The Relation of Science and Religion.pdf - Online Christian Library

ZA.'OX'GANZC ELEMENTS. 91no theory of the ultimate structure of matterwhich has secured general acceptance. Onthe contrary, there is the acknowledgmentthat the complexity of the problem is so greatas completely to baffle the present resourcesof science. There have been discussions, andcareful investigations as to the divisibility ofmatter, and it has been generally admitted onrational grounds, that there must be in allmatter particles or atoms so minute as to bequite beyond the range of the microscope.This has led to the acceptance of an atonzictheory as in one form or another applicable tothe structure of matter, belief in such particlesor molecules being a natural result of scientificprocedure. I say belief, for the existence ofsuch ultimate atoms is not established onexperimental evidence, and yet is generallyacknowledged; for it is clearly enough recognizedthat there is a region of faith for science,as for theology, just as there must befor all ordinary exercise of human intelligence.Besides the actual divisibility of matter, wehave in the same connection to consider itscompressibility, for the recognized facts as tocompression of iron, for example, or of anymetal, seem to imply that there are certain