CH. v.] RELIGION AS ADJUSTMENT. 469 



Granting that our doctrine is philosophically the reverse of 

 atheism, it will be urged that here extremes meet, and that 

 an infinite and therefore unknowable God is practically- 

 equivalent to no God at alL 



In reply to the latter objection it is hardly necessary again 

 to remind the objector that upon similar grounds, and with 

 equal plausibility, the early Christians were called atheists 

 by their pagan adversaries. The reproach of atheism has 

 been well defined, by Mr. E. W. Mackay, to be the reproach 

 which the adherents of a lower creed endeavour to cast upon 

 those of a higher one. The less anthropomorphic the symbol 

 by which Deity is represented, the less readily imaginable it 

 is as something which can be seen, or heard, or prayed to, the 

 less existent does it appear. And as we proceed to take 

 away, one by one, the attributes which limit Deity, and 

 enable it to be classified, we seem, no doubt, to be gradually 

 destroying it altogether. Nevertheless, to him who has thus 

 far intelligently followed this exposition, it will not be neces- 

 sary to demonstrate that the symbolization of Deity indicated 

 by the profoundest scientific analysis of to-day is as practi- 

 cally real as the symbolization which has resulted from the 

 attempts of antiquity to perform such an analysis, and is in 

 every way more satisfactory alike to head and heart. To him 

 the most refined anthropomorphism to be met with in current 

 theological treatises will no doubt seem as unsatisfactory as 

 the anthropomorphism of orthodox " revivalists " must seem 

 to Mr. Mutton or Mr. Mcrtineau. 



Indeed there are few philosophical terms which have more 

 thoroughly brought out the inveterate tendency of men to 

 mistake the counters of thought for its hard money than this 

 term "Unknowable." Alike from Idealists and Positivists, 

 from theologians of every school and from penny-a-liners of 

 no school, we hear long arguments based upon the vague 

 connotations which the word "Unknowable" calls up, wdthout 

 any reference to the precise sense in which the symbol is 



