FACTS AND FANCIES
IN
MODERN SCIENCE:

STUDIES OF THE RELATIONS OF SCIENCE TO PREVALENT SPECULATIONS AND RELIGIOUS BELIEF.

BEING THE LECTURES ON THE SAMUEL A. CROZER FOUNDATION IN CONNECTION WITH THE CROZER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, FOR 1881.

BY
J. W. DAWSON, LL.D., F.R.S. Etc.

PHILADELPHIA:
AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY,
1420 CHESTNUT STREET.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1882, by the
AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

Westcott & Thomson,
Stereotypers and Electrotypers, Philada.

PREFACE.

The object before the mind of the author in preparing these Lectures was to present a distinct and rational view of the present relation of scientific thought to the religious beliefs of men, and especially to the Christian revelation.

The attempt to make science, or speculations based on science, supersede religion is one of the prevalent fancies of our time, and pervades much of the popular literature of the day. That such attempts can succeed the author does not believe. They have hitherto given birth only to such abortions as Positivism, Nihilism, and Pessimism.

There is, however, a necessary relation and parallelism of all truths, physical and spiritual; and it is useful to clear away the apparent antagonisms which proceed from partial and imperfect views, and to point out the harmony which exists between the natural and the spiritual—between what man can learn from the physical creation, and what has been revealed to him by the Spirit of God. To do this with as much fairness as possible, and with due regard to the present state of knowledge and to the most important difficulties that are likely to be met with by honest inquirers, is the purpose of the following pages.

It is proper to add that, in order to give completeness to the discussion, it has been necessary to introduce, in some of the lectures, topics previously treated of by the author, in a similar manner, in publications bearing his name.

J. W. D.

April, 1882.

CONTENTS.

LECTURE I.
GENERAL RELATIONS OF SCIENCE AND AGNOSTIC SPECULATION.

The infidelity and the contempt for sacred and spiritual things which pervade so much of our modern literature are largely attributable to the prevalence of that form of philosophy which may be designated as Agnostic Evolution, and this in its turn is popularly regarded as a result of the pursuit of physical and natural science. The last conclusion is obviously only in part, if at all, correct, since it is well known that atheistic philosophical speculations were pursued, quite as boldly and ably as now, long before the rise of modern science. Still, it must be admitted that scientific discoveries and principles have been largely employed in our time to give form and consistency to ideas otherwise very dim and shadowy, and thus to rehabilitate for our benefit the philosophical dreams of antiquity in a more substantial shape. In this respect the natural sciences—or, rather, the facts and laws with which they are conversant—merely share the fate of other things. Nothing, however indifferent in itself, can come into human hands without acquiring thereby an ethical, social, political, or even religious, significance. An ounce of lead or a dynamite cartridge may be in itself a thing altogether destitute of any higher significance than that depending on physical properties; but let it pass into the power of man, and at once infinite possibilities of good and of evil cluster round it according to the use to which it may be applied. This depends on essential powers and attributes of man himself, of which he can no more be deprived than matter can be denuded of its inherent properties; and if the evils arising from misuse of these powers trouble us, we may at least console ourselves with the reflection that the possibility of such evils shows man to be a free agent, and not an automaton.

All this is eminently applicable to science in its relation to agnostic speculations. The material of the physical and natural sciences consists of facts ascertained by the evidence of our senses, and for which we depend on the truthfulness of those senses and the stability of external nature. Science proceeds, by comparison of these facts and by inductive reasoning, to arrange them under certain general expressions or laws. So far all is merely physical, and need have no connection with our origin or destiny or relation to higher powers. But we ourselves are a part of the nature which we study; and we cannot study it without more or less thinking our own thoughts into it. Thus we naturally begin to inquire as to origins and first causes, and as to the source of the energy and order which we perceive; and to these questions the human mind demands some answer, either actual or speculative. But here we enter into the domain of religious thought, or that which relates to a power or powers beyond and above nature. Whatever forms our thoughts on such subjects may take, these depend, not directly on the facts of science, but on the reaction of our