TRUE LESSON OF PROTESTANTISM 



underlies the remark which we sometimes hear, 

 that all would be well if men of science would 

 only keep their place and not encroach upon the 

 province of the theologian. The alternative, 

 then, is, when stated as broadly as possible, 

 Will the present decomposition of beliefs be 

 succeeded by a period of reconstruction in which 

 the teachings of some church shall be accepted 

 as authoritative concerning questions of a purely 

 religious nature, or will the decomposition go on 

 until the last vestige of recognition of religious 

 questions shall have vanished, and all educated 

 men shall have become atheistic materialists ? 

 It is my object on the present occasion to show 

 that no such alternative really confronts us ; that 

 the very propounding of such a question in- 

 volves grave philosophical and historical errors ; 

 that neither materialism on the one hand, nor 

 any species of ecclesiastical orthodoxy on the 

 other hand, is likely to become prevalent in the 

 future ; and that the maintenance of an essen- 

 tially religious attitude of mind is compatible 

 with absolute freedom of speculation on all sub- 

 jects, whether scientific or metaphysical. 



In my apprehension it is a very serious mis- 

 take, though a very common one, to suppose that 

 the tendency of modern philosophic thought is 

 toward materialism. On this subject there is a 

 great confusion of ideas, which is aggravated by 

 a general uncertainty as to just what materialism 

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