SPENCER'S ECCLESIASTICAL INSTITUTIONS. 205 



The existence of God does not stand or fall with 

 the results of a dialogue between Sir Samuel 

 Baker and Commoro or between Mr. Gardiner and 

 a Zulu ; nor is the question seriously affected by 

 the experience which some gentlemen record as to 

 deaf mutes. The fact that an intelligent Zulu once 

 asked questions which Bishop Colenso could not 

 answer did not, as some people fondly imagined, 

 disprove the inspiration of the Pentateuch. 



Mr. Spencer is just as unable to appreciate the 

 position of a Christian theologian, when, having 

 shown to his own satisfaction that religion in 

 various primitive or savage nations is ultimately 

 traceable to a ghost theory, because "from the 

 supposed reality of dreams, there resulted the 

 supposed reality of ghosts, whence developed all 

 kinds of supposed supernatural beings," he goes 

 on to ask whether it is possible to believe that 

 the religion of the Hebrews is to be ranked in a 

 different category. Now, while entirely rejecting, 

 as fanciful and utterly unproved, the hypothesis 

 of the natural genesis of religion from dreams, we 

 as entirely agree that the Hebrews stood originally 

 on the same level with other primitive nations. 

 Indeed, if Mr. Spencer had proved that the 

 Hebrews were originally worse than the surround- 

 ing nations, more barbarous and savage than they 

 were, it would only have been in keeping with 

 what the Bible tells us of God's purpose, choosing 



