ON THE UNRKASONABLENESS OF AGNGSTICTSM. 07 



Personal God. Because I do not compreliend in myself the 

 entire Totality of Existence, I decline to believe there is any 

 person who does compi'ehend that Totality." 



But such reasoning as this is unphilosophic. As well might 

 a man say, because I do not understand all the principles of 

 a science, I will not believe in that science. A little 

 reflection on the part of any thoughtful person will convince 

 him that he docs believe in a great many things which he 

 does not entirely comprehend. Many examples of this may 

 be found in the circle of the sciences ; such, for instance, as 

 crystallography on the one hand, and mental phenomena 

 on the other. We do not know vjhy it is that one substance 

 Avhen it crystallises always assumes the cubic form, while 

 another always assumes the rhomboidal. We do not know 

 how it is that the faculty of memory is able to store up its 

 treasures — keeping each set of facts separate, and repro- 

 ducing each at will. Why these things are as they are 

 is a question which cannot be answered, and yet we are 

 fully convinced that they are so : both are most certain 

 truths. And in the case of memory, the unknown truth 

 is one which daily influences our actions. If a person 

 were to say, because I cannot understand how it is that 

 my memory can keep the facts of history distinct from the 

 facts of geography, I will not trust either to its keeping, 

 would he not be considered wanting in wisdom, or even 

 sense ? In like mannei', is not the man wanting in wisdom 

 who says, because I cannot understand the whole nature of 

 God, I will not acknowledge His being, nor my relation to 

 Him as a creature ? We think he is. 



Admitting, then, for argument sake, that as finite creatures 

 we are not able fully to understand the whole of God's nature, 

 — for " Who by searching can find out God t" — yet we main- 

 tain that it is possible to know something of Him; enough, 

 in fact, to lead us to revere Him, and enough to enable us 

 to hold conscious intercourse with Him who is the Father of 

 Spirits. 



We will now proceed to show how this knowledge is 

 gained. 



First Proposition. — It is beyond doubt that Mind exists in 

 the universe. Mind is an attribute of personality. Mind, 

 therefore, is one of the phenomena by which we recognise a 

 Personal God. 



The existence of mind is an undoubted fact. But its exist- 

 ence independent of matter is denied by some persons. _ A 

 little reflection, however, will show that the human mind is a 

 distinct thino- from the substance of the brain which is its organ. 



