COSMIC THEISM 



generalized way ; but there can be no doubt that 

 a crudely felt antithesis of the kind here indi- 

 cated must have been nearly coeval with the be- 

 ginnings of physical generalization. Now the 

 gradual summing up and blending together of 

 all the primeval quasi-human agencies into one 

 grand quasi-human Agency could not at once 

 do away with this antithesis. On the contrary, 

 the antithesis would naturally remain as the gen- 

 eralized opposition between the realm of " in- 

 variable law " and the realm of " Divine origi- 

 nality." It would be superfluous to recount the 

 various metaphysical shapes which this concep- 

 tion has assumed, in some of which Nature 

 has even been personified as an intelligent and 

 volitional agency, distinct from God, and work- 

 ing through law while God works through mir- 

 acle. The result has been that, as scientific gen- 

 eralization has steadily extended the region of 

 " natural law,'* the region which theology has 

 assigned to " Divine action " has steadily dimin- 

 ished, until theological arguments have become 

 insensibly pervaded by the curious assumption 

 that the greater part of the universe is godless. 

 For it is naively asked, if plants and animals 

 have been naturally originated, if the world as 

 a whole has been evolved and not created, and 

 if human actions conform to law, what is there 

 left for God to do ? ^ If not formally repudiated, 

 * ** Illos omnes Deum aut saltern Dei providentiam tollere 



255 



