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

COflDITIONS OF THE INQUIR Y. 11of educated men is that all increase of knowledgeis clear gain, and that all advance is securedon familiar and well-tried lines. Progressis transition, and in a sense unsettling;but it is also accumulation, and thus in amore enduring sense, consolidating. Freshobservatioil in some one departinei~t of researchdoes not overthrow all that wascredited previously. It extends the area ofknowledge, or carries us into a more minuteacquaintance with particulars, and only in arestricted way modifies accepted positions, byiiltroducing relations formerly unrecognized.Thus, progress iiz a particular science doesnot unsettle scientific belief.In a manner exactly analogous, becauseresting on the same intellectual conditions,the combined advance of the whole order ofsciences does not unsettle the mass of convictionbelonging to instructed and ordinarilyreflective men. It must, indeed, modify theform of general conviction, as it quickens intellectualinterest, for the public mind receives,not reluctantly but gladly, additionalresults gathered under carefully tested scientificmethods. This is nothing more thansaying, that love of truth, and submission to