MODIFICATIONS IN THE IDEA OF GOD, ETC. 73 



Again, there was an early conception that God was like a greatly 

 •magnified man, but in both departments of human thought it has 

 Taecome more and more evident that '• His ways are not as our 

 ways." The early conceptions of God have frequently repi-esented 

 Him as — sliall I say ? — capricious ; but the gradual widening of the 

 scope of revelation has made known to us more and more His 

 divine purposes and plan, just as the Chaos of the ancient natural 

 philosophers has given way to our present belief in a Cosmos and a 

 Reign of Law. 



This idea of development in both departments has long been 

 familiar to me. I gave a series of lessons to my Bible class " On 

 the Harmony of Successive Revelations" in 1850, nine years before 

 the publication of Darwin's Originof Species, 2i.ndi ten years before the 

 notable contest between the Bishop of Oxford and Professor Huxley, 

 at which I was present, and had a talk with Huxley as we left the 

 hall. This controversy has almost ceased to exist, or to arouse 

 interest. It seems now to be pretty generally acknowledged that 

 the way in which God has revealed Himself as disclosed in Scrip- 

 ture is in accoi'dance with what may be deduced from a study of 

 nature. 



The Chairman. — There are one or two very valuable comments 

 which the Secretary has received and which will be printed with 

 the discussion. 



May I return our thanks to Chancellor Lias and add my own 

 thanks to him for the admirable way in which he has brought 

 forward certain points that I have been feeling after, but not 

 very successfully, until I read his paper ? I believe this doctrine 

 of Divine immanence, or belief that God upholds all things by the 

 "'word of His power," whatever the mysterious word logos means, 

 is, as Chancellor Lias says, the link between the mistaken concep- 

 tions of science and Eternal Truth, and 1 thank him most heartily 

 and ask you to do so. (Applause.) 



The Meeting then adjourned. 



The bOi,]>owiN(i Communications were Received : — 



From Rev. Professor Caldecott. — The discussion on this paper 



turned upon some of its main features, but there were also some 



other points in the paper which merit attention at this time — points 



belonging to another region of "science," the field of psychology. 



