On the relation between science and religion

Front matter

ON

THE

RELATION

Chap. I. On the present state of the relation between Science and Religion, . . , . .1

II. Definition of the words Science and Religion, and Elucidation of the complex character of Religion, . . 15

III. Sect. I. Of the Physical Elements of Man, . . 23

II. Of the Mental Organs and Faculties of Man, . 29

III. Of the Particular Faculties of the Mind, their

cerebral organs, modes of activity, and uses

and abuses, ..... 33

IV. Is Man naturally a Religious Being ? .34 V. Is Man naturally a Moral Being ? . .45

VI. Is there any Natural Standard of Moral and Religious Truth ? .... 47

IV. Of the extent to which Man is able to discover the Ultimate

Elements or Essence of the External World, . . 51

VI. Can we trace Divine Government in the Phenomena of the Physical and Moral Worlds ? And if so, by what means is it maintained and rendered efficient ? . .82

Sect. I. Of the Government of the Physical World, . 82

II. Can we discover the Means by which the Moral

World is Governed ? . . . .84

III. Of Life— Health— Disease— and Death, . 89

IV. Of the Divine Government of Human Actions, 109 V. Means by which the Individual Human Faculties,

as Moral Forces, are regulated in their Action, 118 VI. Effects of the Predominance of particular Groups of Organs in Individuals in determining their qualities as Moral Agents, . . . 130

The effects of Predominance of Size in the Animal

Region of the Brain, . . . .132

Effects when both the Animal and Intellectual Organs are large, and the Moral Organs are small, . . . . .136

Effects when the Animal, Moral, and Intellectual Regions of the Brain, are all large and nearly equally balanced, . . . .139 ii

Contents

Page

Chap. VI. Sect. VI. Effects when the Moral and Intellectual Organs are large in proportion to those of the Propensities, ..... 144 Rammohun Roy, .... 145 Effects of Special Combinations of the Mental

Forces as they occur in Individuals, . . 150

Appendix

No. I. Names of the Phrenological Organs and their situations in the

head, referred to in page 33, ..... 261 II. Evidence of the Influence of the Brain on Feeling and Thought,

referred to on page 28, ..... 262

III. Descriptions of Heaven and Hell, &c, from Catechism by Joseph

Hay, A.M., Minister, Arbroath, referred to on page 233, . 264

IV. On Man-Concocted Articles of Faith, referred to on page 233, . 266 V. Definition of the " Personality" of the Deity, . . .268

VI. On the Worship of the Shakers, referred to on pages 204 and 213, 269

VII. Letters from the late Dr Samuel Brown to George Combe, on the

Natural Evidence for the Existence and Attributes of God, and other topics, ....... 270

VIII. Note on Dr M'Cosh's " Method of the Divine Government," . 276 IX. Note on ''Faith in God and Modern Atheism compared," by James Buchanan, D.D., referred to in the Introduction, page xxx., . . . . i. . . . 277

X. Speech of Loi-d John Russell on Teaching Natural Theology in

Common Schools, ...... 277

X I . Recommendations to teach Physiology in Common Schools, referred to on page 257, ..... 278

ADVEBTISEMENT.

The substance of this work appeared first in the Phrenological Journal, vol. xx., published in 1847.

The present, ov fourth edition, which is greatly enlarged, consists of— Copies at 5s. each, . 500

People's edition, copies at 2s. each, 1500

Total, ■ 2000 copies.

The working classes are indebted to the generosity of R. F. Breed, Esq., Ballaughton House, Douglas, Isle of Man, for the People's Edition, he having desired its publication, and provided funds to cover the extra expense attending it.

Edinburgh, 31s£ March 1857.

INTRODUCTION.

The present work first appeared in 1847 as a pamphlet, and attracted considerable attention. It has for some time been out of print, and as it continues in demand, I have been led by circumstances to enlarge it in the present edition. As the investigation^contained in it is of great extent, and embraces a consideration of the present religious creeds of Europe, I shall introduce it by a brief notice of the incidents which led me to take an interest in the subject. By pursuing this course, I shall be under the necessity of introducing a portion of my personal history — which may expose me to the charge of vanity and egotism ; but on the other hand, the narrative will shew that the questions here discussed have long formed topics of earnest and serious consideration in my mind, and that the views now advanced are brought forward in no light spirit, but are founded on deep and solemn convictions.

An event so common and trivial as almost to appear ludicrous when introduced into a grave discourse, but which is real, gave rise to the train of thought which is developed in this work. When a child of six or seven years of age, some benevolent friend bestowed on me a lump of sugar-candy. The nursery-maid desired me to give a share of it to my younger brothers and sisters, and I presented it to her to be disposed of as she recommended. She gave each of them a portion, and when she returned the remainder to me, she said, " That's a good boy — God will reward you for this." These words were uttered by her as a mere form of pious speech, proper to be addressed to a child ; but they conveyed to my mind an idea ; — they suggested intelligibly and practically, for the first time, the conception of a Divine reward for a kind action ; and I in-

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INTRODUCTION.

stantly put the question to her, " How will God reward me ?" " He will send you everything that is good." " What do you mean by ' good' — Will he send me more sugar-candy?" "Yes — certainly he will, if you are a good boy." " Will he make this piece of sugar-candy grow bigger ?" " Yes — God always rewards those who are kind-hearted."

I could not rest contented with words, but at once proceeded to the verification of the assurance by experiment and observation. I forthwith examined minutely all the edges of the remaining portion of sugar-candy, took an account of its dimensions, and then, wrapping it carefully in paper, put it into a drawer, and waited with anxiety for its increase. I left it in the drawer all night, and next morning examined it with eager curiosity. I could discover no trace of alteration in its size, either of increase or decrease. I was greatly disappointed ; my faith in the reward of virtue by the Euler of the world received its first shock, and I feared that God did not govern the world in the manner which the nursery-maid had represented.

Several years afterwards, I read in the Grammatical Exercises, an early class-book then used in the High School of Edinburgh, these words : " Beus gubernat mundum" " God governs the world." iC Mundus gubernatur a Deo," " The world is governed by God." These sentences were introduced into the book as exercises in Latin grammar ; and our teacher, the late Mr Luke Fraser, dealt with them merely as such, without entering into any consideration of the ideas embodied in them.

This must have occurred about the year 1798, when I was ten years of age ; and the words " Bens gubernat mundum — Mundus gubernatur a Beo" made an indelible impression, and continued for years and years to haunt my imagination. As a child, I assumed the fact itself to be an indubitable truth, but felt a restless curiosity to discover lioiv Gocl exercises his jurisdiction.

Some time afterwards, I read in the Edinburgh Advertiser, that Napoleon Buonaparte (instigated and assisted, as I used to hear, by the devil) governed France, and governed it very wickedly ; and that King George III., Mr Pitt, and Lord Melville, governed Great Britain and Ireland — not very successfully either, for I read of rebellion, and murders, and burnings,

INTRODUCTION.

vii and executions in Ireland ; while in Scotland my father complained of enormous Excise duties which threatened to involve him in ruin. I saw that my father ruled in his trade, and my mother in her household affairs, both pretty well on the whole ; but with such evident marks of imperfection, that it was impossible to trace God's superintendence or direction in their administration.

In the class in the High School of which I was a member, Mr Luke Fraser seemed to me to reign supreme ; and as I felt his government to be harsh, and often unjust, I could not recognise God in it either. Under his tuition, and that of Dr Adam, the Eector of the High School, and of Dr John Hill, the Professor of Latin in the University of Edinburgh, I became acquainted with the literature, the mythology, and the history of Greece and Home ; but in these no traces of the Divine government of the world were discernible.

These were the only governments of which I then had experience, or about which I could obtain any information ; and in none of them could I discover satisfactory evidence of God's interference in the affairs of men. On the contrary, it appeared to me, that one and all of the historical personages before named did just what they pleased, and that God took no account of their actions in this world, however He might deal with them in the next. They all seemed to acknowledge in words that God governs the world ; but, nevertheless, they appeared to me to act as if they were themselves independent and irresponsible governors, consulting only their own notions of what was right or wrong, and often pursuing what they considered to be their own interests, irrespective of God's asserted supremacy in human affairs. Most of them professed to believe in their accountability in the next world ; but this belief seemed to me like a rope of sand in binding their consciences. They rarely hesitated to encounter all the clangers of that judgment when their worldly interests or passions strongly solicited them to a course of action condemned by their professed creeds.

From infancy I attended regularly an evangelical church, was early instructed in the Bible, and in the Shorter and Larger Catechisms, and the Confession of Faith of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster ; and read orthodox sermons viii

INTRODUCTION.

and treatises by various distinguished authors. In the Old Testament there were narratives of God's government of the Jewish nation , by the exercise of special acts of supernatural power, and I understood this as a clear and satisfactory exposition of Divine government. In the New Testament, also, certain special acts of Divine interference with the affairs of men were recorded, which likewise gave me great satisfaction, as evidences that God governs the world ; but I never could apply these examples to practical purposes.

I learned, in some way which I do not now recollect, that during many ages after the close of the Scripture records, the Eoman Catholic priesthood had asserted that such acts of special supernatural administration continued, and that they themselves were the appointed instruments through whose medium it pleased God thus to manifest his power. But I never saio instances of this kind of government in my own sphere of life.

In the course of time I read arguments and criticisms which carried with them an irresistible conviction, that these pretensions of the Koman Catholic priesthood had been pious frauds practised on au ignorant and superstitious people.- Here, then, was another shock to my belief that God governs the world ; and the difficulty was increased by an obscure impression, that notwithstanding this denial by the Protestant divines, of the continuance of a special supernatural Providence acting through the Koman Catholic priesthood, they and their followers seemed to admit something very similar in their own favour.* As however, I could not discover, by observation, satisfactory evidence of special acts of Divine interference in human affairs, taking place in consequence of their solicitations, any more than in consequence of those of the Eoman Catholic priesthood, I arrived at the conclusion that all special acts of Divine administration had ceased with the Scripture times ; and thus I was again sent adrift into the great ocean of doubt, and no longer saw traces of the manner in which God governs the world in our day, whatever He might have done in the days of the Jewish nation.

As I advanced in understanding, my theological studies

See examples in \ oint in Chapter I.

INTRODUCTION.

ix rather increased than diminished these perplexities. I read that " not a sparrow falls to the ground without our heavenly Father," and that " the very hairs of our heads are numbered which seemed to indicate a very intimate and minute government of the world. But, simultaneously with this information, I was taught that God forgives those who offend against his laws, if they have faith in Jesus Christ and repent ; and that He often leaves the wicked to run the course of their sins in this world without punishing them, reserving his retribution for the day of judgment. This seemed to me to imply that God really does not govern the world in any intelligible or practical sense, but merely takes note of men's -actions, and commences his actual and efficient government only after the resurrection from the dead.

During the time these speculations engaged my attention, my mind opened to the import of the Galvinistic theology which had formed the staple of my religious instruction. I was taught to repeat the Catechism from which an extract is given on page 186, and I attended regularly a church in which Calvinism was preached by one of the ministers, in a form which, to me, was very terrible. Conscious of being no better than my fellow-creatures, I could discover no reason why, if any were to be passed, over to the left hand at the day of judgment, I should not be one of the number. The narrative of the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, excited in rne only strong feelings of compassion for Him, and of indignation against his persecutors. I was overwhelmed by the terrors of a future judgment, and wished myself an inferior animal without a soul. So deep and habitual was the gloomy impression, that summer was rendered appalling by the prospect of thunder storms, in one of which I might be struck instantaneously dead and precipitated in a moment into everlasting misery. In the autumn evenings, I used, to climb high up on the rocks of Edinburgh Castle, which overhung my father's house, and gaze with intense interest on " The Evening Star," or planet, that shone with resplendent brilliancy in the wake of the departed sun ; I longed to see into its internal economy, and thought : " Oh ! could I but discover that summer and winter, heat and cold, life and death, prevail in you as they do here, how happy should I be ! I should then believe that this world

X

INTRODUCTION.

is not cursed, but that you, the planet, — and we, the earth, — are both such as God intended us to be ! "

The distress occasioned by these impressions was aggravated by finding such doubts and difficulties described in the Catechism " as punishments of sin," and ascribed to " blindness of mind, a reprobate sense, and strong delusions." I believed this to be the fact, because at that time I had not heard or read a word calling in question the absolute truth of the doctrines of the Catechism. The only information I then possessed about " unbelief" and " unbelievers" was derived from sermons preached against them ; and it was not till a much later period that I became convinced that the feelings now mentioned arose from the intuitive revulsion of the moral, religious, and intellectual faculties with which I had been endowed, against the dogmas of Calvin.

The only relief from these depressing views of man's qualities and condition was afforded by the perusal of " Bay on the Wisdom of God in Creation," and subsequently " Paley's Natural Theology." At first, I feared that their views also were " strong delusions," butas myunderstanding gained strength, these works confirmed my faith that God does govern the world ; although, owing to their containing no clear exposition of the manner in which He does so, they conveyed rather an impression than a conviction of the fact. Moreover, as I never saw any person acting on that faith, it maintained itself in my mind chiefly as an impression ; and it thus remained for many years, not only without proof, but often against apparent evidence to the contrary. My course of inquiry, therefore, was still onward ; and with a view to obtaining a solution of the problem, I studied a variety of works on moral and metaphysical subjects ; but from none of them did I receive any satisfaction.

In point of fact, I reached to man's estate with a firm faith that God governs the world, but utterly baffled in all my attempts to discover liow this government is effected. Intercourse with society revealed to me that my earnest and literal application of the Calvinistic doctrines was idiosyncratic, and that ordinary believers were in the habit of modifying the sense in which they accepted them, pretty much to suit their own tastes. When I suggested that this was practising conventional hypocrisy, I was told that no other course was left

INTRODUCTION.

X open to a young man who depended on public opinion for success in his profession ; for were he to disclose his dissent from the religious standards of the country, he would be branded with the stamp of infidelity, suspected of immorality, and obstructed in every step of his career. Besides, it was hinted that Scripture itself recognises the admissibility in such cases of compliance with the established forms of worship, even when these are idolatrous. See 2 Kings, chap, v., verses 17, 18, and 19.*

The feeling of disappointment became more intense in proportion as a succession of studies presented to my mind clear and thoroughly convincing evidence, that in certain departments of nature God does unquestionably govern the world. "When, for example, I comprehended the laws of the solar system, as elucidated by Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and Laplace, and perceived the most perfect adaptation, harmony, and regularity, pervading the revolutions of the planets and their satellites, the conviction that God governs in that system was at once irresistible, complete, and delightful. The planets, however, were far away, and I longed to discover the same order and harmony on earth ; but in vain.

My next studies were Anatomy and Physiology. From these sources new light broke in upon my mind. Clear, however, as the examples of Divine government afforded by these sciences appeared to be, I found no application made of them beyond the domains of surgery. No practical inference was deduced from them to regulate human conduct in the ordinary circumstances of life. When I left the medical school, all traces of the government of God in the world were lost, and my feeling of disappointment returned.

Chemistry was the next science which engaged my attention, and in the qualities and relations of matter, it presented

* " Naaman" (the leper, captain of the host of the King of Syria) " said" (to Elisha who had cured him by bidding him wash in Jordan), " Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth ? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord. In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the House of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon : when I bow myself in the House of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing. And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way."

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extraordinary illustrations of Divine government. In the revelations made by this science, I discovered powers conferred on matter, capable of producing the most stupendous results, yet all regulated in their action with a degree of precision that admitted of even mathematical and arithmetical computation, and appeared irresistibly to proclaim the all-pervading God. Yet when I left the chemical laboratory and returned into the world of business, these delicious visions fled, and I could no longer trace the Divine government in the affairs of men.

In this condition of mind I continued for several years, and recollect meeting with only two works which approached to the solution of any portion of the enigma which puzzled my understanding. These were " Smith's Wealth of Nations," and " Mai thus on Population." The first appeared to me to demonstrate that God actually governs in the relations of commerce ; that He has established certain natural laws which regulate the interests of men in the exchange of commodities and labour ; and that those laws are in harmony with the dictates of our moral and intellectual faculties, and wisely related to the natural productions of the different soils and climates of the earth.

I first read the work of Mr Malthus in 1805, and he appeared to me to prove that God reigns, through the medium of fixed natural laws, in another department of human affairs — namely, in that of population. The facts adduced by him shewed that the Creator has bestowed on mankind a power of increasing their numbers much beyond the ratio of the diminution that, in favourable circumstances, will be caused by death ; and, consequently, that they must limit their increase by moral restraint ; or augment, by ever-extending cultivation of the soil, their means of subsistence in proportion to their numbers, or expose themselves to the evil of being reduced by disease and famine to the number which the actual production of food will maintain. These propositions, like the doctrines of Adam Smith, met with general rejection; and their author, far from being honoured as a successful expounder of a portion of God's method of governing the world, was assailed with unmitigated abuse, and his views were strenuously resisted in practice.

Bishop Butler also threw a flash of light across the dark

INTRODUCTION.

xiii horizon ; but it was only a flash. He announced clearly the great principle of a moral government of the world by natural laws ; but he did little to elucidate the means by which it is accomplished. In consequence of his not understanding the means, his views in regard to the Divine government of the world, although in the main sound, are not practical. He was compelled to resort to the world to come, in order to find compensation for what appeared to him to be imperfections in the moral government of this world, in some instances in which a more minute knowledge of the mode of God's present administration would have convinced him that the apparent imperfection is removable on earth.

During the continuance of these perplexities, this consideration presented itself to my mind, — that in every department of nature, the evidences of Divine government, of the mode in which it is administered, and of the laws by which it is maintained, become more and more clear and comprehensible, in proportion to the exactness of our knowledge of the objects through the instrumentality of which it is accomplished.

Although, in this manner, partial light appeared to dawn on the government of physical nature, the administration of the moral world remained a complete enigma, and it was not until a comparatively recent period that glimpses of order began to appear in it also. It was Dr Grail's discovery of the functions of the brain that led me by imperceptible steps to the views on this subject which are presented in the present volume ; and they rest on it alone. I mention this fact, because I am well aware that this discovery continues to be ignored or rejected by almost all men of science, and by the people in general of Europe. Nevertheless, I have a complete conviction, founded on observation and experience extended over forty years, that, although far from perfection, it is essentially founded in truth, that its doctrines require only to be tried by the standard of nature to be accepted by men of ordinary honesty and intelligence, and that enough is ascertained to warrant the inferences here deduced.

It becomes important, therefore, in support of the basis on which the most important conclusions of this work are founded, to endeavour to throw light on the causes of the longrejection of Phrenology.

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INTRODUCTION.

In 1812 I attended a course of Lectures on Anatomy and Physiology delivered by Dr John Barclay, then the most esteemed teacher of these sciences in Edinburgh ; and after a display of the mechanical structure of the brain, by slicing it across from side to side, commencing at the top, which occupied four hours, I heard him declare that the functions of its different parts were unknown. I had previously studied mental philosophy in the standard works on the subject, and knew that in them no exposition was given of organs by which the different faculties act, or are influenced. When, therefore, Gall's doctrine that particular mental powers are connected with different portions of the brain was announced in England by Dr Spurzheim, I was convinced that neither anatomists, physiologists, nor mental philosophers, were in possession of any knowledge whatever on the subject ; nevertheless, they rejected it with contumely and disdain. At first I was led away by the boldness and confidence of their condemnation ; but after attending a course of lectures by Dr Spurzheim, and seeing the evidence he presented in proof of the discovery, I was puzzled to account for the unmeasured abuse that was heaped on it by men of almost all conditions and attainments, in absolute ignorance of its merits.

In the course of reflection, it appeared to me that this state of public opinion arose from inattention to two facts which were indisputable, and which were decisive as to the competency of the objectors, in the actual state of their knowledge, to pronounce any rational judgment on the subject : these were — First : That structure does not reveal the vital functions of organs ; and, Second : That we have no consciousness, of the functions of the different parts of the brain. Now, the acutest intellect having no knowledge of the functions of the brain except that derived from structure and consciousness, was absolutely incapable of telling whether Gall's views were true or false. Nevertheless, this was the actual condition of mind of the opponents, and it continues to be the state of most of those who reject Phrenology in the present day.

On the 5th May 1819 I communicated these propositions to Dr P. M. Koget, who had then published in the Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica a pretended refutation of Gall's " Cranioscopy," &c, and challenged him to confess or deny their

INTRODUCTION".

XV truth and relevancy in relation to the question in hand.* But he answered that the essential point at issue is : " Whether there really exists such a uniform correspondence between certain forms of the head, skull, or brain, and certain characters of mind, as can be distinctly recognised by observation;" and that, in his opinion, the evidence derived from the observations of Drs Gall and Spurzheim " is quite inconclusive." In reply, I wrote that if the object be important, and if there be no method of attaining it, except that followed by Grail and Spurzheim, why, if their evidence was insufficient, did he not proceed to observe nature and seek for evidence of his own ? He rejoined : " My comments of course applied solely to the evidence brought forward by its founders, Drs Gall and Spurzheim ; I accordingly thought it right to omit all reference to my personal experience on the matter, more especially as I was not exactly writing in my own name ; and I felt it nowise incumbent on me to lay the foundations of any similar system myself, or presume to direct others in the pursuit, by laying down a plan of operations to be followed for that purpose."

I have referred to this correspondence because it represents the condition of mind of the men who rejected Dr Gall's discovery forty years ago, and whose writings and authority formed the public opinion on it at that time. I can safely affirm that, after the most careful study of the objections, the conviction was irresistibly forced on me that their authors had not made themselves acquainted with the evidence adduced by Drs Gall and Spurzheim, and had never seriously considered the propositions that GalVs method is the only one by which the object can be reached, and that every person who has not resorted to the practice of it, is absolutely and necessarily ignorant whether his discoveries are true or false.

The only exception to this style of condemnation known to me was presented by Mr John Abernethy, who said : " I see no mode by which we can with propriety admit or reject the assertions of Drs Gall and Spurzheim, except by pursuing the same course of investigations which they themselves have followed ; a task of great labour and difficulty, and one which, for various reasons, I should feel great repugnance to undertake." f