276 THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 
to run counter to our deepest convictions. It seems 
impossible to us that both can be true. Sometimes 
the more we debate the questions the more contra- 
dictory they seem to become. Every good mind 
needs unity in itself. No clear thinker can be quite 
content when two distinct departments of thought are 
at sharp variance in his mind. He may pursue one 
of two courses. He may hold to one view with con- 
viction and earnestness and look upon the other 
as essentially false. To many religious people all 
science that runs counter to their convictions is neces- 
sarily false. They label it pseudo-science and pass it 
by. If the word pseudo-science is unknown to them, 
they stigmatize it as rationalistic, or still worse as 
materialistic and let it go at that. 
The other course is to have faith both in religion 
and in science. 
Such a fair-minded man must ask himself, what is 
the truth in the matter? If the scientific fact is true 
it is to be believed. It may run counter to what we 
have believed before. It may seem at first entirely 
incredible. But when once he becomes convinced of 
its truth the clear thinker must not only accept it, 
but must accept all legitimate deductions from it. If 
it seems true to us we must believe it. Absolute 
demonstrable truth, except in the simplest of matters 
is almost unattainable. The best we can ordinarily 
