RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1848, 6 September 1913, Page 9

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

« : — SCIENCE AND RELIGION. ' GONCRESS IN PARIS. ADDRESS BY PROFESSOR BOU- . TROUX. Tho International Congress on Religious Progress assomblca recently in Paris undor tho presidency of Pastor Wagner, the well-known author of "La Vio Simple." There was a largo attendance of French Protestants of liberal tendencies, and among those oil tho platform were the Deputies MM. Jules Siegfried' and Theodore Reinacli. Pastor Wagner in 'his opening address said that ho believed that a new spiritual world was being born, and ho welcomed members of the congress to the country which had produced Joan of Arc, tho Crusaders, the Huguenots and tho champions of tha Rights of Man. Some 30 speakers, of whom the majority were Protestant ministers from Germany, Franco, and America, addressed the congress and advocated theological liberalism.. A New York rabbi, I\lr. Wise, also spoke, as did a Sikh, Professor Teje Singh, and a Buddhist, Mr. Jayatilaka. Tho French initiative in regard to the oongress was taken by M. Emilo Boutroux, of the Academic Francaise, whose recent book 011 "Science and Religion" has been widely appreciated in tho world of theology and of pliilosophio speculation. Tho thesis of M. Boutioux is that it is the work of philosophy to reconcile religion and science, anu ho has declared "the future does not, as Victor Hugo maintained, 'kill' tho past. It js tho business of philosophy to distinguish between' those elements of past opinions and civilisations which are perishable and those which are capable of fertilising and strengthening tho evolution of tho futuro." M. Boutroux's -method is characterised by tho fullness-and fairness wicli which he states the position of those to whom ho is opposed. Ho spoko of tho influenco of secularism, which nowadays "seemed to excludo every element that could properly be called religious from our beliefs and our life," and described science as appearing- "to banish from our minds tho faculty of believing in tho fundamental postulates of any religion," since it explains by the play of mechanical laws an increasing number of phenomena." Tho essential principle of religion, differed, however, from that of science. There was all tho difference between "tho concept of man, which merely included those characteristics which woro required in order to rank an individual among tho human species, and the idea of man, tho content of which was 'tho, ideal form of humanity," or, as he put' it, adopting an English expression, "human and humane. Speaking of comprehension, toleration, and infinite benevolence aa ideas of tho Divine nature which wero inherent in tho. most perfect form of rdligion, ho qudted Jakob Boelime, who had said:""l consider the birds of our woods; they praise God, each in its own fashion, in all •tones, and in all modes. Is God offended'by this diversity ,_ or does Ho make tho discordant voices ceaso? All forms of being are dear to the Infinite Being." M. Boutroux concluded: "For tho reconciliation of Science and Religion two conditions are necessary and are adequate. On the one hand, ■ religion must be essentially spiritual, that is to say it must solely bo inspired by the idea of God and not by the idea of any material' interest; for religion is the affirmation of tho inadequacy, and not of tho adequacy, of tho real for the realisation of perfection. On the other hand, 'science must bo regarded as expressing tho facts of nature as they aroj' and'hot in,a'form that is eternal and. : absolute; so that no scientifio formula should ever olaim to have this value of a. principlo which is adequate and' is independent of facts. The absolute only exists in tho spiritual domain wherQ, it is identical with liberty. Among other interesting papers was that of M. Bonct-Maury on Voltaire. Voltaire, ho -said, had contributed to tho progress of real religion by his criticism of the superstitions of his day. He was one of the first to encourage Biblical criticism. He was, doubtless, deficient in mysticism, and in that sense i- of moral purity and holiness which were the condition of all true religion.. Oil . the other hand, ho had a high sense .of justice and of compassion'for the un--1 fortunate. M. Bonot-Maury quoted from i Voltaire's writings to show that ho had t formed a conception of natural religion i and of Christianity which suggested a ; church that would greatly .resemble tho . Society of Friends.