RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1669, 8 February 1913, Page 9

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

SPIRITUAL INTERPRETATION OF NATURE. EVOLUTION AND DIRECTIVE CONTROL. VIEWS OP TWO SCIENTISTS. 'In these columns some remarkable examples have recently been given showing that the trend of tie best modern thought is away from tho materialistic or mechanical view of tho ■universe, and in the direction of an interpretation in terms of mind or spirit. This, of course, is a great improvement from the religious standpoint. In support of this pronouncements have been published by 6uch distinguished philosophers as Eucken, Bergson, James Ward, and Boutronx, and now tho latest English papers contain reviews of an important 'book entitled "The Spiritual Interpretation of Nature," by Dr. James T. Simpson, Professor of Natural Science at New College, Edinburgh. Dr. Simpson is an authority on modern biology, and a thorough-goinff evolutionist; but he believes in a spiritual aspect of evolution, that spirit "is there, directing and controlling, as we know it directs and controls in tlwj case most completely known to us—the human personality. ' ■ - , The following very interesting sketch of Dr. Simpson's book is given in tho "British Weekly." It is of special interest, in .view of the facfctHat it is written by one who position in the front rank of .modern scientists—Professor J. Arthur Thomson, .Regius Professor of Natural History in Aberdeen University. Professor Thomson writes:—

This ablo book will to of great value to intellectual combatants who are interested in the practical synthesis of the scientific and tho religious interpretations of Nature. Professor Simpson i 9 not ono of those who hold that there, is no relation' whatever betwedn Scienco and Religion, for whilo these doubtless express different moods and are answers to different kinds of questionings, they cannot be kept in idea-tight compartments, but must oo fitted together somehow, if wo aim at a unified'experience. It is part of the task of the book to guide readers, .who are ; willing to consider expert advice, 'to a unification,, which, is r not artificial. Nor is Professor Simpson one of those who.declare that Science:has nothing to offer to religion. On the contrary, the of scientific work—such ns tho Tevelation of universal order, intelligibility, and rationality—are data admitting, of Tcligious interpretation by the modern mind, just as much as the unannlysed facts of nature by the Hebrew psalmist, ; iust as much as tie drama of human history in. all times. • '.• .

Science and Religion.

As the author says, science and-religion "deal with the same world, but ask and answer-different questions concerning it." And whilo we should' not ourselves express, it in quite the same way,: wo agree with the general position indicated, that "science is concerned :with- tho order of events in casual association .with similar events; religion considers events in their infinite relation to ' the ' ram total of events." The religious and the scientific interpretations of-Nature should be complementary ; they cannot be antithetic. ' The: author gives a very '.interesting analysis of the various, ways jn which science—in its methods notably—has influenced the study of religion, but wo cann'ot''-regard',such a.phrase as "the scieptific .temper in' religion" as psychologically Sound. And' similarly, wnilo wo .thoroughly appreciate 'Dr.'.Simpson's finp suggestions of .the'-waT-'iri 'which science, ,o!g., in its culture of:tho sense of wonder, prompts religious feeling, wo .cannot. regard such a phraso as "the religious temper in science"' as other than misleading. Perhaps, however, wo are attaching too muoh importance to tho form of words. 'In order, that tho ' reader may have clearly before him ,tho essential formulations of modern biology, Professor Simpson has devoted to this a largo part of his. book, and we wish to_ congratulate him, if we may, on his achievement of'a difficult task. We have read his' 'scientific exposition with , great admiration; it is scholarly, lucid, and fair-minded; Particularly successful are, tho chapters dealing with tho factors of organicj evolution, j

Spiritual' Aspect of Evolution,

The author is, of course,, a thoroughi going" evolutionist, and is quite clear that I there.have been no "breaks" in the genetic succession. "To recognise the spiritual aspect of. evolution is to believe: in it as directed by an over-ruling yet indwelling purpose, a process, with no - breaks but of rare continuity and yet with 'increments'—crises greater in their implications than in tho actual moment, points after which] everything thereafter moved in a new dimension, as in tho birthday . of life—flood', plains of tho river of' life , which marked successively higlief contours in the!regions of the world's action,'ns in '■< the dawning'of. self-conscionsness, and tho appearanco of Jesus .We heartily . agree, with the author that "the chance element is more and more eliminated— directly in proportion to the advance of knowledge," but wo regret that lie has not been oblo to focus the' conception of ■"the directive factor" more precisely. Wo_do not understand how it canbo ranked in a series along with such' factors as variation and selection. We are reminded eloquently that the world ;is a cosmos—intelligible, orderly, and progressive, ''The essential elemont in'the individual and'racial series alike is the prophetic hint, the co-operant travail," the concurrent conditions, the convergence seemingly towards an end." We cannot evade tho conception of;purpose, and we feel purpose to bo a oentral reality in our own lives. "Man, tho growing point of .progressive life, is consciousof directive control.' Spirit has had from the beginning some constant : and natural relation to matter. It is there'and at work. ,It, and matter may bo merely two aspects of tho same thing, but it is there, directing and controlling as it directs and controls in the case n\ort completely known to us—the human personality." We share the author's vitalistio, even animistic, view of Nature, but we differ in this, .that if. organic. variations, for instance,'be not, fortuitous freaks, but solf-exnressions of tho Proteus - which every living ;creature more or less is,-then why is there any .. need to drag in a directive factor in addition; placing it in the series of biological categories along with variation, heredity, selection, and isolation? This appears to us to bo an., error in method. •' and "Nurture." A book 60 attractive as this tempts one to lihgor oven chapter after chanter. Tho discussion of heredity is beautifully clear, and though we aro not sure of the of tho chapter on "Some Sociological we should have been sorry to have missedit. Of great value at present, when tho trend of investigation is to insist that hereditary "nature" counts for many times more than tho in•fluences of "nurture,", is the chapter on. "Environment," in which the essential correlation of "nature" and "nurturo" is made clear, and the inestimably great ,human importance' of the' latter is emphasised. In connection • with mental evolution, Professor Simpson maintains tho interesting thesis that consciousness began to emerge in relation to the early "efforts" of organisms to get their food. Ho prefers the idea of a dim or diffuse consciousness gradually emerging in primitive forms of life to J[. Bergsin's conception of consciousness being launched into inanimate matter and making it alive. But ns regards difficulty, we do not see that there is much to chooso between tho two views. Either way, you get lost in "metaphysics of source." ' There is much more in Professor Kimn- ! son's book to which wo should like tn : direct attention, but perhans we have said ' enough to indicato its value. It is- cvi- i dently tho result of many years of wide i reading alid careful reflection. In its i clority we recognise the experienced • teacher, who has tried and tried again to i get things clear. In its vivid picturesque- | ness tho style has of fen reminded its of ] Professor Simpson's predecessor, Ilciiry Drummond. Whilo we do not happen to i agreo with nil the author's conclusions 1 and ways of putting things, our appreciation far outweighs our criticism, and wo ] ■ recommend the. book henvtiiy to all who 1 are interested in an able-minded way, ( aliko in tho scientific, tho philosophical, i nnd the religious interpretations of i Nature. c