The second method of accounting for contrivances in nature admits that
they were foreseen and purposed by God, and that He endowed matter with
forces which He foresaw and intended should produce such results. But
here his agency stops. He never interferes to guide the operation of
physical causes. He does nothing to control the course of nature, or the
events of history. On this theory it may be said, (1.) That it is
utterly inconsistent with the Scriptures. (2.) It does not meet the
religious and moral necessities of our nature. It renders prayer
irrational and inoperative. It makes it vain for a man in any emergency
to look to God for help. (3.) It is inconsistent with obvious facts. We
see around us innumerable evidences of the constant activity of mind.
This evidence of mind and of its operations, according to Lord Brougham
and Dr. Whewell, is far more clear than that of the existence of matter
and of its forces. If one or the other is to be denied, it is the latter
rather than the former. Paley indeed says, that if the construction of a
watch be an undeniable evidence of design it would be a still more
wonderful manifestation of skill, if a watch could be made to produce
other watches; and, it may be added, not only other watches, but all
kinds of time-pieces in endless variety. So it has been asked, if man
can make a telescope, why cannot God make a telescope which produces
others like itself? This is simply asking, whether matter can be made to
do the work of mind? The idea involves a contradiction.
Pages:
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51