224 ESSAYS OF A BIOLOGIST 



sions shall be drawn. The Christian theologians did 

 not hesitate — why should they, in their position? — to 

 use the personal nature of the Deity as one premiss 

 in a whole series of syllogisms, and to accept at their 

 full face value the conclusions which emerged from 

 these syllogisms. 



If a personal God was ruler of the universe, then 

 he must be omnipotent; if truly divine, then omnis- 

 cient; if worthy of worship, then all-wise. He must 

 be capable of interfering with the course of events 

 by "miracles," of granting our prayers, of communi- 

 cating directly with us, of deciding our fate in after- 

 life. From these conclusions yet further conclusions 

 were drawn. If God revealed himself in the Bible, 

 then the Bible was "true" . . . with all that this in 

 its turn involved as to our beliefs concerning natural 

 causation, creation, our relations with God, or per- 

 sonal immortality. The whole scheme was self-con- 

 sistent, and worked as well as many other human 

 schemes. But what if the whole premiss, of God as 

 a personal being, ruler and father and judge — what if 

 this were not in fact tenable? Then, of course, the 

 whole edifice itself would come toppling down. That 

 is what is actually happening to-day. God, as per- 

 sonal ruler, is being slowly driven out of the uni- 

 verse, but returning as this organized idea of which 

 we have spoken. 



Another cardinal point in the older systems has 

 always been its claim to possess a revelation of Truth 

 which is in some real ways complete and absolute. 



