332 PRESENT-DAY RATIONALISM 



" But the value of such a catastrophe, from an intel- 

 lectual and spiritual point of view, may be, that it calls 

 our attention to the catastrophic nature of human life, and 

 requires us to settle our accounts with the fact, which is 

 forgotten because it is not regular but intermittent." 



This, of course, is in accordance with our Lord's 

 remark : " Unless ye repent, ye shall all likewise [spiritu- 

 ally] perish ". 



He alludes to the power of the will to mitigate pain ; 

 as seen in the calmness of the martyrs at the stake, 

 justified by the consciousness of righteousness, and in 

 Jesus Christ on the cross ; but his critic rightly observes 

 that there is the element of free will present, whereas at 

 Martinique and St. Vincent the deaths were involuntary. 



Lastly, he refers to the belief in a future life as the 

 key to the problem : " The Stoic saw half the truth when 

 he knew that the just and resolute man cannot be shaken 

 by the ruins of a falling world. The Christian sees it 

 all when he says, ' Nevertheless we, according to His 

 promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein 

 dwelleth righteousness'." 



Mr. C. Cohen criticises the last two writers in the Hid- 

 bert Journal (vol, i., p. 360). He observes generally, if 

 man did the things which catastrophes do, he would be 

 regarded as guilty: why then is not God? 



" The Apologia of Messrs, Horton and Armstrong does 

 not touch the really vital issue , . . which is, Why 

 should they occur at all ? . , . " It is the duty of the 

 Theist to justify in God a method of working or of instruc- 

 tion that would be condemned in man," 



"The argument does show that the Martinique 

 disaster is in line with the general course of Nature ; but 

 this only amounts to saying that if ' Providence ' is at 

 fault here, it is at fault everywhere else." 



