SCIENCE AND RELIGION.

Thames Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2901, 3 June 1878, Page 4

SCIENCE AND RELIGION.

" On jVronday night the Victoria Institute met at its house, 7, Adelphi-terrace, Mr O.Brooke, F.R.S., in the chair. After the election *of several English and foreign members and the announcement that Mr H. M. Stanley,, though regretting he could not attend any meeting of the Institute, had agreed to act as honoxary corresponding member, the Bishop of Edinburgh read an able paper upon "Scientific Thought and Religious ' Belief." Bishop Cotterill pointed out the necessity, in order that lasting peace; between science' and religion may be maintained, of investigating carefully the true spheres' of each/ Taking, in its general characters, the five-fold division of the modes of human thought given by Fichte, he showed that the first and lowest was that of sense; the second that of law, including both physical and a lower form of moral science ; the third the structure, the sphere of the easthetic perceptions' and noble sentiments; the fourth I that of; faith in God, the religious in its simplest form; the fifth, a that of religious philosophy, fhe,,theospphic, which, had completed the circle of human thought, and, was intimately related to all the other modes. He then discussed the two grounds on, which alone physical science could claim to control religious belief, the one as being the exponent of reason and teaching necessary .truth, the other as establishing the universality of law, and, therefore, leaving no' room for the exercise of will. 'But science is the exponent "of reason only in a limited degree; it determines results which necessarily follow on the supposition of certain laws, being invariable, but can give us no certainty as to the necessity of these laws. As regards the second ground on which, the claim is made, physical science itself supplies strong arguments in favor of the conclusion that, go far from there being no room left for will, law of itself leaves -. all , the problems .of the universe indeterminate, and necessarily presupposes will to mate creation such as it is. It fpllows, therefore,, ibat physical. science is inepmpetent to interfere with religious belief, and must be relegated to its legitimate ipqsition as.merely one of the true* modes of regarding God's universe; and that,-though not the lowest, by no means the highest>~Tim"es, Feb. 15.!