RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1895, 1 November 1913, Page 9

RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY.

SCIENCE AND FAITH; SIR OLIVER LOPCE'B ADDRESS. A MOMENTOUS INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT. The following are some extracts from the press comments on Sir Oliver Lodge's presidential addreas at the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement o£ Science, held, at Birmingham in September:— "The Times": It is & notable utterance, worthy to rank with the very best of its predecessors, and likely to bo often quoted hereafter bb tho Birmingham address. . . . Quietly, moderately, and firmly he made his profession of faith in the persistence of personality beyond bodily d'eath, of which he has been, convinced by strict evidence, and in tho broad truth of religion. An impressive close • was thus made to a fine effort, and one moro consonant, wo believe, with the present trend of advanced thought than repugnant to it. Ilio "Spectator": As a protest against scientific intolerance no less than a profession of faith, Sir Oliver Lodge'b address is a memorable utterance. Signs of a Revival of Religion, The "Guardian": Tho 1813 meeting' of tho British Association has been ro inarkable for tho many signs it has afforded of_ that rapprochement between religion and science which ,ia likely to be one of tho most momentous intellectual developments of our time, These signs were by no means con* lined to the presidential address of Sir Oliver Lodge, or the. striking sermon of the Bishop of Birmingham, with its interesting references to faith and certainty. Thoro was a subtle change in tho atmosphere of tho meeting—a change noticeable among tho foreign as well as among tho English visitors. Nor is this surprising, since in moro than one Continental country thero are unmistakable signs of a revival of religion, and a diminution of that spirit of indifferent aloofness which is til©-deadliest enemy of tho Faith. Scientific men are realising onco more not only that thero aro problems which science cannot answer, but that it may, perchance, yet achieve somo of its most conspicuous triumphs as tho handmaid of faith rather than as its scoffing enemy. Pro-sclentifio insight cf Gonlus. Tho "Morning Post": The concluding lines of the address will be perhaps those which will make the most general appeal, being tho expression in another form of the views that Sir Oliver Lodge put forward a few years ago in tho at* tempt he made to reconcile science and religion. Ho cautioned his hearers that tho methods of science Wore not the only way, though they were "our" way of arriving at truth. . . . It is useful in the highest degree that at this stage Sir Oliver Lodge should have taken advantage of the association platform to emphasise that wo cannot really and seriously supposo that truth began to arrive on tins planet a few centuries ago, that the pro-seientifiG insight of geniuß, of poets and prophets and saints, was of supreme value, and that their access to tho heart of the universe was profound. It is valuable, too, that tho president should have shown that it is not surprising that science failed* to grasp it by its methods. Tho actions of the Deity, lie pointed out, made no appeal to a special sense, only a universal ap* peal, and tho methods of science were incompetent to detect complete uniformity. Unless we encountered flaw or jar or change nothing in us responded, and wo were deaf, or blind to the imminent grandeur around us unless we had insight enough to appreciate the whole, and to> recognise in the woven fabric of existence, flowing steadily from the loom in an infinite progress towards perfection, tho ever-growing garment of a transcendent God.

The Old Conflict Is Dead. "Westminster Gazette": Sir Oliver Lodge's address to the British Association does not disappoint expectation. In its way it is as notable a statement of tho now attitude of science as was , the Belfast address of'thirty-nino years ago of the older attitude. We have travelled far decades, and the dogmatism of tha past has given way to a broader and more doubttul spirit. In the interval Wo have seen perish ,r laws" of soienco which woro regarded as unchallengeable. The oldest doo-. trines of infallibility have disappeared, and the .now "laws" aro rather speculations to the absolute truth of which no man will commit himself. . _. . If wo would express the situation in a sentenco it would be that .science has become more doubtful of itself. The arrogance of the past has broken down aa further investigation has disproved positions which were asserted as infallible. Even that "matter" ' which the older scientists regarded as the limit of their rightful field of investigation has ' ceased to bo regarded as a stablo thing., and science is already asking itself whether "matter" in the older conception of the word has any permanent existence. Life introduces something incalculable which reaches beyond the application of physics and chemistry. Sir Olivor Lodge indulged, in the closing portion of hia address, in speculation as to the continuance of life hereafter. Here he had little more to offer than his own profession of faith, but that this should' bo kindly received in seiontifio circles is the soundest evidence that the old conflict between science and religion is dead. It may be renewed, but the issues and the battleground will be different. A More Tolerant Attitude. The "Daily News": That Bisoh an address should be delivered is in itself significant. It indicates a profound change in the attitude of science to the problems of the universe, a change also in its attitude towards itself. While its "place in the sun" was denied by a narrow theology its frame of mind was scornful and assertive. It mot dogma with dogma. It founded itself on perceived facts and ascertained laws and claimed for its material solution of things the finality which it denied to revelation. But a more tolerant attitude is observable to-day. Tho conclusions of science are themselvos found t : o be vulnerable, and a. philosophic scepticism prevails among scientists themselves, • In physiology, in chemistry, in biology, in education and social science the dogmas of yesterday are being ehallengod from within, and laws which seemed to bo filial and inexorablo aro found to bo, only approximations to truth. And in tlio presence of tjiis distrust, science has become loss confident and more humble. It does not now explain, as Sir Oliver Lodge says: it describes. It has come te sharo in some degree tho philosophic distrust of purely intellectual processes and to have tol* oranco for those intuitions and emotions which aro so much older than science. A Weloome Corrective. "Manchester Guardian": As the President of tlio British Association phrases it, "an utterance from this chair is no ephemeral production, for it remains to bo criticised by generations yet unborn, whose knowledge must inevitably be fuller and wider than our own." The layman may well look for guidance to n discourse framed under this senso of duty by so distinguished a rosea ichor and so strong a personality, and such guidance is to bo found not'only in the expression of Sir Oliver Lodge's own personal views, but in tho exquisite tolerance of the attitudes of otliora which he implicitly advocates in mattora belonging to the definitolv

labelled sciences. ... In tho matter of his profession of vitalism —that is, tho purposive and directive character •of living beings in respect of their own processes—wo have a welcome corrective of tho oxcessivo optimism otitis pro-" decessor, who on quite inadequate grounds, as many biologists telr us, proclaimed at Dundeo that wo were within lncnsurablo distance of manufacturing living beings, and that wo should bo quite certain to-mo:rro.w .or tho day after that they worked on purely mechanical linos. Tho Christian, World: A generation ago tho great fight was between. soiphed and theology, a fight in which theology. seemed always tho loser. Science was always mire of itself. It opposed its own clearly defined principles, its masses of ascertained facts, to. tho louse tts» sumptions, tho exploded; theories, on which dogma had reared-its structure. To-day wo have a new and even moro eutertau-iing -spectacle. It is science which is all in a, flurry about its, own principles; whether, after all, it has any foundations of its whether it must not go in search_ or now ones. . . ._ What wo do seo is that tho universe is a bigger, a more .mysterious affair than even tho Darwhis and tho -Spencers imagined; that boyond tho region where our research, so. far, has won its triumphs, lie deeps still profounder, yet to be plumbed. Hand In Hand With Miracles. "The Lancet" says: Among popular beliefs few aro, or were Until recently, more popular than that tho scientific man is Usually a materialist. Over and ovor again wo hear that the scientifio man, inasmuch as ho cannot bo expected to boliovo in what he cannot see, or time, or measure,, or weigh, cannot admit tho possibility of a future existence or bo other. than sceptical about whataro generally known as religious' doctrines. Tho address delivered at Birmingham by tho Principal of tho Oity University is a complete answer to such ill-informed criticism of tho modern scientific outlook, and a large school of scienctific men will be grateful to Sir Olivor. Lodge for tho profoundly religious expressions with which ho; concludes a strenuous sermon. Tho real state of tho case is that what tho modern scientifio man cannot believe beggars helief absolutely; and thero i»-,' nono among us who so clearly walks j hand in. hand with miracles, who is so 1 cordially prepared to acknowledge as possible for the future what looks im- 1 possible for the present, who is so reluctant to lay down boundaries for his imaginings, _as tho scientifio leader. Tho fear might bo that he should- be-) come too much _ the romantio man, but here a remedy iB heing supplied by tho' increasing information of tho. world at\ largo, which must compel tho actual:) workers to produce material results for,' the, increase of-tho wisdom, wealth anil) comfort of tho population, however far ahead of all care for contemporary, amenities the genius of the scientific loaders may bo ranging. Views of tho Churches. Sermons were preached in. the various churches of Birmingham- on Sunday,) September 14, in relation to the meetings; of tho British. Association. The Bishop. 1 of Birmingham (Dr. Russell WakefieldM preached in tho Anglican Cathedral ,ai>l a civio sorvico attended in_ state by the ; Lord Mayor and tho president of the! British Association. Sir Oliver Lodga;, read tho lessons. Dr. Wakefield, .in:'!' welcoming tho British Association., made acluiowledginont of tho'-benefits received from science. They were constantly reminded of the fact that, is past days thero was active -antagonism' . between the ecclesiastic) and tho scion-j tis't. How stupid' was thtt suggestion' that thero; must, bq ft barrier . between* knowledge and -Relief.. ...JJven.the most credulous only accepted that which he was persuaded' ho would one day know. Ho was speaking to those to whom .laic-'Wledgo.Waa precious, Ho desired to encourage their research" and _ inquiry. Ho desired knowledge to obtain an understanding of the purposo of the great' Architect of tho Universe, and for tho promotion of human happiness and • efficiency. Whatever religious teachers might have felt as to evolution fifty years ago, ho ventured to say that.thero was no one who was not thankful for tho great Creator's sake that tho intertwining, of His creatures 'was now generally accepted. What a debt they owed to tho last century for tho caro of the human- machine I They had. revo-' lu-tioniscd th© treatment of disease.) 'Scientists tad the glory of theso discoveries, but it was tho clergy, as thoy passed from home to homo in some oft the poorer parts of oar groat ciljlos, whoi could best realise how marvellously they had lessened the weight of human: suffering and increased tho effioienoji of the breadwinners of the moan streets, . those toilers who were tho capital of> the country. As to th© futuifc, thoy. found scientists and religions toacJien! understanding ■ each other better than; Over before. Ho asked that roHgiona teachers should Join in their expert-, menting and inquiry. The _ religious body which discouraged- inquiry inusa and die. ) Owing to the illness of tho Roman! Catholio Archbishop of 'Birmingham!,, (Dr. Ilsley), High" Mass was mpig at SU Chad's Cathedral by Bishop M'lntyre.) Father A. L. Cortio, 8.J,,, preaoh-inaj from tho text, "Lord that I may see.'N asked was it net doing violence tot reason to eliminata God! tho Creators from His creatures? The reasonable attitude of the acknowledgment of God; forced itself upon the very pagan. Tho exquisite structure of tho sun and tibfl, ■planets oould Hot have had its ©riginf but by the plain and absolute fofflina-l tion of an intelligent andl - Powerful Being. That was tho opinion of thatiV master genius Isaao Newton, and LoM Kelvin had said: that if only you studied! physical truths deeply enough yoil would! bo compelled to admit the.existence of God, which was tho foundation of all religion. Was it not more soientiflo to •tako that attitude than tho -attitude Of thoso who wilfully Winded teomselvoa to the processes of Nature, and Teruseos. to see Almighty God m the working oh His hands? It was no obstacle t» science to.bo a 'believer. Pasteur, n£ great and devout Catholio, bad eaidv that tho deeper he got into the mys-1 teries of Nature tho moro simple becamo his faith. Faith,'continued .th»! preacher, would give n hotter insight i into' tho -facts'of Nature, and a cor-j tainty and boldness in. the tmtmont of; scientifio hypotheses which could note: lw obtained hy those who had no faith Thoy must pray humbly for tho spirit of faith, and bo as little children.