Page:Transactions NZ Institute Volume 9 Supplement.djvu/50

658 to habituate themselves to what is a false and one-sided view; to look upon Truth as something communicated by authority—as something outside of their sphere, which is handed to them and received by them as an acquisition, instead of being, as it is, something that men must grasp and realise for themselves—something that they themselves must know and experience, or else it is nought but the parrot repetition of an acted part. The observation of facts, the seeing their sequence and realising their meaning, and then arguing from or upon them, is a very different process from taking these facts second-hand and founding theories, or raising objections, or drawing inferences about them. In the one case, the facts always mean a great deal more than can be expressed, and everyone who has observed the facts knows their significance, and unconsciously is influenced by this hidden meaning or power; whereas the man who deals with facts second-hand misses all this, is continually pushing expressions further than are intended, drawing inferences which a fuller knowledge would have saved him from, building up objections founded on misconceptions which arise largely from the imperfections of language, and which a personal acquaintance with the facts would at once dissipate. "The one deals with the raw material of fact, the other with the logical textures woven from that material. Now, the logical loom may go accurately through all its motions, while the woven fibres may be all rotten. It is only by practice among facts that the intellect is prepared to judge of facts, and no mere logical acuteness or literary skill can atone for the want of this necessary education."

The antagonism which has been attempted to be raised between Science and Christianity is, I think, something more than a most unfortunate one; and perhaps even at the risk of nauseating you with a threadbare subject, I cannot do better than employ the few minutes still at my disposal in clearing up some misunderstandings, and pointing out that the view which has been attempted to be forced on this community, that "Evolution and Christianity are absolutely contradictory, and cannot live together," is an extreme view, and not the position taken by many of our best and wisest theologians at home. To everyone accepting the Christian revelation as true, and as the source of their highest hopes and fondest aspirations, the position becomes, indeed, a most momentous one if the choice has to be made between it and what, in common with nearly all the scientific world, we have had forced on our convictions by the stern logic of facts. Those of us who have grown into manhood's years may be able to retain the fruits and experiences of our earlier years, and "hold the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end," content to wait for further light or to rest in implicit trust where we cannot understand or explain. But what of those who are growing up around us? Are they to be told that it is at their peril that they open the tabooed book of science, or dare to look into any of the pages of God's glorious book of nature? It is with a feeling of something akin to horror that I contemplate the position in which many of our youth in this colony will be placed by such an unwise and strained stumbling-block raised in their path. For assuredly we have sufficient evidence that the intellectual vigour of our youth is such, that come what may they will drink at the forbidden fountain, and rejoice in its healthgiving and refreshing streams. Yea, more, forbid it as we please, we cannot prevent them imbibing its principles, or becoming interested in its study. The whole literature of our age is saturated with it; and even in our schools, the principles which lie at the roots of these things are being insensibly impressed and taught to the youthful mind. Surely, then, if it can be shown, as I believe in my inmost heart that it can, that there is no true antagonism between science rightly understood, and religion truthfully interpreted, it is not the place of those who love both, to make a divorce between them;