THEIR CAUSES 9 



tives have been shaken as by an earthquake; and 

 ordinary men have not yet had time to recover from 

 their consequent dizziness, and to distinguish between 

 what has been either changed or destroyed and what 

 remains unchanged in the new outlook. 



(b) This and other causes have led to the develop- 

 ment of a highly critical temper — one which is by no 

 means confined to specialists in criticism, but which 

 has modified the mental attitude of millions in every 

 walk of life. The scientific as well as the common- 

 sense principle, that previously accepted conclusions 

 and beliefs ought not to be repudiated or abandoned 

 without adequate proof that they are no longer tenable, 

 has ceased to control the ''modern mind." Instead 

 of realizing that the burden of proof lies with those who 

 innovate upon traditional positions, men are apt to 

 assume that the traditional must be false. Because 

 some of its particulars require correction, men are led 

 to think that all must be changed, and that the real 

 truth in every direction must wait for its manifestation 

 upon the labours of modern experts. The theories of 

 experts, however conjectural, are frequently regarded 

 as more weighty than the most fundamental con\ic- 

 tions and postulates upon which Christian thought has 

 heretofore been based. In former days novelty in 

 Christian doctrine was thought to be a proof of error. 

 To-day the tendency of many is to regard the antiquity 

 of any doctrine as a sufficient reason for disputing its 

 credibility. Such a tendency makes for confusion 

 rather than for an inteUigent faith. 



