moral law is real. The world is a dark chamber of death without His presence. Our very nature necessitates His existence, and by the act of faith which accepts Him as real this which is best, truest, and eternal is realized as religion. God alone is absolute truth, complete good, eternal beauty. The will to believe is the means by which this truth is mediated, and conduct, worship, and creed express the truth in actual, practical life.

We designate these two orders of knowledge the philosophical and the religious. Each is valid in its own domain. Philosophy is concerned with the universe as construed to reason. As such it is a product of the activity of the mind in the realm of phenomena. It is a construction of knowledge independent of the demands of the feelings and will. It is a search for the fundamental principle of existence as related to knowledge. Philosophy is the work of individual minds. The demands of thought are absolutely imperative. It matters not if the Absolute is impersonal, good, bad, or indifferent. Truth, not life, is its goal.

On the other hand, the sphere of religion is that of moral values. Religion is the consciousness of God, a recognition of being in personal relationships with the author of the true, the good, and the beautiful. It is the realm of devotion, reverence, and love. It is making God a constant moral motive in one's life, the exercise of faith in the midst of difficulty, the yielding of one's self to the demands of duty. It springs from the felt need of forgiveness, the craving for certainty and fellowship, and the desire for peace. It is the life of man at its highest power.

If we thus conclude that the sphere of religion is that of faith and the sphere of philosophy that of reason, that in religion the experiences of the moral nature are coordinated and in philosophy those of the rational nature, that religion has to do with personal relationships and philosophy with the relations between ideas, that religion values truth and philosophy searches for what is true, that religion has its end in character and philosophy in knowledge — contrasted as they thus appear, these two aspects of truth are in fact interdependent and mutually conditioning. All the facts and laws of scientific knowledge, when interpreted in view of human life and destiny, reveal their innermost significance. On the other hand, the objects of faith, God and the moral law, become serviceable by means of rational comprehension.

io IDEA OF GOD IN RELATION TO THEOLOGY

Religion, as it forms a part of the time process, is a fit subject for observation, explanation, and classification. The interdependence of these seemingly contrasted aspects of truth is shown from the fact of the mind being an organic unit. Viewed from the standpoint of consciousness the difference between them is that of function and form. As related to experience they are one.

The analysis of consciousness thus reveals trustworthy grounds for belief in God. The universal character of such an attitude of mind and heart as the history of man exhibits is thus explained. Because of this province of faith, both in the origin and outcome of religion, no scientific student can afford to pass by the realities of belief. Religion belongs to man. His highest life is expressed in religious terms. The future must be governed ever more and more by the motive of worship.

Chapter II. The Evolution Of Religion

Every worthy phase of human life is a result of previous stages of development. Religion is no exception to this fact. Conceptions of God have undergone modification according to the changes in the mental and moral horizon of man. The being of God is eternal, but knowledge of Him is imperfect as long as the means of comprehending divine truth are imperfect. Even revelation is partial, is incomplete, when viewed from the standpoint of God. Language is inadequate to convey the full significance of the Infinite.

It is reasonable to suppose that religion, which is related to the highest welfare of man, has at every stage of progress been adapted and accommodated to the conditions of human life. The religion suited to man's highest needs would be inefficient when these needs were unrecognized. Belief in God is not a ready-made product, an objective, perfected gift from heaven. The laws of mental life are not contradicted, or set aside in this realm. All knowledge is at first vague and indefinite. The progress of religion has been by a process somewhat similar to the unfolding life of a child. Knowledge of home is in the early stages of his life very incomplete. The meaning of parental love is made clear by means of experience. The care of the child on the part of the parent is constant, but appreciation of that interest and affection from the child's standpoint grows with the succeeding years. In some such way man comes to know God.

EVOLUTION OF RELIGION 1 1

I say that man was made to grow and not stop :

That help he needed once and needs no more,

Having grown but an inch by is withdrawn ;

For he hath new needs and new helps to these.

This imports solely, man should mount on

Each new height in view ; the help whereby he mounts,

The ladder-rung his foot has left may fall,

Since all things suffer change save God the truth.

Man apprehends him newly at each stage,

God's gift was that man should conceive of truth

And yearn to gain it, catching at mistakes

As midway helps, till he reach fact indeed.1

In endeavoring to ascertain the character of primitive belief in God one finds himself confronted with almost insurmountable difficulties. Scientific research can carry the student back into the dawn of history. Beyond this all is shadowy and conjectural. Just as in the dawn of day the earth, sea, and sky form pictures more or less unreal, give impressions on the organ of vision which the rising sun modifies or dispels, so earliest history is accompanied by imaginings on the part of the searcher for truth, fancies of thought, which, doubtless, are very imperfect descriptions of facts.

Whatever may be said of this prehistoric period of human life, the earliest accounts of the doings of the race contain evidence that one chief concern of man was religious observance. Every civilization has been characterized by belief in the Eternal. Did religion have its origin in instinctive fear, instinctive demand for explanation, or instinctive will to live ? Undoubtedly these factors, perhaps many others, played an important part. The destructive forces about him awoke the sense of dependence in man; the never-ending process of change in nature stimulated inquiry in the realm of cause ; and the struggle for life developed undoubtedly the spirit which resists annihilation.

These causes may imperfectly explain the existence of Nature -worship, Ancestor-worship, and worship of the Supreme One, all of which forms of religion are found in earliest civilization. The experience of man was translated into ceremonies which to him were prayer for pro pitiation, protection, and deliverance. As the child endows with life all moving objects 'about him, so the savage gives life to the forces of nature and seeks their aid to enable him to avoid destruction. The

1 Browning, A Death in the Desert.

I 2 vicissitudes of life accompanying the rise of the social order had a tendency to call into prominence the heroes of war. The victorious chieftain received reverence and adoration from the members of the clan. Even his death could not efface his memory. He then became their divinity. As clans were merged into tribes the conditions were favorable for forming a hierarchy of such gods. Circumstances of conquest determined the order of greatness. Eventually, as society became more permanent, there was brought into clearer light the belief in one God who was above all others in power. This being was usually a Nature-spirit.

Is it possible that the modern conceptions of God found in the great religions of the earth are outgrowths from such beginnings ? One might as well ask if the modern methods of manufacture have any historic connection with the crude modes of work in the Stone Age. To affirm that religion began under conditions and assumed forms altogether contrary to our modern ideas does not in any sense detract from the worthfulness of faith. Nor does such an affirmation cast any reflection upon the Christian religion as one of special revelation. Jesus came in the fulness of time. Could he have come any earlier in the development of civilization and achieved the end for which he came ? Nay, the steps of the race as well as of the righteous are ordered of the Lord. Some suppose that to conclude that religion had a natural origin entirely does away with any sense of authority in matters of faith. Not at all, for the natural is supernatural. God is in the history of man leading him by meaningful steps of experience to understand his law. The Old Testament itself is prooE that the best that God could do for man was achieved by a series of progressive stages. It can be no aspersion on commerce, on politics, on literature, on art, or on society to say that all these phases of life had humble and meagre forms of intelligence in which to first express themselves. If so, these primitive ideas of God found in Nature-worship, in Ancestor-worship, and so forth, may justly be considered as the lawful beginnings of true religion.

What, then, has been the law of religious development ? This question can be answered by examining the most constructive side of individual experience, namely, the activities of the will. In the fact that the moral nature of the race has undergone transformation, that the moral consciousness has been enriched and ennobled, we find the clue to the solution of the problem. The recognition of good has determined for man the content of his conception of God. This has not been

EVOLUTION OF RELIGION without God's help, as some would suppose. In our inner life there is a miniature universe. Individual experience gets its value from the dictator of duty, the soul's idea of the summum bonum. The processes of thought, feeling, and will, complete the circle of possible knowledge. The idea of God is immediately related to these processes of experience. The purest thought, the most aesthetic appreciation, the most constant and absolute worth is God. These experiences of the soul in no sense exhaust Him, in no sense measure the infinity of His being. They are but reflected rays from the source of light.

That this subjective fact is guaranteed in objective truth rests upon an assumption that there is a kinship between the soul and Deity. The statement of Scripture that man was made in the image of God would be to many sufficient evidence that it is not only an assumption. It is revelation, and the experience of the race has put the fact beyond dispute. That moral endeavor has meaning, that there is truth which is not relative, that life is not an empty bubble, receives validity in the same assumption. Man's best ideal of goodness is somewhat like God. Humanity and divinity are not incommensurable terms. Unless this is so, man is no better than the lower forms of organic life.

Viewed from the standpoint of history God is a process of valuation. We are constantly recasting our conceptions of Him in the light of moral experiences. The law of religious development is herein made manifest. It is the law which is exhibited in the growth of moral standards, in the strengthening and purifying of the moral consciousness. As the inner life of man seeks higher and higher attainment, urged on by the ever-present spirit of truth, so by this means his religion is given clearer and more definite significance. The element of time is a necessity here as elsewhere. God is progressively known. This knowledge has its beginning in the vague notion apprehended by the intuition of the soul, and completes its course for the individual in the wider ranges of experience by means of all the light which spiritual truth sheds upon the spheres in which he lives. In the last analysis God and the good are one.

Religion which is co-extensive with the life of the race is thus changed, purified, and spiritualized by means of the evolution of the moral sentiments. However, this modification, which is perceptible in broad epochs of history, is brought about, not always by the noiseless methods of transformation observed in the organic world of nature, but as frequently by revolution and disruption. This is due to the universal tendency of religion to fix itself in dogma, institutions, and ceremonial worship. In the course of time these externals become identified with religion of the spirit and block the way for religious progress. This is the history of thought which leads to reformation. This tendency to externalism is the explanation of the other fact, so frequently observed in the history of the race, that the formal religion of a period is generally somewhat behind the moral ideals of the contemporary prophets of righteousness.

A brief survey of the religion of the Greeks and that of the Israelites will serve to illustrate the operation of this law of religious development.

Grecian mythology assumed the character of the people among whom it arose. Gods were like men endowed with passion and greed. Homer and Hesiod sang in immortal verse their deeds of valor, and encouraged the people to worship. When in later years Greek phiosophy had its birth, and social customs and religious practices were subjected to the close scrutiny of the lofty-minded Eleatics, the imperfections of these religious ideas were brought to light. The people would no longer worship gods who were blameworthy, shameful, full of theft, adultery, and deceit, when once the moral consciousness was quickened by the new spirit. Against the abominations of the early Greek religion Xenophanes utters his voice : " One there is mightiest among men who neither in form nor thought is like unto men. Yet mortals think that gods like themselves are born, have shape, voice, and raiment. Surely if lions and cows had hands as men do they would make gods like themselves. Horses would have horse-like gods, and cows would have gods with horns and hoofs."1

Such criticisms meant the downfall of Greek polytheism. The best thought of the time was directed away from these crude conceptions of religion to find a temporary satisfaction in the study of nature. The popular demand for objects of worship was gratified by the conception of an abstract basis of existence, the First Cause. He was the source of all being — nay, He was being itself, the all-inclusive unity. Speculation was thus freed from the control of religious dogma, and delighting in its freedom produced many phases of thought.

Platonic idealism and Aristotelian realism left for the Greeks metaphysical conceptions of the Absolute altogether devoid of religious value. God is pure form or idea, self-moved primal reason, exalted in majesty above the world in which man has his being. He is anterior and superior to all existence. His life consists in reflection upon all intelligible truth.

IMullach, p. 101.

EVOLUTION OF RELIGION

IS

The most religious aspect of Greek thought is that expressed in the philosophy of the Stoics. The influence of Aristotle's conception of God as a being completely transcending the world was met by the Stoic idea of divine immanence. To the Stoics God was the soul of the world, the universal, living reason which guides and governs all things. God penetrates the world everywhere and is the source of its life. Cleanthes thus addresses the Ruler of the world :

Zeus, ruler of nature, that governest all things with law, Hail ! for lawful it is that all mortals should address Thee. For we are Thy offspring

Therefore will I hymn Thee and sing Thy might forever, For Thee doth all this universe that circles round the earth obey, moving whither-so-ever Thou leadest, and is gladly swayed by Thee. .... Thou guidest aright the Universal Reason, that roams through all things mingling itself with the greater and the lesser lights, till it have grown so great, and become Supreme King over all.1

But speculative metaphysics had too strong a hold on the Greek mind to permit this religious impulse having free course. The question of nature and its cause finally resolved itself into the critical question of knowledge or the nature of mind, and in the conflict between scepticism and dogmatism Greek philosophy went out into the darkness and mystery of Neo-Platonism with its conception of God as the Supreme One "who is everything and nothing imaginable."

Greek philosophy overthrew polytheism, but put nothing in its place save abstract metaphysics. This utter failure, as viewed from the religious standpoint, illustrates the principle that without a strong and clear moral consciousness dominant in religion religious development is impossible. When the Greek lost faith in the gods, religion as an institution fell into decay. Henceforth expressions of belief in the Infinite were individual in obedience to individual conceptions of reality. With Plato reality was ideal, and God was the idea of good. With Socrates reality was moral conduct, and God was justice and truth. With Aristotle reality was form, and God was pure thought. With the Stoics reality was active reason, and God was law. With the sceptics of all schools reality could not be known, and God was not. With the Neo-Platonists reality was a process of emanation, and God was the transcendent origin and end of all things. Without a continuity of moral consciousness there could be no development of faith. The last word of pre-Christian metaphysics was — despair.

1 Translated by T. W. Rolleston. The hymn in complete form may be found in Mahaffy's Greek Life and Thought.

The development of religion more directly related to the best conception of God is found in the history of Israel. In pre-prophetic times Jehovah was the God of the Israelites, and they His peculiar people. He fought their battles and sent blessings upon their flocks and families. The gods of other tribes were inferior to Jehovah, and Israel could do no greater wrong than to forsake His worship. Jehovah was jealous when His people sought the favor of other gods.1

Jehovah was preeminently a moral God. In addition to His attributes of power He was holy and just. He demanded worship, but always insisted on His people having innocency of hand and purity of heart. Prophets denounced idolatry and sin. They prayed for deliverance from the bondage of iniquity, that the blessing of righteousness might rest upon the nation. They with keenest insight saw a holy will as the guardian of the people's welfare. As they looked back over the successes and defeats, the varied experience of Israel since the days of Moses, they were able to discern the real character of God. His blessing attended righteous conduct, His punishment followed disobedience to the moral law. This revelation by means of the voice of prophecy was the salvation of the religion of Israel. Unlike the Greeks, the Israelites were never called upon to decide between morality and religion. Their manner of life was such that the moral ideal was constantly purified. They at length, by bitter experience, learned the lesson that Jehovah is alone God, and that because of the power of righteousness Israel's kingdom would yet extend and include the world.