II 



THE AUTHOR'S THEORIES OUTLINED 



WHETHER the universe is self-existent, self- 

 created or the work of Omnipotence is not a 

 problem for the scientist as such. His province 

 is strictly limited, by choice as well as by definition, to the 

 study of matter in its various forms, organic and inor- 

 ganic, animate and inanimate, and the tracing out of the 

 operations of the natural law of cause and effect as far 

 as he is able. Of all men, the astronomer should right- 

 fully be expected to be the most uncompromisingly 

 scientific, inasmuch as his work deals with matter in the 

 mass entirely uncomplicated by such things as chemical 

 or biological activities. 



Fortunately for the validity of our scientific con- 

 clusions, it is all one whether we regard the universe as 

 self-existent or God-created. For if self-existent we 

 have no choice but to accept the Present Order as the in- 

 evitable outgrowth of a past eternity of mutual accom- 

 modation of parts under the guidance of natural law, 

 while if we regard it as the handiwork of Omniscience 

 we thereby philosophically concede both its original and 

 present perfection, and hence its insusceptibility of cor- 

 rection or improvement. In fine, the Present Order must 

 be logically accepted as perpetual. Here we come upon 

 one of the main points of difference between the accepted 

 teaching and my own; for whereas I affirm the per- 

 petual integrity of the universe, the world of science 

 flatly denies it. 



