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

LIFE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT. 145time inconsistency with science, in respect ofits own definition as an explanation of nature,and in respect of its own results which do notinvolve " spontaneous generation," but do includethe position that not a single particle ofmatter can be originated or destroyed by anypower recognized in operation. No one will" dispute the claims of the investigation ofnature to its logical inferences," but " wherethe material substratum is deficient,?' mostreasonable men will demand that distinct acknowledgmentbe made of the fact, and thatthe boundaries of science be defined accordingly.If, however, any one be inclined tomaintain that "where the material substratumis deficient," all inquiry must terminate,and human thought must refuse to go furtsher,or to attempt to rise higher, this certainly isnot science, but an illogical attempt to makethe science of nature commensurate with theboundaries of thought,-an arbitary declara-tion that " the causal series " within the rnaterialuniverse is the sum total of causality.Such an affirmation can not warrantably attachitself to a theory of descent, as it cannot be tested by observational methods, butaltogether by reference to the laws of thought