1^-' MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



conceptions of the. proper relations of employer to employee, and of em- 

 ployees to employer? 



In short, why not rely npon the best knowledge obtainable, relative 

 to all our surrounding conditions, bearing ujion our present life and npon 

 our destiny throughout eternity? 



There was a time when one man could compass the entire range of 

 such knowledge then possessed by humanity. Now that is impossible. 

 Perhaps that is the reason why, for many years, the churches have been 

 making such slight progress. It is claimed that the church member- 

 ship is not keeping pace with the increase of population, that business 

 men, artisans, men whose occui)ations teach them many of the laws of 

 nature, do not join the churches. Their minds are engrossed with 

 thoughts of the laws of sound, as taken advantage of in the telephone; 

 of the laws of light, as revealed in the X rays phenomena ; of the laws of 

 electricity, as utilized in the electric light and the electric motor. These 

 recent revelations are so real, so wonderful, so exceedingly useful in 

 giving increased control over conditions tending so strongly to make life 

 more complete and more comfortable, that it is coming to be more and 

 more diflficult to listen to sermons based upon views formed in the infancy 

 of the human race, when language was meager, because ideas were fewer, 

 when conceptions of the Creator had to be formed from the comparatively 

 few evidences then possible, when therefore mental images of God neces- 

 sarily had human attributes, w'hich were pondered over and recorded, 

 but which now, when used as texts, fail to supply satisfactory con- 

 ceptions of the omnipotence, omnipresence, and universality of the 

 Creator of infinite varieties of animals, plants, substances and forces, all 

 apparently working in accordance with fixed laws. The human attri- 

 butes of the Creator which in a past age had comparatively strong 

 evidence of probabilit}-, are now very much less apparent to minds which 

 have the evidence of nearly all of their senses to the materialistic phe- 

 nomena of His laws of heat, light, electricity, and sound. To the modern 

 scientist, God is less human, more infinite, than to the unlearned ancients. 



A NEW DEPARTURE SUGGESTED. 



Is it not possible for the church to regain and multiply its mastery^ 

 by specializing its work along the lines of the physical and social 

 sciences? 



It being apparent that no one minister can master all the sciences, 

 is it not practicable for the church not only to retain its present work, 

 but to do what other kinds of workers have done — perfect its workers 

 along ditferent lines of effort? Why not retain the ancient theology for 

 the forenoon service, and the forenoon Sunday school, and utilize at least 

 a portion of the afternoon services for the modern theologies — in other 

 words for the sciences? 



Why not employ the best available talent in simplifying and popu- 

 larizing the social and physical sciences, by means of Sunday afternoon 

 lectures? 



Why not bring these valuable lessons to the children, by means of 

 Sunday afternoon schools modeled after the recent improved plans for 

 Sunday schools, with their special literature systematically presented, 



