HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE FULL OF THY GLORY. CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD HOW THEY GROW; THEY TOIL NOT, NEITHER DO THEY SPIN. A NEW COMMANDMENT I GIVE UNTO YOU; THAT YE LOVE ONE ANOTHER. THOUGHTS ON THEISM WITH SUGGESTIONS TOWARDS A PUBLIC RELIGIOUS SERVICE IN HARMONY WITH MODERN SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. NINTH THOUSAND. REVISED AND ENLARGED. LONDON: TRÜBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL. 1882. BL 738 1882 "Great thoughts are heaving on the world's wide breast; The Time is labouring with a mighty birth; Men wander up and down in wild unrest; Broods over all." DR. CHARLES MACKAY. wenly Lib 27-39 PREFACE. SINCE the publication of even the last edition of this pamphlet events occurring in the theological and religious world have steadily tended to bear out the contention which runs through the succeeding pages; namely, that the minds of the thoughtful amongst us are awakening to the necessity for a re-construction of the basis of religious faith. It is the aim of this pamphlet to show that, amidst the overthrow of once stable opinions, there yet remains a foundation on which a reasonable system of religion and worship, logical enough to satisfy the inquiring mind, may be firmly settled. It seems perfectly clear that, in a few years, no really intelligent person will tacitly accept as correct the dogmas of any church, whether they are founded on the Bible, or are what the clergy in general would style "merely human" in their origin. We have recently seen with what dire success a Scottish Free Church Professor has striven to study the Bible on philological and scientific methods. One thing, however, appears certain, that the culture of the age is quickly leaving the theological systems which served former generations, simply because the education of their generations did not place them on a basis admitting of inevitable theological growth, Now, the position of teachers and taught may be said to be reversed. The latter are often ahead of the pulpit. While the Archbishop of Canterbury is employing himself on issuing a special form of prayer for fine weather, intelligent persons will turn to the meteoro A |
