The Courier-Review.
3
LITERARY.
The Attitude of the Church toward Science.
To harmonize the conflicting claims of science and theology has been the effort of orthodox scientists for many years. Their task has been far from satisfactory. As scientists they must argue from the firm ground of human experience and reason. As theologists they must transcend these limits and speak from the uncertain heights of faith. So the adherents of science have continued to send their shafts into the weak spots of the church, and the church has been as stoutly engaged in warding off attack. This warfare is almost entirely over matter of belief and opinion. But while these seemingly endless battles are waging, what most concerns the life of the church and of the individuals in the church is the answer to this question: "Are the active, living principles of Christianity in conflict with the spirit of modern science?" If they are not, then the question faces us: "What sould be the attitude of the church toward scientific inquiry and scientific methods?"
The history of the antagonism between church and science needs no repetition. It is enough for us to remember that it had its origin at a time when men received their religious beliefs not directly from the Bible, but from the clergy; and woe to him who refused to swallow without complaint the crusts of doctrine set before him. Under these conditions we are not surprised to find men bitterly persecured for holding the heretical doctrine that the earth revolves around the sun. But the blood of these early martyrs to truth was the seed of modern science. At the present day when the seed thus sown has yielded such rich harvest, a large and rapidly growing body of churchmen observe the common ground between science and the Christian belief. Each is seen to be indebted to the other. Science has proved the universality of the religious instinct and the paramount value of the Christian belief. It has gone far to banish from the church gross error and superstition.
On the other hand science has received from the Bible that lofty command to "prove all things true and hold fast that which is good." It has imbibed from Christianity the potent force of individualism. But its greatest heritage is the distinctively Christian idea of self-sacrifice. In no department of modern life is the spirit of this doctrine more strongly demanded than in the scientific world. Here men are taught to yield up personal inclinations, prejudices and ambitions in their devotion to truth. Self-abnegation, it is the dominance of this idea more than anything else that has brought science to its present eminence.
If this, the central teaching of Christianity, is also the uplifting force in modern science, the harmonious advance of church and science side by side should not be obstructed by theological differences.
Along with the progress of science in this country has come a realism in religion as well as in literature before which old traditions and notions vanish away or appear but as symbols. As a result there exists a fear through a large portion of the church lest with the passing of old ideas which cluster around religion, religion itself will become to many a mere illusion. Hence this party would entrench itself within the walls of traditionary beliefs and jealously guard against attack from without and uprising from within. This ultraconservative class must be leavened by the progressive spirit working consciously in the church toward a definite aim. This aim should be the rendering of religion more real, more active and more human. The means by which this goal is to be attained are chiefly three. First, a critical study of the source of the Christian belief should be encouraged in order that the dust and cobwebs of centuries may be swept away, and the truth of scripture appear in its native beauty. The growth of higher critlcism should be welcomed by the Christian who is upheld by a staunch faith in the genuineness of the scriptures. The frown that meets the work of testing the authenticity of any or all parts of the Bible is a sign of fear lest the scriptures, weighed in the balance of human reason, may