. 



Principles of Belief. 47 



the material world for every organic being on the 

 globe, including man, considered merely as a physi- 

 cal being ; and that this provision is of such a 

 nature as to show the contrivance and oversight of 

 a personal Creator. In the second place, we expect 

 to show that no adequate provision is found in the 

 material world for man's highest nature, so that a 

 written Word is absolutely demanded to make as 

 full provision for man as has been made to satisfy 

 the capacities and desires of every other creature. 

 And in the third place, the question will arise 

 how far the Hible can claim to be from the Author 

 of Nature, by providing the information which man's 

 highest nature demands, and thus becoming just as 

 natural a provision for man's higher needs, as the 

 sunlight and atmosphere and fruits of the earth are 

 for his physical wants. 



( )ur first work then is to show the nature and per- 

 fection of the provision that has been made in the 

 world for organic beings, commencing with man as 

 the highest. Hut before proceeding to this examina- 

 tion, I ask your attention to the consideration of some 

 principles of belief, which must be accepted in all such 

 discussions, and to the Hible account, and possible sci- 

 entific theories of creation. In the preceding lecture, 

 we took it for granted that the nature of the cause may 

 be inferred from its effect. The palace must have a 

 builder, and something of the character of the design- 

 er and builder can be learned from his work. It is 

 impossible for us to believe that anything has been 

 produced without a cause that anything can begin 



