CHAPTER III. 



AGNOSTICISM AND EVOLUTION. 

 Nature and Scope of Agnosticism. 



A MORE popular form of error than Monism, or 

 scientific Atheism, and one which is more 

 wide-spread and devastating in its effects, is the new- 

 fangled system, if system it can be called, known as 

 Agnosticism. To the superficial student it is not 

 without color of plausibility, and by concealing the 

 objectionable and repulsive features of Monism, it 

 now counts more adherents, probably, than any 

 other form of scientific error. 



Like Monism, Agnosticism is a system of thought 

 which has allied itself with the theory of Evolution, 

 from which, as ordinarily understood, it is insepara- 

 ble. Like Monism, it is a mixtum composition of sci- 

 ence, philosophy and theology, in which science 

 and Evolution are predominant factors. And, like 

 Monism, too, it is a new name for an old form of 

 error. Unlike Monism, however, Agnosticism af- 

 fects to suspend judgment, where Monism makes a 

 positive assertion, or enters a point-blank denial. In 

 many questions of fundamental importance, Agnos- 

 ticism is ostensibly nothing more than simple doubt, 

 or gentle skepticism, while Monism is always arro- 

 gant, downright affirmation, or negation. In its 



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