{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3764", "width": "2467", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS,\\nChap.^NCopyright i\\\\o\\nShelf lis.\\nUNITED STATES OF AMERICA.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "RELIGION\\nA RATIONAL DEMAND\\nBY.\\nRev. G. J. Kirn, M. A., Ph. D.\\nM\\nG2T\\nCLEVELAND, OHIO.\\nPRESS OF THOMAS MATTILL.\\nJ900.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "Library of Co* i\\nTwo Copies r^\\nNOV 20 1900\\nCoayrignt untry\\nSECOND COPY\\nDelivered to\\nORDtR DIVISION\\n1\\nA^\\nCopyrighted, 1900,\\nBY\\nREV. G. J. KIRN, M. A., Tu. D.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "PREFACE.\\nEarly in the author s life the question arose,\\nwhether religion may not possibly be accounted for\\nby the individual s training, and the racial ex-\\nperience may not have created man s religious\\ndemands, or whether Revelation did not create the\\ndemand in order to have something to satisfy.\\nThis question prompted him to research; and it\\nserved the purpose of thoroughly convincing him\\nthat the demands for religion lay deeper than any\\nexperience which man may have accumulated they\\nlay in the very construction of human nature\\nitself.\\nIf this little work succeeds in pointing out the\\nfact that religion does not consist in a formal sub-\\nmission to the demands of a temporal institution,\\nbut in the dynamic relation of the soul to its God,\\nthe author will consider himself richly repaid for\\nhis effort. (3)", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "4 PREFACE.\\nThe author does not presume that he has com-\\npletely covered the great subject but simply pro-\\njects this scanty outline as an index finger to point\\nthe way toward the recognition of the immutable\\nfoundation for religion and its demands.\\nNo one will suppose that this work is offered a\\nsubstitute for revelation, but that it simply aims to\\npoint out why a Revelation became necessary.\\nIf this little work succeeds in its attempt, the\\nauthor will point out, in another volume, how the\\ndemands made by reason are met by Revelation.\\nFlint, July 1900.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "CONTENTS.\\nIntroduction\\nPART I.\\nTHE CONCEPTION OF GOD AND HIS RE-\\nLATION TO THE WORLD.\\nRational Impulses 29\\nThe Struggle for Unity 40\\nInsufficiency of Materialism 51\\nSubjective Idealism Inadequate 68\\nThe Absolute as Infinite 79\\nIntelligence of the Absolute 90\\nPersonality of the Absolute 103\\nNecessary Attributes of the Absolute Person 112\\nThe Relation of the Absolute to Nature 123\\nPART II.\\nTHE IDEA OF MAN AND HIS RELATION\\nTO GOD.\\nMan Essentially Spiritual 137\\nDevelopment a Law of His Being 148\\nHis Freedom 160\\nNature of His Development 174\\nHis True Dignity 185\\nHis Immortality 194\\nSusceptibility of Pleasure and Pain 203\\nThe Condition of Blessedness 211\\nThe Way of Death 221\\nConclusion 228\\n(5)", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTION.\\nMan is constructed upon a certain plan. This is\\ntrue of his body and is true of his soul. Man stands\\nin relation to the world. This relation of man to\\nthe world is not one of abstract dualism, but one\\nof organic unity. The world and the soul belong\\ntogether. They together constitute the world of\\nreality. If man did not find himself in the world,\\nthe world would have no value for him. The world\\nis not a foreign something resisting every effort of\\nman to comprehend it; but man stands over against\\nit with the full assurance that it must yield all of\\nits possession to him.\\nWhile there is a world of reality that yields its\\npossession, there must be a subject to which it is\\nyielded. The world has the possessions to yield\\nand the subject makes the conquest. This subject\\nhas an insatiable desire for the conquest, and a\\nnature according to which that conquest must be\\nmade. This nature is not a result of its experience;\\nnor is it a matter of its own choice. This plan pre-\\ncedes both its experience and its choice. The\\n7", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "8 INTRODUCTION.\\nagent must exist before it can act; and together\\nwith its existence goes the nature of its action.\\nThe subject knows that many things are brought\\nto it from the outside world. These facts are em-\\npirical. They are contingent. As facts they exist;\\nbut as far as our knowledge is concerned they might\\neasily have been otherwise, or not have been at all.\\nWe can think these things out of existence without\\ndoing violence to our nature. Many of us have\\nbeen born upon American soiL We have seen the\\nlandscapes of no other country of the world; for not\\na moment during our waking life has contact, more\\nor less conscious, with this country failed us; but\\nwe can very easily imagine a time when this beauti-\\nful continent was hid under the waters of the sea;\\nor we can conceive a time when it will no longer be.\\nThe sun has been an object of experience ever since\\nman has existed, and we believe that its beams have\\nkissed the earth while it was being prepared to\\nbecome a home for man. We can easily imagine a\\ntime when the sun will have exhausted its resources\\nand have gone out in the blackness and darkness of\\nnight. Contingent facts are as they are; but they\\nmight have been different. The facts of our experi-\\nence may be as they are; but they may be changed.\\nWe may change our experience by changing the", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "IN PRODUCTION. 9\\ndirection of our attention. We may change our\\nexperience by changing our relation to the outside\\nworld; but we cannot change our nature. There\\nare elements in our nature that are universal. We\\ncannot get away from nor greatly modify them.\\nThey are not result of experience, for they precede\\nexperience and make experience possible. They\\nare universal, for it matters not to which quarter\\nof experience we turn, these principles govern us.\\nIf our mental life acts at all it must act according\\nto these principles. We cannot think of an object\\nwithout implying space to contain it. When we\\nthink an object, we are compelled to think of it as\\nrelated to some other object; and our nature com-\\npels us so to relate it to the coexistent objects, that\\nit may find a sufficient explanation for itself. The\\nobjects of an experience must thus be brought to-\\ngether into a unity. This is not a unity of classifi-\\ncation, but a unity of relationship, a unity funda-\\nmental to all the diversity of experience.\\nOur nature demands that the whole world of\\nexperience be organized into a complete system.\\nThe data for such a system, not offered empirically,\\nare furnished by our own nature. And this agent\\nthat so lays hold upon experiential facts and organ-\\nizes them is what we term reason.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "IO INTRODUCTION.\\nReason is not active except when it has data to\\nact upon; but, when the data are furnished, it acts\\nwith a nature that is characteristically its own. It\\ncannot modify its own principles without ceasing to\\nbe itself. It does not enforce these arbitrarily, but\\ngoes forth with assurance that the demands of its\\nnature are the principles of reality. It looks for its\\nown natuie in the objective world, and does so with\\nthe fullest assurance of finding it. The principles\\nof reason found in the objective world are not the\\nresult of impersonal forces, but are the expression\\nof a person like itself. The unity of reason with\\nthis personal being, expressing himself in the\\nrational principles of nature, is what we mean by\\nreligion.\\nIt may be objected that religion is a matter of\\nfaith and not of reason. While this is true let us\\nnot overlook the fact, that faith is every where the\\norgan of reason; and this organ is employed in\\nscience no less than it is in the sphere of religion.\\nReason organizes knowledge; and in its efforts it\\nassumes facts and principles upon the strength of\\nthe demand of that organism of knowledge. The\\nidea of space does not enter the mind through the\\nsenses; but upon the condition of an external ob-\\nject, reason by virtue of its own insight supplies", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTION. 1 1\\nthe idea. In the act of perception, we have only\\nsensation. Sensation alone is not knowledge.\\nSensation must be ascribed to some object as its\\nsource. It is reason that posits the thing. Reason\\nprojects its principles far beyond the data of its\\nempirical experience, and has perfect confidence in\\nthem. Experience has never seen the center of the\\nearth; and yet reason assumes its existence with\\nthe utmost confidence. No scientist has demon-\\nstrated the indestructability of matter, or the exist-\\nence of an atom. Reason assumes these and has\\nconfidence in them, because physical science would\\nbe unintelligible without these assumptions. A\\nhypothesis is considered demonstrated when it fits\\nin with other principles and explains all the facts\\nfor which it is assumed. Upon the preception of\\nthe facts of mental life reason assumes the existence\\nof the soul, as the only rational explanation. So it\\nbecomes perfectl} clear that it accepts the basal\\nprinciple of psychology, as well as of physics, upon\\nthe same authority. Reason accepts the idea of\\nmatter because it cannot account for certain facts\\nof experience without it. It accepts the idea of\\nlife, because it cannot account for form in organism\\nwithout it. The law of gravitation is not empiri-\\ncally given; and yet reason demands it for the", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "12 INTROCUCTION.\\nproper explanation of facts and, upon its own\\nauthority, supplies it.\\nThe idea of God as the fundamental explanation\\nof all things must be accepted upon the authority of\\nreason, and no matter what element is thus added,\\nit must always be left to reason to determine its\\nvalue in the organism of knowledge. To deny the\\nauthority of reason means to commit intellectual\\nsuicide.\\nIt may be said that reason alone would never\\nhave detected the facts of a revelation by virtue of\\nits own light. That is true. Yet must it act upon\\nthe credentials of such a Revelation. It is required\\nto pass judgment upon the comparative value of\\nBuddhism and Christianity, upon Romanism and\\nProtestantism. If Revelation means anything, it\\nmeans that facts and truths otherwise not in relation\\nto reason are, by means of it, put into such a rela-\\ntion. It must bring to reason for the incorporation\\ninto the organism of knowledge that which it\\nreveals.\\nFurthermore, a Revelation would not be a Revel-\\nation, nor would it be received as such, were it not\\nfor the fact that reason had declared it a necessity.\\nIt was only because reason had found a sad want in\\nthe organism of knowledge, which it was not able", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTION. 1 3\\nto supply, that a Revelation became necessary.\\nBut reason reserves the right of expressing judg-\\nment upon the elements admitted into this system\\nof thought; and judges their value according to its\\ndemand for them. A Revelation that meets no\\nwant would be valueless If the demand for such\\na Revelation had no rational basis the Revelation\\nitself would be purposeless. It is reason which\\ndiscerns purpose. It is in organized human thought\\nthat the demand must appear.\\nThe question may arise, Is not reason untrue\\nin its claims It is, of course, a mistake to sepa-\\nrate mental functions as though the mind was itself\\ndivided. Mental life is a unity, and the life itself\\ncannot be separated into parts; but for convenience\\nsake, it is proper to speak of a variety of action even\\nin a single agent. Perception meets the outside\\nworld, while reason is constructive. And in mental\\nlife, reason has absolute value. The senses err, and\\nneed a corrective. When in a moving train the\\nwhole landscape seems to move in the opposite direc-\\ntion, the appearance to the senses must be corrected\\nby reason. When looking at an object through\\ndefective glass, the observer sees the object dis-\\ntorted. For the senses the object is in every sense\\ndistorted, but reason puts the cause for the distor-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "14 INTRODUCTION.\\ntion in the defective glass and not in the object. It\\ndoes so because the distorted object does not fit into\\nits system of knowledge.\\nReason is so constructed that its individual facts\\nmust be construed in the light of universal princi-\\nples; and these universal principles are extended\\ninto every form of mental life. Wherever there are\\nobjects, they must occupy space. Wherever there\\nis succession, there must be the idea of time.\\nWherever there is an event, it must be connected\\nwith a cause. In other words, reason is so con-\\nstructed that every fact of consciousness real or\\nimaginary, must be related to the whole sphere of\\nknowledge, and be organized therewith. Sensations\\nproduced, and simply produced, would have no\\nvalue for mental life. A few scattered sensations\\nupon the sensorium would never stand for anything\\nintelligible. No amount of food thrown into the\\nalimentary canal would sustain the body of an\\norganism, unless it were first digested and assimi-\\nlated. In like manner the data of sense perception\\nmust be elaborated before they become facts of\\nmental life. It would be inconsistent with truth, if\\nI were to make the impression that there is no\\nelaboration connected with the simplest fact of sense\\nperception.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTION. 1 5\\nNo being enters the mind. The mind is spiritual\\nand has no spatial extension as such. The distin-\\nguishing quality of mental life is activity. Sensa-\\ntions are acts of this agent. These sensations are\\nin the form of attributes. It is reason that assumes\\nthe thing to explain the attribute. We see not the\\nsun, we are simply kissed by its rays; but we pos-\\ntulate a thing to account for the rays. We know\\nonly action, but reason compels the assumption of\\nan agent back of the action. Again, it is appar-\\nent that it is the nature of reason to assume all that\\nis necessary for the complete organization of its\\nexperience.\\nIt is, therefore, the nature of reason in its\\nassumptions to transcend the realm of experience.\\nThe different schools of philosophy do agree as to\\nthe fact of universal truth; yet they are greatly at\\nvariance as to their origin, and, consequently, as to\\ntheir value. Empiricism says that all our knowl-\\nedge is derived from experience. All the items of\\nknowledge rest upon individual facts. By compar-\\nison and abstraction we arrive at the universal.\\nEmpiricism, however, is prevented by its own prin-\\nciple from having a sound logic. If there is no\\ngeneral principle to account for individual facts,\\neven induction would not be possible. In our", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "1 6 INTRODUCTION.\\nthoughts we depend upon the principle that What\\nis once tiue, is always true. That is the pinciple\\nof science. The medical student does not dissect\\nevery body that he treats; he proceeds rather upon\\nthe assumption, that having once thoroughly become\\nfamiliar with a human structure, he understands\\nthem all. What would there be to the intellectual\\nlife, if it were not in the possession of universals.\\nThe empiricist in winter could not cheer himself\\nwith the thought of spring; for he has no data to\\ncompute or infer one from.\\nThe scientist, having confidence in reason and\\nin its universal principles, trusts in the universal\\nprinciple that underlies the changing seasons; and\\nthus is enabled to infer beyond the immediate data\\nof experience.\\nIndividual facts can be proved only by bringing\\nthem under general principles. Empiricism could\\nnever prove a fact; it must take it upon the authority\\nof observation only; because it denies the principle\\nby which proof is to be made. Empiricism has an\\ninsuperable snag in the form of mathematics. It\\npresents a whole body of facts and relations, which\\nare not ascertained by experience. The truth of\\nthese relations are not limited by the reach of experi-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTION. 1 7\\nence, but are extended into every sphere of possible\\nknowledge.\\nThe universal principle of causation must also\\nbe recognized by the empiricist. It, even, cannot\\nafford to give up this relation of the facts of human\\nconsciousness. If it were true that we are limited\\nto our experience, then would we be confined to our\\nsensations, and could not get beyond them. We\\nknow then only the states of our consciousness;\\nand in the absence of the principle of causation, we\\ndare not recognize for them an external determinant.\\nThe denial of this principle merges us in to Sub-\\njetcive Idealism; and this makes the individual\\nmind alone responsible for its knowledge. Strict\\nEmpiricism is agnosticism. It deals with sensation\\nand is debarred from all contact with reality. For\\nit the only reality is its thoughts and imaginations.\\nEmpiricism, when analyzed, becomes repugnant to\\ncommon-sense. Common-sense cannot look upon\\nthe world as a shadowy imagination; it is a real\\nsomething. The relations we stand in to other\\nthings are not imaginary; they are dynamic. We\\ncome into forceful contact with actual forces.\\nWe are members of society. Even the empiricist\\nmust recognize the fact. And yet, how can he con-\\nsistently do so He knows only his own sensations,", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "1 8 INTRODUCTION.\\nhow can he refer them, except by an act of infer-\\nence, to beings similar to himself. This society is\\na universal, composed of individual members like\\nthe observer himself. But no conclusion like this\\ncan be arrived at on the principle of empiricism.\\nWith the exception of a few empiricists, that are\\ndecreasing in number, philosophers recognize uni-\\nversal principles.\\nThis must become apparent to the observer, if\\nhe claims the power of inference at all. Inference\\ncan only be possible upon the basis of propositions\\nthat are fundamental. If one proposition is a\\nbranch that grows out of another; that last branch\\nmust spring from another; and that branch must\\nspring from the trunk, which is itself supported by\\nthe root. Destroy the root and the whole tree falls.\\nPropositions, in order to be true, must spring from\\nothers that are fundamental, which are taken up\\ninto mental life upon the strength of their own\\nevidence. And to reason must the final appeal go.\\nThe whole body of mathematical truths is an exam-\\nple of such truth that rests entirely upon direct\\nmental insight. The whole body of Geometry rests\\nupon such axioms.\\nTheir axiomatic nature does not depend upon\\nthe fact that they rest upon some other. They rest", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTION. 1 9\\nupon proof furnished by reason itself, to which these\\naxioms reveal themselves as unsiversal and conse-\\nquently self-evident. Either we must accept the\\nproposition, That the mind has an insight of its\\nown, or let the whole structure of mathematics\\nfall into a hopeless mass of ruin.\\nThe conclusion of the matter is, that we possess\\nuniversal truths and that they are noted for their\\nself -evidence; and they in connection with the other\\nelements of knowledge are necessary. Empiricism\\ncan give us nothing universal. It is concerned only\\nwith individual facts. It can never account for the\\nelement of necessity in our experience.\\nReason is not a special faculty, it is the nature\\nof mind itself. It is at the bottom of all mental\\nactivity.\\nReason contains what is absolutely essential to\\nknowledge. Its elements are essential because they\\ncan not be removed from experience without wreck-\\ning the entire mental life. All the facts of this\\nlife are established into insoluble relations.\\nThe principle of personal identity makes possible\\nthe mental acts of perception, memory, imagination\\nand comparison. Neither could it exercise these\\nfunctions if it itself were not governed in its actions\\nby the law of identity.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "20 INTRODUCTION.\\nIt is in the presence of a content that reason\\nasserts itself in a function and it is in its function\\nthat it is able to know its nature. It keeps at\\nwork until the highest generalizations are reached\\nin the form of the axioms of mathematics, and the\\nfundamental laws of thought, Identity and\\nSufficient Reason. All intelligence points to end\\nand purpose; and reason generalizes this in the\\nform of design.\\nThe three great centers of rational convergence\\nare the world, self and God.\\nReason organizes the various sensations, and\\nthe organization becomes the outside world. It\\norganizes the various facts of the life of conscious-\\nness into the conception of the soul. The world\\nand the soul appear to take the sides of an irrecon-\\ncilable dualism; but further observation shows so\\nmany points of interaction that they together point\\nto a further principle, in which they themselves are\\nbut differences in an identity. That unifying prin\\nciple is God.\\nThe authority of reason consists in the fact that\\nits principles are the necessary presuppositions of\\nscience. For it muse be evident that if its claims\\nbe disallowed neither the outside world nor the soul\\ncan have any being for us; and thus our whole", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTION. 21\\nmental life would have to be given up as sheer\\ndeception.\\nIf now the principles of reason must be accepted\\nin order to have a mental life at all, then comes the\\nquestion as to the extent of their authority, or the\\nreach of their value in the sphere of activity which\\nconstitutes us moral and religious beings.\\nThe world is a system of relations. The ob-\\njective cannot be objective aside from the subjective;\\nand the subjective cannot be subjective aside from\\nthe objective. The two sides stand in organic rela-\\ntion. One element of a relationship is as essential\\nfor that relationship as the other, and must deter-\\nmine that relationship by its own peculiar nature.\\nThe subject has the same claim to reality as the\\nobject; and as the object determines the activity of\\nthe subject, so, with equal right, has the subject an\\nactivity and determines the activity of the object.\\nThe objective world is a reality, and the mind must\\naccept it as such. If the revelations of the outside\\nworld as made in consciousness are a true revela-\\ntion of the outside world, then is the revelation of\\nself as made in consciousness also a true revelation\\nof its nature. We know the nature of reason by\\nits action upon the contents of consciousness and\\nthe laws of its activity as thus brought to the notice", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "22 INTRODUCTION.\\nof consciousness. Shall we question the activity of\\nreason any more than we do that of oxygen Is\\nnot the one as actual as the other Does the one in\\nits activity determine the nature of the world while\\nthe other does not It would be an inconsistent\\nphilosophy to hold such a view. We accept the\\nfacts of the objective world because we cannot\\nexplain them away; they are self-evident facts and\\nmust be taken upon their own authority. If the\\nmind acts at all, and consciousness would be a\\ndeception if it did not, it must have a nature. It is\\nclear to consciousness that the mind has a nature;\\nand that it acts, whenever excited to activity, accord-\\ning to that nature.\\nAll intelligence is essentially rational, from its\\nfirst activity to the highest principles of science.\\nThe principles of reason are as necessary as is objec-\\ntive reality. The one forces itself upon our recog-\\nnition with the same force as does the other.\\nWe thus see that the principles revealed by\\nreason are as real as the facts revealed in sensation.\\nReligion is concerned with the three rational ideas,\\nGod, the world and the individual soul. Reason\\nmust consider God as the sufficient reason, or ground,\\nfor the world; and every part of the world to its\\nmost bumble part reveals God. The world, there-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTION. 23\\nfore, is only the medium for revealing God to\\nhuman consciousness. God is a necessity of reason,\\nincorporated into its system of reality. This very\\nfact that reason is driven to the idea of God makes\\nman a religious being; for it forces him to enter\\ninto relation to this being, whether the relation be\\nright or otherwise.\\nReason unassisted by Revelation would not have\\narrived at the purest conception of these principles;\\nneither would Revelation have had any power to\\nforce upon the world something which teason did\\nnot demand. It was this demand that caused\\nthe different ages of the world to make attempts\\nto construct religious systems that it might be met.\\nThey failed to meet the demand; and men have\\nrefused to recognize them. A revelation had its basis\\nin the fact that reason made its demand and was\\nunable to meet it. Reason had to pass its verdict\\nupon the inadequacy of all the old philosophical\\nsystems to satisfy such demands. Reason, having\\nmade the demand, must also declare its satisfaction\\nwith the provisions made to satisfy it; before it,\\nthe chief characteristic of the soul, can be assuaged.\\nReason has made the demand; it must also declare\\nits satisfaction. Reason declares the moral relation\\nof the soul to God, and this is its most categorical", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "24 INTRODUCTION.\\nutterance. As it declares the relation, it also\\nexpresses its satisfaction when that relation is pro-\\nperly established. Reason is put in unrest when its\\nmoral and religious demands are not met. It is that\\nreason that needs to be put to rest, and that can be\\ndone only when the relations, it categorically\\ndemands, are perfectly established.\\nThis reason, which leads us to such conclusions,\\nis one with all the faculties of the soul. The soul\\nis not a bundle of faculties that are joined together\\nby some common bond; but the soul is essentially\\none, and the various faculties are but different lines\\nof its activity. Reason is essentially present in\\nthem all. It is present in the simplest act of sensa-\\ntion, when it joins it to some other sensation, and\\nassumes a common bond for the sensations in the\\nthing itself. It is present in the feelings and\\nemotions. It is present in all the soul s impulses\\nand aspirations. It expresses itself in the goal\\ntoward which the impulses and aspirations tend.\\nFor this reason the race, even when it was most bar-\\nbarous, felt the need of being religious.\\nThe soul is constructed in such a manner, that\\nin its intellectual nature it aims for the Absolute,\\nand in his ethical no less. Religion has always been\\nthe natural outcome of the entire mental life; anc[", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "INTRODUCTION. 25\\nno amount of effort on the part of men has ever been\\nable to dethrone it permanently.\\nWe are now driven to the dilemma: either the\\nfundamental assumptions of reason are correct, and\\nare the constitutive principles of reality or man is\\nconstructed upon a lie, and all knowledge is an im-\\npossibility. If reason can be trusted, then are we\\nat home in the world of reality. If it cannot, then\\nare we deceived and cannot correct the delusion\\nsimply because we cannot trust our faculties.\\nReason imposes its demands and compels their\\nrecognition. It so orders the elements of knowledge\\nthat they serve reason in the attainment of its own\\nset ends. It brings with it its own punishment for\\nwant of fidelity to these demands, in the form of\\nrational dissatisfaction in the presence of unrealized\\nideals and compunction of conscience.\\nScepticism questions everything and wrecks\\nitself. The intellectual life, in order to be at all,\\nmust accept certain facts and data of consciousness.\\nEven unbelief is idiotic unless there is a recognized\\nfoundation for it. Speculative thought made the\\ngrave mistake of demanding that all the original\\ndata of thought must be proven by logical processes.\\nMental life is possible only when it accepts all the\\nfacts of consciousness. None must be accepted that", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "26 INTRODUCTION.\\nare not thus actually given; and none must be inter-\\npreted otherwise than consistent with themselves.\\nReason starts out with the assumption that the\\nuniverse is comprehensible, and that we are able to\\ncomprehend it. It therefore recasts all sensations in\\nsuch a way that they are comprehensible. Sensa-\\ntions are not always comprehensible. The apparent\\nmoving of a landscape looked at from a moving\\ntrain; the apparent movement of the sun around\\nthe earth are familiar examples but we put behind\\nthese irrational sensations such realities that they\\nfit into a system of rational knowledge. We read\\nthe scattered and distorted sensations in the glow of\\nthe highest rational light. The soul is thus a liv-\\ning growing organism. Reason is its life. Objec-\\ntive reality furnishes it its nutriment. The life car-\\nries with it the ideal of its growth, and this is to\\nrealize self in its perfect unity with the Absolute\\nGround of all reality.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "PART L\\nThe Conception of God and\\nHis Relation to the World,", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "RATIONAL IMPULSES.\\nReason is not a formal faculty in the sense that\\nit acts independent of any content. On the con-\\ntrary it is called into action by a content given it to\\nact upon. The objective world is related to the\\nmind by its power to produce sensations; and by\\nthis established relation between the self and the\\nexternal world reason is determined to activity; and\\nin the action it reveals its nature. Only in its oper-\\nations does it reveal its principles. Reason has a\\nnature of its own, and this nature it impresses upon\\nall its contents, and this nature it expects to find in\\na completer, even in a universal, manifestation.\\nReason is spontaneous and seeks to build up a\\nliving organism. It goes into the outside world for\\nthe nutriment it subsists on. This nutriment gives\\nit something to do; but what it does is determined\\nby its own nature. The first impulse we no-\\ntice is cognitive. Through the avenue of sensa-\\ntion it is put into the possession of color, form,\\nweight, taste, etc. It organizes these scattered sen-\\nsensations into the unity of an object. It is impelled\\n29", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "30 KJ^UGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nby its own nature to do this. It finds this object\\nan individual object, but it will not allow it to re-\\nmain such, it must be related to other objects. It\\nmust be related to other objects that are the sufficient\\nground for its existence. Reason will not rest short\\nof such an ideal. The object may be an orange.\\nThe elements have come from some source. They\\nhave not originated from nothing, for it is an axiom\\nof science, that no matter comes into existence, nor\\nis it destroyed. It will find, and previous to exper-\\nience it expects to find, that all elements present in\\nthe orange can be accounted for. They are taken\\nfrom a store of atoms scattered throughout nature in\\ndifferent shapes, forms and compositions. Reason\\nstill insists upon going further. An adequate cause\\nmust have put these elements together. And no\\nmatter what the hypothesis may be upon which this\\ncomposition is explained, whether it be the principle\\nof chemism, or vitalism, reason will not rest short\\nof an explanation. It is thus driven from one point\\nto another, finding no rest and satisfaction until it\\narrive at a cause that is itself not an event a cause\\nwhich contains the ground of its own existence.\\nThis cause IyOtze calls, The Absolute Matter of\\nFact. Reason may name it as it will, it is irre-\\nsistably driven to this goal. The chemist is handed", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "RATIONAL IMPULSES. 3 1\\na fragment of nature, he knows not yet by experi-\\nence what elements are found in that object, neither\\nin what proportion these elements are combined.\\nHe does not stop and declare it unknowable; but\\nbelieves that reason will find itself in that composi-\\ntion, and is impelled from the beginning to seek itself\\nin it. The geologist goes into the strata of rock;\\nhe may not detect any order in their arrangement\\nat the first examination; and yet he goes into them\\nwith a perfect confidence that every stratum has its\\nsufficient explanation, and relentlessly seeks until\\nit discovers its own demands in the lifeless rocks.\\nIn every department of being there are vast domains\\nyet unexplored by science; and in spite of the fact\\nthat these departments are as opaque as midnight,\\nreason ventures into them with the irresistable\\nbelief, that they must become transparent to its\\nown diligent efforts. It is not irrational to assert\\nthat belief precedes knowledge; and this belief is\\nan irresistable stimulus to knowledge. Hegel s\\nfudamental proposition was that Thought is Be-\\ning. This means that the development of logic\\nmust be the development of being. Schopenhauer\\nhas corrected this view by saying that Being is\\nnot only thought, but also will. Though it is not\\ntrue that thought is being; yet it is a fundarnenta", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "32 REUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\naxiom of science that all being is transparent to\\nthought.\\nReason carries with it the germ of its own in-\\nfinity. It is true that it is bound to its own imme-\\ndiate content, and is bound by the limits of its own\\nattainments; yet in its impulses, and in the con-\\nscious reach of its possibilities, it contains the ele-\\nments of universality. Empiricism has never yet\\nbeen able to account for this fact. Empiricism can-\\nnot expect, upon its own principles, that the events\\nof the coming day will be like the events of its past\\nexperience. This it can do only upon the assump-\\ntion, that what is once true will always be true.\\nThis principle is indeed verified by experience; but\\nfor scientific purposes, it must be projected beyond\\nthis experience. Empirisicm cannot account for its\\nown ideals, nor itself become a stimulus to effort.\\nThis can result only from the fact that the universal\\nis present in reason, and, though it may not yet\\nhave grasped the infinite reach of truth, is confident\\nby virtue of its own nature that it is the goal of its\\nstruggle.\\nThe conception that reason compels man to\\nform is of a being, though the cause of the universe\\nyet is itself caused by nothing: but is the cause of\\nits own existence. It necessarily exists. It is not", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "RATIONAL IMPULSES. 33\\nnecessary in the sense of that it is the necessary\\nconsequence of some cause, or causes. It is not a\\nnecessary being because the outcome of given forces;\\nbut it is a necessity of his rational nature. The\\nphenomenal world being given, reason demands an\\nexplanation, and is indifferent in what this explan-\\nation consists; only so, that it is sufficient to cover\\nthe facts. No matter how men aim to meet this\\nfact it must be met. Man has always been and\\nwill always be metaphysical; even though he may\\nrefuse to acknowledge the fact. The moment man\\ncomes into the possession of a rational consciousness\\nhe becomes metaphysical. Whatever may be the\\nhypothesis, or the theory with which he may account\\nfor this, this rational impulse can never be silenced.\\nThe only difference between the ordinary mind\\nand the metaphysician is, that the former accepts\\nan unreasoned satisfaction for reason, while the\\nlatter will accept only what is consistent with itself.\\nReason demands that the various principles, found\\nto explain the various departments of nature, be\\nthemselves combined and organized in an organ-\\nism, whose ideal is reason itself. This is the first\\nroot in the idea of God. Man cannot know his ignor-\\nance, without having at the same time the idea of\\na more perfect knowledge. He cannot believe in", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "34 REUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nthe intelligibility of all things, without being urged\\nto the conception of a universal reason, a reason\\nthat reveals itself in every part of the universe.\\nThis conception, though of the nature of a uni-\\nversal, is but an imperfect representation of it; for\\nthe finite is never able to grasp fully the infinite.\\nWe are, consequently, left to reason for the concep-\\ntion; and as the data in its possession enlarges\\nthrough experience, reason enlarges its conception\\nto meet completely the facts it is called upon to\\nexplain.\\nIt has been said, that because the Infinite cannot\\nbe grasped in finite thought, it must, for that rea-\\nson, be unknowable. It is true that finite com-\\nprehension only is possible to the finite mind. Only\\nwithin a narrow sphere do we discern sense quali-\\nties. When we aim to get beyond these, we are\\nconfronted by insurmountable obstacles. We can\\nsee sights and hear sounds only within limited dis-\\ntances. There may be a multitude of qualities in\\nobjects that we are not in the least related to in\\nany way.\\nThe foregoing argument is completely met in\\nwhat follows. We are concious of the finiteness of\\nour organs of sense; that their power of endurance\\nas well as their degree of service is limited; that", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "RATIONAL IMPULSES. 35\\nthere may be realms of contingent fact into\\nwhich, on account of our finiteness, we are\\nunable to penetrate: yet reason is conscious of\\nits universality in the fact of its own conscious-\\nness, that not only all actual data, but all possible\\ndata of sense must come under its own principles.\\nIt is driven forward with the firm conviction, that,\\nthough there be a thousand worlds of phenomena,\\nthey must all fall into the principles of r eason, and\\nbe organized thereby into the world of experience.\\nIf we had a million times as many sensations as we\\nnow have, reason would still claim its authority to\\norganize them all.\\nThe sensations that cause the reason to act do\\nnot necessarily spring from the outside world. They\\nmay also arise within us from subjective causes.\\nWe soon find out that we have not only objective\\nimpressions, but also subjective claims. The sub-\\nject has its instincts urging it to form certain rela-\\ntions with these objects beyond itself. We have\\nwithin us certain desires which we cannot eradicate\\nfrom our nature without destroying that nature\\nitself. We have love for kindred; we have love\\nfor knowledge we have ambition; we need sym-\\npathy. All these desires need their correlative\\nobject. There are desires and longings in us which", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "36 RKLIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nthese objects cannot satisfy. We know ourselves\\nas dependent creatures. We find within us feelings\\nof veneration, and a disposition to trust. These\\nfeelings are a perennial experience of man. Are\\nthese feelings to stand as a perpetual spur to some-\\nthing that does not exist Reason answers most\\nemphatically no! It will not rest in such purpose-\\nless being, but believes instinctively that every\\ninstinct has its correlate. While we are thus con-\\nscious of our dependence, we look for something\\nthat is independent, something that is worthy of\\nbeing a support. Man full of reverence and awe\\ncanuot rest in the worship of that which is change-\\nable and finite. He must have something that is\\nunchangeable and infinite.\\nNow in brief, the natural feelings and longings\\nof our nature impels reason to form the conception\\nof a being that is worthy of reverence and is able to\\nsupport. This is the second root in the idea of God.\\nMan is not only cognitive and emotional, but he\\nis also moral. He knows himself as an agent, and\\nis compelled to pass verdict upon the value of his\\nacts. His moral nature meets him with an impera-\\ntive, that is not conditional but categorical. He is\\nconscientious, not because he has learned it; but he\\nis so constitutionally. It is his duty to do right", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "RATIONAL IMPUI SKS. 37\\nunder any and all circumstances, not because it is\\nso revealed to him, but because it is the demand of\\nhis whole rational nature. Utilitarianism may ac-\\ncount for objective morals; but it cannot account\\nfor morality itself. We may know that certain prac-\\ntices do contribute to our prosperity and that certain\\nothers do not. We know that certain dispositions\\nare conducive to well-being and that certain others\\nare not. Utilitarianism can teach us these facts;\\nbut it cannot account for the categorical imperative.\\nPrudence can tell us to do what will advance our\\nhappiness, and to avoid those things that tend to\\ndiminish it; but it can never account for the demand\\nto do right, when there is no immediate promise of\\nwell-being, or when, as it often does, it demands a\\nsacrifice of one s dearest interests and fondest incli-\\nnations to do the right. Individuals may differ as\\nto what may constitute the right or the wrong; but\\nthe practical reason demands that the right be done\\nat all hazard, and that the wrong be avoided, no\\nmatter what its promise of gain. Kant called this\\nmoral sense The Categorical Imperative.\\nThis fact that we are moral beings causes reason\\nto assume that we are members of a moral govern-\\nment; and that at the head of the government there\\nbe a moral governor: for what authority could a", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "38 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nlaw have that was the law of nothing What force\\ncould these be in a command that came from no\\none, and was only self-conceived or imagined.\\nSuch a law would have no authority; and man\\nwould make himself a fool to submit to it. Reason\\nin claiming moral authority, and in its efforts to\\nmake good its claims, points to a person who is the\\nsource and the authority for such a command. This\\nforms the third root in the idea of God.\\nRational impulses aim for a unity of first princi-\\nples. It never rests in disorganized fragments, but\\norganizes until it has the whole system of being\\nflow from one principle.\\nThese impulses point the way toward the con-\\nception of God. Thus in human reason is contained\\ncapsulate the conception of the Infinite; although\\nat no time does it receive there its perfect expres-\\nsion. The acorn contains the pattern of the per-\\nfected and mature oak tree; though in the homoge-\\nneous substance of the germ there is neither root nor\\nbranch, neither trunk nor leaf nor bark. It carries\\nwith it the plan of the whole tree and every element,\\nthat it absorbs from the outside world, it deposits\\nwith reference to the perfected oak. Likewise rea-\\nson may be limited in its expression; but it carries\\nin it the conception of the Infinite and every element", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "RATIONAL IMPULSES. 39\\nadded to its experience it deposits with perfect\\nreference to this end. To become like the Infinite\\nis its goal. Its aim is that it may itself embrace in\\nits principles all reality. In view of the foregoing,\\nreason must declare itself a miserable falsehood if\\nit had not the Infinite as its own perfected self.\\nReason, over against the changeable phenomena,\\nrecognizes the necessity of the changeless one;\\nand coming to the conception of God, it is com-\\npelled to recognize its own relation to him. It\\ncannot escape the sense of personal responsibility.\\nWe shall hereafter notice the reason for believing\\nthe Absolute to be a person. Therefore suffice it\\nhere to say that the highest category of thought is\\npersonality; and reason, forced to put the various\\nexperiences of the individual together, feels impelled\\nto think of this being in that category of person-\\nality.\\nThese are the natural yearnings of the soul.\\nThese are the promptings of the self, that will not\\nyield to the silencing effort of human ingenuity,\\nnor to the fine spun theories of skepticism.\\nThey are perennial with the race, and have been\\nthe prompters to the great achievements in science,\\nart and civilization. These ideals of reason have\\never moved ahead of human achievement, and\\nreligion is their converging point.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "THE STRUGGLE FOR UNITY.\\nThe mind is so constructed that it naturally\\nrefers actions to personal agents, though it may\\nnot be very positive what, or who, those agents are.\\nThe religious systems of barbaric minds betray this\\npersonification to a large extent. Men witness the\\nphenomena of nature; and the actions there noticed\\nthey ascribed to personal sources. Men recognize\\npersonality in other beings like themselves, only by\\na process of inference, because these other creatures\\nact as though they were personal. The infantile\\nmind is prone to carry this impersonification to an\\nunwarranted extent; and only by careful and critical\\nobservation is it able to rectify itself. For this very\\nreason the early religions of the world were poly-\\ntheistic. Every special kind of activity must be\\nreferred to a special agent. They had not yet\\nlearned the lesson of efficient causation. Phe-\\nnomena were caused by ghosts and ghostlike fancies\\nof the mind. The sea to them was one thing, and\\nthe earth another; the mind and the heaven and the\\nastrommical bodies were wholly different things;\\nthere was no relation between them.\\n40", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "THE STRUGGLE FOR UNITY. 41\\nBut in spite of these infantile interpretations of\\nthe phenomena of nature there was a constant\\nyearning for a unitary being that could comprehend\\nall the various phenomena of nature. Xenophanes,\\nabout 576 B. C, had already at that date formed\\nthe conception that plurality was incompatible with\\nthe purer conception of deity. The best can only\\nbe one. His great mistake consisted in identify-\\ning this God with the world. This one being, he\\nsaid, is infinite and unchangeable. That which\\nthese ancient scholars saw but through a glass\\ndarkly, modern science, with its improved contriv-\\nances for observation, has brought into a clearer\\nlight. Driven by this rational instinct for unity, it\\nhas succeeded in pointing out that the multitude of\\nphenomena form a Universe.\\nIt is not in the fact that there is efficient causa-\\ntion that this unity has been made apparent, for\\nevery particular phenomenon has its particular\\ncause; it is not in the fact that there is design in\\nthe world, that there must be a unitary principle;\\nfor even design is compatible with a variety of\\ncauses; but science has demonstrated an interaction\\nbetween the different parts of the world.\\nWe are not here concerned about the full signi-\\nficance of the idea of interaction; nor are we here", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "42 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nconcerned about the significance of natural law or\\nthe implication of the idea of force. We are here\\nsimply concerned with the question, whether the\\nsubjective craving, the impulse of reason, has a\\ncorrelate in the objective world.\\nSir Isaac Newton saw an apple fall, and con-\\nceived that there might be a relation between the\\npower that caused the apple to fall and the pow-\\ner that held the moon in position. It was after-\\nward proven that these powers were identical. Not\\nonly does it hold the objects to the earth, and the\\nmoon in its position but it also keeps the earth\\nand the other planets of the solar system in their\\nrelation to the center of their system. It is univer-\\nsally believed by scientists that that power is the\\nsame throughout the entire universe. The balance\\nin man s hand weighs the most distant world by its\\ngravic effect upon the orbits of the other worlds.\\nThe spectroscope has enabled men to spell out the\\nelements that enter into the composition of the sun\\nand the multitude of stars It has brought to their\\nknowledge that the bodies, millions of miles distant,\\nare composed of the same elements that constitute\\nthe earth and the objects around us. As science\\nprogresses our conception of the universe changes.\\nMen have turned their attention to sets of phe-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "THE STRUGGLE FOR UNITY. 43\\nnomena that seemed out of relation to the known\\nworld; but science has penetrated these opaque\\nregions, and has made them transparent, and has\\npointed out their vital relationship to a system gov-\\nerned by a unitary principle.\\nReason insists upon making its demands and\\nupon enforcing its principles upon ever T element\\nof sensation. It would be impossible to conceive\\nJupiter except as related to space, and thinking of\\nthe unity of that body except through the law of\\ngravitation. It would be impossible to think of an\\nevent there except as related to a cause. In fact\\nJupiter with all his appurtenances needs a sufficient\\nexplanation.\\nThe most diverse elements in the world revealed\\nto us are matter and mind. They are so diverse\\nthat the qualities of the one are apparently contra-\\ndictory to the other. Plato discerned this fact and\\nconsidered it a hopeless dualism, and believed it\\ncould not be reconciled without a tertium quid, that\\nwas neither spirit nor matter, but partook of the\\nnature of both. Descartes met the same difficulty,\\nbut likewise saw the fact that the two interacted.\\nNeither his Occasionalism nor the ^reestab-\\nlished Harmony of Leibnitz was able to remove\\nthis difficulty. But the fact of the interaction of", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "44 REUGION A RATION AI, DEMAND.\\nthese two spheres of reality remains. Modern\\nscience looks with amazement upon the fact that\\nphysical actions conveyed to the finger tips are\\ntransformed into sensations, and expressed in terms\\nof thought, and recognizes the fact that decisions\\nof the mind are taken up by the complicated machin-\\nery of the nervous system and converted into force\\nand physical motion.\\nThese are facts which stare us in the face; and\\nthey need to be accounted for. These are elements\\nof nature and stand in the vital relationship of\\ninteraction. How can this interaction be accounted\\nfor We will pave the way for the answer by an\\nillustration. The various parts of a machine inter-\\nact and work together for a single result, because\\nthey are but parts in an embracing system, and\\nthat system is the machine. Physical science has\\nmade us familiar with the fact that the action of\\nthings depend upon their relation to other things.\\nOxygen will sustain life; it will support combus-\\ntion and in combination with different elements it\\nforms different compounds. Here we have a single\\nagent differing its action according to its relation to\\nother elements. Things can, therefore, not be con-\\nsidered independent, but are what they are only in\\nrelation to other elements. A stone would have no", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "THK STRUGGI^ FOR UNITY. 45\\nweight except in relation to the earth which attracts\\nit. Both the stone and the earth are members in\\nthe same system of gravitation. Gravic attraction\\ndoes not stand disconnected; but its influence can\\nagain be converted into heat; and heat in turn can\\nbe transformed into motion. Thus the ultimate\\nconclusion of science is that there must be a basal\\nunity. This interaction is not an irregular one;\\nbut these relations are so uniform that an action in\\none part has a commensurate effect upon the other.\\nThe blacksmith controls the shape of an iron bar by\\nthe swing of the hammer.\\nThis interaction can be accounted for only by\\nthe assumption of a unitary principle, which posits\\nthese different elements and maintains them in their\\nmutual relations. Things are not independent of\\none another. They are not what they are in them-\\nselves, but only in their interaction with each other.\\nThe mind is not mind without something to know.\\nThe subject could not be subject without an object;\\nand an object could not be object without a subject.\\nThe relationship that suggests itself to modern\\n.scholarship is that of Organic Unity. Nature\\nmakes a variety of expressions and is active in a\\nmultiplicity of manifestations; but these manifesta-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "46 REUGION A RATION AI, DEMAND.\\ntions stand in organic relation to a fundamental\\nunity.\\nIn succeeding chapters we will endeavor to point\\nout what the value of this basal unity is for religion.\\nWhat concerns us here most particularly is that\\nthere is such a basal unity, and that nature gratifies,\\nin this respect, our rational impulse.\\nThis unity is both transcendent and immanent.\\nIt is not transcendent in the sense that the parts are\\nput together, and their sum is the unit. It is trans-\\ncendent because the part depends upon the whole,\\nand is determined by the nature of the whole. The\\nprinciple is independent for it is self-existent. The\\npart on the contrary depends upon it. This princi-\\nple is immanent for the individual parts are not self-\\nsufficient, but are what they are in relation to other\\nparts and to the whole. The whole is the sufficient\\nreason for the part and never vice versa. They are\\nmoments in a system; and the system determines\\nthe existence and the relation of the individual\\nparts.\\nThe facts of transcendence and immanence are\\nbest cleared up when we get the proper conception\\nof vsubstance. Substance is not so much stuff out of\\nwhich certain individual things are made. There\\nis only one way to substance, and that is by ascer-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "the struggle for unity. 47\\ntaining what it does. The fundamental require,\\nment of the nature of a thing is that it completely\\naccounts for certain actions. The individuals are\\nnot cut off from a certain lump and then related to\\neach other. They are permeated by the same causal\\nprinciple. The supreme cause is self existent and\\nindependent and in this sense it is transcendent.\\nThe individual parts are not independent sources of\\npower, but are dynamic in their relation to one\\nanother only by being themselves made so by the\\nself sufficient dynamic principle.\\nThis truth can be illustrated by an animal organ-\\nism. The parts of such an organism derive their\\npower from forces engendered by means of chemical\\nrelations established within the system. The indi-\\nviduals are energetic only because the supreme prin-\\nciple energizes through them. The individual thing\\nis known by its action. It acts as cause and is an\\nindividual as it partakes of the nature of the ulti-\\nmate cause. The idea of stuff must be displaced\\nfrom modern thought by the idea of action. Whether\\nthis principle is free or necessitated, whether it gives\\nexpression to its entire nature, or whether there are\\npossibilities yet unrealized, do not concern us here.\\nThe unity of being may leave us in the dark as\\nto the proper conception of the individual. The", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "48 RKUGION A RAYlONAt DEMAND.\\nInfinite is not divided into individuals and after-\\nwards united again into the universal. The indi-\\nvidual is only a modification of the universal. The\\nhand, the foot, the ear, and the eye are not created\\nseparately and afterwards put together. They\\nspring from the homogeneous, and are only modifi-\\ncations of that homogeneous. Thus the interac-\\ntion can be accounted for only on the supposition\\nthat the individual interacting agents are only modi-\\nfied expressions of the comprehensive Being, in\\nwhom they all live and move and have their being.\\nWe have not yet completed our conception of\\nthis first principle. We have only established its\\nunity. But with its unity hangs together its abso-\\nluteness. It does not divide its domain with other\\nprinciples. There is no room for such. There is\\nno rational evidence for another. It is absolute for\\nit is underived, dependent upon no other ground.\\nIt is ultimate. Science or philosophy can never go\\nback of it.\\nThe relation of the particular to the Infinite is\\nclearly put by Prof. Edward Caird in the Evolu-\\ntion of Religion Vol. I. P. 109. He there\\nstates a general principle of knowledge. He says:\\nWe always go upon certain general principles in\\nour consciousness of particular objects, and if we", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "THE STRUGGLE FOR UNITY. 49\\ncould not turn the light of consciousness upon these\\ngeneral principles, if we could not define the uni-\\nversal we use, we could never come to know any-\\nthing To know is simply to carry back\\nthe particular to the universal and finally to the\\nhighest universal through tvhich everything else is\\nknown. We have now found the Infinite in the\\nhighest universal, the general principle, that em-\\nbraces every particular. We must always view the\\nfinite in connection with the Infinite; We must\\nalways think of the parts beyond the part, and of\\nthe parts be}^ond that part, until we get to the whole\\nthat has no part beyond itself, that is not limited by\\nanything else. That is the Absolute.\\nI will again cite Prof. Edward Caird, Evolu-\\ntion of Religion, P. no. Religion is only a\\nhigher form of that tendency which in science leads\\nus to seek the universal beyond the particular, the\\none beyond the many. Thus in our first natural\\nview of the world, we are apt to take it as a collec-\\ntion of individual things and beings, each of which\\nis centered in itself or has only accidental relations\\nwith the rest. But science in the strict sense does\\nnot begin until we realize that these supposed inde-\\npendent individuals are nothing apart from their\\nrelations to other objects from which we distinguish", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "50 RBUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nthem; that, therefore, their distinction and division\\nfrom each other is relative, and that in order to see\\nthem as they are, we must regard them as parts of\\na whole, differences in a unity, particular manifesta-\\ntions of a general principle, which is at once the\\nsource of their distinction and of their relation to\\neach other.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "INSUFFICIENCY OF MATERIALISM.\\nThe first effort made to solve the great problem\\nof the origin of all things was materialistic. When\\nmen first began to study nature sufficiently to learn\\nthe fact of efficient causation, they supposed that all\\nthe natural forces were resident in matter. Thales,\\na Grecian philosopher, who lived about 585 B. C,\\nbelieved that all things had their origin in matter.\\nHe did not conceive of the necessary distinction be-\\ntween matter and spirit. Materialistic theories in\\nsome form or another were in vogue for some time,\\nand they were supposed to explain all phenomena;\\nbut when men began to investigate phenomena bet-\\nter and began to weigh the theories more carefully\\nthey found them wanting. These materialistic\\ntheories have again and again been repeated under\\ndifferent forms. As a result of modern science,\\nthat has succeeded in tracing the law of cause and\\neffect into so man y departments of our knowledge,\\nmaterialism has revived in a more scientific form.\\nMany phenomena that had formerly been attributed\\nto supernatural agencies have been brought within\\n5i", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "52 RELIGION A RATION AI, DEMAND.\\nreach of natural agents and are perfectly explicable\\nthereby.\\nMaterialism has this in its favor that it is per-\\nfectly simple. In this respect it answers the pur-\\npose of a perfect hypothesis. It also satisfies the\\nrational demand for unity. It is its simplicity that\\nhas caused it to gain influence as a hypothesis.\\nScience has disclosed the fact that laws do not exist\\naside from things but in them; and that force does\\nnot exist in voids, but in the objects themselves.\\nIt has discovered that life does not exist by itself\\nbut always in some particle of protoplasm. It has\\ndiscovered that mental phenomena do take place in\\nthe complicated structure called the brain. Science\\nhas discovered that any state of a developing thing\\nis accounted for by the state immediately preceding\\nit. It says as yet it is impossible for the microscope\\nto discern the motion of the brain required to make\\nit a rational explanation of thought, but this is due\\nto the imperfection of the instrument rather than\\nto the imperfection of the materialistic theory.\\nMaterialism says that the heavenly bodies hold\\nthemselves in position by virtue of their gravic\\nforce, and, consequently, we need no other power or\\nprinciple to account for the order of Heaven. The\\nmysteries of chemism are explained by the atoms", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "INSUFFICIENCY OF MATERIALISM. 53\\nand by their affinity for one another; consequently\\nwe do not need any spiritual power to account for\\nthese phenomena. It is true that we cannot yet\\nsee that chemism accounts for the complicated\\nphenomena of life.\\nIrving protoplasm has not been developed in the\\nchemical laboratory; but science has been so suc-\\ncessfull in driving from the skies so many spirits\\nand spectres, and has found the efficient powers for\\nthose phenomena in matter itself, to such an extent,\\nthat it feels itself warranted, upon the strength of\\nthese discoveries, to project the conclusion that\\nmaterial forces will yet account for phenomena\\nwhich they cannot as yet explain. Matter will some\\nday, under the manipulation of a skillful chemist,\\nbe able to evolve the mysterious phenomena of life.\\nHe is not yet able to trace the molecular movements\\nthat take place in the brain as a condition of thought.\\nYet from the base line of what it has done the ven-\\nture is made to predict that under the carefully ad-\\njusted microscope some day these motions will be\\ndiscovered that will amply account for all phenom-\\nena of thought. The truth of materialism consists\\nin its monistic conception, and in the fact that it\\nrecognizes no laws or powers to be real but those of\\nthings themselves, that forces do not exist in voids", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "54 REUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nbut in things themselves. But it makes an egre-\\ngious blunder when it excludes all spiritual elements\\nand aims to find matter sufficient to account for all\\npheno tnena. There is a unity of principle demanded\\nbut it remains to be seen whether materialism has\\ndiscovered the principle.\\nMaterialism starts out with a pronounced dual-\\nism, for even it must be conscious of matter. It\\nstarts out with consciousness and matter; and, after\\nit has discovered matter, it makes it the sole princi-\\nple of all knowledge and being. The first great\\nblunder materialism makes is that it holds conscious-\\nness inactive and that matter as given in conscious-\\nness is a self-sufficient entity. It is this blunder\\nwhich proves destructive to the whole superstruc-\\nture. Our idea of matter is derived from experi-\\nence; but experience is impossible without a mind,\\na consciousness, to begin with. All action upon\\nthe senses is a result of motion, and materialism con-\\nsiders it motion but motion is not sensation. When\\none end of a log is scratched with a pin it sends a\\nquiver through the whole log, but at the other end\\nit is a quiver still. Passing through the log does\\nnot transform it into anything else. The log formed\\nno idea of the pin nor of the play of molecules in\\nitself. It requires a different substratum to convert", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "INSUFFICIENCY OF MATERIALISM. 55\\nmotion into sensation. The vibration of the ether\\nacts upon the retina of the eye. This motion is\\nconveyed through the optic nerve to the visual\\ncenter in the brain; and there, in the dark cavern\\nof the skull, this motion is transformed into the\\nsensation of light. Molecular motion in the air\\nstrikes the tympanum of the ear and wanders\\nthrough the labyrinthian canals into the auditory\\nnerve and passes on to the center of the brain, with\\nwhich it is connected, and is at last converted into\\nthe sensation of sound. These motions suddenly\\nlose their characteristics as motions and are con-\\nverted into light and sound. Science must account\\nfor the transformation. Is there a material sub-\\nstratum to account for this transformation It has\\nnot yet been found. These sensations are not sen-\\nsations absolutely, but are sensations in conscious-\\nness. In other words, they are the experiences of\\na consciousness. We know things by the sensations\\nthey produce in us. Height and sound and resistance\\nare our experiences; and they are the experience to\\naccount for which we assume the thing. The thing\\nis the hypothesis by which we account for sensa-\\ntions. It is therefore not a fact that mentality is\\nthe outcome and flower of material forces: it is\\nrather the fact that matter is in consciousness and", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "56 RKlylGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nnever out of it. Kant in his Critik of Pure Rea-\\nson, says that mind and mental categories are the\\nessential conditions of experience. Sensations are\\nbrought to the mind; they may have arisen from\\nmotion; but they are no longer expressed in terms\\nof motion, but in terms of mentality. These are\\nthe terms of consciousness in which they appear.\\nThe idea of space is necssary for the conception of\\nmatter, for the reason that it is one of the chief\\ncharacteristics of matter that it occupies space. It\\nis, however, a fact that the idea of space is not\\nderived through the senses, but is an intuition of\\nthe mind. The idea of space is a necessary one, for\\nthe reason it is a mental condition of perception.\\nWhen you ask the materialist what he means by\\nthe qualities of matter, he will tell you that solidity\\nis a quality of matter. You ask him what he means\\nby solidity and he will reply that it is ability to\\noccupy space. But space is a mental intuition.\\nHe will tell you that matter is impenetrable. You\\nask him what he means by the impenetrability of\\nmatter. He will answer that it is the power of a\\nbody to resist the occupancy of a portion of space\\nwhile it occupies it. Again he translates a material\\nquality into terms of mentality; for nowhere but in\\nconsciousness and from conscious efforts do we get", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "INSUFFICIENCY OF MATERIALISM. 57\\nthe idea of power, or force. So all the qualities of\\nmatter are activities of thought. Force, law, unity,\\nmultiplicity identity, difference, cause, effect and\\nsubstance are all terms of mental life and are pre-\\nsuppositions of all material science.\\nThe materialist speaks of atoms as the constitu-\\nent part of matter. Out of these atoms and the\\nforces couched in them he constructs very readily\\nthe multitude of worlds. But, what is the atom\\nHe says that atom has weight, that means that it\\nstands in relation to gravitation. It has chemical\\naffinity that means that it stands in certain relation\\nto other atoms. These are relations and only\\ndescribe what these atoms do. The materialist can\\ndescribe them only in terms of causality. Again,\\nyou asks him what he means by the atom, or what\\nit itself is, and he will tell you that he never saw\\none. It is only a necessary assumption, a logical\\nnecessity to explain certain actions bj\\\\ So we must\\nconclude that the constituent parts of matter are of\\nmental origin again. This does not prove that mat-\\nter is a delusion but that it is the action of the\\nobjective world and its product in consciousness.\\nFurthermore, our idea of matter is not made up\\nfrom single sensations. These sensations are as\\ndisconnected as light and sound, as touch and taste,", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "58 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nand yet these qualities are united in a single idea.\\nFor only as they become united do they become\\nobjects of knowledge. Impressions are identified.\\nAtoms acting one way are classified together. Con-\\nstantly recurring actions of the same kind are put\\ninto the same category. But whence comes the idea\\nof identity and difference It is a mental term and\\napplied only as the mind detects relationship. And\\nsuch relationships are the fundamental assumptions\\nof the scientists. Without a discernment of these\\nrelations all experience would be an everchanging\\nchase of phenomena; there would be no relation\\nbetween the atoms themselves or between the atoms\\nand the observer. Not only is there not science\\nwithout mind, but there is no atom of matter with-\\nout elements of mentality. To ask what matter is\\noutside of consciousness is to ask a hopeless ques-\\ntion, one that will never find a solution. We are\\nfamiliar only with the contents of our consciousness.\\nWe deal with our ideas, our conceptions, in fact\\nwith our experiences. This is sufficient to indicate\\nunder what great misconceptions materialism carries\\non its vain boastings. As a conclusion to this part\\nof the discussion I want to cite the words of Lotze,\\nOutlines of Metaphysics by Ladd P. 112. We\\ncome back to the view now taken for granted by", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "INSUFFICIENCY OF MATFRIRIJSM. 59\\nphysics; namely, every volume filled up of matter\\nconsists of an infinite number of real beings, which\\nin themselves have no extension, but which by\\nmeans of their intellectual relations to one another\\nprescribe places in space that are merely mathe-\\nmatical points; and these by means of the sum of\\nall their reciprocal actions effectuate both extension\\nin general and also the form, cohesion, and force of\\nresistance that belongs to the extended whole.\\nIt thus appears that thought and intelligence\\nenter into the very being of matter itself. Matter\\nis not self-sufficient. It can have no existence\\naside from mind; it itself cannot account for\\nthought which is the necessary condition for its\\nexistence.\\nThere are also phenomena which differ from\\nthose usually ascribed to matter. The difference is\\nnot so much quantitative as qualitative. If the\\ndifferences were quantitative, an increased action of\\none class of phenomena might possibly cause them\\nto pass over into another class. When we pass into\\nthe organic kingdom we come to a list of phenomena\\nwhich gravic force and chemism do not, in fact can-\\nnot, account for. Materialism, however, says that\\nscience has succeeded in removing so many cobwebs\\nfrom the sky and has reduced so many complex", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": "6o RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nphenomena to some simple principle, that some day,\\nin the laboratory of the diligent scientist, chemism\\nwill account for life. Mechanical and chemical\\nforces assert the same quality in the most minute\\nparticles of matter as they do in the greatest mass\\nand the strength of the quality can be measured by\\nthe quantity of the mass. But quantitative changes\\ndo not account for qualitative. There is a difference\\nbetween organized and unorganized matter; and this\\ndifference needs to be accounted for. The chemist\\nmay produce the chemical compounds similar to\\nprotoplasm but he cannot make it throb with life.\\nThe chemist may think that he understands the\\nnature of the organic cell; but it is only the lifeless\\ncell that he analyzes. The chemical and mechanical\\nforces in nature have not yet been made to account\\nfor the cell. Whenever we meet a new set of phe-\\nnomena we must enlarge our conception of the first\\nprinciple sufficiently to account for it. To properly\\naccount for the living cell we need an activity not\\nmanifested in the inorganic world. After all the\\nexperiments of the biologists, their result do not\\ncontradict the principle, Life only from the liv-\\ning. The living cell has an art of combining ele-\\nments into certain active forms, which no scientist\\npretends to have. Here is indeed a set of phe-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "INSUFFICIENCY OF MATERIALISM. 6 1\\nnomena that reason needs to account for before it\\ncan rest.\\nOrganic substances derhe their name from the\\nfact they are organized into systems. An organism\\nis a unitary system. Physical masses are produced\\nby the addition of particle to particle. The addition\\ndoes not change the nature, or quality, of ttie mass.\\nA cubic foot of gas does not differ qualitatively from\\na cubic centimeter. A multiplication of the latter\\nwill produce the former. A stone is composed of\\nmatter added from the outside, and every particle\\nis but a repetition of the other particles. This is\\nnot true in the case of an organism. In the volume\\nof gas every part is as perfect as the whole in the\\nstone every particle is as perfect as the mass. The\\ngas might be divided into different quantities, and\\nevery quantity, no matter how small, still has every\\nquality of the undivided volume. The parts of the\\nstone have exactly the same nature as the undivided\\nmass. It is vastly different with an organism. The\\norganism is arranged with reference to a unity.\\nThe different parts are co-ordinated with reference\\nto a certain end. The homogeneous mass in the\\ncell becomes differentiated into a multiplicity of\\norgans and functions. The cells continue to mul-\\ntiply and to remultiply, but always with reference", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "62 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nto a definite plan. The cells in a germ will divide\\nand multiply to form the leaf and stem and root.\\nThere is no reason why force, if it were not directed,\\nshould not exhaust itself in one part of the plant\\nalone and not in a harmonious development of all\\nthe parts but, of course, that would not mean\\norganization but self-destruction, for all parts of\\nthe plant are necessary. There is no reason why\\nforce, if it were not directed, should stop the multi-\\nplication of cells when a certain size is reached.\\nUndirected force can not account for the fact that\\nanalogous parts of the same specie are always uni-\\nform, and that they adhere to the same plan age\\nafter age. There is no reason in force alone, and it\\nis force into which matter ultimately resolves itself\\naccording to the materialist, why a cat should have\\nfour paws, or why the human hand should have\\nfour fingers and one thumb. It must be apparent\\nto any careful observer that the parts are always\\narranged with reference to a unity. The parts can-\\nnot be severed from the whole without destroying\\nthe unity. The whole gives value to the individual\\npart; and the parts are absolutely purposeless with-\\nout the unity of the whole.\\nThere is another point in connection with the\\norganism that needs to be considered. It is that", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0066.jp2"}, "67": {"fulltext": "INSUFFICIENCY OF MATERIALISM. 63\\nthe organism is self-sustained. It is not built up\\nby an extraneous agent, but is built up from with-\\nin. The original cell contains within it the plan of\\nthe whole organism. It absorbs nourishment from\\nthe outside world. It does not deposit it as the\\nparticles are deposited on the surface of the stone\\nbut the absorbed nourishment is transformed into\\nthe likeness of its own protoplasm. This trans-\\nforming power is the chief characteristic of this\\norganic chemist, who is able to convert dead matter\\ninto living tissue. When particles are added to the\\nstone, the stone makes no stipulations as to how\\nthey should be deposited. It is otherwise with life.\\nIt does not allow matter to come in as it is, nor to\\nbe deposited in a lump, but it m\u00c2\u00abist be deposited,\\nafter it is transformed according to the requirements\\nof the whole organism. In the animal organism it\\ndeposits certain elements at a certain place and forms\\nbone, certain others at another place and stretches\\na nerve fiber, and all this with reference to a single\\nplan. The constructed organism is a perfect mech-\\nanism; but the mechanic is immanent in the organ-\\nism itself. The organism injured and the whole\\norganism reacts upon the injury and removes the\\ndifficulty. The whole organism was constructed\\nby processes intelligent in every part.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0067.jp2"}, "68": {"fulltext": "64 REUGION A RATION AX DEMAND.\\nA new set of phenomena appears when we rise\\ninto the sphere of sensation and thought. The\\nmaterialist says that motion can be converted into\\nheat, and the amount of heat produced is equivalent\\nto the amount of mechanical energy expended in its\\nproduction. Motion can be converted into electri-\\ncity and elctricity reconverted into motion. The\\none is an equivalent of the other. The fact, how-\\never, is that motion and heat and electricity are oHy\\ndifferent forms of one and the same thing. They\\nare all estimated and expressed in terms of force.\\nThe external agent acts upon the nerve ends and\\nputs the nerves into a certain state. This action is\\ntransmitted along the nerve fiber to its own peculiar\\ncenter. The external agency is force. The tension\\nof the nerves is force. But that force is suddenly\\ntranslated into something that is not force. The\\nnervous system is a closed circuit. Energy coming\\nin through the sensory tracts is transmitted through\\nthe motor tracts into the outer world again. No\\nenergy is lost in sensation. The force in the nerv-\\nous system is not diminished by the fact of con-\\nsciousness. But while the energy passes through\\nthe nervous system it is interpreted in terms of con-\\nsciousness. Sensation is a new set of phenomena.\\nThese terms of force are expressed in terms of men-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0068.jp2"}, "69": {"fulltext": "INSUFFICIENCY OF MATERIALISM. 65\\ntality. The qualities of matter could not account\\nfor the fact of life, and now it is staggered by an-\\nother set of phenomena. These phenomena are not\\nquantitatively but qualitatively diverse from those\\nordinarily manifested by matter. Sensations are\\nnot mere expression of force. There is no known\\nmaterial process by which the motion of ether is\\ntransformed into light, or the molecular motion of\\nthe air into sound. Something beside material\\nmotion must be assumed to account for these phe-\\nnomena.\\nSensation is not perception. A variety of sensa-\\ntions are united and joined into the unity of a percep-\\ntion. I,ight and sound, touch and taste, are united\\nin the perception of an organ. The different mo-\\ntion giving rise to these different sensations go to\\ndifferent parts of the brain, as is proved by the later\\nresults of neurology. These different nerve centers\\nare specific in their action; yet, nevertheless, the\\nactivity of the different nerve centers is combined\\ninto the unity of a single perception. The different\\nsensations meet in the unity of consciousness. The\\ndifferent atoms of matter are united into the com-\\nplex unity of an organism; the simple elements of\\nsensation are united into the complex unity of a per-\\nception; and the individual objects of perception are", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0069.jp2"}, "70": {"fulltext": "66 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nunited into the unity of a world. This unification is\\nthe result of a spiritual process. Divisibility is not\\nincompatible with the nature of matter. A material\\nmass may be divided indefinitely. The mind, on\\nthe contrary, is not at home in disjointed variety\\nit must have unity, and, consequently, in the diver-\\nsity of material and physical phenomena it is in\\nconstant and hopeful search for unity. Were it not\\nfor this unitary principle, all the phenomena of\\nnature would be in a desultory and unconnected\\nstate of flux. A log may have a sound wave run\\nthrough it; but the log is unconscious of the wave\\nand preserves not the fact. The action is lost and\\nno record is made of it. Without a unitary principle\\nin man, the unity and the preservation of human\\nexperience could not be accounted for.\\nComparison is not the product of material but of\\nimmaterial action. Action in different cells of the\\nbrain is not brought into unity by the contiguity of\\nthe cells. They can only be accounted for by a\\nrelating mind. The contents of the different cells\\nmust be comprehended by a single principle before\\na comparison between the two can be made. A\\nblock of marble cannot be compared with a block of\\nwood unless some unitary being comprehends both\\nin the same act. Thus it must be apparent that", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0070.jp2"}, "71": {"fulltext": "INSUFFICIENCY OF MATERIALISM. 67\\nthought cannot be accounted for by the forces of\\nmere matter, because matter itself is indifferent to\\nthe attributes of weight and quality and relation-\\nship. These qualities are present only to a single\\nbeing that can bring different objects together into\\nthe unity of a single relationship.\\nThe same is true with memory. Memory is the\\ncomprehension in consciousness of a fact not now\\npresent to gather with the fact that it occurred in\\nconsciousness under different circumstances and in\\na different connection. It not only comprehends\\nthe two facts, but it also makes a comparison; and\\nthe present image is declared to be a facsimile of an\\nimage actually in consciousness under different rela-\\ntions. A being able to hold both the previous\\nexperience and the mentally reproduced image of it,\\nin one and the same act of comprehension, is neces-\\nsary to explain this phenomena.\\nThus, for a variety of reasons, it becomes evident\\nthat material forces cannot account for all the phe-\\nnomena of nature. The fact of this failure natur-\\nally drove philosophers into the opposite extreme to\\nsee whether they could not be explained by Subjec-\\ntive Idealism. This question will be considered in\\nthe next chapter.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0071.jp2"}, "72": {"fulltext": "SUBJECTIVE IDEALISM INADEQUATE.\\nIf materialism will not account for the phe-\\nnomena of the world because it cannot account for\\nitself, then perhaps subjective idealism will do it.\\nReason cannot rest in a dualism. It demands unity of\\nprinciple. When Kant reacted upon sensationalism,\\nhe showed that mind had an activity of its own, and\\nthat it was the active mind that constructed the\\nworld of phenomena. He demonstrated that the\\nunifying activity of consciousness, the ideals of\\nspace and time, and the categories of the under-\\nstanding are necessary conditions for the experience\\nof a phenomenal world. It was the phenomenal\\nworld that alone could be known; for it only could\\nbe brought within the forms of mental life. The\\nThing-in-itself, he said, could not be known.\\nWhile he believed this Thing-in-itself to be a\\nrational necessity; yet it can have no value for the\\nmental life; because mental life can deal with phe-\\nnomena only. This thing in itself is outside of its\\nreach.\\nThis foreign Thing-in-itself was a thorn in\\n68", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0072.jp2"}, "73": {"fulltext": "SUBJECTIVE IDEALISM INADEQUATE. 69\\nthe eyes of Fichte. He thought, if there was such\\na thing, it must be knowable. If it is not able to\\nstand in relation to the thinking subject, we have\\nno right to give it objective reality, then it is a\\ncreation of the subject itself. While materialism\\nemphasized one principle of the dualism Subjective\\nIdealism emphasized the other. Now, if the indi-\\nvidual subject with its own activity alone can\\naccount for all the phenomena of the world, it is\\nsupreme and has no need of going further in search\\nof the first principle. Atheism would be the\\nnatural result.\\nIt will not require much effort on our part to\\nshow that Subjective Idealism is not adequate to\\naccount for all the facts of the world of experience.\\nThe thinking self carries within it the firm convic-\\ntion that there are other individuals, which have an\\nequal claim upon reality with himself, and that he\\nstands in a social relation to them. This belief is\\nso firmly rooted that we could as easily get away\\nfrom ourselves as to get away from it. If these\\nindividuals were our own creation, regardless of\\nobjective fact, we might have them as we pleased,\\nfor nothing but the subject itself determines the\\nconception. The fact is that the individuals differ\\nfrom one another and even from the subject con-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0073.jp2"}, "74": {"fulltext": "70 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nceiving thein. This difference is often so great that\\nthere is an actual opposition between the conceiving\\nsubject and the conceived objective individuals.\\nSomething must determine the subject to conceive\\nthe object differently than its own interests would\\ndemand.\\nIt is also a fact that the individual subject\\nbelieves itself capable of entering into communion\\nwith these other individuals. The subject expresses\\nhis thoughts to them; and they in turn express\\ntheirs to him. This consciousness of other indi-\\nviduals and this fact of their communion with each\\nother needs a rational explanation; and the onty\\nexplanation sufficient to account for it is the exist-\\nence of other individuals and the power of commun-\\nication with one another.\\nNow there is a community of spirits and each\\nspirit forms its own world; and it is through the\\nobjects of the outside world that this communion\\ntakes place. If the individual subject is the creator\\nof his own world, it would only be a natural conse-\\nquence that the worlds be as different as are the\\nindividuals creating them. Each world would be\\nthe self-determied state of the thinking subject;\\nand it would be impossible to find any point of con-\\ntact between them. In order that commuication", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0074.jp2"}, "75": {"fulltext": "SUBJECTIVE IDEALISM INADEQUATE. 7 1\\nbetween individuals may be possible the individual\\nmust use symbols that are known to each other.\\nThe symbols cannot be individual imaginations;\\nbut they must have objective existence for all.\\nThe world of symbols must be a common world in\\nwhich all the individuals live and move and have\\ntheir being.\\nIt is evident that neither materialism nor Sub-\\njective Idealism meet the necessary conditions for\\nbeing an adequate hypothesis for the explanation\\nof all things. The one doing jutice to the material\\nside of natural phenomena fails to account for their\\nmental side and even fails to account for itself.\\nLife, thought, will and conciousness cannot be\\naccounted for by the one; and the objective, the\\ncommon, world cannot be accounted for by the\\nother. And these are facts and convictions which\\ncannot be denied, or explained away. Both views\\nhave elements of truth in them. Matter, its forces\\nand laws are facts; and science and philosophy must\\npay them due respect. Mental activity is also a\\nfact. The individual spirit is an actual existence.\\nAs an existence it acts and has principles, or laws,\\nfor its own activity\\nWere we to stop here we would be merged into\\na hopeless dualism, matter on the one side and mind", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0075.jp2"}, "76": {"fulltext": "72 REUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\non the other. Bach side attempted to bring about\\na reconciliation by denying the other side, and failed\\nin the attempt. Stern facts, undeniable, stared them\\nin the face, and put their bold theories to shame.\\nMatter we have found could not be the absolute\\nprinciple for matter is only matter to a thinking\\nconsciousness. It is itself a result of mentality.\\nIrresistibly we are driven to a principle that is able\\nto comprehend both sets of phenomena and to bring\\nthem into an organic relationship. We must have\\na first principle that comprehends both and makes\\nthe two sets but different phases of itself. These\\ntwo sets of phenomena are not independent. They\\ndo not stand by themselves alone. They interact.\\nAnd this fact of their interaction has led philoso-\\nphers to adopt the phrase, which is so suggestive,\\nand so eminently descriptive of the relationship\\nbetween them, Organic Unity. An organism is\\naccounted for by a single principle. That single\\nprinciple builds up organs that are distinct from one\\nanother The hand is in one sense distinct from\\nthe foot, and the heart is distinct from the stomach\\nand yet these distinct organs co-operate in the unity\\nof the organism. They are necessary parts of the\\nwhole and each serves in the completeness of the\\nunity. The whole must be in every part and the", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0076.jp2"}, "77": {"fulltext": "SUBJECTIVE IDEALISM INADEQUATE. 73\\nparts must be in the whole. Unity is deeper than\\na mere classification of similars. Like parts must\\nbe dissimilar in order to be distinguishable; yet\\nthey must be the expression of the same principle\\nin order to be identical. The parts are not merely\\ncomponent parts; they are parts related in the unity\\nof a single end. The root and the stem and the\\nleaf serve but one purpose. The parts are diversi-\\nfied but they are all related in an organic unity.\\nThe parts are not thrown together like stones in a\\nheap; they are not joined together mechanically by\\nsome external agency; they are the varied expres-\\nsion of the one thing. The organism exists in its\\nparts and the parts are different manifestations of\\nthe same whole.\\nIn like manner are the two sets of phenomena but\\ndifferent phases of one and the same thing. The\\nsubject is subject only with referencee to the object;\\nand the object is object only with reference to a\\nsubject. These two elements are distinguished in\\nconsciousness; and yet in the unity of consciousness\\nthey are one. This comprehension of the particu-\\nlars in a universal is called organic. Subject and\\nobject are not brought together mechanically as a\\ncamera is brought into the presence of the object to\\nbe photographed; but it is a unity in which neither", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0077.jp2"}, "78": {"fulltext": "74 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nis without the other. A mechanical relation is one\\nestablished by casual contact, and is materialistic\\nfrom beginning to end. A material object would\\nrequire a material subject. An object to be photo-\\ngraphed would need a blank surface upon which the\\nimage could be stamped. A material object cannot\\ninteract with non-spatial, or spiritual, being This\\ntruth was discovered by Plato, and wa^ the great\\ndifficulty ivith the sensational theory. The sensa-\\ntional theory views the objects of the external world\\nas standing in relation to an organism, and the\\nobjects acting upon the nervous system of such an\\norganism produce conscious states. The conscious\\nstates are known but the objects producing them\\nare unknown and unknowable. This theory put-\\nting the subject and object as material objects in\\nindifferent contact is suicidal. It starts out with\\nmatter but is compelled to return and declare that\\nmatter in unknowable. Prof. Morris in Kant s\\nCritique of Pure Reason, p. 19, has well said:\\nThe real objective truth of materialism is found\\nnot in the doctrine that calls itself materialism, but\\nin Idealism. Matter is expressed in terms of men-\\ntality. It is not outside of consciousness, but\\ninside, that it is found. It is an object of thought\\nand must be expressed in thought terms. There is", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0078.jp2"}, "79": {"fulltext": "SUBJECTIVE IDEALISM INADEQUATE. 75\\na living forceful spiritual relation between these\\nterms in consciousness; for the reason, that self-\\nconsciousness and objective consciousness are pre-\\nsented as intrinsically one. This organic unity is\\npossible only by means of a universal principle\\nactive in both and comprehending them.\\nThe relation of subject and object is not a\\nmechanico-sensible one, in which the members meet\\nin an indifferent manner. The relation is one of\\nactivity. Even the materialist, who emphasizes\\nthe objective reality and wants to cull out the sub-\\njective as of little value, resolves matter into force,\\nand thus concedes the spiritual basis of reality.\\nScience explains phenomena in terms of causation.\\nA phenomena is considered explained when it can\\nbe referred to some principle accounting for its\\nexistence; and science knows no other principle to\\nexplain the facts of the world by them than the\\nprinciple of causation. Causation is activity, and\\nactivity is spiritual. Matter is inert, it moves only\\nas it is moved. This moving force must be outside\\nof itself. That which moves matter must be self-\\nactive and cannot be characterized by inertia, one of\\nthe chief qualities of matter. Consciousness cannot\\nbe accounted for except by an activity on the part\\nof the subject and object in an energetic relation-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0079.jp2"}, "80": {"fulltext": "76 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nship. And this relationship points to a unitary-\\nprinciple which establishes it. The object points\\nto one set of phenomena, and the subject points to\\nthe other; but the two stand in such a relationship\\nthat one points to the other and either is what it is\\non account of the other and because they are thus\\nintimately related they point to a principle higher\\nthan either, higher than either because the explana-\\ntion of both, because the relationship between them\\nis established by it.\\nConsciousness without subject and object would\\nbe impossible. It needs a conscious subject and a\\nconscious subject needs a conscious object; and the\\nrelationship of the two demands a fundamental sub-\\nstratum for both, of which the two are but different\\nphases of activity. The inner and the outer experi-\\nences are but the different organs of the one essen-\\ntial being. This is the unitary being toward which\\nreason points, and which reason demands as a satis-\\nfaction of itself.\\nThis is the conclusion of human intelligence\\npushed to its natural results and in that principle\\nalone there is rest. Hither we must follow the\\ndirections of our reason to the Absolute and find\\nrest, or we will abide in the disappointing embrace", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0080.jp2"}, "81": {"fulltext": "SUBJECTIVE IDEALISM INADEQUATE. 77\\nof irrationality; for it is the fool who saith in his\\nheart there is no God.\\nWe have now arrived at the idea of the abso-\\nlute, the unitary principle in which the two\\nsets of experience are held in an organic unity.\\nWe have found that this First Principle cannot\\nbe material; for the material cannot account for the\\nspiritual phenomena. We have found that all mat-\\nter must be expressed in terms of mentality. All\\nmatter has in it from first to last spiritual elements.\\nAnd this leads us to the firm conclusion that the\\nfundamental being is spiritual. It is therefore not\\nsubjective Idealism but the Absolute Spirit, that\\nreason is compelled to assume. There is an inside\\nand an outside world; but the two are but different\\nexpressions of the One. As we look into the differ-\\nent departments of nature we shall see what attri-\\nbutes must be assumed as present in this absolute\\nunity to account for the diversity of phenomena. It\\nwould be infidelity to the scientific method to neg-\\nlect any set of phenomena or to misinterpret them.\\nThe phenomena must be taken without addition or\\nsubtraction and the Absolute must be adequate to\\nexplain them all.\\nThe Absolute must be conceived as having the\\nsufficient reason for his own being in itself. It can-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0081.jp2"}, "82": {"fulltext": "78 RKIvIGION A RATIONAL DKMAND.\\nnot be matter; for matter is inert and an absolute\\nmaterial mass could never have developed into any-\\nthing. It would have to remain unchanged for the\\nreason that, it being the original datum, and being\\nabsolute, there was nothing outside of itself that\\ncould determine it to act. As the absolutely self-\\nexistent, it must be the absolutely self-active, and\\nself- activity is always spiritual.\\nIn the succeeding chapters of the first book, we\\nshall endeavor to show what must be the contents\\nof our conception of the Absolute. All particulars\\nmust find their explanation in the universal; and\\nthe universal expresses its nature in the particulars.\\nThe nature of plant life is known only by the form\\nwhich it constructs. The form is the revelation of\\nthe formative principle. Thus the Absolute finds\\nway to the human intelligence through the various\\navenues of its revelations. In it all the differences\\nare dissolved into an eternal unity. There is no\\ncausative principle aside from it. It, being the all\\nin all, is responsible for the different parts of nature.\\nThey are its manifestations. It reveals itself in all\\nbut perfectly in none, for the reason that the whole\\ncan never be fully pictured in any part. The Abso-\\nlute can never express its absoluteness in finite\\nmanifestations.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0082.jp2"}, "83": {"fulltext": "THE ABSOLUTE AS INFINITE.\\nObjections have been made to the knowability\\nof the Absolute. It is said if the Absolute is abso-\\nlute he must stand out of all relation to things, and\\nconsequently to the knowing subject. If it is out\\nof relation to the knowing subject it must be un-\\nknowable. There is nothing in the idea of the\\nAbsolute that prevents it from acting: as spirit it is\\npure activity, for a spirit is known only as activity.\\nThere is no reason why it should, in order to pre-\\nserve its absoluteness, be severed from its own\\nactions.\\nWe mean by absolute that which stands in no\\nnecessary relation to anything else. It is absolute\\nbecause self-existent.\\nIt is just so when we touch upon the question of\\ninfinity. Infinite means unlimited by any other\\nbeing. It has been objected that if the First Prin-\\nciple be infinite then it must be able to act in all\\ndirections; and the irrational would be just as\\nnecessary as its rational mode of procedure. As\\na spirit it acts. As an infinite spirit it has no\\n79", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0083.jp2"}, "84": {"fulltext": "80 R3UGI0N A RATIONAL, DEMAND.\\nrestraints imposed from without; but, as an infinite\\nspirit, it follows its own directions. A limitation\\nin this direction would be a negation of its infinity.\\nThe popular view of God and the world has\\ndone much to throw a shadow upon the conception\\nof His infinity. According to this view, God is a\\nDeus ex Machina enthroned in some sphere beyond\\nthe reach of the finite. The world is an outside\\nentity and as such it must limit God. How God\\nand the world can exist together at the same time\\nwhile mutually limiting one another is a question.\\nThinkers have aimed to solve it by bringing in the\\ntemporal relation and declaring it Absolute previous\\nto creation, but since creation limited. This solu-\\ntion is faulty because it rests upon the mistaken\\nconception of dualism. God on the one hand and\\nthe world upon the other. Our previous discussion\\nhas led us to the conclusion that the One must\\ncomprehend all. The particular phenomena are\\nonly modifications of the fundamental unity. The\\ntrue conception makes the tvorld the action of the\\nabsolute. The absolute is in all its actions. The\\nagent and the action cannot be considered separate\\nentities. The action is the only expression of the\\nagent. Oxygen is not one thing, and affinity for\\nhydrogen another thing; but it is oxygen only", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0084.jp2"}, "85": {"fulltext": "THK ABSOLUTE AS INFINITE. 8 1\\nbecause it acts as it does; and it is through its ac-\\ntion that it is itself known. The absolute is not to\\nbe distinguished from his creation, but is one with\\nit. The nature of its identity we shall endeavor in\\nthe remainder of this chapter to show.\\nIt is characteristic of the finite spirit that while\\nit recognizes itself as finite it is itself related to the\\ninfinite. It is that which lies beyond the finite to\\nwhich the finite points. Finite being points to\\nuncaused being.\\nProf. Caird, in his Evolution of Religion p.\\n89, discusses the efforts made by Max Mueller and\\nHerbert Spencer to prove the Infinite. Max Muel-\\nler takes the finite as the firm and established ele-\\nment of science and from that as a base line he\\nprojects his science into the beyond. He arrives\\nat the Infinite by denying the finite. But for him\\nthe finite is limited by the Infinite. Thus he sets\\nthe Infinite over against the finite and it is thereby\\nmade itself a finite; for the finite limits the Infinite\\nas truly as the Infinite limits the finite. Herbert\\nSpencer made a similar mistake when he takes the\\nInfinite as the presupposition of the finite, and\\narrives at the finite by the limitation of the Infinite.\\nAll particular phenomena or facts of knowledge are\\nsuch simply because in them the Infinite is limited,", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0085.jp2"}, "86": {"fulltext": "82 RELIGION A RATION AI, DEMAND.\\nIt is unfortunate for these writers that they look\\nupon the Absolute as a boundless extension from\\nwhich the finite is cut off, and over against which\\nthe finite is placed. Such views can never reconcile\\nthe finite with the Infinite for as soon as the finite\\nis cut from the Infinite, the Infinite itself becomes\\nfinite. The mechanico-sensible view of the universe\\nbrings with it necessarily this result: the subject is\\nplaced over against the object and the object over\\nagainst the subject; the one limits the other. We\\nhave pointed out in our previous discussion that the\\nsubject and object are but two elements in one con-\\nsciousness; and consciousness is not limited by either\\nsubject or object, but comprehends both.\\nThe universal bond which holds these elements\\nin this relation is not limited by the inner world nor\\nby the outer world, but is present in them both.\\nThe individual consciousness grasps the world and\\nholds it in its own conception. The world for\\neach individual consciousness is as it holds it in the\\nunity of its own being. The highest category of\\nhuman thought is personality. Although we have\\nnot pointed out the personality of the Absolute as\\nyet; we will assume it at present for the argument s\\nsake, with the promise of fully justifying the\\nassumption in a succeeding chapter. The Absolute", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0086.jp2"}, "87": {"fulltext": "THK ABSOLUTE AS INFINITE. 83\\nis the most real of all beings; for the reason that he\\nis the most universal of all universals, the principle\\nof all principles, the basal being itself. And be-\\ncause he is the most real of all and the highest\\nbeing known, he must be thought in the highest\\ncategory known to men.\\nThis highest category is the unity of conscious-\\nness. Man knows the world only as the world is\\nin him and as he comprehends it in the unity of his\\nown consciousness. The world is our world only\\nas we comprehend it. Two men may stand over\\nagainst a certain flower and the one sees in it much\\nmore than the other. Two men, one an inventor,\\nstand over against the invention, the one compre-\\nhends much more perfectly the invention than does\\nthe other. Nature, at best, can only be imperfectly\\ncomprehended by a finite observer. There are parts\\nwhich the finite observer can not reach. The abso-\\nlute must be conceived otherwise. It has posited\\nall finite existence. The plan of nature is its own\\nconception. The material for the realization of the\\nplan w T as not in existence but is posited by itself,\\naccording to the demand of the plan. It, as the\\nbasal reality, posits all existence and comprehends\\nall in the unity of its own being. There is a great\\ndifference between the finite and the Infinite; the", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0087.jp2"}, "88": {"fulltext": "84 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nfinite is confronted with limitations. Its ideals of\\nknowledge exceed its possession. The world which\\nit aspires to comprehend is greater than the world it\\ncomprehends. The world it controls is not so great\\nas the world which it aspires to control. If the\\nworld of the finite comprehended all truth and was\\nable to govern all reality then the finite itself would\\nbecome infinite. The Absolute cannot be thought\\nas subject to these limitations.\\nTwo kinds of beings exist, personal and imper-\\nsonal. Personal beings have an independent activ-\\nity, but only within a limited range. The laws of\\nnature cannot be changed even by a personal spirit.\\nHe can only put himself under them or refuse to do\\nso. Kven the laws of thought cannot be tampered\\nwith. A man thinks, or he may refuse to think,\\nbut when he does think, he must do so in accord-\\nance with certain laws. These laws are laws of his\\nbeing, but are not called into being by himself.\\nThe laws of man s moral nature are beyond the\\nreach of his construction or modification. They are\\nwhat they are, not because of the choice of the in-\\ndividual, but because of the decision of the Abso-\\nlute, which posits the whole system and gives to\\neach element, used in its construction, the nature\\nrequired for the execution of that plan.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0088.jp2"}, "89": {"fulltext": "THK ABSOLUT^ AS INFINITE. 85\\nImpersonal being cannot be said to ha\\\\e any but\\ndependent activity. They have no volition, nor\\nhave they any power to determine except as they\\nare determined. They are what they are because\\ndetermined to be such by their relations to their\\nantecedents and their co-existences. It would not\\nbe improper to say that impersonal existences are\\nbut modes of the Infinite. The free spirit alone\\nhas a sort of independence, but the limits of the\\nfreedom together with its possibility are in the\\nInfinite.\\nThe dualistic conception which holds matter to\\nbe a sort of self-existence, which the creator finds\\nand which renders him stubborn opposition, must\\nbe discarded because, as we have seen, the dualistic\\nconception of matter and spirit is inconsistent with\\nthe science of knowledge and with its necessary\\nrelation to the Absolute. Reason will not rest in\\ndualism. It must find a unitary principle. It has\\ndiscovered that this principle is not matter, nor is it\\nthe conscious subject, but it is found in a principle\\nthat comprehends both. So that matter is not a\\nsomething external and independent which the abso-\\nlute must shape as best it can; matter is a creation\\nof the absolute, or in other words, a mode of his\\nmanifestation. Matter is consequently not a limit", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0089.jp2"}, "90": {"fulltext": "86 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nset the absolute, but is its own activity which puts\\nforth to the perfect realization of its plan.\\nkaws of thought are not universals having real\\nexistence somewhere in space, but nowhere in par-\\nticular, laws having an extraneous potency to which\\nthe thinking subject must submit. On the contrary\\nlaws are always found in things, as Aristotle already\\npointed out. A law is only the abstraction from\\nthe activity of the thing. So that, in reality, only\\nthe thing and its action exists. The mind exists,\\nand it acts according to its nature; and from its\\nactivity the laws are abstracted.\\nThe same is true with the laws of nature.\\nThey are often conceived as though they were laws\\nwhich the Absolute found in existence, and to which\\nhe must conform, getting along with them as best\\nhe can. In creation, the Absolute does not allow\\nthe stubborn matter and the still more stubborn\\nlaws of nature to determine what that creation shall\\nbe. Now, from what we have learned, we know\\nthat the Absolute creates the individual things\\ntogether with their mode of activity. Things are\\nthings because they act. There is no other criterion\\nfor thinghood but action. The nature of the thing\\nis known by its action. These things interact\\naccording to their individual natures and each in-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0090.jp2"}, "91": {"fulltext": "THE ABSOLUTE AS INFINITE. 87\\ndividual thing adapts itself to the other in the inter-\\naction. And all that is left is the thing and its\\nmode of action and interaction; and natural law is\\nonly an abstraction from the actions of real agents.\\nThe Absolute in creating the thing also created a\\nnature in the thing; for nothing can be without be-\\ning a definite something. These things act and\\ninteract, and these actions and interactions by\\nabstraction become the laws of nature. They are\\nposited by the Absolute in the thing itself.\\nIt is sometimes objected that the Absolute can-\\nnot be infinite because it acts according to certain\\nprinciples of reason and morality. But even these\\nlaws are not imposed b3^ a superior being; but are\\nthe result of action according to his own nature.\\nAs a being he has a nature and his nature as well as\\nhis being are the explanation of their own existence.\\nThe laws of its being are not superimposed, but de-\\nrived by abstraction from its actions. That he\\nchooses to act in one way rather than in another is\\nnot a limitation by any thing outside of himself;\\nand, consequntly, does not contradict the fact of his\\ninfinity.\\nIt has been shown that interaction cannot take\\nplace between things independent of one another.\\nThe interacting elements must be members of some", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0091.jp2"}, "92": {"fulltext": "88 RKUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\ngreater and more comprehensive whole. Particulars\\nare referred to principles, and principles to more\\ncomprehensive principles and the ultimate resting\\nplace is the Absolute, which comprehends all other\\nprinciples in a unity, most comprehensive.\\nLotze, after speaking of the possibility of change\\nby causal action, expresses his final conclusion as\\nfollows (see Outlines of Metaphysic I^add, p.\\n72): The foregoing requirement can be met only\\nby the assumption that all individual things are\\nsubstantially; that is to say, they do not merely\\nbecome combined by all manner of relations, each\\nindividual having previously been present as an\\nindependent existence; but from the very begin-\\nning onward they are only different modifications\\nof one individual being, which we propose to desig-\\nnate by the title of the Infinite.\\nThus reason, followed to its own legitimate ends,\\nleads us to the conclusion that the basal reality is\\nnot subject to extraneous limitation; but it is the\\nperfect explanation of all facts and all law.\\nBefore closing this chapter let us state a corol-\\nlary for future application. The Infinite is the\\nauthor of the whole plan. Things are created by\\nit; and they have the nature demanded by the plan\\nof the whole. They are not only already what the", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0092.jp2"}, "93": {"fulltext": "THE ABSOLUTE AS INFINITE. 89\\nplan demands; but, as is shown in the organic\\nworld, they have the power to adapt themselves to\\nthe exigencies of the plan. So there is nothing to\\nprevent the Absolute from carrying out the plan to\\nits most glorious realization. This corollary will\\nfind special application when we come to the soul\\nfinding its complete satisfaction in true submission\\nto the Absolute.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0093.jp2"}, "94": {"fulltext": "THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE ABSOLUTE.\\nWhen the chemist sees a particular activity be-\\ntween some interacting atoms he changes his notion\\nof the atoms in such a manner as to account for the\\nparticular mode of interaction. W^ have now arrived\\nat a stage of the discussion where the question arises,\\nWhether there is intelligence in the universe or\\nwhether there is none?\\nIt is the fundamental presupposition of all science\\nthat nature is intelligible. Only if it is, is science\\npossible. If it is not then is science an impossibil-\\nity, and the entire scientific impulse is a deception.\\nThe question with us at this time is not whether\\nevery form serves a purpose, or whether some other\\nforms would not serve the purpose better than those\\nwhich we now discover.\\nIt is agreed on all hands that mathematics is a\\nsubjective science. That the principles and propo-\\nsitions there laid down are not derived from experi-\\nence, but from the pure intelligence. They are\\nuniversal and necessary. Man can never be made\\nto question his own intelligence. He knows that\\n90", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0094.jp2"}, "95": {"fulltext": "the intelligence of the absolute. 91\\nhe is not actuated by mechanical principles, but by\\nintelligent purpose. The inventor knows that each\\npart of the invention is not a result of mechanical\\nforce; but he recognizes himself as the framer; and\\nhe himself is governed, in the construction of each\\npart, by the conception of the completed whole.\\nThis process he calls intellectual and not mechani-\\ncal. A mechanical result flows necessarily from its\\ncause. The invention may work upon intelligent\\nprinciples, but only because intelligence was put\\ninto the cause. Mechanical forces work along the\\nline of least resistance; and it is not known in ad-\\nvance what the result will be. Every action is\\ncompletely determined by its antecedent; so that it\\ncan never be other than it is. With intelligence it\\nis vastly different. It works with means, perhaps\\nas truly, as does the mechanism but in the use of\\nthose means it has the end in view: and it choses\\nthe means and employs them with reference to that\\nend. Not only does reason work with an end in\\nview and with reference to that end; but it insists\\nin referring everything that bears such marks to\\nagencies like itself. When it beholds a perfectly\\nacting machine, though it may not know where, or\\nby whom, the machine was created, and though it\\nknows that all the material in that machine was", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0095.jp2"}, "96": {"fulltext": "92 r:exigion a ration m, demand.\\ntaken from nature yet will it refer that machine to\\na working intelligence.\\nThe archenlogist works into the crust of the\\nearth and finds some stones cut in a perculiar man-\\nner; he says that mechanical forces would never\\nshape them in such a manner; he finds some appear-\\ning as though they had been cut and others as if\\nused for cutting purposes: he carrot very well be-\\nlieve but that they were shaped by intelligence.\\nHe infers the nature of the cause from the marks\\nof the effect. And, from those works of their\\nhands, he infers the degree of intelligence possessed\\nby those primitive men. But while man looks into\\nhimself for intelligence and interprets the works of\\nmen in that light, it is also a fact that he is\\nprompted to look into nature with the expectation\\nof finding himself and the principles of his intelli-\\ngence there.\\nIt has been said that we think things only as\\nthey appear in consciousness, and never as they are\\noutside of it. This is true. How a thing would\\nact if it acted upon no one, or how it would appear if\\nit appeared to no one, are insoluble questions. It\\nis one of the revelations of epistemology, that some\\nagent acts upon consciousness, and consciousness\\nreacts according to its own nature; and conse-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0096.jp2"}, "97": {"fulltext": "THE INTKIJvIGENCK OF THK ABSOLUTE. 93\\nquently the intelligent subject will interpret these\\nactions into intelligent terms. It is again true that\\nconsciousness is active in the act of conception, but\\nit is never arbitrary. It reacts upon an external\\nobject only when forced to do so; and the nature of\\nthat object is not as it chooses to construct, but such\\nas it is constrained to form. It is not free to think\\nindifferently a leaf or a stone; it is not free to\\nobserve things in one form or in another: but in its\\nideas of objects it knows itself constrained by a\\nreality beyond its control. It is often brought into\\nbold conflict to the outer world; it is not free to\\nthink that conflict imaginary or otherwise; it may\\nrecognize the possibility of removing that diffi-\\nculty: but it believes in the possibility of removing\\nthe difficulty only by modifying reality itself. The\\nconsciousness of the outside world is not a product\\nof the free activity of consciousness; but is itself\\ndetermined by the nature of an objective reality.\\nBut consoiousness goes out into reality with the\\nperfect assurance that the demands of its conscious\\nintelligence are perfectly met in reality. This we\\nwill endeavor to illustrate.\\nThe astronomer turns his telescope into the\\nheavens and sees planets as they swing in their", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0097.jp2"}, "98": {"fulltext": "94 REUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\norbits. At first he does not notice the regularity\\nof the swing.\\nThere was something in the backward and for-\\nward motion which did not appeal to intelligence.\\nObservations were more closely made, and it was\\ndiscovered that the motions are uniform; and that\\nthe planets in the entire system are in a perfect\\nbalance; and then philosophers said, If they do\\nswing regularly then they must conform to certain\\nmathematical formulas. A mathematical compu-\\ntation was made; the orbits of those planets were\\nconstructed; their movements were again observed;\\nand the orbits of the planets were discovered to\\nagree perfectly with the mathematical requirements.\\nMathematics, as we have noticed, is a purely sub-\\njective science; and here we discover in reality laws\\nand motions that can be expressed in such subjec-\\ntive formulas.\\nThe mineralogist goes into the earth and finds\\ncrystals; these crystals have certain forms; and the\\nsame mineral always assumes the same form. The\\ncrystal may have five sides; and the five sides are\\nnoticed wherever the mineral appears. If he dis-\\ncovered a stone thus cut artificially with the sides\\nand the angles all equal, he would certainly be im-\\npelled to refer the crystals to an intelligent cause.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0098.jp2"}, "99": {"fulltext": "the intelligence; of the absolute. 95\\nThe subjective principles of mathematics are applied\\nto the shaped mineral. The crystal is intelligible,\\nits shape conforms to the formulas of intelligence.\\nThe mind finds itself and its intelligence there.\\nBut someone says, If you make the mineral\\nassume shapes which are intelligible and the min-\\neral itself assumes these shapes, then you make the\\nmineral an intelligent thing. I am not contending\\nthat the mineral has a conscious intelligence; but\\nthat the mineral is built up by forces working under\\nintelligent direction and working out intelligent\\nresults.\\nThe chemist goes into the laboratory and ob-\\nserves the action of the elements of nature in their\\ninteraction with each other. He observes that oxy-\\ngen normally unites wih hydrogen; and that one\\natom of the former always unites with two atoms of\\nthe latter. To select two out of a multiplicity of\\natoms is an intelligent act. It is not maintained\\nthat the atom is conscious of its choice; but the act\\nitself comports perfectly with the requirements of\\nintelligence. He observes that one atom of carbon\\nunites with four atoms of hydrogen. It selects the\\nfour when a greater, or a less number, might have\\nbeen selected. It is impossible to avoid the conclu-\\nsion that the mineral kingdom is not a shapeless", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0099.jp2"}, "100": {"fulltext": "96 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nmass but an intelligent thing, not conscious intelli-\\ngence, let me repeat, in the thing itself, but intelli-\\ngence in the forces that put the thing into shape.\\nThe biologist makes an effort to get into the\\norganized part of nature; and he expects to find\\nthe principles of his own intelligence there. He\\nwatches the process of organization; and cannot\\nbut find there that it works o it intelligent results.\\nThe single cell of a cat, which forms the physical\\nstarting point of the animal, will develop one head,\\none spine, two eyes, two ears, four paws, a certain\\nnumber of bones and these parts are repeated with\\nperfect mathematical accuracy in every reproduction\\nof the specie. The contents of the original cell was\\nhomogeneous. There ma} 7 or there may not have\\nbeen a physical determination in that cell for all\\nparts of the developed organism. It makes no\\ndifference to this discussion where we put the deter-\\nmination. What we are most particularly interested\\nin is the intelligence in the outcome. We find not\\nonly the application of mathematical formulas to\\nthe external form; but the whole internal mechan-\\nism is constructed according to the same principles.\\nThe bones are put together in such a manner that\\nthey act as perfect levers; the muscles and sinews\\nare perfectly adapted to the bones; and the whole", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0100.jp2"}, "101": {"fulltext": "THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE ABSOLUTE. 97\\nis arranged into a perfectly intelligible and intelli-\\ngent system.\\nIn natural disposition and habit of life these\\nanimal organisms act better than they know. The\\nsimplest forms of life select those things that are\\nadapted to the maintenance of the animal life; while\\nthey reject those not thus adapted. The result is\\nan intelligent one. It may, again, be objected that\\nit is by its instinct that it does so; and instinct is\\nnot intelligence. It makes the selection of means\\nfor the end of its maintenance. It is true the action\\nis not one in which the intelligence of the animal is\\ndisplayed. The animal acts better than it knows.\\nThe question with us is not so much how those\\nactions are begotten as how they are to be inter-\\npreted in the outcome. The outcome is so intelli-\\ngent that the thoughtful observer is constrained to\\nsay with Prof. I^loydof Michigan University, The\\nuniverse itself lives; the universe itself thinks.\\n(Phil, of History p 36.)\\nHow are these facts to be interpreted, or how\\nare they to be accounted for There are onl y two\\nways of accounting for them. Mechanism or in-\\ntelligence. Before the fact of efficient causation\\nwas discovered, it was an easy matter to believe\\nthat some intelligent spirit had the sovereignity", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0101.jp2"}, "102": {"fulltext": "98 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nover the specific department of nature; but since\\nthat discovery the case is otherwise. Kvery natural\\nevent has its own natural antecedent; and the ante-\\ncedent explains fully the event. The whole horizon\\nhas been swept, and no ghost or spirit has been\\nfound; consequently that explanation must be given\\nup. And natural causation being a fact, we must\\nlook for the explanation of things there.\\nNatural causation makes every event follow from\\nits antecedent with a mechanical necessity; and\\nscience is more and more showing nature to be\\nmechanical through and through. The old argu-\\nment for teleology rested upoa the belief that great\\nchasms were found in nature, which must be bridged\\nby some supernatural intervention; and because it\\nappeared as though that intervention was intelligent,\\nthe intervening being must be intelligent. But\\nscience is more and more demonstrating that there\\nare no breaks and no chasms; and consequently this\\nintelligent being is not necessary. Now teleology\\naccording to the old view must be given up;\\nmechanism must take its place Many a believer\\nin theism has lamented this direction of the scien-\\ntific spirit, as though it would leave all the universe\\nto a heartless mechanism. Mechanism drives things\\nfrom behind along the paths of least resistence;", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0102.jp2"}, "103": {"fulltext": "THE INTELLIGENCE OF THE ABSOLUTE. 99\\nwhile intelligence leads the way. It is such an easy\\nmatter to believe that mechanism and teleology\\nmutually exclude one another. If the universe is a\\nmechanism it is driven to its results, and not led to\\nthem as demanded by intelligence.\\nL,et us look at this argument a little more closely.\\nIs it true that a mechanism excludes intelligence\\nA locomotive is a perfect machine, and every part\\nstands in perfect relation to every other part; and\\nthe relationship of the parts is established for a cer-\\ntain end. Though the whole machine works upon\\nmechanical principles and with a mechanical neces-\\nsity, yet it is nevertheless true that the whole\\nmachine was planned by intelligence, and every part\\nwas suited to every other by an agent who had the\\nend of the machine in view.\\nIt is true that nature does not act arbitrarily.\\nShe is as uniform as a machine certain actions are\\nalways the necessary outcome of certain antecedents:\\nyet just as little as the mechanical oonstruction of a\\nlocomotive hinders it from having an intelligent\\norigin, does the mechanical construction of nature\\nexclude a contriving intelligence. Intelligence does\\nnot appear in the locomotive to bridge over certain\\ndefects in the mechanism; but intelligence is built\\ninto the whole mechanism. The machine is intelli-\\nLcfC.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0103.jp2"}, "104": {"fulltext": "IOO REUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\ngent, not because it itself thinks, but beacuse the\\ninventor and the contriver thought and have em-\\nbodied their thought in their invention. The work\\naccomplished by the machine would have demanded\\nintelligence, and a conscious intelligence upon the\\npart of the agent, had it not already been put into\\nthe machine itself by the inventor. The fact that\\nnature is a mechanism is no re: son why we should\\ndeny intelligence in her.\\nIf matter was the absolute principle then would\\nmatter be compelled to account for the mechanism;\\nbut we have discovered that matter is not self-\\nsufficient. It is not a principle, it is only a phenom-\\nenon. The Absolute is the fundamental principle.\\nNothing exists outside of it. There is no force but\\ncomes from it. If the order of the inorganic part\\nof nature is intelligent, it does not diminish the\\nfact to say that mechanism is the plan and\\norder for its realization. If the outcome is com-\\npletely determined by its antecedents, then are\\nthe antecedents completely determined by their\\nantecedents an d if the means have had no in-\\ndependent choice, but were only involuntary in-\\nstruments, then the intelligence must be looked\\nfor in the forces determining them. Bach atom\\nhas a nature of its own; and no atom is responsible", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0104.jp2"}, "105": {"fulltext": "THE INTELLIGENCE OE THE ABSOLUTE. IOI\\nfor that nature, nor for its action when brought into\\ncontact with other atoms. The nature of the atom\\nand its mode of interaction with others is entirely\\ndue to the Absolute; and it determines their posi-\\ntion and their value in nature. When the mineral\\nunder certain conditions assumes an intelligent form\\nit is not because the crystal thinks or has a con-\\nsciousness of its own, but because the Absolute\\nenergizes in that realm in an intelligent manner.\\nNot only the atoms, but also the laws, according to\\nwhich they act, find their explanation in the\\nAbsolute.\\nIf the vegetable or animal organism takes forms\\nwhich are intelligent, it is not to be supposed, for\\nthat reason, that the vegetable or the animal life\\nhave conscious thought; it is the Absolute that\\nenergizes in these forms.\\nIf nature is a mechanism intelligently ordered,\\nit is not to be supposed that the mechanism can\\naccount for itself; for mechanism is itself a phenom-\\nenon to be accounted for. It is itself an event, a fact\\nand requires a sufficient explanation. If there is\\nintelligence in the effect reason demands, for its own\\nsatisfaction, intelligence in the cause.\\nIf evolution be accepted as an explanation of\\nthe order of nature, then the antecedents must", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0105.jp2"}, "106": {"fulltext": "102 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\naccount for the subsequent; and the outcome trust\\nbe involved or lay already capsulate, in the begin-\\nning.\\nIntelligence is the only thing that can account\\nfor the fact that the universe has an orderly arrange-\\nment, and that the human intelligence finds itself\\nin her. Intelligence is the only explanation that\\ncovers the facts and finds none which it cannot\\ncover; for that reason it has a perfect right to have\\nits claims recognized. There may be instances in\\nnature where we seem to detect no thought, no\\nintelligence; but science has gratified the demands\\nof reason in so many instances, that the scientist\\ngoes into these dark realms with the perfect confi-\\ndence that some day they too will surrender their\\npossessions to the gratification of the rational\\nimpulse.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0106.jp2"}, "107": {"fulltext": "PERSONALITY OF THE ABSOLUTE.\\nEven in spite of the fact that there is intelligence\\nin nature, objections have been made to the idea of\\nthe personality of the ultimate and basal reality.\\nA crude Pantheism considers this reality to be a\\nsort of extended stuS tvhich divides and subdivides\\ninto the endless variety of natural phenomena; and\\nthat this indefinite homogeneous mass reaches con-\\nsciousness in the outcome of its development. We\\nhave previously noticed that such a mass is repug-\\nnant to our idea of unity; for reason will not rest in\\nan endless diversity it must have unity. Such a\\nmass of matter could never originate motion neither\\ncould it account for spiritual phenomena. This\\nbasal reality must account for matter and motion as\\nwell as for all the spiritual phenomena.\\nSchopenhauer calls it Pure Will. This Pure\\nWill is not connected with any intelligence. This\\nwould agree well with the idea of force, which the\\nmaterialists consider to be the fundamental basis of\\nreality, but Schopenhauer is conceding the spiritual\\norigin of nature without any special reserve. A\\n103", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0107.jp2"}, "108": {"fulltext": "I04 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\npure will unguided by intelligence is simply a blind\\nforce and a blind force is not the issue of person-\\nality.\\nIf blind force will satisfy the demands of reason\\nin the explanation of all phenomena then there is\\nno need of encumbering it with any more complica-\\ntions. But when we come to think after this man-\\nner then are we confronted with the question,\\nHow can a blind undirected force energize in an\\nintelligent manner and bring about intelligent\\nresults. A pure will must of necessity act\\nblindly; it can have no aim and can not be pur-\\nposive. The only direction given to such a force\\nmust come from mechanical necessity; but then\\nmechanical necessity is unaccounted for. Science\\nis based upon the demand of a sufficient reason and\\ncausation is one of its principle elements. Causa-\\ntion, in order to be clear to reason, must have a free\\norigin; and for that reason science agrees with\\nSchopenhauer that all things originate in Will.\\nThe only information we have of will is in con-\\nnection with intelligence; and unless there is a suffi-\\ncient reason to demand it, the two should not be dis-\\nsociated. All force must originate in will, but,\\naccording to Schopenhauer, intelligence is not\\nassociated with it. Intelligence is the last pro-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0108.jp2"}, "109": {"fulltext": "THE PERSONALITY OF THE ABSOLUTE. I05\\nduct of forces it is the highest point of their\\ndevelopment. This intelligence appearing in man,\\nhowever, looks back over the whole process and\\nfinds itself wherever the tracing of its lines is pos-\\nsible, and upon Schopenhauer s hypothesis the\\nquestion, How a force, without intelligent direction\\ncould bring about intelligent results remains un-\\nsolved.\\nHartman seeing the untenability of the Pure\\nWill hypothesis of Schopehauer, and yet disirous\\nof avoiding the full concession to Theism, gave\\nthis Absolute an unconscious intelligence. He\\nrecognizes with the scientific spirit of the age that\\nforce must have its origin in the will: and, on the\\nother hand, he can not but notice that the world is\\nreplete with manifestations of intelligence. He\\ncannot believe that the phenomena of nature can be\\nexplained satisfactorily without the idea of purpose,\\nor final cause. This purpose, however, is uncon-\\nsciously held; something like the matured plan of\\nan organism is held by the life of that organism;\\nand that it arrives at consciousness only in man.\\nThis whole question resolves itself into this dis-\\njunctive, either intelligence is the necessary result\\nof mechanical action, or it is the quality of the\\nWill of Schopenhauer. If it is the former then", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0109.jp2"}, "110": {"fulltext": "106 RKLIGION A RATION AI. DEMAND.\\nthe mechanism is itself intelligent and requires in-\\ntelligence in its explanation. If there were no\\nintelligence in the cause, and yet there would\\nappear intelligence in the result, there would be a\\nphenomenon, an event, without a cause; and that\\nagain would be repugnant to the demands of rea-\\nson. After this due consideration, we are forced to\\nthe only conclusion that reality has its basis in a\\nself-directing will; and a self- directing will is a\\nperson.\\nPersonality is the simplest explanation of nature;\\nand unless the idea comes into serious conflict with\\nitself, or proves inconsistent, it must be held. Per-\\nsonality demands self-knowledge and self-direction.\\nWe call men persons because they can select a cer-\\ntain end and put forth efforts to gain that end. We\\nmeasure the strength of a man s intellect by the\\nheight of his purpose, and the complication of\\nmeans necessary for the attainment of that purpose.\\nScience looks to force for the explanation of\\nthings; and force points to its own originations in\\nWill. Force working out intelligent results\\nmust have intelligent direction. Intelligent direc-\\ntion can only be thought in connection with a pre-\\nconceived end, and held as the good of some action.\\nThese facts point so strongly toward personality", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0110.jp2"}, "111": {"fulltext": "THE PERSONALITY OF THE ABSOLUTE. I07\\nthat we must have very cogent reasons for denying\\nit. It is said that the Absolute cannot be a person\\nbecause consciousness always involves a distinction\\nof subject and object. The Absolute can be noth-\\ning but simply subject, if the unity is to be pre-\\nserved. The Absolute can find nothing with which\\nhe can contrast himself. A subject can knotv itself\\nonly as it stands over against an object. The Abso-\\nlute is alone, and consequently has no object. This\\nis the chief reason for making him unconscious.\\nBut a little careful attention given our own con-\\nsciousness will help us out of this difficulty. It is\\ntrue that objective reality acts upon the subject and\\nproduces certain states of consciousness. We posit\\nupon the experience of such states certain objects;\\nbut the fact itself is that the subject is aware of its\\nown states; and that these states are its objects.\\nThe separation of subject and object is not ontolo-\\ngical, it is only epistemological. Subject and object\\nare the same state of consciousness; the conscious\\nsubject has for its object its own state. In perfect\\nanalogy, the Absolute needs no being outside of\\nitself in order to be able to be conscious. As intel-\\nligent, He, and now we may begin to use the per-\\nsonal pronoun in referring to the Absolute, must\\nknow the purpose of the action and the action itself.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0111.jp2"}, "112": {"fulltext": "108 REUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nThese requirements of reason point us not only to\\nconsciousness in the Absolute, but to self- conscious\\nness, which is the highest form of consciousness.\\nIt would meet no demand of reason to say that the\\nAbsolute is impersonal; for the only kind of self-\\ndirected intelligence known to us is that of person-\\nality. Personality is the highest category of\\nthought; and only the most cogent reasons could\\ncompel us to think of the Absolute in any other\\nthan terms of personality. It can never be made\\nclear to reason that the Absolute working blindly\\nshould arrive at the definite result of personality at\\nthe end of its development. Would any logician\\nlook for more in the event than is contained in the\\ncause Something must needs be created or smug-\\ngled in from some other source; and in either case\\nthere is a definite something that has an existence\\nwithout a sufficient reason. It is inconceivable that\\npersonality could appear in the outcome of a process,\\nif it were not involved in the process itself. It is\\nthe result of a peculiar distortion of our nature to\\nconceive the Absolute otherwise than as a person-\\nality.\\nWe worship a personal God; not because we are\\novercome by feelings of wonder and amazement;\\nbut because we carry the idea of the Absolute Per-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0112.jp2"}, "113": {"fulltext": "THE PERSONALITY OF THE ABSOLUTE. I09\\nsonality in our own nature. We do not proceed\\nfrom a limited personality to the unlimited we pro-\\nceed rather from that which is in process of realiza-\\ntion to that which is already perfectly realized. We\\nhave already remarked that it is impossible for rea-\\nson to believe otherwise than that the ideals toward\\nwhich it is impelled are fully realized somewhere,\\nin some being. Human consciousness has an insati-\\nable impulse to comprehend reality. As it lays hold\\nupon different phenomena, it orders them into its\\nown world. The world of the individual is the\\nworld of variety held together in the unity of his\\nown consciousness. It meets objects, no matter\\nhow obstinate, with the perfect assurance that it is\\nable to subdue them into harmony with its own\\nworld. That which it aims to be it some time ex-\\npects fully to realize, and cannot otherwise than\\nbelieve that it is fully realized in the Absolute Per-\\nsonality. The finite Spirit is characterized by both\\nimmanence and transcendence. The finite person\\nis present in all parts of his world of experience.\\nThis world is comprehended in the unity of his con-\\nsciousness. So the Absolute Person must hold in\\nits own embrace all the objects of the world, both\\npersonal and impersonal. They have existence only\\nin the comprehensiveness of his being. The finite", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0113.jp2"}, "114": {"fulltext": "I IO REUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nperson must recognize a transcendent world; for\\nwhile he embraces fully the world of his experience\\nhe is touched on every side by the consciousness of\\nideals unrealized. These ideals are of infinite reach.\\nMan cannot but believe that these ideals are realized\\nsomewhere. The perfect comprehension of all real-\\nity in the unity of a single consciousness is the chief\\ncharacteristic of the Absolute Personality. It is the\\nindividual consciousness that gives worth to the\\ndifferent parts of its contents. It is only as the\\nAbsolute is present in all parts of reality that these\\nparts have worth. In the Absolute we cannot\\nrecognize ideals unrealized. We must rather be-\\nlieve that he is immanent in all things; and is con-\\nsequently an infinite personality.\\nIn the experience of the human ego the devel-\\nopment is gradual. It realizes itself as it proceeds\\nalong the lines indicated by its ideals. With it the\\nworld is never present in consciousness in its en-\\ntirety. It is limited and can attend to but a small\\npart of its world at the same time, the greater part\\nof its world is out of sight for it. We cannot be-\\nlieve, however, that the Absolute is confronted by\\nany unrealized ideals, or that he can attend to but\\na part of his world, but, on the contrary, he is\\nimmanent in the whole world of his construction^", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0114.jp2"}, "115": {"fulltext": "THK PERSONALITY OF THE ABSOLUTE. 1 1 1\\nand knows nothing of impossibilities. He is per-\\nfectly conscious of every part of the world; and,\\nbecause confronted by no other principle, is per-\\nfectly able to realize his own plan.\\nWe have now followed the directions of our\\nrational impulses, and have arrived at the idea of\\nthe Absolute Personality. I venture to say it is the\\nonly legitimate goal of all science and of all moral\\nimpulses, and is the only resting place for reason.\\nHaving now reached the Absolute Person, we will\\nlook about in the next two chapters to see what are\\nsome of his attributes, and what his relation to the\\nworld is.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0115.jp2"}, "116": {"fulltext": "NECESSARY ATTRIBUTES OF THE ABSO-\\nLUTE PERSON.\\nHaving arrived at the idea of the Absolute Per-\\nsonality, we want to consider what the idea implies\\nand what it must include in order to be true to\\nitself. Truth is a consistent unity. No theist is\\nafraid of truth. An eternal disadvantage clings to\\nthose who linger in error; but an eternal gain comes\\nto them who walk in the truth. The atheist will\\nlook at one set of facts and dismiss other sets from\\nhis mind altogether; the Christian theist does not\\nfear to face all facts, for he firmly believes that\\ntruth is its own vindication, and that truth will\\nmake free, Man s nature prompts him to seek\\nunity in the world of phenomena. Polytheism had\\nits origin in the fact that different classes of phe-\\nnomena differed so radically from one another, that\\nthey seemed to be accounted for by a diversity of\\nprinciples. They believed that these sets of phe-\\nnomena differed so greatly from one another, that\\ntheir respective principles must be different divini-\\n112", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0116.jp2"}, "117": {"fulltext": "The necessary attributes. 113\\nties. Science has demonstrated that though these\\nsets seem to differ so greatly, still they are con-\\nstantly found in interaction; and their principles\\nare united in the Absolute.\\nWe are consequently led to the positive convic-\\ntion that the Absolute is the Only God. It\\nwould not be consistent logic to think of Him as a\\nlump that can be separated into any number of\\nparts. Such a lump would not be characterized by\\nunit} The only unit known in physics is the atom.\\nIt has a number of activities, and these cannot be\\ninterfered with. Give the atom the environment\\nsuitable to its nature, and it will act. It has chem-\\nical affinity, and it has gravitative force. It cannot\\nbe divided, it always manifests the same qualities.\\nWe have another illustration of unity. It is\\nunity as found in human consciousness. The ego\\nis susceptible of a variety of actions. It thinks, it\\nfeels, it wills; and yet in all these actions it is itself\\nan undivided unity. In its past history, as well as\\nwhen it projects itself into the future, it is forced\\nto recognize itself as the ever self -identical being.\\nThe absolute must be thought as such a unit.\\nA composite, in which any part has the same quali-\\nties as the whole, will not satisfy the demand of\\nreason in its search for unity. The world of variety", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0117.jp2"}, "118": {"fulltext": "114 RBI/IGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nis not a world composed of the various parts into\\nwhich the Absolute is divided; but it is the outcome\\nof the various activities of the one Absolute. He,\\nthe Infinite, grasps and holds the whole variety of\\nrelationship in the unity of His own being; for in\\nhim we live and move and have our being.\\nIt is said that nature is in a state of continual\\nflux. This idea is a generalization from the study\\nof nature. There is nothing firm and established.\\nAll things are subject to continual change. The\\nacorn develops into a shrub, the shrub into a tree,\\nthe tree is caught by a cyclone and hurled to the\\nground; it is given over to the process of decay;\\nand it is no more. The elements that once consti-\\ntuted it have gone back to the store house from\\nwhich they were taken; a whole cycle of change\\nhas been made. There is nothing stable in the\\nwhole process. If the phenomena of nature change,\\nand do so unceasingly, then we would naturally be-\\nlieve that the principle accounting for this change\\nmust change also. We look into our own conscious-\\nness, we remember the purposes of our actions are\\nnot fixed; but that they change as we develop. May\\nnot the Absolute be thus changeable We must not\\nforget to notice the difference between the finite and\\nthe Infinite in this respect.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0118.jp2"}, "119": {"fulltext": "THE NECESSARY ATTRIBUTES. 115\\nThe finite expands by reaching out for truth\\nwhich the finite has not yet mastered. The finite\\nchanges, because new forces are caused to interact\\nwith it. The Absolute cannot thus be conceived to\\nchange; because there is no objective reality to in-\\nteract with Him seeing He comprehends the whole\\nworld of reality in Himself. The cause for action\\nand the cause for change of action must come from\\nwithin, not from without. The change must come\\nfrom His own decisions. Reason cannot believe\\nthat He, who knows Himself, and is conditioned by\\nno outside reality, should be changeable. Even\\nnature, when carefully studied, is not as change-\\nable as she may at first appear. While there are\\nmany changing phenomena; there are principles\\nwhich do not change, but are ever the same. The\\nlaw of gravitation is the same to-day that it was\\nwhen this planet was first hurled into space. Chem-\\nical affinity is the same to-day as it was when first\\nsimple elements were united into compounds. The\\nplanets in space have not deviated from their orbit,\\nthrough the passing centuries; but they swing in\\nperfect obedience to the same direction they had\\nwhen they were first discovered by the earliest\\nastronomers. The stream of water is ever flowing;\\nthe same particles do not twice in ages pass the same", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0119.jp2"}, "120": {"fulltext": "Il6 RELIGION A RATION AI, DEMAND.\\npoint; but the stream is the same. Water in a\\ncertain temperature is transformed into a solid and\\nin another is changed into a gas. The water may\\nchange from one state into another; but the law\\naccording to which it changes is unchangeable.\\nThe acorn grows into a shrub, into a tree; it dies\\nand decays; the particles are continually changing\\ntheir relation to one another, but this change takes\\nplace according to certain fixed laws. The laws of\\nchange are ever the same.\\nReligious faith does not demand a static principle\\nbut an active one, not a dead deity, but a living\\ncause; not one that does not act at all; but one that\\nacts according to unchangeable directions. Chang-\\ning phenomena are compatible with never changing\\nprinciples causing them to change; but the fact that\\nthese changes always follow in a certain direction,\\nand according to certain principles, is evidence that\\nthe action springs from a cause, or a nature, that is\\nconstant throughout all phenomenal change. Man s\\nintellectual and moral natures are such that they\\ndemand unchangeable principles; and those princi-\\nples can be found only in a Absolute who, though\\nan active spirit, acts always according to an un-\\nchangeable nature.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0120.jp2"}, "121": {"fulltext": "the necessary attributes. 117\\nOur idea of God as a space filling substance\\nwould be inconsistent with the idea of his spirit-\\nuality. The Absolute cannot be matter; for mat-\\nter is not able to stand alone. He cannot be simple\\nforce; for force needs direction in order to work\\nout definite results; and besides this, it needs to\\nhave its origin in will. Will and intelligence, in all\\ncases that we know, are found only in connection\\nwith spirits. Metaphysics proves that matter is not\\none thing and space another, and that space has a\\nreality of its own. On the contrary, it has proven\\nthat things exist and interact and enter into such\\nrelation to each other, that the thinking subject is\\nstimulated to space intuitions. Spirits are not pres-\\nent in space because they fill space; but because\\nspace is their intuition awakened by the sight of\\ncertain relations between things. The individual\\nis not present in every part of the world of his\\nexperience by filling the space, but by being in each\\npart of the world in his entire spiritual energy. I\\nam present in the entire world of my knowledge and\\naffections; and yet I do not know myself as extended.\\nThe ego is non-spatial. We cannot believe God to\\nbe a spatial being. There is unity in our world of\\nexperience because the ego holds the different phe-\\nnomena in such a relationship. There is unity in", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0121.jp2"}, "122": {"fulltext": "Il8 REUGION A RATION AI, DKMAND.\\nthe universe, because science proves interaction;\\nand metaphysics proves that there can be no inter-\\naction except between the elements of a unitary\\nbeing. It further proves that the various phenom-\\nena are but different states of the same being. This\\nleads us to the attribute of omnipresence, for the\\nAbsolute must be present in all His states. Omni-\\npresence is a further requirement of reason in as\\nmuch as everything in nature needs an active cause\\nas its explanation. As the life of the plant must\\nbe present in every part of the organism, so the life\\nof the universe must be present in every part of the\\nwhole realm of phenomena. The human ego illus-\\ntrates the possibility. It is present in every part\\nof its world of Knowledge and volition. Man s\\nworld is but a part of the real world. The world of\\nthe Absolute is the entire world; as man is present\\nin every part of his limited world, so the Absolute\\nis present in every part of the whole real world.\\nWhile finite beings act upon each other by\\ncontact, or through means at a distance, space\\nindicating the degree of closeness in the relation-\\nship. The relation of part to part is often mediated\\nby other parts. With the Absolute the relation be-\\ntween parts is set by Himself and He is the super-\\nnatural condition of both the things themselves and", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0122.jp2"}, "123": {"fulltext": "THE NECESSARY ATTRIBUTES. 119\\ntheir relations. He conditions them and conse-\\nquently cannot be conditioned by them. The part\\nis external to the part and limits it. The part is in\\nthe whole and the whole is present in every part.\\nSpace is only an abstraction from relationship and\\nas relations are determined by the Absolute, these\\nrelations cannot be made to limit Him.\\nThe Christian theist is consistent with the\\ndemands of his own logic, when in the act of prayer,\\nhe is confident that he is not communing with a\\nbeing that must traverse space to meet and relieve\\nhuman wants, but that enters into communion with\\nman immediately without intervention.\\nThe Christian theist has an interest in the ques-\\ntion, whether the Absolute is limited in the mani-\\nfestation of His power. It would naturally rob him\\nof his fervor, if he were assured that, in the pres-\\nence of petitions, there was indeed a listening ear,\\nbut a shortened arm. An impotent deity would\\nnot call forth the reverence which the human heart\\nis stimulated to bring some one. The demands of\\nthe heart in this respect find their gratification in\\nconsistent logic. Our logic followed out consist-\\nently leads us back to the Absolute First Principle.\\nIt can have no other principles besides itself. As\\nthe Absolute is the basal fact of reality, all things", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0123.jp2"}, "124": {"fulltext": "I2C RELIGION A RATION AI, DEMAND.\\nmust come from Him. As Absolute He must be\\nabove all limitation. We sometimes hear it said\\nthat He is able to do the possible; as though some-\\nthing was outside of his reach; and as though some-\\none, back of Him, made a distinction between the\\npossible and the impossible, and commanded Him to\\nact within certain limits. Such limitation would be\\ninconsistent with our idea of the Absolute; it would\\nmake Him a finite being. The entire order of nature\\nis His order; and disorder is the outcome of actions\\nthat do not conform to His order. He is not limited\\nby any law outside of Himself, for there is no such\\nlaw, and nothing, or no one, to establish such laws.\\nAgain we learn from metaphysics that only things\\nand their relations exist. Laws are only abstrac-\\ntions from the actions of things.\\nEven the rational order is not an order to which\\nHe must submit, as though He were thereby limited.\\nThe rational order is His order; and rational laws\\nare only abstractions from His mode of procedure;\\nand His procedure is consistent with His own\\nnature. We are naturally inclined to speak of a\\nmoral order; and then we, looking at Him from\\nour own limited standpoint, imagine He must be\\nbound by that order. Morality is not superim-\\nposed it is the out working of His own nature.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0124.jp2"}, "125": {"fulltext": "THE NECESSARY ATTRIBUTES. 121\\nMoral laws are laws, again, only by abstraction\\nfrom His mode of procedure. The impossible or\\nthe irrational are not such, because determined to\\nbe such by some limiting power they are such\\nbecause He has made them so Himself. Necessary\\nlaws, such as the laws of thought, are not made\\nsuch by some extraneous power; they are such by\\nthe will of the Absolute. The true, the rational,\\nthe right are expressions of His own nature.\\nOmnipotence does not mean that the Absolute\\nmust at any time be able to make the irrational\\nrational, or the wrong right. His actions are but\\nthe expression of His nature. The further question,\\nwhether He is able to change His nature, is similar\\nto the one asking, whether He created Himself, and\\nboth are without an answer. The true and the\\nabsurd, the right and the wrong, the rational and\\nthe irrational are but abstractions from His actions,\\nand are not limitations from without. Self-limita-\\ntions do not count against absoluteness.\\n5fc\\nA similar process of reasoning may be employed\\nwith reference to His eternity. Just as space is not\\nan entity outside of things, to which they must\\nconform; so time is not an external entity to which\\nthey must adapt themselves. Time and space are", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0125.jp2"}, "126": {"fulltext": "122 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nthe forms of relation between things, the former of\\nsuccession the latter of co-existence. Time is the\\nform of succession and change. It has not an\\nexistence which the Absolute must conquer. It is\\nthe succession of his own creation. He is not con-\\nditioned by time, but conditions time Himself. The\\nlaw of causation points to the fact that phenomena\\nfollow each other in an ordered chain or line. The\\nAbsolute cannot be brought into this line for there\\nwas no instance in the whole chain in which pre-\\nexisting conditions gave rise to the Absolute.\\nThere is not a link in the whole chain but was\\nforged by the Absolute. He therefore comprehends\\nthe whole and can not be subject thereto.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0126.jp2"}, "127": {"fulltext": "THE RELATION OF THE ABSOLUTE TO\\nNATURE.\\nWe have thus far considered the conception of\\nthe absolute, and have noticed what elements that\\nconception contains. We must now consider His\\nrelation to the cosmical order. This order must be\\nconstrued to embrace all finite beings.\\nThe world has been considered to be a part of\\nGod, as the wave is a part of the ocean, or as the\\nbranch is part of the tree, or the part of space is a\\npart of the infinite space. This view has been con-\\nsidered above. Its great fallacy lies in the fact that\\nit considers the Absolute as a substance capable of\\ndivision and subdivision. This view would account\\nfor the multiplicity and variety of phenomena, but\\nnot for ther unity besides it is incompatible with\\nthe true nature of things on account of its material-\\nistic basis. We have seen, time and again, that the\\nAbsolute cannot be considered a substance divisible\\ninto infinity; for that which is divisible is composite\\nand has no true unity. The scientific explanation\\nof things is in terms of causation; and substance is\\n123", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0127.jp2"}, "128": {"fulltext": "124 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nonly a hypothetical assumption to explain phe-\\nnomena.\\nThe Absolute must therefore be an agent. An\\nagent is a unit. It is not divided into parts to cor-\\nrespond to its various actions. Increased action\\ndoes not increase the agent; nor is the agent less\\non account of his actions. The Absolute is not\\ndecreased by creating the world. Parts of Him are\\nnot set apart to form it. We can not say that it\\nemanated from Him. The substance of the world\\nwas never the substance of God. He must be con-\\nceived as an agent and an agent is never lessened by\\nhis act. The act is not a part of the agent. The\\nact performed does not change the agent. Only an\\nagent can be active in a diversity of manner with-\\nout thereby becoming divided himself. The world\\nas a diversity of parts cannot be identified with the\\nAbsolute, who must be conceived as a unit Plur-\\nality of attributes is compatible with a unity of\\nbeing and in this sense nature is to be viewed not\\nas a part of God nor as an emanation from him, but\\nas the act of an agent.\\nThe reality of the finite being and the unity of\\nthe Absolute can be reconciled only upon the the-\\nistic view, that the finite is the creation or act of the\\nInfinite. Quantative and spatial considerations", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0128.jp2"}, "129": {"fulltext": "THE RELATION OF THE ABSOLUTE. 1 25\\nmust be dropped when the relation of finite to\\nInfinite, or creation to God, is in question.\\nNot giving any attention to the lesser forms of\\npantheism, which have no scientific value, it does\\nnevertheless become necessary to consider that form\\nto which science has a strong tendency to lead us.\\nEspecially does it tend to do that if it is not far\\nreaching enough to explain its own data. The\\nuniverse has been considered as a vast organism,\\nor a great animal. The force, which must be\\nassumed as the starting point, was perfectly homo-\\ngeneous, but has through steady differentiation and\\nintegration developed itself into a multitude of\\norgans. This development after the analogy of an\\nanimal is not due to any volition on the part of the\\nforce itself; but it is a necessary outcome of the\\nnature of that force. Efficient causation, says\\nscience, accounts for everything. Given the ante-\\ncedent the consequent must follow with absolute\\nnecessity. A complete explanation of the event is\\nfound in the cause or causes. It is true that science\\nproceeds upon this principle and has a perfect right\\nso to do. When one asks the question, why one\\nset of phenomena result fiom one antecedent, and\\nanother set from another, the only satisfactory ans-\\nwer is that the two antecendents must differ. It is", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0129.jp2"}, "130": {"fulltext": "126 REUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\ntrue that a difference in antecedents is the necessary\\nexplanation of a difference in consequence. Logic\\ncannot settle the question, which would inevitably\\narise, how the perfectly homogeneous force could\\naccount for the difference in the effects. A mechan-\\nical outcome must have a mechanical determina-\\ntion. And the mechanical determination is the\\npoint to be accounted for. Mechanism is the\\nmethod of nature. Mechanism makes science pos-\\nsible; but an explanation is necessary for the\\nmechanism. Mechanism for its explanation must\\nhave intelligence; and intelligence is the attribute of\\na person. The watch is a prefect piece of mechan-\\nism but the mechanism points beyond itself. The\\nwheels of the watch and the springs are of such a\\nnature and size that when put together they serve\\nthe purpose of keeping time. The process by\\nwhich time is indicated is mechanical, but the\\nmechanism cannot account for itself. Neither does\\na mechanism account for the facts of nature.\\nThere are free causes in the world and these free\\ncauses, or free wills, are repugnant to the view that\\nthe world of phenomena is an outcome of the self-\\ndifferentiation of force. In the human mind there is\\nevidence which counteracts the assumption of a\\nnecessary developement. Thought is not a neces^", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0130.jp2"}, "131": {"fulltext": "THK RELATION OF THE ABSOLUTE. 1 27\\nsary outcome of the interaction of the brain with\\nthe object it stands in contact with. If thought\\nwas the necessary outcome, error would be an im-\\npossibility; but it is a fact that thought often\\nchanges and not always because the environment\\nchanges, but often in obedience to an effort of the\\nwill.\\nThe history of science indicates vast changes in\\nthe ideas entertained about things, which in them-\\nselves have not correspondingly changed.\\nIntelligence can be consistently held only in con-\\nnection with freedom. Seeing that there are facts\\nin nature which do not follow as necessary conse-\\nquents form antecedents, we must give up the tena-\\nbility of the theory that nature is the necessary\\noutcome of a development of force.\\nThe only alternative view is that the world is a\\ncreative act. We have noticed that intelligence\\ndemands freedom. The homogeneous force must\\naccount for its own differentiation; seeing that\\nthere is nothing outside of it to determine it.\\nScience assumes that facts and phenomena of nature\\nare intelligent; and intelligence demands an intelli-\\ngent determination No matter how many links\\nthere may be in the chain of causation, ultimately\\nthe mechanism must be referred to free causation;", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0131.jp2"}, "132": {"fulltext": "128 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nand the free cause determines the differentiated\\nmechanism. The differentiation is determined by\\nnothing but the Absolute and thus must be the\\nresult of His own free will.\\nHe is not the shaper of the world; for that\\nwould imply co-existent matter; and that conflicts\\nwith the unity of the Absolute. He is not the\\nshaper, but the creator of the universe. He does\\nnot only put the element together but He forms the\\nelements themselves. The elements were not first\\nmade as obstinate creations and then put together\\ninto forms as best they could be. But as the\\nmechanic shapes the parts of a machine, so that\\nthey may fit together to realize the purpose for\\nwhich the machine was intended; so the Creator\\ncreated the atoms, and the free spirits, with such\\nnatures and in such quantities as the plan of the\\nwhole system demands. The atoms are not princi-\\nples with which the Absolute must contend. He\\nhimself must account for them. An unconscious\\ndevelopment of the homogeneous into intelligent\\nresults is seen to contradict reason when we remem-\\nber that the Absolute does not derive His existence\\nfrom some other source, but has it in Himself. No\\nother principle can stimulate Him to activity, for\\nthere is none such for by hypothesis the homo*", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0132.jp2"}, "133": {"fulltext": "THE RELATION OF THE ABSOLUTE. 1 29\\ngeneous is the Absolute. The activity must spring\\nfrom Himself. Such a determination is self-deter-\\nmination, and our former argument is sustained that\\nthe homogeneous of the materialist is the Absolute\\nPerson of the theist.\\nIt is supposed by some that nature tvhen once\\ncreated is able to run itself by virtue of its own\\npower and stability. It is supposed that the ele-\\nments have an independent existence of their own\\nand are indestructible. Science does teach the\\nindestructibility of the atom, but considers it beyond\\nits sphere to tell us why it is indestructible. The\\nordinary conception is that they are so many solid\\nparticles piled upon one another; and that they, by\\nvirtue of their reality as masses constitute matter.\\nAnd because they are thus even God must allow\\nthem to exist and do with them only what their\\nnature will allow.\\nThe general conception of atoms as held by\\nscientific men will be noticed from the following\\ncitations: (The Physical Properties of Gases by\\nKimball P. 19.) It is now held with some varia-\\ntion in detail by almost all scientific men; and\\nalthough when it is asserted that the ultimate parti-\\ncles of a body such as a block of iron, ordinarily\\nthought of as fixed and solid are in a state of the", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0133.jp2"}, "134": {"fulltext": "130 RKUGION A RATION AI, DEMAND.\\nmost intense activity, making millions of vibrations\\nin a second. So many and so different are the facts\\nthat point in this direction that it seems necessary\\nto conclude that what is thus conceived to be the\\nstructure of material bodies must in its principle\\nfeatures be very near the truth. L,otze say: (Out-\\nline of Metaphysics P. 112.) Every volume filled\\nup with matter consists of an infinite number of\\nreal beings, which in themselves have no extension,\\nbut which on account of their relation to one an-\\nother prescribe places in space and these, by\\nmeans of the sum of all their reciprocal action,\\neffectuate extension in general. Thus it is that\\nthe ultimate nature of things is a constant activity.\\nAccording to L,otze s definition of an atom, when it\\nceases to act it ceases to be. No finite thing is self-\\nsufficient; it points to something beyond itself; to\\nsomething that is related with it and causes it to be\\nwhat it is. The finite thing cannot be a center of\\nself generated energy; for it points to a general\\nfountain head of such energy. Energy propagated\\nfrom one finite object to another must be constantly\\nreplenished and the requirement of sound logic is\\nthat the energy must come from some source that\\nhas energy in itself, by virtue of its own being.\\nThe only answer to the vexed question is that the", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0134.jp2"}, "135": {"fulltext": "THE RELATION OF THE ABSOtUTE. I31\\natom has indestructibility, not on account of any\\nright or merit of its own; but because the Absolute\\nconstitutes it a permanent center of force.\\nAgain it is said that the universe is sustained by\\nnatural laws. It is supposed that nature and God\\nare two distinct entities, and that what the one does\\nthe other need not do, and that they mutually limit\\none another. It is this conception that led men to\\nbelieve that God is required in nature only where\\nthere are breaks and chasms which science cannot\\nbridge over, and that no God is needed where nature\\ncan explain her own action. It is this view which\\nhas made science appear so inimical to religion. It\\nis said, that before men found efficient causation in\\nnature, every phenomenon was directly attributed to\\nGod but now efficient causation takes the place of\\nGod; and God is pushed back into miracles and\\nchasms unexplained by nature. Nature thus be-\\ncomes a mechanism capable of sustaining itself by\\nvirtue of its own inherent power.\\nWe will now look into these facts to see what\\nreason demands concerning them. We know of no\\nlaw that acts independent of the thing. All laws,\\nor all conceptions of law, are but abstractions from\\nthe actions of agents. A law is not a power in\\nitself; it is the mode of activity of something. The", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0135.jp2"}, "136": {"fulltext": "132 RKlylGION A RATION AI, DEMAND.\\nlaws of thought are not laws prescribed for the\\nthinker by someone outside of himself; they are\\nabstractions from the mode of procedure in concrete\\nthought. The laws of material substances are not\\nforces acting upon matter from without; but they\\nare modes according to which things in themselves\\nact. Every particle of matter is a little agent.\\nThe law of his activity is abstracted from his\\nactions. The little agents are not independent for\\nthey act and interact in a united system. They are\\nnot self-sufficient but the} r point beyond them-\\nselves for their explanations. Neither the agent\\nnor his mode of activity can be accounted for by\\nthe agent himself. Neither is the atom an in-\\nexhaustible fount of energy, when created, for that\\nwould make the atom itself a god.\\nThe conclusion of the whole matter is that\\nefficient causation acting according to natural law\\nis not fatal to the idea of God s immanence in\\nnature. The world does move according to these\\nlaws; but law is the mode of action of some agent.\\nThat agent cannot ultimately be the atom; for the\\natom is not self-sufficient. The atom itself is but\\na discrete point in a single system. Consequently\\nthe real agent must be a unit and that unit is the\\nAbsolute.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0136.jp2"}, "137": {"fulltext": "THE RELATION OF THE ABSOLUTE. 1 33\\nIt is incorrect to say that the world process\\nsustains itself. The world process is but the activ-\\nity of the Infinite Agent. The world process be-\\ncause systematic and intelligent requires an explana-\\ntion just as certainly as though it were disconnected\\nand full of breaks; an orderly arrangement needs\\nan explanation just as well as does a disorderly one.\\nThe world as mechanism is not self-sufficient; it is\\nonly a process and the mechanical process requires\\nthe Absolute for its explanation, just as truly as\\nthough it were in every respect desultory.\\nThe Absolute as person transcends nature but\\nas Creator and Preserver he is immanent in every\\npart of the whole world process. He is the never\\nexhaustible fountain that supplies every atom with\\nits store of energy, which, if He would refuse to fur-\\nnish supplies, would immediately cease to exist.\\nIf there were no free moral agency in the world\\nwe could now finish this brief discussion of the rela-\\ntion of God to nature. It would then be an un-\\nbroken mechanism. But there is free, or self-deter-\\nmined, activity in the world and this urges us to\\nthe consideration, that the relation of God to the\\nmaterial world in creation and in preservation does\\nnot itself secure the purpose for which it all exists.\\nIt is, therefore, necessary to consider another rela-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0137.jp2"}, "138": {"fulltext": "134 RKUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\ntion which He sustains to the world, and most\\nespecially to moral agents and that is the relation-\\nship of governor. It is this government that will\\nconstitute the second part of this book.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0138.jp2"}, "139": {"fulltext": "PART IL\\nThe Idea of Man and\\nHis Relation to God.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0139.jp2"}, "140": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0140.jp2"}, "141": {"fulltext": "MAN ESSENTIALLY SPIRITUAL.\\nThe body of man will not receive special atten-\\ntion in this treatise, except as it is related to the\\nself. We are concerned here not with bodily con-\\nstruction, nor, even, with its activity, except as its\\nactivity is related to the self.\\nIt has been maintained by some that man is\\nessentially material; and, as such, his thoughts and\\nactions are mechanically determined. If this turns\\nout, upon due examinalion, to be so, then the world\\nhas no government; then all is pure mechanism; and\\nthis part of our work is not necessary. It is true\\nman has a physical nature and this physical nature\\nis a perfect mechanism, in which every part is\\ndetermined to activity by every other part. This\\nmechanism is composed of different parts, or organs\\nand every part has its own particular function to\\nperform. The lower limbs are constructed for loco-\\nmotion, the hand for prehension, the teeth for masti-\\ncation, the stomach for digestion, the lungs for the\\naeration of blood, the liver for the secretion of bile,\\nand, so say the materialists, the brain for the secre-\\ntion of thought. (137)", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0141.jp2"}, "142": {"fulltext": "138 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nThey say it is no more difficult for the brain to\\nsecrete thought than it is for the liver to secrete\\nbile. Illustratious do sometimes captivate and\\ncause people to believe that which in reality is not\\nfact. It must be remembered that bile and thought\\nare two different things. The one is quantitative\\nand has sensible qualities, while the other has not\\nthese characterics. The one possesses every material\\nquality while the other does not possess them. We\\nwill now briefly consider the difference, and what\\nthis difference will compel us to assume as its\\nexplanation.\\nThe difference of the two sets of phenomena was\\nnoticed by Plato, and was again clearly seen by\\nDescartes, who recognized them as the expression of\\ntwo entities, in themselves distinct, but standing in\\nthe relation of an occasional interaction. Spinoza\\nmet the problem and proceeded to its solution. He\\nthought that thought and extension were two attri-\\nbutes of one and the same substance. He, seeing\\nplainly that the attributes contradicted one another,\\nthought having no extension, and extension having\\nnot the unity of thought, made them the attributes\\nof a transcendental substance, in which possibly the\\nattributes might not conflict. A transcendental\\nsubstance with contradictory qualities is not clear", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0142.jp2"}, "143": {"fulltext": "MAN ESSENTIALLY SPIRITUAL. 1 39\\nto thought; and can, consequently, not be taken\\nas an hypothesis.\\nMaterialism, seeing the irreconcilability of these\\nqualities, emphasized matter and made spiritual\\nphenomena its product. It believes that as the color\\nof the rainbow is produced through the falling rain-\\ndrop and vanishes when the raindew mingles with\\nthe water of the earth; so thought and intelligence\\nare produced through the brain and vanish when\\nthe brain ceases to act. Materialism says that the\\nonly antecedent to thought is brain action and it\\nmust consequently explain thought. When two\\nnerve centers are for some time stimulated in con-\\nnection or in close succession, it gives rise to the\\neKperience of connectedness in experience. When\\nan excitement passes along certain tracts and does\\nso repeatedly, a pathway is made for such excite-\\nment; and in consequence of this pathway, nerve\\nenergy is discharged most easily along this line;\\nthus habit and reproduction are accounted for.\\nThere is no volition; everything is mechanically\\ndetermined.\\nPhysiological psychology has indeed demon-\\nstrated that different parts of the Drain are con-\\nnected with different mental functions. The fact\\nthat there is connection or interaction between the", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0143.jp2"}, "144": {"fulltext": "140 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nbrain and mental life is no sign that one element in\\nthe interaction does not exist. Because oxygen\\nunder certain circumstances and conditions unites\\nwith hydrogen to form water is no evidence that\\nhydrogen does not exist. The oxygen without the\\nhydrogen would remain oxygen. The oxygen has\\ndisappeared and another substance has appeared\\nin its stead; because it has interacted with the\\nhydrogen. If it is true that the brain is the only\\nelement in consciousness and its states are the con-\\ntents of mental life, then certain consequents would\\nnecessarily follow upon such a hypothesis Scien-\\ntists inform us that molecules are in a state of rapid\\nvibration, and that the molecules of the brain are in\\na state of continual change. If consciousness would\\nbe the recognition of the state of the brain, it would\\nnecessarily be of this molecular motion of the brain;\\nbut experience does not corroborate the demands of\\nthe hypothesis. The state of the brain is the last\\nthing we are conscious of. Even the expert neurol-\\nogist does not know the brain motions that are the\\ndirect antecedent of certain mental states. We are\\nconscious not of brain conditions, normally, but of\\nphenomena. In sight we are not conscious of the eye,\\nbut simply of light. The consciousness that the eye\\nis an organ of vision is the result of experimentation.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0144.jp2"}, "145": {"fulltext": "MAN ESSENTIALLY SPIRITUAL. 1 4 1\\nScience informs us that the material world is a\\nworld of motion; and that the result of force is\\nmotion of some kind. We will concede that motion\\nof the ether effects the eye; and that the effect\\nupon the eye is propagated through the optic nerve\\nto the visual center in the brain. It is motion in\\nthe ether; it is molecular motion in the eye, in the\\noptic nerve and in the visual center; but in con-\\nsciousness it is sensation. It is evident that sensa-\\ntion is a new phenomenon. It is not motion; it is\\nso vastly different from motion that it cannot be\\nplaced in the same category. Motion of one kind\\ncan always be transformed into motion of another\\nsubstratum. It cannot be rendered plain, or clear\\nto reason, how motion in the brain can be trans-\\nformed into sensation without having the motion\\npass into another substratum to account for the\\nchange.\\nThe motion in one instant appears as sensation\\nin another. The nervous process that awakens\\nconsciousness effects a multiplicity of molecules\\nalong the nerve tract. Consciousness of the sensa-\\ntion is not carried along the nerve tract stimulated;\\nthere is no consciousness in the stimulated molecule\\nalong the tract: but a unitary being reacts upon the\\nmotion and it is conscious of its own reaction. This", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0145.jp2"}, "146": {"fulltext": "142 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nreaction is consciousness. This being reacts upon\\nthe stimulus and is conscious of its own state.\\nGreen in Proligomena To Ethics, p. 81 f. says that:\\nThe intelligence of man is free. It is not deter-\\nmined in its conception of the world from without\\nbut it reacts upon this stimulus according to its own\\ninherent nature. Were this not a fact, it would\\nbe difficult to determine how error in judgment\\ncould arise. From very trifling data great and far\\nreaching conclusions are drawn. The result is not\\ndetermined by the antecedent; or, in other words,\\nthe result is not the outcome of the preceding forces.\\nThere is a certain freedom thus revealed in the\\nactivity of the self, which no mechanical process\\ncan explain.\\nThe further along we get in our experience the\\nmore the true nature of man s essential being\\nbecomes manifest. We have a manifold variety of\\nsensations. We use this world with the significance\\nalready given it in the forgoing; but there they are\\nall united into the unity of a single object; and\\nthere the various objects are classified and organized\\nby the free activity of the mind itself. It is deter-\\nmined to action by nothing, but itself. There are\\nelements in our experience which empiricism cannot\\naccount for. All individual experiences are united", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0146.jp2"}, "147": {"fulltext": "MAN ESSENTIALLY SPIRITUAL. 143\\ninto the unity of a single system; the unity can be\\naccounted for only by a relating being, a being able\\nto lay hold upon different facts and establish rela-\\ntions between them. I will briefly illustrate from\\nscience what is meant by this relating activity.\\nThe brain is made up of different nerve centers;\\nand each center is supposed to have its own specific\\nactivity. The visual center is the center of sight;\\nthe auditory center is the center of hearing; the\\nolfactory center is the center of smell; the gust-\\natory center is the center of taste; and the motor\\ncenters governing the various motions of the body.\\nActivity takes place in a great variety of centers\\nand in myriads of cells in each center; and all this\\ndiversity of activity is united and organized into\\nthe unity of a single object. Into these objects ele-\\nments enter that do not come by way of sensation.\\nNo mind, for instance, has ever had any sensation\\nof space and yet space is an important element in\\nmaterial perception. The element of space present\\nin the intuition of all material objects is furnished\\nby the mind itself by direct insight.\\nThe visual center receives impressions from the\\nactivity of ether, the auditory from activity of the\\nair, the olfactory from the effluvia touching the\\nmucus lining of the nasal passage, and the gusta-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0147.jp2"}, "148": {"fulltext": "144 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\ntory from action upon the tongue; but in conscious-\\nness neither light, nor sound, nor smell, nor taste\\nappear, but the object by which these impressions\\nare made. If all the activity was directed into a\\nsingle cell of the brain, the cell, if it were conscious-\\nness itself, could at best only be conscious of its own\\nstate; and if the activity from the various sources\\nwould meet in that cell, the outcome would be sim-\\nply the resultant of the various activities. The\\nmolecular activity along the optic nerve, and that\\ncoming along the line of the auditory would neces-\\nsarily run together, and the result would be neither\\nthe one nor the other, and yet would partake of the\\nnature of both. The color and the taste of an\\norange are kept perfectly distinct, and yet they are\\nunited in the unity of a single object. The unity\\nof consciousness is a rock upon which the material-\\nistic school of philosophy wrecks itself. Unity of\\nconsciousness is the charge that blows materialism\\ninto fragments. We have seen that the only being\\nthat we can conceive of being a unity and yet com-\\nprehending diversity is a spirit. The consciousness\\nof man contains universal elements and these also\\nare not derived from external influences acting upon\\nhim. Hume has pointed out that the idea of causa-\\ntion is not derived from experience. Kant has", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0148.jp2"}, "149": {"fulltext": "MAN ESSENTIALLY SPIRITUAL. 1 45\\nshown that the intuitious of space and time and the\\ncategories of the judgment are not derived from\\nexperience, but are the furniture of the understand-\\ning, or of the mind itself, and are absolutely neces-\\nsary for the possibility of experience at all,\\nWe have pointed out in the first part of this\\nwork that matter is not matter outside of conscious-\\nness; every atom bears upon itself the stamp of\\nmentality. Motion, that seems to count for so\\nmuch with the materialist, has existence only in\\nconsciousness. The mind, it is true, is related to\\nthe external world but the external world is the\\nworld as viewed in consciousness, never outside of\\nit. It is not said that the mind makes the material\\nin its own act of thinking. It is rather the signi-\\nficance of what has been said that the mind in its\\nreaction upon external stimulus has certain sensa-\\ntions; and that the mind reacting according to its\\nown nature does give the world those universal\\nprinciples, which are not themselves derived from\\nthe external world by experience. This is not Sub-\\njective Idealism; that doctrine is not tenable. The\\nAbsolute it is, in whom we live, move and have our\\nbeing and this Absolute energizes at innumerable\\ndiscrete points, and out of this energy the mind\\norganizes its world of experience. The Author of", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0149.jp2"}, "150": {"fulltext": "I46 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nnature has created consciousness and the other ele-\\nments of nature that they in their interaction with\\nconsciousness from the world of experience. If the\\nlenses of our eyes were different, how differently\\nthings would appear in size. When a man is highly\\nintoxicated he sees things which do not appear to\\nother minds at all. It is a certain activity of the\\nbrain; and the mind assumes an object to account\\nfor the action. The nature of the intelligence is\\ntherefore not that of a copyist, who takes nature\\nand makes a likeness of it. The mind has rather a\\nfree activity, one uncaused by anything but its own\\nnature. It works upon and organizes the elements\\ninto forms specified and determined by its own\\nnature. Intelligence is therefore free. It must be\\ndissociated with the world of phenomena, which\\nstand in the relation of the categories to one another.\\nThe mind itself contains these categories; they pre-\\ncede ail experience. The mind precedes the objec-\\ntive world for it is only in relation to the subject\\nthat the object becomes object. Thus distinguished\\nfrom the phenomenal world, man has a nature dis-\\ntinctively spiritual. Not that all material phe-\\nnomena have not a spiritual basis but that man is\\nnot related to the phenomenal world as are phe-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0150.jp2"}, "151": {"fulltext": "MAN KSSENTIAIXY SPIRITUAL. 1 47\\nnomena but he stands over against them and is\\ntheir lord and master.\\nThe ideals of man s rational nature are such that\\nthey cannot be considered the result of the growth\\nof experience; but since they possess a universal\\nnature, they are the revelation of God to him; and\\nin so far as they are universal, they must belong to\\nsomething that transcends all diversity of particu-\\nlars, and that can be only Spirit.\\nWe simply wish to show in this chapter that\\nman is not a part of the phenomenal world, but is\\nof a higher order. Phenomenal objects appear, but\\nthey appear in consciousness again, they are related\\nto one another, but this relation is in consciousness.\\nOne object displaces another, but it is displaced from\\nconsciousness. Thus we see that the play of phe-\\nnomena is in human consciousness and their change\\ncan never effect any more than the state of man s\\nconsciousness; the consciousness itself is of a differ-\\nent order. This idea is simply introduced here, it\\nwill be more fully developed in succeeding chapters.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0151.jp2"}, "152": {"fulltext": "DEVELOPMENT A LAW OF HIS BEING.\\nThe movement of living forms is from the homo-\\ngeneous to a system with diversified organs. The\\norganism, simple in its beginning, becomes more\\ncomplex until it reaches its maturity. In the\\ndevelopment of an organism there is a certain free-\\ndom of activity. I mean by freedom a certain\\nactivity that springs from the nature of life itself.\\nThis activity is not determined by any combination\\nof elements. Chemism fails to account for the phe-\\nnomena of life. When life ceases to hold together\\nthe constituent elements, chemism soon dissolves\\nthem. It is the nature of life to lay hold upon mat-\\nter and by constructing certain forms to reveal its\\nown nature by giving body to its own ideals. The\\nnature of life does not change. From the time it\\nsets free the first bioplast it has in view the matured\\nform, and, if the circumstances prove favorable, that\\nform will be produced.\\nTwo conditions are necessary for the realization\\nof that end. The energizing principle must carry\\nthe plan of the matured structure in itself. Indeed,\\n148", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0152.jp2"}, "153": {"fulltext": "DEVELOPMENT A LAW OF HIS BEING. 1 49\\nit is not conscious of that plan, but unconsciously it\\naims to work it out. This plan cannot be found in\\nthe individual atom that enters the composition; if\\nit was, there would be as many plans as there are\\nindividual atoms. On the contrary, all biological\\nscience points to the fact that all the individual\\natoms work in harmony to realize a single plan.\\nThe unity of the plan precedes its realization. I\\nwant to impress this point forcibly: that the life of\\nan organism works incessantly toward the realiza-\\ntion of an ideal which it unconsciously holds. It is\\nevident to biologists that the plan is not realized\\nmechanically by efficient causation which pushes\\nthe elements from behind; but a power holding in\\nits embrace the ideal of its matured form, makes\\nevery stroke count in the realization of that plan.\\nThe organism is not the mechanical enlargement\\nof a preformed structure. The individual organs\\nof the organism are produced in the process of\\ndevelopment. This is proven by the fact that in\\nthe simpler forms of life an organ destroyed will be\\nreproduced. In the case of certain plants, the\\nstem cut from the root and planted will produce\\nroots; and the roots planted will produce stem. It\\nis everywhere characteristic of life that it aims to\\nproduce a systematic unity.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0153.jp2"}, "154": {"fulltext": "I50 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nThe second condition of development is that this\\norganizing power stands in relation to the forces of\\nnature, present in the atom. These powers it must\\nsubdue and make subservient to the unity of its own\\nplan. Its subduing power at first is of a very sim-\\nple nature. It controls but a few atoms at first,\\nbut subdues and organizes into its systems more\\nand more until a amplicated structure is constructed.\\nMan is not only physically a result of development;\\nbut he is essentially subject to the same law. The\\nfirst experiences of his mental life are as simple as\\nthe first movements of the bioplast that organizes\\nthe body. Mental life begins with simple sensation.\\nIt is the simplest reaction upon stimuli. The child\\nat first makes few comparisons in fact, it does not\\naim to organize its experience. Unconsciously,\\nhowever, upon the observation of similarity and dis-\\nsimilarity classification does begin. Similar things\\nare then put into similar categories and given simi-\\nlar names. Not only does the organizing power\\nrealize its own ideal in the structure; but it points\\ntoward higher phases of that ideal. Nature s move-\\nments are uniform; whether life appears in the\\nphysical, mental or spiritual department of the\\nworld, its modes of manifestation are the same.\\nWhy this is so, or why man should be capable of", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0154.jp2"}, "155": {"fulltext": "DEVELOPMENT A LAW OF HIS BEING. I51\\ndevelopment at all is a hopeless question, but no\\nmore so than many other questions that we might\\nask: such as, why nature should be made in any\\npart as it is. Our aim here is simply to point out\\nthe fact that man s essential nature, as well as his\\nphysical nature, is subject to the same law of devel-\\nopment; and it will appear in the subsequent part\\nof this discussion that this fact plays a great part in\\nman s religion. Man s development consists in the\\nestablishment of relations. The infant taken from\\nits mother in its early infancy does not feel greatly\\nthe loss of the mother; but after a few years of con-\\nnection the relation between the child and its mother\\nbecomes stronger; and, in fact, possibly so strong\\nthat the child scarcely knows itself related to any-\\nthing, or any one, but the mother. The same child\\ngoes to school and after a while a similar relation is\\nestablished with the teacher. He is a young man\\nand starting out in business he establishes relations\\nwith the commercial world. He goes into nature\\nand then makes observations; he detects laws and\\nis led to principles, and with these he establishes\\nrelations. Thus his system of experience grows\\nand becomes complicated.\\nMan essentially is intellectual, sensitive, and\\nvolitional. Man is not divided into three parts,", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0155.jp2"}, "156": {"fulltext": "152 REUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nthese three different functions are but three sides of\\na unitary being. This being starts out with the\\nfirm assurance that it is akin to the universe. It\\nmay not realize this assurance to its fullest extent\\nat once but it proceeds toward its realization as it\\ncontinues to establish relations with the different\\nparts of the universe.\\nIn the physical make-up of man there is a rest-\\nless craving. His body, when its immediate wants\\nare satiated, sits down and rests in satisfaction; but\\nit is otherwise with his essential nature. Here\\nevery advance is an incentive to another; every\\ndegree of culture is but a stimulus to that which\\nlies beyond. The scientist goes into nature with\\nthe conviction that, whatever he may observe, or\\ninvestigate, is related to his intelligence. If he be\\na geologist and meets rocks that seem an opaque\\nmass, he ventures into them firmly believing in\\nadvance that they were put there by hands, guided\\nby intelligence, and that some day even their chaotic\\nappearance will reveal a cosmic order. In fact in\\nevery department of science the scientist considers\\nhimself most intimately related to the nature of that\\norder.\\nIt is the nature of the original cell in the indi-\\nvidual organism, under favorable circumstances, to", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0156.jp2"}, "157": {"fulltext": "DEVELOPMENT A LAW OF HIS BEING. 1 53\\ndivide and subdivide and by absorption of material\\nfrom the outside world and co-ordination of this\\nmaterial to become a mature animal structure. Man\\nin his intellectual development begins with the sim-\\nplest relations and hastens forward through compli-\\ncated environments until he has transformed the\\nchaotic mass of the world into the intelligent con-\\nstruction of an ordered whole. He not only com-\\nprehends all that he comes in immediate contact\\nwith but throws out the course of his comprehen-\\nsion and aims to encircle the whole world of being.\\nHe begins with the simple, the particular, but does\\nnot rest short of the universal. Intellect is not\\ncontent simply to act, it must act with a purpose.\\nIt is not the goal of its life simply to possess ele-\\nments of experience; they must be organized by\\ncertain laws and principles into systematic units,\\nFiction will not satisfy because it yearns for the\\nreal. The simple products of the imagination will\\nnot suffice, for that is individual opinion. The only\\nresting place it finds is in the comprehension oi\\neternal truth, and that, in its ultimate analysis, is\\nthe mode of action of the Absolute Person.\\nMan develops not only intellectually but morally\\nas well. His intellectual nature manifests itself as\\nsoon as material is given it to act upon. As physi-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0157.jp2"}, "158": {"fulltext": "154 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\ncal life absorbs elements and deposits them accord-\\ning to the laws of its own activity; so mental life\\norders the chaos of its own sensations into the mold\\nof its own intrinsic nature.\\nAnd in like manner as man has an intellectual\\nnature which causes him to observe and to experi-\\nment with the objects of nature until he finds those\\nlaws which are the exact counterpart of the laws of\\nhis own being; so has he also a moral nature. This\\nnature is the directrix of his being. While his\\nintelligence aims to find the true, his moral nature\\nprompts him to seek the right. It may at first be\\nwithout any content and have no significance except\\na formal one; yet in its formal dictates it points to\\nrighteousness and will never consent to anything,\\nbut a body of actions ordered according to its own\\nprinciples. Its legitimate sphere of action is the\\nvoluntary action of man. It is formal in the sense\\nthat it gives form and value to tbe actions of the\\nagent. It declares them right or wrong according\\nto its own standard It does not pretend to be pre-\\npossessed by a store of ethical knowledge, or to\\nhave a code of moral judgments; but it does\\nbuild up moral judgments out of concrete\\nactions. It is a life, a moral life which lays hold\\nupon the material, composed of human actions, and", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0158.jp2"}, "159": {"fulltext": "DEVELOPMENT A I,AW OF HIS BEING. 1 55\\nco-ordinate it into the organism of righteousness.\\nIt there gives to each act its own position and lays\\nupon each its own legitimate value. The Principle\\nof utility is the great teacher of moral judgment;\\nbut it is only the principle according to which they\\ndevelop. It cannot account for the moral life any\\nmore than the physical organism, or the process of\\nphysical development, can account for natural life.\\nThe manifestations of the moral life are necessarily\\nsimple so long as the relations of the individual with\\nthe outside world are simple and it becomes more\\ncomplex as his world of experience enlarges. The\\nmoral life forces its way into every part of the world\\nof experience and not an element of man s free\\naction escapes its discriminating power.\\nMan is put into nature without his consent.\\nBut once here, he is compelled to act. His intel-\\nlect will observe and to some degree reflect; even\\nan idler cannot avoid it. To some extent he must\\ndevelop but the highest development is the result\\nof a conscious reaction upon external stimuli.\\nThe highest mental development is therefore the\\nresult of effort. Morally man irresistibly acts. He\\neither reacts upon the stimuli with a healthy and\\nworthy reaction, and the moral life expresses its\\nsatisfaction; or the individual allows himself to be", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0159.jp2"}, "160": {"fulltext": "156 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nborne along by his environments and his moral life\\nconfronts him with the feeling of his own unworthi-\\nness. As his world of conscious experience grows,\\nthe reaction of his moral nature grows likewise with\\nan increasing sense of satisfaction or dissatisfaction,\\naccording as the actions will or will not conform to\\nthe ideals of moral life.\\nNot only is he capable of development in the\\nestablishment of relations between him and the indi-\\nvidual facts of nature; but he also develops habits.\\nHe is able to react along the lines of his higher con-\\nvictions and develop into a worthy member of\\nsociety. He not only develops in the number of\\nrelations established, but also in the ease with\\nwhich he reacts. Repeated actions become forged\\ninto habits. When we come to look at the result of\\nactions as they react upon the individual agent we\\nshall see the importance of this kind of develop-\\nment. He is able to establish relations by means\\nof his intelligence which, on account of his moral\\npromptings, may be right; and on account of the\\nlaw of action, which by frequent repetition forges a\\nhabit, may be made as permanent as the actual self.\\nThe ability to develop is an infinite one. At no\\ntime in a man s history does he arrive at the point\\nwhere he is perfectly content with his condition.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0160.jp2"}, "161": {"fulltext": "DEVELOPMENT A LAW OF HIS BEING. 1 57\\nIn every cognition and in every volition he is con-\\nfronted by ideals that are still beyond his power to\\nrealize.\\nThe problem of evil in the world has always\\nbeen a difficult one. It has been one of the great\\nbug-bears of speculative thought. How can evil,\\nor the sense of evil, be reconciled with true good-\\nness in the heart of the universe The sense of\\nevil arises from a feeling of dissatisfaction.\\nThis feeling arises when the present attainment\\ndoes not meet the demand of the ideal. This very\\nevil is a good in disguise. It is in the presence of\\nideals that man is reminded of his deficiencies. It\\nis this sense of deficiency that spurs him to higher\\nattainments. It is this fact that drives the scientist\\ninto the as yet unknown department of nature to\\nmake them clear to his intelligence. It is this that\\ncauses the artist to work and toil to make some\\ncreation of his art to conform to his ideal. The\\nhistory of the world has been one continual effort\\nto realize ideals present in man s essential constitu-\\ntion. Evil is the discrepancy between a present\\nstate, or attainment, and those ideals.\\nKvil is also present on account of a failure on\\nthe part of the individual to realize his moral", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0161.jp2"}, "162": {"fulltext": "158 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nideals. The moral imperative is, Do right though\\nthe heavens fall.\\nIt is possible in the presence of conflicting\\nmotives to prefer a lower to a higher end. These\\nends are always valued with reference to their\\nagreement, or disagreement, with moral standards.\\nThis preference of a lower to a higher end creates a\\ndiscrepancy between a moral act and a moral ideal,\\nor the inner voice of duty, and thus arises the con-\\nsciousness of sin.\\nSin is a moral evil and is not a good in disguise,\\nbut is a wrong choice made by a moral agent. We\\nshall learn in subsequent chapters that the ideals\\nwrought into human nature were put there by the\\nAbsolute, who is the Creator of man and the author\\nof his nature; and that a wilful violation of the\\nideals is a sin against the Absolute person.\\nMan is intellectually developable; for he carries\\nin him ideals that embrace the universe of being;\\nand the intellect will not rest until the whole is\\nmastered.\\nMan s feelings are capable of being developed.\\nThey are the index of the value which relations\\nentered into have for the sensitive self. The\\nstrength of feelings depends upon the strength of\\nthe relation, and the kind of feelings upon its nature.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0162.jp2"}, "163": {"fulltext": "DEVELOPMENT a LAW OF HIS BEING. 1 59\\nThe habit of looking upon the side of the individual\\nimperfections develops moroseness and melancholia.\\nThe feelings, if the right relations to environments\\nare formed, will develop into perfect harmony with\\nthe Absolute; or if these relations are not formed,\\nhe becomes a piece of selfishness and feels himself\\nforsaken of man and God.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0163.jp2"}, "164": {"fulltext": "HIS FREEDOM.\\nOne of the most vexed questions of philosophy-\\nis whether man is essentially free or whether he is\\ndetermined. It was an easy matter to teach man s\\nfreedom in the past ages when every phenomenon in\\nnature was assigned to some free agent; but when\\nmen began to point out that efficient causation was\\na fact in the world, natural causes were everywhere\\nsubstituted for supernatural ones; and the idea of\\nmechanism which means determination was intro-\\nduced into every department of nature. So power-\\nfully did this view lay hold upon men that it was\\ncarried into every avenue of science; and when men\\ncould not find a real cause for a certain event a\\nhypothetical one was placed there; and it is not\\nstrange that to the inner actions of consciousness\\nthis law of determinism should be applied. It has\\nbeen the aim of materialism to account for all\\nmental phenomena, intellectual no more than voli-\\ntional, by the activity of the brain alone. They say,\\nwe know that in sensation certain brain action\\nprecedes certain mental experiences; and, because\\n1 60", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0164.jp2"}, "165": {"fulltext": "HIS FREEDOM. l6l\\nwe see no other cause for it, brain activity must be\\nthe sole cause for it. They notice a vast difference\\nbetween physical and mental phenomena, and they\\ncall the one the inner and the other the outer side\\nof the same experience. They say, because the\\ninner side corresponds to the outer side and physical\\nevents are determined by physical causes, that the\\nmental acts and habits must be likewise determined.\\nNow, it is true that man is determined within\\ncertain limits. He is not allowed to alter, to any\\ngreat extent, the laws of nature. They are fixed\\nbeyond the possibility of his interference. He must\\nretain his residence upon the earth and all attempts\\nto gratify curiosity by going elsewhere must prove\\nfutile. He is connected with a physical organism\\nand that physical organism has a certian power and\\na certain degree of endurance, beyond which it is\\nimpossible to go. This indicates that the order of\\nnature is established and that its plans will be real-\\nized beyond the possibility of human interference.\\nBut that man is nevertheless a free agent cannot\\nbe disputed without coming into direct antagonism\\nto the data of consciousness. Herbert Spencer\\nsays, Whatever persists in consciouness must be\\nadmitted as real. If the permanent data of con-\\nsciousness are faults, man must be laboring under", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0165.jp2"}, "166": {"fulltext": "1 62 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\na delusion. We have noticed, time and again, the\\nfact that in intelligence there must be a certain free-\\ndom, for intelligence adapts means to ends where\\nmechanism rules, such language would be most\\nabsurd.\\nIt is incorrect to separate the various faculties\\nof man as though they were that many separate\\nbeings and afterward to bring them into unity.\\nThough we view man as functioning in the three\\ndirections of intelligence, feeling and will; yet it is\\ntrue that in every function the others are present\\nalso. A man s thoughts will stir up feeling. The\\nfeeling may drop to a minimum, and yet there is\\nfeeling. He cannot choose unless he has objects\\ngiven him for choice. A choice cannot be made\\nbetween alternatives unless they are present at the\\ntime in consciousness, that is, intellectually appre-\\nhended. In order to make a choice between two\\nobjects these objects themselves must have a value\\nfor the chooser; and thus the intellectually grasped\\nobject has an influence upon the feeling; or, in\\nother words, the feelings enter into the cognition of\\nthese objects. Neither is it possible to think with-\\nout having will enter into thought because thoughts\\nneed direction. Man must, in consequence of these\\nconsiderations, act as a unity wherever he acts.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0166.jp2"}, "167": {"fulltext": "HIS FREEDOM. 163\\nThe soul is connected with a physical system\\nwhich is mechanical in its construction. K^ery part\\nis connected with every other; and the whole forms\\none organic system. The self pictures to itself cer-\\ntain actions and chooses them, and the physical\\nstructure executes the choice. This fact has led\\nmaterialism to say that will is but the subjective\\nconsciousness of a mechanical act. Just as though\\na falling stone were to say to itself, I willed 1o\\nfall; although its fall was in every sense deter-\\nmined by forces other than its own choice.\\nIn this discussion we must study carefully con-\\nsciousness for it is there that we know the world\\nof reality. Man as a rational creature knows him-\\nself able to choose either of two different lines of\\naction. He may act in conformity to his rational\\ndemands or he may act otherwise. No blame can\\njustly be attached to an agent who is mechanically\\ndetermined to act as he acts. An apple falls upon\\nour head we never blame the falling apple, nor the\\ntree that let it drop. They are both mechanically\\ndetermined in bringing about the results. But it is\\nnot so with man; we instinctively express judgment\\nupon the moral value of his act. We do not act,\\nwe cannot act, as though we knew these actions of\\nmen were determined; we rather act toward the", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0167.jp2"}, "168": {"fulltext": "164 RKUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nagent as though we knew those actions were sub-\\njectively determined. We blame them not only for\\novert acts; we blame them when they refuse to\\nmake the best use of their opportunities. In all of\\nthese judgments we attach the idea of freedom to\\ntheir actions. Repentance is a common experience\\nof men; and it is a feeling of self-reproach for\\nactions which we ought not to have done, or for the\\nneglect of those things which we ought to have\\ndone. We reprove ourselves for our wayward life;\\nand we reproach ourselves also for our weakness.\\nIf there is such a thing as slavery to passion, we\\nblame ourselves for having consented to such a con-\\ndition. We are compelled to believe that we might\\nhave done and been otherwise.\\nMentality cannot stand without the idea of free-\\ndom. Intelligence is teleological. It does not take\\nmeans and manipulate them in order to watch results.\\nThe builder does not take the timber and put it to-\\ngether to see what combination can be made; he\\nrather adapts the timber to the end he has in view.\\nHis action is intelligent because it is teleological.\\nHe has a vision of the completed architecture, and\\nadapts the means to its accomplishment. In muscu-\\nlar action a man is not conscious of the individual\\nmuscles that come into play in the performance of a", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0168.jp2"}, "169": {"fulltext": "HIS FREEDOM. 165\\ncertain act. However, the act becomes an ideal in\\nconsciousness; and the muscular system puts forth\\nan effort to realize the ideal. It may be a simple\\nact, and the choice to perform it and the act itself\\nmay be synchronous; but there are many actions in\\nwhich the choice so to act and the performed action\\nare separated by a long course of development. The\\ninfant attempts to walk; the act is ideally con-\\nceived, but the muscular co-ordination is not yet\\nestablished. The choice to perform the act domin-\\nates the whole being, until the act becomes a real-\\nity. Were it not for the free choice the act itself\\nwould never become an actual fact. A man has a\\ndesire to become a musician. There may be rea-\\nsons stimulating him with this desire; but the\\nreasons do not determine him to be a musician.\\nThe same reasons may be present with others and\\nmay have been present with himself at different\\ntimes; but this thought of the desirability of being\\na musician did not determine him to be one. He,\\nhowever, at a certain moment made the choice to\\nbecome one; that was the beginning of his musical\\ncareer. When he resolved to become a musician,\\nhe was already one in a certain sense of that term.\\nIt is not said that all the muscular co-ordinations\\nfor that end were already made. They were not,", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0169.jp2"}, "170": {"fulltext": "1 66 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\ncircumstances were against him, and had to be over-\\ncome before that end could be reached but he him-\\nself was on the right side of the end to be accom-\\nplished. He is now self-determined. He does not\\nsay when the combination of circumstances deter-\\nmine me to become a musician then will I become\\none; he, on the contrary, recognizes himself to be\\nsuperior to his circumstances and has perfect con-\\nfidence in the end determined. He is perfectly\\nconfident that he can mold his circumstances,\\nthough they may seem to antagonize the end\\naimed for, into conformity to that end. And\\nthough it takes a multiplicity of muscles and com-\\nplicated muscular combinations to make him what\\nhe desires to be; yet is he confident of his ability\\nto determine himself and them and make them con-\\ntribute to the result.\\nOur penal institutions rest upon the basis of the\\nsupposition that all human actions are determined\\nby the agent himself. The act though prejudicial\\nin the highest degree will not make the agent cul-\\npable if the evidence point toward a want of mali-\\ncious intention in the act. A criminal act may have\\nbeen performed under severe pressure of circum-\\nstances; it may have been executed by a muscular\\nact; the muscular system acted in the committal", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0170.jp2"}, "171": {"fulltext": "HIS FREEDOM. 167\\naccording to its own laws and 3^et back of all this\\nwas the self-determination that determined the mus-\\ncular contraction and co-ordination toward a certain\\nend set by itself. The individual does not regard\\nhimself to be a machine that acts only as it is acted\\nupon, but rather understands himself to have\\ndirected his own course and to be responsible for\\nhis own ends.\\nWhen a man takes a walk he does it not be-\\ncause he is determined to do so, but because he\\ndecides upon it himself. When a man invents a\\nmachine he does not consider that he was driven\\nby the combination of forces so to do, but he re-\\ngards it as a free act of his own.\\nJust as a man is able to control his muscles,\\nso he is able to control his thoughts. In fact\\nit is upon the control of his thoughts that his\\nmuscular control depends. His whole environment\\nmay stimulate thought in a certain direction; but\\nhe finding that that line of thought is not going\\nto gain what he wants it to, sets himself against the\\nwhole trend. He does this by voluntarily thinking\\nalong other lines to which he is not determined by\\ncircumstance, but to which he is determined by his\\nown self. In every choice there must be different\\nalternatives. There may be present impulses to-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0171.jp2"}, "172": {"fulltext": "1 68 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nward the gratification of present wants springing\\nfrom the animal nature; there may be present\\nrational impulses which aim for most distant pos-\\nsessions, or rewards, and gains them at a sacrifice\\nof the present or immediate joys. The thoughts of\\nboth ends are present with the thinker. He can-\\nnot possibly act along both lines. The rational\\nimpulse may have, often does have, a more distant\\nand a less vivid goal than the other; and yet he\\nmay choose to think the one and choose it as his\\nend to the exclusion of the other.\\nThe same truth is illustrated in the world of\\nthought. The natural line of thought for the child\\nwould possibly be the contemplation of its childish\\ntrinkets and its childish games. It may under the\\nspur of a single observation decide upon becoming\\na scientist; the childish trinkets are now discarded\\nas unworthy, and only such facts observed and such\\ninstruments employed, as will enable him to gain\\nthat end. By a continued effort that which once\\nwas difficult is now easily performed. A new\\nhabit of thought has been initiated by an effort of\\nthe self.\\nIt is in this individual self-determination that\\nreligion looks for the possiblilty of human improve-\\nment. Men who prey upon the vile elements", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0172.jp2"}, "173": {"fulltext": "HIS FREEDOM. 169\\nof carnality never rise to any degree of being or use-\\nfulness. Vile thoughts beget a vile character. The\\nindividual by choice entertaining wicked thoughts\\nwill soon have his whole character poisoned with its\\nvirus. Thoughts are the antichamber of actions;\\nand no matter what may be the theory as to the\\nlimitations of the will, this much is established in\\nevery individual experience, that a man can turn\\nhis thoughts or his attention from one thing, or\\nfrom one idea, to another; and whatever idea or\\nthought he holds by voluntary thinking will trans-\\nform his character into similarity to itself; because\\nthoughts and ideas are strong motive powers in the\\ncourse of a man s actions. By directing the trend\\nof thought the individual controls his disposition.\\nHe may be greatly annoyed by a weakness; he\\nwishes it were otherwise; his penitential feelings\\nare deep: but in the moment of temptation he seems\\npowerless. He now determines that it shall be\\notherwise with him. He ceases to think of the\\ngratification that comes to him from the source of\\nhis weakness he thinks of the desirability of deter-\\nmining himself as a man he thinks of manly quali-\\nties, and of the greater enjoyments that come to him\\nfrom the consciousness of being a conqueror. He\\nnow realizes that that which he thought would", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0173.jp2"}, "174": {"fulltext": "170 REUGION A RATION AL DEMAND.\\nrequire such a great conflict is easily overcome.\\nHe does not ascribe his victory to a more fortunate\\ncombination of circumstances. He knows it is not\\nthe resultant of co-operating forces in his environ-\\nment, but is the result of his own self-determination.\\nThe self is found in connection with the physical\\nforces and especially in interaction with the body,\\nwhich acts upon it; yet the self is independent; it\\nmay determine itself in perfect harmony with its\\nenvironments or it may set itself into boldest antag-\\nonism thereto.\\nWe have seen that man is a free intelligence and\\nthat his intelligence is truly creative; for it is\\ndetermined in its essential action by nothing, but\\nreacts upon external stimuli according to its own\\nnature. We have still more the conviction that the\\nwill is a power of independent reaction upon the\\nenvironment. It is this fact of independent reac-\\ntion upon environment and the power of self-deter-\\nmination that constitutes man pre-eminently a\\nresponsible being.\\nIt is in his power to allow himself to be ensnared\\nby the things of the phenomenal universe and meet\\nthe disappointment of finding that they have only a\\ntemporary value. Or he may choose to identify\\nhimself with those principles which are immutable;", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0174.jp2"}, "175": {"fulltext": "HIS FREEDOM. 171\\nand though his life may be one of many sacrifices\\nand, though it may lead him in bold antagonism\\nto his environment, he will find his life one of un-\\nbroken and changeless value; because he stands\\nupon the immutable foundation of eternal laws.\\nIt is a matter of common consciousness that the\\nindividual himself is responsible for his character.\\nEnvironment may have much to do by way of\\nassisting, but never, except as the result of an\\neffort, do we blame physical or social environment,\\nbut throw the whole responsibility upon the in-\\ndividual himself. This power of self-determination\\nenables the indi\\\\ idual to employ the most violent\\nopposition and make it the most forceful factor in\\nthe realization of himself.\\nThis freedom has a great bearing upon man as\\na religious being. Necessitarianism would make\\nhim the mechanical outcome of a system, which he\\nwould be unable in the slightest manner to modify.\\nHis volitions are but the consciousness of necessary\\nactions, actions controlled by circumstances beyond\\nhis reach.\\nSuch a view would impugn the belief that man\\nis religious. For man to be mechanically related\\nto the universe, or to God, would be no more than\\nthe blade of grass or the leaf; for they are mechani-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0175.jp2"}, "176": {"fulltext": "172 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\ncally determined to be what they are. Religion is\\nnot a mechanical relation of the individual to God\\nfor such a relation to Him is sustained by the most\\ninsignificant part of his workmanship. It is this\\nentrance of the power of self-determination, the\\npower of self -direction, against the opposing ele-\\nments of the phenomenal world that give man a\\nvalue far outweighing in importance the most stu-\\npendous phenomena of nature.\\nIt is in the consciousness of a self-determination\\nthat lies the possibility of being at variance with\\nthe nature of things and consequently in opposition\\nto Him who is the Creator of all. It opens up to man\\nthe possibility of glad self-surrender to the Author\\nof his being, and thereby have the consciousness of\\naffectionate and blessed allegiance to Him.\\nFreedom does not mean uncaused action; but it\\nmeans self-caused action. It means a life not solely\\ndetermined by circumstances or environments, but\\na life determined by rational intelligence. Nothing\\ncan be credited with intelligence that is determined\\nto act as it does. The most skillful work of man s\\nhand would be no more credit to the workman than\\nthe orderly arrangement of the leaf is to the leaf\\nitself. Every particle of the leaf is arranged into\\nan order which, though indeed the result of intelli-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0176.jp2"}, "177": {"fulltext": "HIS FREEDOM. 173\\ngence, is not the result of the intelligence of the\\nleaf, but of the author of the mechanical system of\\nwhich the leaf is a part. Of man we speak differ-\\nently. The works of his hands betray the same\\nkind of intelligence; but the intelligence is referred\\nto a different cause than is the leaf. Man himself\\nis the cause and the intelligence betrayed in his\\nwork is his intelligence.\\nThis manner of speach is consistent only on the\\nsupposition of freedom in man. His self-determin-\\nation brings with it his responsibility. It makes\\nhim the author of his own relation to nature and to\\nhis God; and it is this fact which constitutes him\\nreligious. Because we are so near to it I will ven-\\nture a definition of religion. Religion is the right\\nrelation of the free moral agent to his God. Of\\ncourse it is understood that the adjective right is\\nnot to be construed in the absolute sense for that\\nwould prevent any finite creature from being re-\\nligious.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0177.jp2"}, "178": {"fulltext": "THE NATURE OF HIS DEVELOPMENT.\\nIf we ask ourselves the question, why do things\\ndevelop, we would be unable to find a reply. The\\nquestion is as hopeless as is the question why was\\nnature created at all. Why was nature created at\\nall, and why was it created as it is are questions,\\nwhich must be referred to infinite w T isdom for a\\nsolution. Our chief concern is to know it as it is.\\nThe process of nature is a process of develop-\\nment. The living organism makes its first appear-\\nance in the form of a microscopic cell. Its power\\nto dominate matter is exceedingly small; but it\\ncarries in it the impulse to subdue and to dominate\\nby its own peculiar nature. The cell absorbs\\nthrough its walls into itself the nourishment sup-\\nplied by its environments. It thereby increases its\\ncontents until it divides; and each daughter cell re-\\npeats the history of the mother cell. Thus the\\nindividual organism increases in size and strength\\nuntil it reaches its maturity. Human development\\nbegins with physical development. The organs of\\nsense and motion are developed by the organization\\n174", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0178.jp2"}, "179": {"fulltext": "THE NATURE OE HIS DEVELOPMENT. 1 75\\nof unorganized matter absorbed for that purpose.\\nThe eye is formed long before it can see; but there\\nlies in it capsulate the power of sight. The hands\\nare formed, but they have not the ability to handle,\\nthough their structure indicates their purpose. The\\nlungs are made for the aeriation of the Hood long\\nbefore they can receive the oxygen of the air. The\\nnervous system was formed for the co-ordination of\\nthe different members of the organism into a unity.\\nThe organism is not intended to act until the proper\\nstimulus for action is given; and then it often takes\\nquite an effort to establish a proper adaptation.\\nThe eye is receptive of the light; but it takes a\\ncertain adjustment to see things properly. The\\nchild s hand is perfectly adapted for grasping\\nthings; and yet it requires a certain amount of\\neffort to do ii properly. The muscles must, adapt\\nthemselves fo their environment; but they only\\nlearn after considerable experimentation to over-\\ncome the law of gravitation.\\nBut we have seen that man is essentially spirit-\\nual and that the development of physical organs is\\nnot the chief purpose of his being, or of his develop-\\nment. It is to the credit of science to agree with\\nrevelation that the nature of development is first\\nphysical then spiritual. It is one of the points made", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0179.jp2"}, "180": {"fulltext": "176 REUGION A RATION At DEMAND.\\nby the theory of evolution, that after the physical\\norganism was perfected then the course of develop-\\nment took a spiritual turn. Science has proven that\\nthe eye was not constructed for itself, but for the\\ngreater end of sight. The eye does not improve by\\nseeirjg but it finlly wanes and refuses to serve at all.\\nIt is precisely so with the other members of the\\nbody. They all point to a use beyond themselves.\\nTheir chief aim is to awaken spiritual energy and\\nwhen that is done they begin gradually to recede\\ninto inactivity and give themselves over to death.\\nThese facts indicate strongly that the permanent\\nnature of progress is not physical, but spiritual.\\nThe physical is but the revelation of the spiritual,\\nwhich is present in every speck of the phenomenal\\nworld. The phenomenal world is a system of signs\\nfrom which man spells the meaning of eternal\\nthought.\\nHuman development is individual, He is not\\ncarried along by the mechanism of the universe.\\nHe is rather a being determined to activity by his\\nown essential nature and volition. He grows by\\nadapting himself to his environments. Physical\\ngrowth consists in causing the elements of nature\\nto become organized into the living tissue of organic\\nforms.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0180.jp2"}, "181": {"fulltext": "THE NATURE OF HIS DEVELOPMENT. 1 77\\nIyife must have access to those elements of its\\nenvironment. Man stands in such a position, and\\nis so related to the world, that his physical wants\\nare met in such a way that physical development\\nmay take place. He is also related to the world\\nthat his intellectual and moral nature may find their\\ncorrelates for proper growth. No part of an\\norganism grows of itself. It is only as it stands in\\nperfect relation to the correlated part of its environ-\\nment that it grows. The cell that constitutes the\\nbeginning of its being does not develop the organism\\nfrom itself; it must stand in vital relation to the\\nmaterial world in order to guarantee a proper inflow\\nof the necessary elements. All appetites aim to\\nestablish relations between the individual and some\\npart of his environment. The reaction of the self\\nupon the appetites gives the self its character. All\\nself-assertion is essentially free and determines the\\nnature of the self and of its growth. When a man\\ndirects his attention to physical self-preservation\\nalone he becomes worldly minded. His whole self\\nis then alive to the material nature. He finds his\\njoy and delight in material prosperity and remains\\nblind to everything else. The accumulation of\\nwealth seems to be the chief desideratum of such a\\nbeing. He grows strong by specialization, but a", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0181.jp2"}, "182": {"fulltext": "I78 KEXIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nstrong attachment to one part of the environment\\noften means atrophied relation to others. He has\\na natural impulse for pleasure and that springs from\\nsome part of his animal nature. A constant atten-\\ntion to this end of life makes him animal. Man s\\nessential growth is always along the lines of his\\nactivity. While giving due regard to these parts of\\nhis environment he may reach out and form rela-\\ntions with other parts. The miser is blind to a\\nworld of beauty; the fleecy cloud, the studded\\nmeadows, heaven s canopy decked with a million\\nstars are all beyond the reach of his vision. There\\nis beauty of environment; but he sees it not. He\\nhas had a growth but not in this direction. He has\\ncut down his environment to the one point of con-\\ntact and that is wealth. Growth in love for the\\nbeautiful takes place when the individual voluntar-\\nily turns his attention to that part of his environ-\\nment. The botanist sees beauty in a flower con-\\ncealed to the ordinary observer; because he has\\nturned his attention to this part of his environment\\nso long. Voluntary adaptation to the beautiful\\nmeans a stimulation of taste and a conquest of its\\nprinciples. As the physical world ministers to\\nthe physical wants of the individual, so the\\nbeautiful ministers to his aesthetic wants. Growth", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0182.jp2"}, "183": {"fulltext": "THE NATURE OF HIS DEVELOPMENT. 179\\nmeans a stimulation of want and a furnishing\\nof supplies. The supply in the aesthetic world\\nis infinitely greater than any taste has yet been\\nable to appreciate. According to the strength of\\nthe adaptation is the want; and according to the\\nwant is the supply.\\nMan s environment also contains a world of\\nthought. The material world is a living thinking\\nthing See Lloyd s Dynamic Idealism p. 36.)\\nEvery atom stands in intelligent relation to some\\nother atoms. Every grain of sand sustains a rela-\\ntion to other grains of sand and to the earth that is\\ntransparent to thought. Every planet stands in a\\nrelation to the planetary system that mathematics,\\nthe most highly of all intellectual sciences, can\\ndescribe. Intelligence is a universal characteristic\\nof all nature. This part of man s environment is\\nopen to him. Man grows intellectually by adapting\\nhimself to truth. He must carefully observe the\\nfacts of nature and by voluntary attention he grows\\ninto accuracy of observation. A relation is thus\\nestablished between the observer and the things\\nobserved. The facts of observation must be care-\\nfully considered and mentally digested. It requires\\nthinking to develop power and accuracy of thought.\\nThe world of thought like the world of beauty is", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0183.jp2"}, "184": {"fulltext": "l8o RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\ninexhaustible; and when men by deep penetration\\nhave gained possession of some part of it, other\\nparts immediately burst into view. L,ike the Amer-\\nican continent hid from the knowledge of men until\\nChristopher Columbus took from its face the veil,\\nso the unlimited world of truth is waiting to yield\\nits limitless possessions to the diligent student. The\\nworld of truth is a world of thought; and a world\\nof thought exists for the thinker. The progress of\\nman indicates that there is no phase of thought to\\nwhich man is not related. The principles of science,\\nthat at one time taxed the philosophers to their\\nutmost capacity and were then considered a special\\nbequest to the specially gifted are now the posses-\\nsions of every schoolboy. The profoundest princi-\\nples are the simplest truths when mastered.\\nThis indicates the goal of man s development.\\nIn physical development the ideal of his growth is\\nlimited. When a certain amount of the physical\\nenvironment has been absorbed and assimilated\\nabsorption ceases to cause expansion. With man s\\nintellectual nature it is diametrically different. An\\nexpansion through absorption into infinity is its\\ngoal. Comprehension of truth never limits itself;\\nbut every fact and principle comprehended is both\\nan incentive to comprehend others still beyond, and", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0184.jp2"}, "185": {"fulltext": "THE NATURE OF HIS DEVELOPMENT. l8l\\nis an increased ability to comprehend it. Thus we\\narrive at one of the fundamental truths of this\\nwork, that man s rational nature contains the ele-\\nment of absoluteness in itself. This rational nature\\nis not content with the simple mastery of a few\\nfacts, but aims to comprehend the universal world\\nof truth. The individual does not develop himself;\\nhe simply adapts himself to the truth and the ab-\\nsorption of truth causes him to expand.\\nMan s environment contains also a moral and a\\nspiritual element; and as thought is present in all\\nphysical elements, but infinitely transcends it, so\\nthe moral and spiritual elements are present in all\\nthought and are themselves absolute; because they\\nmust be regarded as the will of the Absolute Per-\\nson, God. Man grows into similarity to the truth\\nby adapting himself to it, never by adapting truth\\nto his own selfish inclination. In like manner man\\nbecomes moral and spiritual by adapting himself\\nto moral and spiritual law, or rather to the God.\\nThe rational ideal is to comprehend absolute truth.\\nThe moral and spiritual is the assurance of absolute\\nTightness and the approval of the person upon whom\\nall moral and spiritual laws depend. Submission to\\ntruth is the sure road to intellectual victory. Sub-\\nmission to moral and spiritual principles, or rather", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0185.jp2"}, "186": {"fulltext": "1 82 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nto the person himself guarantees spiritual and moral\\ntriumph.\\nThe growth of man s essential nature is like\\ngrowth in the animal and vegetable kingdoms; it is\\na start from that which is imperceptibly small to\\nthe full realization of the contained ideal. In the\\nanimal and vegetable kingdoms the ideal is a certain\\nstature which when reached refused to admit of any\\nfurther development. In the intellectual and moral\\nrealm the ideal is infinity. The rational impulse is\\nsatisfied with nothing short of comprehending ail\\ntruth and a perfect mastery of all principles. The\\nproper attitude, which the individual may volun-\\ntarily take, to truth is a guarantee of attaining the\\nideal. The inflowing truth will expand the rational\\nnature into a complete comprehension of itself.\\nThe moral ideal is a perfect submission to, and the\\naffectionate approval of, the Author of the moral\\nuniverse, or of God. Submission to the moral\\norder makes love perceptible in the environment.\\nPerception of love stimulates love in the perceiving\\nsoul; and the individual beholds himself standing\\nin the relation of Sonship to the Absolute Person.\\nIt is the nature of growth to become like Him;\\nto think what He thinks, to will what He wills. It\\nis a stimulus to growth to look out upon the world", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0186.jp2"}, "187": {"fulltext": "THE NATURE OF HIS DEVELOPMENT. 1 83\\nof varied phenomena; to see wisdom displayed in\\nall its parts to look out into the limitless expanse\\nof the heavens and to number the multitude of\\nworlds; to think of Him who comprehends the in-\\nfinite multiplicity of the world of phenomena in the\\nunity of His own being to read Him in the depth\\nof the moral law, which never makes any conces-\\nsions to sin; and to hear the voice coming along\\nthrough the avenues of science as well as from the\\nlips of inspiration saying: Be ye therefore perfect\\neven as your father in heaven is perfect. In all\\ngrowth the individual but takes the attitude and a\\npower not his own does the work.\\nThe ideal of growth embraces the conquest of\\nall truth; so that truth is useful and active in the\\nservice of man. It embraces a growth commen-\\nsurate with the growth of knowledge. It em-\\nbraces a growth in freedom until the individual\\nhas perfect victory over every wit of opposition.\\nIt embraces growth in oneness, not a loss of in-\\ndividuality, but a growth of personality into\\nsimilarity to the Absolute Person Himself. The\\nmethod is absorption. The condition is adaptation.\\nThe ideal is universality. When man, spurred by\\nhis rational impulse, has comprehended the princi-\\nples of truth, of beauty, and of righteousness, in", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0187.jp2"}, "188": {"fulltext": "1 84 RKIJGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nfact all the attributes of God; and, spurred on by\\nhis unconditional sense of thought, has taken these\\nqualities into his own character to the extent that\\nhe conceives them; then is he on the perfect way\\ntoward the realization of himself.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0188.jp2"}, "189": {"fulltext": "HIS TRUE DIGNITY.\\nAll animal life begins with cell life. It has\\nindeed an insignificant beginning, but it has the\\npower of laying hold upon surrounding material\\nand of organizing it into a living organism. The\\nfirst activity of life concerns itself most particularly\\nwith the perfection of the body. The early infant\\nlife is an animal life. The appetites are of an ani-\\nmal nature. No instinct of a higher order seems\\npresent in the action of the child. The organic\\nbuilder directs his attention to one organ after\\nanother until the whole organism is complete. The\\neye seems at first attracted by the light, and the\\npower of vision is the result. The hand begins to\\nmake an effort at handling things, and the power of\\nprehension is the result. Then it directs its atten-\\ntion to the act of walking and the power of locomo-\\ntion is the outcome. After the individual has suc-\\nceeded in forming these adaptations, desires of a\\nhigher order are awakened. They take a spiritual\\nturn. Nature, in her whole story of life, points\\nfrom a vegetative to a higher purpose.\\n185", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0189.jp2"}, "190": {"fulltext": "1 86 R^UGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nIn the early history of the individual the organs\\nfor observation are the most active. The desire\\nfor making observations absorbs the whole attention\\nof the child. It does not see anything else to live\\nfor. After a time the objects observed become\\nfamiliar and the desire for observation wanes, more\\nor less, to give opportunity to another order of\\nactivity. This other kind of activity is reflection.\\nThe gleaning of facts comes first; the assimila-\\ntion of truth comes afterwards.\\nThe maturity of a material frame is not the ulti-\\nmatum. The body with its organs is only the\\ninstrument for experimentation; but the experi-\\nmenter is distinct from the instrument. The pur-\\npose of the experimentation is not the purpose of\\nthe instrument, but the information of the experi-\\nmenting self.\\nThe worth of anything is determined by that\\nwhich it can do. Considering man from the stand-\\npoint of physical accomlpishments he is compelled\\nto take a subordinate position. He has not the\\nacute vision of an eagle, nor the olfactory sense of\\na dog, nor the fineness of feeling of an ant. He\\nhas not the fleetness of a greyhound, nor the\\nstrength of a lion. His strength estimated in terms\\nof phenomenal forces is insignificant. A slight", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0190.jp2"}, "191": {"fulltext": "HIS TRUE DIGNITY. 1 87\\nmaladaptation to the gravitative force, a little piece\\nof foreign matter between the parts of his own\\nbody, a little clot of blood in. the brain, a little flash\\nof electricity, and his physical strength is gone. If\\nman s strength is so insignificant, what is there\\nabout him that the forest should bow at his com-\\nmand; that the rocks and the mountains should\\nopen up before him; that the lightning should\\nswing into obedience to his orders. Wherein lies\\nhis dignity Wherein is his worth It is not by\\nsheer brute force that he makes his accomplish-\\nment, but it is by the fact that he understands the\\nforces and principles of nature, and can make them\\nbend according to the dictate of his will. He takes\\nadvantage of the power of chemism and blasts the\\nrocks from the quarry. He takes advantage of the\\nfact that water under the influence of heat expands,\\nand he makes the steam engine carry his loads and\\ndrive his machinery. He understands the difference\\nof hardness of different substances, and so makes\\none kind of material cut and shape another. He\\nunderstands the difference of strength of different\\nforces and thus is enabled to have one force over-\\ncome another. It is in this intellect of man that\\nwe begin to see traces of his dignity.\\nThe flower planted in the meadow is an entity.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0191.jp2"}, "192": {"fulltext": "1 88 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nIt contains unformed matter, formed matter and a\\nformative principle. The formative principle is able\\nto put up the form. The completed form is an\\nexpression of beauty and perfection. But how does\\nthe flower stand in relation to the rest of nature\\nIt is connected with the soil by its roots and rootlets\\nIts relation to the soil is determined by the length\\nof its roots. It stands in relation to the air and\\nsunlight by means of its leaves and stalk. It is put\\nthere by no choice of its own. It is mechanically\\ndetermined in its relation to the soil, the air and the\\nsunlight. It has no outlook beyond the reach of its\\nroots, its leaves and its petals.\\nAn animal is an organism of a higher order than\\nthe plant. Its relation to its environment is not\\nquite so mechanically determined. By means of its\\norgans of locomotion it can change this relation.\\nWith its organs of sense it is able to reach out\\nfurther for experience than the plant is able to do.\\nIts organs of sight puts it in relation to objects, at\\nquite a distance from the organism itself. Its sense\\nof hearing puts it in relation to dangers, before they\\ncome in contact with the organism itself. With its\\nsense of smell it is made aware of nourishment\\nbeyond the reach of its prehensile organs. The\\nenvironment of the animal has a much greater", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0192.jp2"}, "193": {"fulltext": "HIS TRUE DIGNITY. 1 89\\nradius than has the environment of the plant. And\\nyet the animal is limited to the range of the present\\nactivity of the organs of sense. The animal does\\nnot reflect upon its past memories; nor does it pro-\\nject its past experience into the future. Its intelli-\\ngence is entirely determined by its temporary excita-\\ntions. When the animal s physical needs are grati-\\nfied, it thinks no further.\\nThe extent of its relations determine the dignity\\nof the animal. When thus measured man is an\\norganism most unique. Who can find limitations\\nto his environment He penetrates the earth and\\nunderstands the strata of rocks, and ascertains the\\nhistory of the earth for millenniums. Though the\\nsize of the earth is great beyond the power of\\nimagination correctly to present; yet for thought it\\nis the merest toy. Though the earth s core is for-\\never hid from the power of human vision; yet it is\\nperfectly lucid to his rational nature. The ideas\\nof causation, of space and of time, the laws of gravi-\\ntation and the impenetrability of matter must hold\\ngood in the center of the earth, as well as within\\nthe reach of the organs of sense and the power of\\nmaterial tests.\\nThe principles of human reason carry man back\\nto the very beginning of the phenomenal world.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0193.jp2"}, "194": {"fulltext": "190 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nNo time can force limitation upon it. By watching\\nthe present movements of things and their laws of\\naction he becomes a prophet and projects the future\\nhistory of the globe. Man s enviroments are infi-\\nnite. There is no limitation found for them. Man\\nis related to the universe and most particularly to\\nthe thought and truth expressed in the universe.\\nThe phenomena are for him not ends of thought but\\navenues that lead him back to the real nature of\\nreality, to the Infinite Person Himself.\\nThe dignity of man s intelligence does not con-\\nsist in the fabrication of ideas, or in the concoction\\nof imagination its aim is higher. Physical life\\ndoes not manufacture the material for its growth.\\nIt does not manufacture; it assimilates and organ-\\nizes. Every element taken into the organism exerts\\nthe same forces inside that it does outside. Men-\\ntal life does not create the material upon which it\\nsubsists. It finds the truths of nature unchange-\\nable; but by adapting itself to them, it conquers\\nthem into its service. Man s intelligence does not\\ncreate, it only discovers. It is possible only imper-\\nfectly to discover, and thus to have a distorted view\\nof things. It is the natural aim of intelligence to\\nunderstand truth as it is. To know things accur-\\nately is to know them as they were made to be.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0194.jp2"}, "195": {"fulltext": "HIS TRUE DIGNITY. 191\\nThe effect always reveals the nature of the cause.\\nSo the nature of things and of their laws reveal their\\nAuthor. Human thought when correct only repro-\\nduces di\\\\ ine thought. God s intelligence is the pro-\\ntotype of human intelligence. The ideal of human\\nreason is divine reason. And along the line of\\napproximation to this ideal lies the dignity of man\\nas an intelligent being.\\nThe true dignity of human intelligence does not\\nconsist in mastering the bulk of modern literature,\\nbut in mastering the truth.\\nMan possesses self-determination, and this fact\\ngives him a certain dignity. The storm cloud creep-\\ning up the western heaven is a wonderful phenom-\\nena. It throws its hugh form across the heavens\\nand eclipses the brightness of the sun; its lightning\\nflashes with fury and the thunder rolls with a deep\\nand heavy roar; water falls upon the earth in great\\nabundance; and the mighty wind causes the forest\\ntrees to bow before it. This is a most awe inspir-\\ning scene. But there is not a change in the current\\nof air, nor an electric spark, nor a drop of water but\\nwas completely determined by adequate causes. No\\none thinks of having redress for destruction of pro-\\nperty or for loss of life caused by it. Not a single", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0195.jp2"}, "196": {"fulltext": "I92 REUGION A RATION AL DEMAND.\\nmovement in that storm was caused by self-deter-\\nmination.\\nThe astronomer s telescope and the measuring\\nline bring out Jupiter as a stupendous body with an\\nirresistable momentum. But Jupiter is under the\\nsway of a mechanical order; there is no self-deter-\\nmination about him. He cannot will to be anything\\nbut a planet, nor direct his course otherwise than\\ndetermined by forces beyond his control.\\nIt is otherwise with man. As a rational crea-\\nture he has the power of self -adaptation. Man in his\\nability to resist certain influences and of increasing\\nthe efficiency of others is a creator; and in his\\ncreative energy lies his dignity and his worth. It\\nis in this respect that the rocks and the mountains\\nand the worlds are no match for him.\\nThe true dignity of the will does not lie in self-\\nwilledness. Such a disposition would be as unsatis-\\nfactory for the will as fiction would be for reason.\\nAs reason finds the true lines of its activity in the\\nuniversal reason, so the will of man finds its legiti-\\nmate sphere in submission to the universal will, or\\nthe will of God. His true dignity does not consist\\nin the sacrifice of volition, but in its exercise along\\nimperishable lines. God s sovereignity is absolute.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0196.jp2"}, "197": {"fulltext": "HIS TRUE DIGNITY. 1 93\\nThe inanimate world is in every respect obedient to\\nhis law and order. Animals are unerringly gov-\\nerned by their instincts. God s will is sovereign\\nfor man. His will is unerring for it is the expres-\\nsion of absolute reason. Man s will must be in per-\\nfect accord with his ability to comprehend eternal\\ntruth. Man s dignity therefore, consists in his fidel-\\nity to his highest convictions.\\nIt is the goal of theoretical reason to see God,\\nand the aim of practical reason to become like God.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0197.jp2"}, "198": {"fulltext": "HIS IMMORTALITY.\\nIs there value to be found in man Is there\\nvalue to be found in anything The question of\\nvalue and purpose are questions which irresistibly\\nforce themselves upon man. Is man one among the\\nphenomena of nature Has man a relative or an\\nabsolute value It is man s rational conviction that\\nsomewhere an intelligent answer can be found for\\nthese ever intruding questions. We do not wish to\\nbe unterstood that we here attempt a demonstration\\nof man s immortality; we simply recognize the fact\\nthat it has been the rational conviction of the race,\\nand wish, in brief, to point out wherein lies the\\nground of such conviction.\\nIf metaphysics has been able to point out any-\\nthing, it is this fact that the soul is not a phenom-\\nenon like other phenomena. Phenomena are facts\\nof the natural world accounted for by other facts.\\nThey are joined together by the universal law of\\ncause and effect; and as the cause changes the effect\\nchanges also. Thus there is no permanency guar-\\nanteed the individual phenomena. Metaphysics\\n194", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0198.jp2"}, "199": {"fulltext": "HIS IMMORTALITY. 1 95\\nclearly points out that phenomena are facts of con-\\nsciousness, and that they come and go in conscious-\\nness. It would be impossible to recognize change\\nif there was not something permanent to measure\\nchange by. The water would not appear to flow if\\nthere were not a change of relation between it and\\nthe shore. The moving hand of a watch indicates\\ntime because it moves upon a dial that is stationary.\\nPhenomena change with reference to one another,\\nbut most particularly with reference to conscious-\\nness. In consciousness the experiences of life are\\nall gathered up into the unity of a consciousness.\\nThe individual content is not the most important\\nthing, but the consciousness that has the content.\\nTo say that all phenomena are changeable is not to\\nsay that consciousness, which alone makes phenom-\\nena possible, is changeable.\\nFacts appear in and again disappear from con-\\nsciousness; and this is made possible only by the\\nfact that consciousness persists throughout the\\nchange. The changeable phenomena does not prove\\nthat the consiocusness for which the change occurs\\ndoes itself change.\\nThe body does not constitute the essential man.\\nThe assential man is the soul. The body belongs\\nto the phenomenal world. It is the settled convic-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0199.jp2"}, "200": {"fulltext": "196 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\ntion of science that the brain is the organ with\\nwhich man comes in contact with the phenomenal\\nworld. The soul is not the result of organization;\\nfor it is the only condition under which organiza-\\ntion could take place. Organization can take place\\nonly among the elements of consciousness. Nature\\ndoes not evolve mind, for mind must precede the\\nconception of nature. The world is a world of\\nexperience, and is possible onty for a consciousness\\nthat can have experience. The whole trend of\\nepistemology indicates this priority of consciousness.\\nIt is a law of consciousness that it must have\\nchange in order to act. It does recognize itself to\\nbe the same while it recognizes a change in its con-\\ntents; and in order to be stirred to activity it must\\nhave a change in it contents. A musical note con-\\ntinually sounded would soon cease to be noticed at\\nall. If it were affected by the same color continu-\\nally, it would soon cease to recognize color at all.\\nFor its highest activity a continual change of\\nits state is necessary. While its states are continu-\\nally chanigng, it carries with it its past states in\\nthe form of memory and is enriched by them. The\\nlegitimate conclusion therefore is, that the chang-\\ning phenomenal world is not antagonistic to the\\ncontinuity of consciousness, or of the self; but that", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0200.jp2"}, "201": {"fulltext": "HIS IMMORTALITY. 1 97\\nit takes phenomenal change to give the conscious\\nself its fullest expression. Though there is a con-\\ntinual change in the phenomenal world, a continual\\nchange in the states of consciousness, there is,\\nnevertheless, the conviction of the permanency of\\nthe conscious self. Though the cells of the brain\\nand the nerves are continually changing, conscious-\\nness recognizes its own identity, superior to all\\nchange or physical conditions.\\nThe brain is the last link of physical action influ-\\nencing the mind, or the self. It transforms the\\nenergy of the outside world into such shapes that\\nthe self can react upon it. The actual reaction\\nupon this stimuli is not made by the molecular\\nmotion of the brain itself. Conception, representa-\\ntion, recollection and comparison are purely mental\\nacts, and cannot be accounted for by any physical\\nprocess. While the soul stands in relation to the\\nbody and reacts upon stimuli, it does not prove\\nthat the soul depends for its existence upon the\\nexitence of any part, or the whole, of the body.\\nThe previous line of thought is only negative\\nand can at best only silence attacks from the mater-\\nialistic assailants of immortality. Consciousness is\\nnot the outgrowth of the relations of phenomenal\\nelements to another. Relations themselves are held", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0201.jp2"}, "202": {"fulltext": "I98 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nby the conscious self. Consciousness is the prin-\\ncipal thing; all else exists for it and in it.\\nWhen reason seeks an answer to the question,\\nWhat is there valuable in the cosmic order, it is\\nirresistibly driven back to the conscious self, as the\\nsupreme fact of this order for a reply. The mineral\\nkingdom does not find its value in itself. The earth,\\nthe air and the water appear valueless when they\\nstand alone; but a special value attaches them as\\nsoon as the vegetable life appears for the vegetable\\nlife would have no being, were it not for the exist-\\nence of the mineral kingdom. When the elements\\nof the mineral kingdom are woven together into\\nthe structures of organic forms, they begin to show\\nsigns of worth. Their value lies in something be-\\nyond themselves. When we approach the vegetable\\nkingdom with the same question, we meet with the\\nsame difficulty; and the answer must be sought in\\nthe same direction. When we ask, why do the\\nblades of grass grow why do the trees shoot forth\\ntheir buds why do the flowers bloom we almost\\nfeel at first as though these also were hopeless ques-\\ntions. The grass blade whithers, and the blossoms\\nfade, and are no more. In itself the vegetable king-\\ndom furnishes no reply to the great questions; but\\nwhen we look beyond the vegetable kingdom to that", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0202.jp2"}, "203": {"fulltext": "HIS IMMORTAUfY. 1 99\\nwhich it exists for, we begin to see signs o_ coming\\nanswers to these questions. But no sooner do we\\nfind a value in the animal kingdom for the vegetable,\\nthan the question arises what value is there in the\\nanimal kingdom. Why should an animal organism\\nspring into existence, and again go out of it Why\\nshould an organism be created, only to be dissolved\\nThe whole animal kingdom breaks down under\\nthese questions. The only answer we can find is\\nin the service rendered man. But man s physical\\nbeing has itself no element of permanent value in\\nit; for it comes into existence only again to be taken\\nby the unsympathetic hand of dissolution. It is\\nonly when reason falls back upon consciousness,\\nthat carries in itself the elements of permanency\\nwhile it feasts upon the everchanging world of phe-\\nnomena, that it finds the truly permanent.\\nWhy the changing cycles of the seasons The\\nSpringtime comes; the bosom of the earth is opened\\nits fertility gives forth grass and flowers. These\\nthings grow; reach their maturity; and again are\\nmade to disappear. The water evaporates from the\\nface of the earth; it floats upon the wings of the\\nwind; it is soon condensed and falls in the form of\\nrain to the earth. Under its influence the earth\\ngrows moist; and under the influence of this mois-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0203.jp2"}, "204": {"fulltext": "200 RKLIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nture it proves itself fertile in the production of grass\\nand buds and flowers. The growth of the grass and\\nthe trees and the flowers indicate the value of the\\nshowers. The growing vegetation gives a certain\\npermanency to the value of the rain and dew. But\\nthe grass and the flowers and the trees soon whither\\nand decay the rain is evaporated and the same con-\\ndition prevails that existed before all this was passed\\nthrough. By means of these changes not a single\\nelement is added to nature. Nature has not been\\nenriched by a single atom. Atoms have only\\nchanged their relation to one another, but they\\nagain revert to their former state. Nature s\\nchanges are valuless for herself but they are valu-\\nable for a changeless observer and that observer is\\nconsciousness. Every change in the phenomenal\\nworld gives it a new state; and every state is a new\\npossession; and every possession is a stimulus to a\\nnew growth. Every change in the phenomenal\\nworld is therefore an agency to push on essential\\nman to the completeness of his being in the realiza-\\ntion of his ideals. The conscious self is the last\\nthing we can look to for an answer. Everything\\nelse has failed to satisfy reason in its reasonable\\ndemands for an answer. Here we must find it if we\\nfind it at all. And all physical science begins to", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0204.jp2"}, "205": {"fulltext": "HIS IMMORTALITY. 201\\nshow that here we have the right to look for a\\nreply. The whole phenomenal world of change\\nwould be a worthless, valueless play of forces, pur-\\nposeless if the conscions self did not continue to\\nexist. Science points out that it abides amid the\\neverchanging phenomena of nature. It survives\\nthe change of a varied experience. It survives the\\nchanges in various stages of its own history, and\\ncontinues an unbroken life of progress throughout\\nall these changes. It survives the everchanging\\ncells of the brain and, in fact, of the whole body.\\nIf it survives all these changes that we have experi-\\nenced, why may it not survive the changes in\\nwhich we have no experience as yet.\\nIt is quite certainthat the brain is composed of a\\ncollection of sensory and motor centers. Their pur-\\npose is to put the self in a vital relation to the out-\\nside world. Physiological psychology points strongly\\nin direction of a proof that after the self has a few\\nideas, which are formed from sensations which arose\\nin the sensory centers from stimuli carried to them;\\nthe self is able to retain and meditate upon these\\nideas even after the centers themselves have been\\ndestroyed by disease, or otherwise. These revela-\\ntions, made by a science growing in importance,\\npoint out the conclusion, that the material body is", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0205.jp2"}, "206": {"fulltext": "202 RKUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nbut the scaffold by the aid of which man mounts to\\nthe higher realm of being, and when the essential\\nman has been led through the changes of the phe-\\nnomenal world to the contemplation of truth as it is\\nin itself, the material body becomes unnecessary and\\nthe spiritualized self continues without its assistance.\\nThe spiritualized self stands in relation to eternal\\ntruth, and finds in that truth the permanent condi-\\ntion for its states of activity.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0206.jp2"}, "207": {"fulltext": "SUSCEPTIBILITY OF PLEASURE AND\\nPAIN.\\nMan is a rational and volitional being, but no\\nless is he sensible. Feeling is an essential part of\\nhis being. We are not now concerned with that\\nsensation that gives us perception of a certain con_\\ntent, but that experience which furnishes him states\\nof pleasure and pain.\\nThe soul is so constituted that the three func-\\ntions exercise themselves together. No thought\\ncan be so pure that it has not some value for the\\nconscious self, and, consequently, some stimulating\\npower upon volition. It is a fairly well established\\nhypothesis, that feelings are a token of agreement,\\nor want of agreement, between the relations we\\nstand in to our environments. A pleasurable feel-\\ning always indicates the healthy and healthful action\\nof the system under the excitation.\\nFeeling is beyond the immediate control of the\\nindividual. As little as he can prevent himself from\\nseeing color when his eyes are open to the light, so\\nlittle can he prevent himself from having states of\\n203", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0207.jp2"}, "208": {"fulltext": "204 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nfeeling; and yet the particular states of his feelings\\nare, within certain limits under his control. He\\ncan turn his eye from one object to another, and\\nthus be impressed with the color peculiar to that\\nobject. The state of feeling is in like manner deter-\\nmined by the direction of the attention.\\nThere are different kinds of feeling according to\\nthe different causes giving them origin. There are\\nfeelings of sense; they are begotten out of sense\\nimpressions. The presence of some colors arouse\\npleasant feelings; while others arouse such as are\\nmost unpleasant. Certain combinations of sounds\\nare pleasant; while others are again unpleasant.\\nThe former seems to bring the whole nervous sys-\\ntem into healthy action; while the other seems to\\nshock it. A sudden light, or a discord, sets the\\nwhole nervous system on edge. With taste and\\nsmell feelings are also associated.\\nThe feelings call into being certain ideals, and\\nprompt to their realization. If an agreeable feeling\\narises on account of the contemplation of some com-\\nbination of colors, man s aesthetical nature urges\\nhim to make the combination and even to improve\\nupon them, that the agreeable feelings may thereby\\nbe increased. It is feeling that urges on to the con-\\nception of ideals beyond any present attainment.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0208.jp2"}, "209": {"fulltext": "SUSCEPTIBILITY OF PLKASURK AND PAIN. 205\\nMan experiences also the feeling of self-con-\\nsciousness. It is thus that he distinguish himself\\nfrom the rest of the world, and attaches certain\\nvalue to himself. Our states are discriminated from\\nthe states of every other being, in their ability to\\naffect us do we see the value of other things. A\\npiece of money has value because it has the power\\nof awakening agreeable experiences. A flower has\\nvalue for the same reason. A special and greater\\nvalue is attached to the self, for it is the subject of\\nthose states. According to the object will be the\\nfeeling engendered by its contemplation. The state\\nof the self determines the strength and kind of feel-\\nings awakened in it. A worthy self is an object\\nmost agreeable to contemplate; a worthless self is\\nan object of misery and woe.\\nThis consciousness carries with it a true ideal of\\nself-hood. It stimulates to that state of being which\\ngives rise to the purest, noblest and most perma-\\nnent feelings. This point we will consider more\\nfully when we consider the relations of the ideals to\\npleasure and pain, or blessedness and woe.\\nFeelings are connected with every function of\\nour being. We take an interest in truth. An insati-\\nable desire lays hold upon us to penetrate into the\\nhidden parts of nature. This desire to know is", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0209.jp2"}, "210": {"fulltext": "2o6 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nirresistible in the man of science, who stoops over\\nhis retort to see some peculiar action of chemical\\nagents; or who adjusting the lenses of his micro-\\nscope that he may see the beauty and truth revealed\\nin nature s minutia; or the street gossip going from\\nhouse to house in order to find the latest develop-\\nments of social communication. The intelligence of\\nman carries with it its own ideals. In fact every\\nline of mental activity carries with it ideals, which\\nurge on to higher attainments. This fact accounts\\nfor the progress of the world. Were there no ideals\\nof invention ahead of those already realized, prog-\\nress in invention would soon cease. Were the ideals\\nof a scientist not ahead of that which he has\\nalready realized, he would not spend his valuable\\ntime and energy in his work of experimentation.\\nThe fact that these ideals are found in our nature\\nmakes it a fact, that the contemplation of our states\\nawaken feelings of blessedness or woe.\\nSpecial mention in this connection must be made\\nof the moral element in our physical constitution.\\nIt is not a segment of our being; for it is connected\\nwith every action of body and spirit. It shares the\\nqualities of the rational nature also, in the fact that\\nit has the twofold attribution of perception and feel-\\ning. All the faculties have their ideals, ideals of", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0210.jp2"}, "211": {"fulltext": "SUSCEPTIBILITY OF PLEASURE AND PAIN. 207\\ntheir proper action at any instant, and ideals toward\\nwhich they tend to develop. I must repeat that all\\nmental life has this ideal element in it for without\\nit, it would be a stagnant pool swallowed up by the\\nfilth of its own inactivity. This ideal urges the\\nwhole man on to a perfection not found in himself;\\nfor it passes on beyond his attainments. It is not a\\nperfection found in the phenomenal world; for the\\nphenomenal world must often be changed in order\\nto give him opportunity to realize it. The paints\\nput upon articles of merchandise are put there in\\norder to realize an ideal not found in nature. The\\npiano is not a natural construction, but it is artifi-\\ncial; it is an attempt to realize an ideal in the musi-\\ncal realm. The ideals, though they desire to express\\nthemselves in phenomenal forms, have their home\\nin the Absolute; and these ideals are but faint\\nvisions of Him.\\nPractically reason holds in constant view the\\nideals in human action. The individual things in\\nthe cosmos are parts of a mechanism. They stand\\nin the relation of a mechanical necessity to their\\nenvironment. The ground for their being explains\\nevery part of them. With man it is otherwise.\\nHis environment is the universe, and He who\\nreveals himself in it. His ideal is the Infinite.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0211.jp2"}, "212": {"fulltext": "2o8 RBIJGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nThe laws of infinite thought are the laws of his\\nmental life. Though these ideals may but imper-\\nfectly represent him though the glimpses of vision\\nare but through a glass darkly the direction they\\nare moving indicates the goal. The end toward\\nwhich the ideals lead is oneness with God.\\nIn the individual action, practical reason makes\\na comparison of the individual act with the ideal\\nand passes judgment upon their conformity, or non-\\nconformity. So that, in fact, the life of the indi-\\nvidual is looked at from the standpoint of the perfect\\nideal. Conscience is not a separate entity with a\\njudgment of its own it takes for its guiding star the\\nideals of the whole mental life, and, taking them as\\nits standard, measures the value of individual acts.\\nThe intellectual ideal carries with it an impulse for\\nthe constant expansion of knowledge and thought.\\nThe aesthetic nature has an impulse which pushes it\\nbeyond present attainments in art to the material-\\nization of better forms. The practical reason has\\nnot only its ideal, which is conformity of the entire\\nlife with the highest conceptions of righteousness;\\nbut its action is accompanied with an unconditional\\nought. This ought is not the voice of expedi-\\nency, though obedience to it is in the highest sense\\nexpedient. To be faithful to the cosmic order is", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0212.jp2"}, "213": {"fulltext": "SUSCEPTIBILITY OF PlyKASURK AND PAIN. 209\\nnot only advantageous to the whole order but in a\\nspecial manner to the individual part. An organ\\nin an organism meets its best service, and is of the\\nutmost value, when it acts in conformity with the\\nwhole order. But the moral nature has an impera-\\ntive that comes to him with more than individual\\nauthority. It is more than mere cosmic harmony.\\nIt is an obligation that is accompanied with divine\\nauthority. Its whole force is employed in leading\\nthe whole individual into a faithful pursuit of the\\nideals of his whole mental life. This ought,\\ncoming with divine authority, marks his relation to\\nGod. His attitude toward this imperative is the\\nattitude toward God. While it carries with it its\\nideals, and demands their pursuit with an uncondi-\\ntional obedience, it carries with it its own reward.\\nHerein lies the possibilty of the highest rewards\\nand the acutest punishment known to man.\\nThe cosmic order, as we have learned to believe,\\nis mechanical, but it is a mechanism that has its\\norigin in free intelligence and that free intelligence\\nis God. Every law and every fragment of the order\\nare the expression of His will. The order is perceiv-\\ned by the reason, for the plan upon which the soul\\nis built indicates its natural and necessary action.\\nHis moral nature carries with it the element of feel-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0213.jp2"}, "214": {"fulltext": "2IO RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\ning, which makes obedience to its commands valu-\\nable to the individual life. When it finds an action,\\nbut much more when it finds a life in accord with\\nits ideals, and on account of the fact that it has\\nitself by virtue of its own volition determined itself\\nthus, it has the enjoyable feeling of self- approval,\\nthe consciousness of inner agreement with the will\\nof God. The soul is compelled by virtue of its own\\nnature to value this relation; and this felt value is\\nthe inner experience which makes up the worth of\\nlife.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0214.jp2"}, "215": {"fulltext": "THE CONDITION OF BLESSEDNESS.\\nPerfect adjustment on the part of the organism\\nto its environment brings to it the guarantee of its\\nown safety and well-being. Plant the roots of the\\nplant into the fertile soil, and moisten them proper-\\nly, and give them air heavily charged with carbonic\\nacid, and the plant will grow and the purpose of\\nthe plant, contained prophetically in the ideal of its\\nlife, will be realized. Sever the roots from the soil,\\nand put it in an atmosphere robbed of its carbonic\\nacid, and the plant will cease to grow. Take a fish\\nfrom the water, to which a fish by nature is adapted,\\nand the life of the fish is threatened and his feel-\\nings, if it is proper to speak of feeling in a fish, are\\nsadly disturbed. The environment of the fish is an\\nessential of his well-being; and the proper adjust-\\nment of the fish to this environment is the condition\\nof this well-being. With the soul it is no less a\\nnecessity. Its environment is present to it in the\\nform of a world of relations, in which there is\\nopportunity for a world of actions. Nature is an\\nintelligent thinking thing. There is not an ele-\\n211", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0215.jp2"}, "216": {"fulltext": "212 REUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nment but contains in it thought elements, and for\\nthat reason nature is the environment for the soul.\\nBut the soul is essentially reason. It is not so\\nmuch interested in a mass of particular facts. Its\\nidea of development does not consist in a complica-\\ntion of particulars, but in the detection of those\\nprinciples which join individual facts into organic\\nunity. It finds its satisfaction in those principles.\\nIts environments are not limited by the contents of\\nits memory, but extend into the infinity of being\\nitself.\\nMan s soul life is built upon a certain plan. The\\nlines of that plan run along the line of its impulses;\\nand the goal of its impulses are its ideals. And\\nthose ideals are co-operative in the production of\\nthe conception of God. These ideals are avenues\\nleading to God, they are not means for the exhaus-\\ntion of the idea.\\nThe rational impulses are a continual spur to\\nrealize the self in accord with its most perfect ideals;\\nand, as we have seen, these ideals are the roots of\\nour conception of God.\\nGod consequently is the soul s perfect self; the\\nideal of all development, the goal of human prog-\\nress. When man looks at the ideal, it becomes a\\nforce in the transformation of his character; but", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0216.jp2"}, "217": {"fulltext": "THE CONDITION OF BI ESSEDNKSS. 213\\nwhen he looks at his own imperfect self, from the\\nstandpoint of his ideal, he is led to exclaim, O\\nsinful man that I am. The ideal of a perfect life\\nis far ahead of anything that man at anytime is able\\nto realize. When he looks at it and thinks of his\\nfailure to reach it, he sinks into despair. When he\\nremembers that it was missed by a voluntary act of\\nhis own, he becomes conscious of his sinfulness and\\nhas the feeling of unworthiness and of deserved\\ndamnation.\\nBlessedness is the ideal of his sensible nature.\\nImprovement of conditions for greater joy and hap-\\npiness is the end of toil and effort. Wealth must\\nhave its value, if it has any at all, in its ability to\\ngratify the demands of the body, and to make its\\nconditions more tolerable. It is the same with\\nposition and pleasure. These, however, are not\\nthe only avenues of joy. The ideals form the\\nenvironment of man s rational nature. His happi-\\nness consists in being at peace with them. When\\nit is cold he must adjust himself to this fact in such\\na manner that the difference between his condition\\nand his ideal may be minimized. He may be able\\nto do so naturally or he may be compelled to do it\\nartificially. He may be able to resist the forces of\\nnature playing about him by taking these substances", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0217.jp2"}, "218": {"fulltext": "214 REUGION A RATION AI, DEMAND.\\nand forces into himself, in the form of nourishment,\\nto build up his physical system. Physical comfort\\nconsists in being able to cope with these forces of\\nnature, with the assurance of victory. When the\\nwant of adjustment appears there is suffering; and\\nultimately the forces of nature gain the ascendency\\nand the dissolution of the body is the result. When\\nthe adjustment is complete, the forces of nature\\nserve to preserve the welfare of the body. When\\nthe adjustment fails, the body is put into misery;\\nand death is the final outcome.\\nMan s spiritual, no less than his natural life,\\nrequires adjustment to its environment. Nature\\nitself provides well-being, when the adjustment is\\nmade. When the roots of the plant sink into the\\nsoil, and the leaves are bathed with carbonic acid,\\nin the proper temperature, the plant will grow.\\nThe fish in water will find nourishment for his\\nbody. And in this arrangement of nature, the well-\\nbeing of the organism is guaranteed.\\nMan s rational nature finds its enjoyment and\\npeace in conformity to its ideals. Looked at from\\nthe standpoint of actual attainment, he becomes\\nconscious of his own un worthiness; and when he\\nrecognizes his own faults, voluntarily made, he has", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0218.jp2"}, "219": {"fulltext": "THE CONDITION OF BLESSEDNESS. 215\\nthe consciousness of self-condemnation. Though\\nthere is a natural chasm between the finite and the\\nInfinite, yet there may be assurance of unity in the\\nfact that the soul in its natural expansion is on the\\nway toward the realization of its ideal in the In-\\nfinite. There is perfect peace to the individual,\\nwhen the chasm is not of his own making. A will-\\nful deviation from the direction of the realization of\\nthe ideals brings the consciousness of guilt and of\\nutter unworthiness. The effect of this experience\\nwas a destruction of faith in the possiblity of the\\nnecessary unity with God. His ideals, as we saw,\\nare his glimpses of God. He finds himself standing\\nbefore them as they are unrealized, and dare not\\nexpect that they can be realized. This conscious-\\nness wrecks his inner hope. Having no higher\\nhope, he finds himself set about with allurements,\\nwhich, for that reason, he is unable to resist; before\\nhim moves the idea of God, the goal of his being.\\nIn a different direction move the ideals of his imme-\\ndiate pleasure, coupled with the unchecked rebuke,\\nthat he has failed to pursue the ideals of his rational\\nnature. He is conscious of the fact that exercise has\\ndeveloped a stronger love for immediate pleasure,\\nand less taste and desire for rational ends. The re-\\nsult of this course is a growing feeling of hopeless-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0219.jp2"}, "220": {"fulltext": "2l6 REUGION A RATION AI, DEMAND.\\nness, that the true rational, which is the religious\\nend of life, will ever be gained.\\nThe first demand for the removal of this feeling\\nof discontent and hopelessness is the assurance that\\nthe chasm can be bridged. This makes room for\\nspecial revelation. Sin was not wrought into man s\\nrational nature; and, for that reason, we cannot\\nlook there for the remedy for its removal. The\\nneed of the special provision, however, must be\\nrecognized by reason, and reason must ultimately\\nbe assured of its sufficiency. If the special provision\\nmade is adequate to remove this feeling of discon-\\ntent, engendered by the consciousness of this wide\\nseparation of the two, then it has gained the end\\nfor which it was intended. It is not my purpose,\\nin this connection, to treat the evidences for the\\nChristian faith, or to speak about the sufficiency of\\nthe plan of salvation. It is sufficient, and in per-\\nfect accord with this work to point out that reason\\ndemanded even this special provision.\\nHopelessness kills because the ideals are out of\\nreach. The perfection of the intellectual and moral\\nnatures is impossible because man has fallen out of\\nline with them. The effect of a voluntary want of\\nconformity is damning.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0220.jp2"}, "221": {"fulltext": "THE CONDITION OF BLESSEDNESS. 21 7\\nThe assurance that the chasm is bridged, and\\nthat, in spite of man s voluntary fall, he may still\\nbe restored is quickening. The hold upou God is\\nbroken. Can that hold be re-established Special\\nrevelation says it can. If it can reason sees the\\npossibility of blessedness. This condition is met\\nby the establishment of faith in the fact that the\\nends toward which rational impulses impell can still\\nbe gained, despite the consciousness of present im-\\nperfections. The means for man s restoration must\\ntherefore furnish an unshakable foundation for his\\nfaith; and this faith is the condition of his blessed-\\nness. Perfect blessedness puts the ideal not into\\nthe future; for that would leave a present discon-\\ntent. Blessedness cannot exist when the individual\\nis not what he desires to be. If, on the contrary,\\nhe was everything in toto what he desired to be, then\\nwould there be no possibility of new experience,\\nand that again would interfere with blessedness.\\nUnattainarility brings despair, and thus prevents\\nthe realization of blessedness; and perfect attain-\\nment of the ideal would mean stagnation, and that\\nagain would deny the possibility of blessedness.\\nWhat then is the course that will assure it It is\\na life of faith. This faith in order to be effectual\\nmust recognize its oneness with God. That which", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0221.jp2"}, "222": {"fulltext": "218 R3UGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nthe soul aims to be, that it must be perfectly confi-\\ndent of becoming.\\nIn that faith he has practical oneness with God.\\nIn this oneness is the condition of blessedness.\\nThe soul must be assured that its rational ideals are\\nattainable, but attainable not alone, for that would\\nstill be a state of continual dissatisfaction: what it\\nneeds, in the presence of a goal infinitely distant, is\\na goal already attained. Our conceptions of God\\nincrease with our constantly growing experience;\\nour conception of God s perfectness continually\\nmoves ahead of us: and our blessedness demands a\\nconstant satisfaction of this demand for oneness,\\nwhich consists in unbroken fidelity to the ever\\nadvancing ideal. All of God, as perfectly as He is\\nconceived at any moment, is the possession of gen-\\nuine faith.\\nThe plant does not find the condition of its\\ngrowth in itself; it is only as it sends its roots away\\nfrom itself into the soil, and its leaves away from\\nitself into the air, that it finds stimulus and mate-\\nrial for development. For the soul to look upon\\nitself means to feed upon imperfections. Looking\\nupon imperfections, while a perfect ideal hovers be-\\nfore, is the source of misery and pain. Faith, in\\norder to put the individual into a state of blessed-", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0222.jp2"}, "223": {"fulltext": "THE CONDITION OF BLESSEDNESS. 219\\nness, must be dynamic. A formal faith, if there is\\nsuch a thing, is worthless. A formal faith adopts\\ncertain forms and ceremonies as the essentials of\\nreligion, and holds them fast. It aims to meet the\\nrequirements of certain institutions, and therewith\\nis content. It expects for formal service rendered\\na formal reward, Such a faith lays hold upon\\nhusks and feasts upon them. The true environ-\\nments of the soul are eternal realities. The whole\\nnature of God as self-revealed to it is its own com-\\nplete self; and it is the purpose of an effective faith\\nto bring these realities into an active relation to the\\nsoul itself. It misses its aim, if it is active only at\\ncertain intervals. It must constantly hold firmly\\nto the soul s self these eternal realities, that they,\\nby their activity upon it, may transform it into\\nsimilarity with its most perfect ideals.\\nIn such a faith the two requirements of blessed-\\nness are met. Perfect peace in an established one-\\nness with God; secondly, the everpresent, and ever-\\nactive, power of the Divine Spirit transforming the\\nsoul, more and more, into the likeness of absolute\\nperfection.\\nFor faith God is a present possession of the soul.\\nSuch a faith may not result in the transformation\\nof nature to suit the individual whim; the order of", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0223.jp2"}, "224": {"fulltext": "220 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nnature does not need transforming into our ideal.\\nIt is not God that neerls to be transformed into one-\\nness with the soul; it is 1he soul that needs to be\\ntransformed into oneness with God.\\nPra}^er is the formalization of this faith. Its\\neffectiveness does not consist in the ring and flow of\\nwords. Its purpose is not to bring the Absolute\\ninto obedience to us, but to bring us into obedience\\nto Him. The self must be transformed and trans-\\nfigured; and this is done not by the ring of formal\\nstatements, but by the action of power. The Divine\\nSpirit, embodying in himself all unchangable prin-\\nciples and realities, is the power. Faith is the\\ndynamic element in prayer, because it puts the indi-\\nvidual self into vital relation to this Spirit; and the\\nSpirit works out the transfiguration. According\\nto thy faith be it unto thee.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0224.jp2"}, "225": {"fulltext": "THE WAY OF DEATH.\\nTo deny misery is to be untrue to consciousness.\\nPain and pleasure are two sides of human experi-\\nence. It is said that pleasure is the result when\\nthe environment, or some part of it, works together\\nharmoniously with the individual for his perpetua-\\ntion and well-being.\\nPain is a warning that a certain connection with\\na certain part of the environment should be avoided;\\nor it indicates that certain demands are not met. It\\nis now generally agreed that feeling is not derived\\nfrom cognition; and that no intellect, no matter how\\nstrong, could ever arrive at feeling without feeling\\nitself; but feeling is indissolubly connected with\\ncognition and with will. Ideas awaken feelings,\\nand feelings stimulate will. In fact, no one of these\\nfaculties act without the others acting with it.\\nRelations are intellectually grasped and measured\\nin thought but the relations have a value for the\\nfeelings themselves.\\nI want to introduce this discussion with an illu-\\nstration, or two. Pluck a plant from its surroundings\\n221", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0225.jp2"}, "226": {"fulltext": "222 REUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nand it fails to receive the proper nourishment and\\ndies. The environment is not thereby changed, nor\\nis a single element of its provision taken from it;\\nbut the plant s relation to the environment is\\nchanged; and the changed relation proves fatal to\\nthe plant. This is illustrative of the principle that\\nthere is a certain right relation in which things\\nstand to each other, in the order of nature; and\\nthat this right relation guarantees the prosperity of\\nthe individual thing. In a perfect mechanism every\\npart must work in harmony with every other part.\\nThis fact insures the unity of the mechanism\\nand the value of the part. In the organism of the\\nUniverse, the value of the individual part is deter-\\nmined by its relation to the whole. The environ-\\nments of the soul are its ideals. These ideals may\\nbe true, or they may be false. Its rational impulses\\nare its true ideals; and they lead along different\\navenues to God, as He is revealed in the Universe\\nof phenomenal being and in the soul.\\nIn a mere mechanism perfect adaptation would\\nbe the necessary result; because the mechanism as\\na whole determines the relation of every part. In\\na system having in it free moral agency, it is vastly\\ndifferent. In such a system the adaptation is not\\nmade mechanically, but voluntarily. The result of", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0226.jp2"}, "227": {"fulltext": "THE WAY OF DEATH. 223\\na wrong relation established, voluntarily is as grave\\nas one forcible established by other agencies; while,\\nin addition to all this, the voluntary agent has his\\nown choice to regret. He has not only the damn-\\ning result of a wrong relationship, but the torturing\\nconsciousness that he himself is the responsible\\nagent in his own misfortune.\\nThe principles of the soul are not forces outside\\nof it coercing it, but are habits of the soul itself.\\nIt is characteristic of its whole life that action along\\ncertain lines makes action along those lines more\\neasy; and they become the avenues along which\\nthe soul discharges its energy most readily. The\\nmore easy action becomes still more easy through\\ncontinued action; until it becomes an established\\nattribute. The habitual adaptation becomes an\\nestablished relation. The character now has become\\nconfirmed; and the sensibility puts its own value\\nupon the relation established.\\nThe individual organ has no independent life of\\nits own. It shares the life of the entire organism.\\nIts own life depends upon the life of the whole.\\nSevered from the whole it itself soon ceases to live.\\nThe whole phenomenal universe is an organism.\\nGod, its life is expressed in every part of it. Thfc\\ntruth must be held with a certain reserve; for the", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0227.jp2"}, "228": {"fulltext": "224 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nlife of a finite organism appropriates material lying\\noutside of itself, and makes it contribute to its own\\nstrength. The Universe as organism has no foreign\\nsubstance, it all flows from the life itself. Man as\\nan individual organ or member shares the life of the\\nwhole With a proper relation to the whole pre-\\nserved man s prosperity is a necessity, and with his\\nprosperity comes the feeling of blessedness. Man\\nis then at peace with the rational impulses of his\\nbeing and is at rest.\\nBut when the indh idual fights against the im-\\npulses of his being, and instead of living for rational\\nends, he lives simply for side issues, he severs him-\\nself from the great organism of which he is a part;\\nand the result is death. The attitude taken ex-\\npressed in terms of soul life is something like this\\nThe individual has voluntarily consented to be un-\\ntrue to the impulses of his own rational nature.\\nHis aim is no longer for the universal, it is for the\\nparticular. He is not searching for God; but is\\ncontent with finding elements for material joy.\\nInstead of living a theocentric life, his interest is\\nall centered in himself. His aim is not to be trans-\\nfigured into the highest ideals of beauty and\\nworth; but all else must be tortured into service\\nof self.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0228.jp2"}, "229": {"fulltext": "THE WAY OF DKATH. 225\\nSuch a course is self-deception. Truth is not\\nindividual; it is eternal. The highest ambition of\\nman ought not to be to distort everything into simi-\\nlarity with a perverted self, but to put the self into\\nharmony with the whole order of nature, as far as\\nit is real. It would be out of line with all analogy\\nto suppose that the whole organism would change\\nin order to meet the perverted wants of a single\\norgan. It is out of line with all psychological facts\\nto think that the individual can force his opinion\\nupon the universe and make it binding. Man learns\\nthat his thoughts are true only when they are repro-\\nductions of thought not his own. When he lives\\nthe life of individual thought he loses tbe life of the\\nuniversal. The thought of the individual lives, as\\nit shares the life of the universal. Eternal truth\\nputs to shame individual opinion, not conforming to\\ntruth. False ideals are blasted in the presence of\\nreal ones. And experience will always accord with\\nfact.\\nTruth is the expression of the will of God. A\\nright life is a life in perfect obedience to this\\nsupreme will. A part of an organism refusing to\\nbe animated by the life of the whole is soon treated\\nby that whole as a foreign element; and the whole\\nsystem wars against it for its banishment. The", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0229.jp2"}, "230": {"fulltext": "226 RELIGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nsoul putting itself into antagonism to its highest\\nimpulses never is freed from these highest impulses,\\nnor from its ideals. They always hover before it as\\nthe goal of its existence. The irrational have before\\nthem the goal of rational life the immoral have\\nbefore them the goal of morality; and the great\\nchasm between their real being and what they\\nought to have become, now fixed by permanent\\nchoice, causes an inner conflict and is destructive of\\npeace and blessedness. The result of such a life is\\na self at variance with itself. To this fact another\\nsad one is added. The self is not only in discord\\nwith itself; but is also conscious of the fact that its\\ncondition is not a result of a mechanical necessity,\\nbut is the natural outcome of its own choice. It\\nthrows the burden of its own condition upon itself.\\nThis feeling of self-condemnation is the most damn-\\ning feeling the indi\\\\ idual can entertain.\\nThe individual has developed his individualism\\nat the expense of harmony with the universal\\nlife. His individualism has become a form of\\ninsanity in which he has become disjointed with\\nhis surroundings and his surroundings with him.\\nHe has entered into the boldest antagonism to its\\nideals and his ideals continually hover before him to\\nshow him the folly of his antagonism. The ideals", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0230.jp2"}, "231": {"fulltext": "THE WAY OF DEATH. 227\\nwill never surrender their claims and the poor\\nantagonizing wretch must give himself up a con-\\nquered victim. He has put himself in as far as he\\nis in antagonism to his ideals, also in antagonism to\\nhis God; and instead of having the peaceful influ-\\nence of his recognized presence, he feels the sense\\nof an unbroken dread. He has the sad remember-\\nance that it was an abuse of the gift denied the\\nmost stupendous phenomena of nature, but given\\nhim, the freedom of his will, that has put him into\\nsuch dissonance with nature and with nature s God.\\nThat faculty has enabled him to transform the\\nchoicest blessings into the bitterest gall, and,\\nthrough the confirmation of character, has thrown\\nhimself into irreparable confusion.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0231.jp2"}, "232": {"fulltext": "CONCLUSION,\\nNo reader will construe this as being an attempt\\nto find a substitute for revelation. It does not aim\\nto displace revelation but to point out its necessity,\\nby appealing to human nature. It reveals a rational\\nbasis for religion.\\nReligion is the key-stone of the whole logical,\\nor rational edifice; if it fail, the whole structure\\nmust fall. Man s rational nature drives him to the\\nformation of a conception of God. This conception\\nis a necessary result of a normal mental constitu-\\ntion. Not only by his theoretical reason is he im-\\npelled to the conception of God but his practical\\nreason with a still stronger and more authoritative\\nimpulse impels him to stand in certain relation to\\nthis Being, to the conceptions of which he is so\\nforcibly driven.\\nThe eye stands in relation to the motions of\\nether, and we call that relation sight. The ear\\nstands in relation to the motion of the air, and we\\ncall that sound. With the termination of the nerves\\nman stands in relation to objects offering resistance\\n228", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0232.jp2"}, "233": {"fulltext": "CONCLUSION. 229\\nand we call that touch. And with his rational\\nnature he stands in relation to the fundamental\\nground of all reality, and we call that religion.\\nSome one may say that the method of this work\\nis not cogent. I would simply reply that it is\\nscientific; and if it fails, science must fail with it.\\nGod is a supersensible reality; but a reality none\\nthe less for that reason. What reason demands for\\nthe proper organization of knowledge must be\\naccepted as real. The idea of space is not unreal\\nbecause it is supersensible. The biologist analyses a\\ncell and finds its chemical constituents; in his\\nlaboratory he combines the same elements in the\\nsame proportion he sees what natural protoplasm\\nwill do, what his artificial protoplasm will not do,\\nthat is grow. Reason demands the assumption of\\na something in the natural protoplasm which is not\\npresent in the artificial; and that something is just\\nas real as though it were sensible.\\nIn the orbit of Uranus, some anomalous move-\\nments were discovered. They were anomalous be-\\ncause nothing was known to account for them.\\nMathematicians, after long and involved computa-\\ntions, pointed out the necessity of another hugh\\nplanet to account for the anomalies. They pointed\\nout its position. It was accepted as real because", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0233.jp2"}, "234": {"fulltext": "230 RKUGION A RATIONAL DEMAND.\\nreason demanded it as the explanation of certain\\nphenomena.\\nThe astronomer improved his telescope and\\npointed it in the direction of the rational demand\\nand found Neptune floating in the heavens. What\\nreason demands for the proper organization of\\nknowledge must be accepted as true, in all science,\\nuntil it is proven false.", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0234.jp2"}, "235": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0235.jp2"}, "236": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0236.jp2"}, "237": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0237.jp2"}, "238": {"fulltext": "NOV 20 1900", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0238.jp2"}, "239": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3590", "width": "2254", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0239.jp2"}, "240": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3740", "width": "2443", "jp2-path": "religionrational00kirn_0240.jp2"}}