SCIENCE & RELIGION.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1818, 2 August 1913, Page 9

SCIENCE & RELIGION.

BERGSON'S PHILOSOPHY,

SPEECH BY LORD HALDANE,

"THE GREATEST MOVING FORCE IN THE WORLD"

Lord Haldano was present at tlie 145 th commemoration of the establishment of Cheshunt Collego on Juno 7 and performed the ceremony of laying the foundiir tion stone of the new buildings. In tho course of an address, lie' remarked that it was a long time since the. day of White Held, and yet ho remained in our memories because ho possessed somo of the most striking gifts that anyono in this country over possessed. Wesley was a greater man, but Whitcfield was endowed by Nature as Wesley was not endowed. In those days tho revival movement was easier than it was to-day. Pcoplo wero indifferent just as much as tliey are now, and in somo respects many of them wero more hostile, But it was a different sort of controversy. . It Was rather dogma against dogma, the dogmas of tho unbelievers on tho one sidp and tho devout on the other. Tho movement of thought and opinion had widened tho field of controversy. It was not, likely that mankind would ever again' witness the spectacle of the great world ■of-Chris-tendom riven in two over tho word Filioque, nor was it probable that tho fight over predestination which separated Wesley and Whitelield would again attain anything like the proportions or the interest of thoso days. It was perfectly true that there was a lively controversy about prodestination only a few years ago, in which it was his duty to tako' part at tho Bar .of the House of Lords of those days. (Laughter.) But tho reason for the liveliness of tho controversy was that between two and three millions wero at stake upon tho question as to whether the draughtsman of tho draft deed had been thoroughly sound or not on tho question of predestination.

Is There Indifference to Religion? That was an incident of modern times, one that afforded no exception to tho remarkable proof that tho period of that kind of controversy of dogma against dogma had passed. Why liad it passed ? Because the minds of men and womeu woro searched by a. deeper kind of doubt.' "It is said," he added, "that thor® is indifferenco to religion to-dav. I do not believe it." ("Hoar, hear," and cheers.) He thought there was the same intensity as there. was of old, tho same obstinate questionings of things of which Mordisworth spoke, but the questionings arose from a deeper source. They •went-to tho very roots of the reality of questions which tho thoologian of old days never dreamed of and never called into controversy, and tlio work of tho preacher and the training of tho preacher had consequently become more difficult. He had not to deal, as Whitefield dealt, with mere obstinate opposition..- Ho liaa not to break down indifferences. Ho was face to face with thoso who questioned tho very fundamentals upon which, he proceeded; and who asked whether Ilia conceptions were not too narrow for tho .transcendent problems'with which he was dealing now. That modem problem had to be met by modern methods. Thero was only one way of dealing with it, and that was by the way of knowledge. Tlio preacher to-day must havo tho knowledge without' which" ho could not proceed in' the critical surroundings which are his, and that required a foundation of learning such as lie. did not need in the old days, when it was simply a question of moving a man from the position which ho had obstinately taken up, probably on quito insufficient grounds. But to-day the preacher required also a great deal more than' knowledge. He needed earnestness. Ho needed the'spirit of Whitefield. But what his college had to train him in was something more than was necessary in the days of and that was what had mado the task a difficult one.

The Need of Inspiration.! . It' by Clip ".aid.* etract propositions that he-'could proceed. He required tho aid of the inspiration winch art gives to tho poet and religion gives to the preacher if ho was to bo fully equipped for his task. Therefore, it was a memorable day in tlio history of the college that tho foundation stonb had been laid of a building which would mark still moro olosely' tho association of tlio college with tho great University of Cambridge. (Cheers.) For a university ■ was not a place of dogma. It was not liko the elementary school, wlicro tho teacher spoke 'with an air of authority and the pupil was bound to take what ho said for truth. In tho university the professor and his students were both of them ,in search of truth, the only difference between tho two being that tlio professor had moro experience and had got further and wap.able to guide the student in what to both of them was still an . object of research. The' College had come into the atmosphere of the University, a fact which redounded to the honour of both, and which meant a recognition of the wide point of view embodied in the undenominational character of the College and tho readiness of the University to recognise that theology must direct itself in the University io theso very fundamental problems wliicli every denomination had m common, and which were the basis and only basis upon which tlie training of the teacher could properly take place.

Scicnce Called in Question. To-day "we wore face to faco with now things. .Science had. spread, and had covered a great deal of territory. At tlio end of tho Victorian period thero wero Many who thought the days of theology 'were over, and that it was only a question of time whenscienco would cover tho whole ground. Now wo had science called in question, and science was being subjected to. the samo scrutiny as tho foundations of theology, and we had hardly a proposition of science which was not under subjection to criticism which had cast a. wholly now light on it. In our theology of to-day wo learned that tilings which looked formidable were not formidable, and so doubts which appeared to import groat peril turned out to import no doubt at all. Religion to-day i 9 its own witness, a witness to its continuance in strength to as high a degree as ever before in tho history of man, and in these institutions and tho people who supported them and 011 every hand it might be seen that roligion was still tho greatest moving force ill tho world. (Cheers.) And it would contimio to be so, because it wont to the very roots of human .nature. We had reached progressively, 110 thought, a stage in which wo saw that what wo really had to bo concerned about was that wo realised tho deeper meaning of tho foundations of religion. and were less concerned than we thoueiit with controversies which separated Wesley and Whiteiield and rove tho Church asunder over tho Filioquo laws. (Cheers.)

ITS INFLUENCE ON CHRISTIAN THOUGHT. Referring to JI. Hoari Bergson's recent address on "Physical Iteearch," • tlio "Church Times" (London) states: It is of intense interest arid importance to tlioso who care for religion. M. Bergson is uo't a Christian, but Christianity profits by his philosophy. He lias put now weapons in tlio hands of the ojxilogist. It is important, in tlio first place, that by his criticism of philosophic rationalism lias utterly discredited; tlio most formidable enemies that religion lias had for many years. TJioso who are left of tlio Huxloy-Tyndall school'aro like so many Rip Van Winkles who find themselves in a new and straaigo intellectual world, and in a psychological atmosphere in which they can hardly breathe. Nor is M. Bergson's defeneo of tho probability of tlio soul surviving tho death of the body of 110 importance. lie bus destroyed tlito ono argument in favour of extinction. Most important of <ill, though, is, we think, his dol'enco and use of tho method of intuition. Tho intelleot, he tells us, was formed for a particular purpose—namely, to act on matter and for 'tho purposes of life. It. is quite at son in dealing with spiritual things, bscmi.sa it is not intended for such purposes. In order to gra«=p spiritual realities wo have to fall back on intuition. What he means by this is dctribod best in tlio short essay, "An Introduction 1" Metaphysics," of which ail English translation. has been recently published. He opposes it, to analysis, anil describes it. as "tho kind of intellectual sympathy by which one places oneself within an object in order to coincide with wl'at is uniquo in it, and consequently inexpressible." Now that is tho proceeding of the mystic who has all along claimed that God is not to be found through the orocesses of tho intellect. It la..

satisfactory to find, when mysticism ha# been so long under a cloud, that the latest thought ig coming round to a recognition of tho soundness of this, to many people, startling claim. The revival of mysticism' that is going on at tho present day, owes uioro perhaps to Bergsm than to anyone else, as readers of Miss Evelyn UnderiiiH's books will h.ivo already recognised. More than olio of tlioso who listened to to eloquent e»Mch of tho French professor at -tho .Apoliiin Hall must have felt they were watching tho dawn of a new era, anil that Sir. Arthur Balfoui* did not exaggerate when ho said it was tho most illuminating and interesting presidential address Which, tilio society 'had over reccivedy

; THE FIRST THREE GOSPELS.

ORIGIN AND RELATIONSHIP.

Mr. F. W. Frankland, of Foxfon, has forwarded to us an interesting pamphlet., dntitledl "Tho Synop-' tic Problem,'" in wliicli. ho deals with tho origin and relationship of tho iirst thveo Gospels. As this problem has for many yenrs occupied the attention of somo of the greatest scholars' in tho world, somo pcoplo may bo in-' clined to think that it is unlikely that •Mr. Frnnkland has any new light to throw upon it. Tho momentous results which followed from tho study of the Book of Genesis by a French Roman Catholic layman, Jean Astruc. should be'a; warning against this attitude. Tho Bishop of Wellington (Dr. 1 Sprott), who keep.* well abreast of tho latest developments inBiblical criticism, contributes a short introduction to Mr. Frankland's pamphlet, in which ho states that Mr. Frankland' "has boon for many years an earnest student of philosophical and Biblical sub. jeets, bringing thereto a scientifically;, trained and richly stored mind." Dr.| Sprott says that Sir. Frankland's theoryj 'merits the serious consideration of all students of tho synoptic problem." Mr. Frankland states the problem as follows! —"Why aro tho first three Gospels so much alike? Why is tliero not merely so much gen?rnl rcsemblanco, but so much verbal identity? And in any caso what was tho origin of these three Gospels?" One 'of tho main results of tho criticism.''' of tho Gospels is* thai ttio authors of tho first and third. Gospels (Matthew and. Luke) liavo before ttiem and largely based) tho narrative portions of their Gospels oaf St. Mark. ■ There arc, however, - somo very, striking differences between Matthew* and' Lulto in thoso portions which aro based' 011 Mark—omissions, amplifications, and! variations. 1 How aro these to bo explninJ ed? Mr. Frankland considers the follow-*) ing theory of Monsignor Barnes to bo tlia only ono which harmonises with all th» facts:—

"Building on separata and. apparently! discordant statements by Church fathers,! ho assumes three successive editions ors recensions of our secpnd Gqsuel, each fuller "and more amplified than" its predeces-J sor, all compiled by S. Murk, tho first two, editions before tho martyrdom of S. PeW nt Eomo in the Neronian Persecution, and/ tho third and last soon, after that oventj Tho first and shortest edition (on which: S. Luko bases a largo part of his Gospel* Mo'nsignor Barnes supposes to have beei? issued about, A.D. 4,2 at Caosarea, at tho time of tho dispersion of tho Apostles from Palestine, tho Gospel being needed ira Palestine owing to that very dispersal. Tho second and much fuller edition (oa which our first canonical evangelist, erroneously' styled "S. Matthew," draws)' would ba issued shortly before tho martyr*' doin of S. Peter in A.D. Gl; and tlu\tiiird v tho fullest of all, which (barring tlio last twelvo versos, which are almost certainly; a later addition, and probably by another writer) is our extant 'Gospel according tof S. Marie,' was compiled about A.D. Cs.'*'

Mr. Frankland produces somo very inj 1 foresting evidonco in support of • this theory, and keenly criticises some of the rival explanations which other scholars have put forward to account for tlio fact's.' Taken as a whole the pamphlet is an abla statement of tha pn« !, i'<'i as regards tho •vnoptic problem, and shows that lie haa a very ehse ncuuuiiirnnte with modem' criticism of the Gospels.

THE WORLD'SiNEED OF.THE CHRIS. TIAN FAITH.

PRIMACY OF THE' SPIEIT. In continuation of his sermons on "The World's Ncod of tho Christian Faith,'' Dr. Gibb said they had seen reason to • think that tho day of a crass materialism was passing. A larger place would presently be l'ound for spiritual ideals in> the lives of men. In its coming reinscenco of faith tho Church would play a largo part, but before they considered; this it was desirable that they should 1 face the question: Is the spiritual real? What if it is only a dream I' Shakespeare speaks of poetry as that "which gives t» airy nothings, a local habitation and "a, name," Are the ideas of the spirit "airy nothings"? Tho assurance that the things of the spirit are real, that man ia a spiritual being, rests on the foot of God and mail's belonging to Him. If God is not, or is only a stream of tendency ; if Ho is not tho living God, tha spiritual is a vain dream. Probably they, who thus dreamed woro the happier den if the dream should n.ever eomo true. They had iuterior consolations. Theyv had inspiring visions. But was not their, joy after all only tho happiness of thoi paradise of fools? They wero assured byj many that it was. In a famous passagoi in his "Varieties of Religious Experience"' the lato Professor James set forth the, way in which what ho calls medical ma-: terialism accounts for tho noblest aspirations of tho human spirit. Putting it briefly it amounted to this: Tho highest flights of tho soul woro duo to a mor-< bid condition of the body. Well thero wero few things surer than that way ofi accounting for spiritual phenomena,would before long bo dismissed as incredible and absurd. Bo that as it might tho reality) of tho spiritual in human experience rest.' cd in the last analysis on God and man's! relationship to Him. "In tho last analy-' sis tho spiritual viewpoint is that we belong to God; wo came out from God and havo a destiny in God. Our life is continuous with life of the etornal spirit; and tho strivings and beckonings of o'jr soul aro simply the welling up within us of tho Eternal Spirit Who is forever en* deavouring to forco up our inner lifo tol tho level of His own, helping to chatter tho bondage of'senso and to realise our; true ideal. This was tho ultimato source of all spiritual instincts and aspirations, but what wero these? How should they.: bo described ? As expressed in experience the answer was tho spiritual is a cciv tain way of looking at things., To tlio materialist the world has all its sicnilicance within itself. To tho spiritual mind tho world has no significance worthy of tho name except in so far as it subserves and leads to something Ireyond itself. To tlio spiritual man the total significance of this world is discovered only in the light of another which. lies outside of tho sonso perceptions. It is tho unseen and eternal thing which give' significance to tho things that aro 6ceii and temporal. But perhaps the contrast botwoon tha material ana the spiritual was best expressed as llichard lloberts had shied it, namely, that to tlio spiritual man the scale of values is turned upside-down. T'nko as oil illustration the experience of Paul tlio apostle. "The impact of Christ hud turncu his scalo of values upsidedown and all theso things had slid off tbi> scalo altogether. Ho had eomo upon a, new lifo and a new philosophy of life. Ho found himself a new creation, a now man, called and committed to a -vay of lifo as different ill its interests, its ouil»ok, its ideals as day is different from night." Old tilings had passed away, all things had bocomo now. And this is what Ciivist does for thoso who believes in him. Ho is tho Supremo' Master of tho spiritual life, for not only has Hh this lifo in its purest quality in Himself; but Ho is able to impart It to every man who opens his heart, to Him. It is. He who changes tho .scheme of values and enables a man to liyo his lifo in terms of the Spirit. Thero wero many indeed who professed to beliovo in Christ, but who gave liltlo or no sign of being spiritual men. But a. faith in Christ which did not mako a. mau a spiritunl being was mere credulity. It certainly was not saying faith. Christ is not truly known until Ho lias changed our whole ■attitude to ourselves, to our fellows, to tlio world, and to God.