The Relation of Science and Religion.pdf - Online Christian Library

84 SCIENCE AND RELIGION.now know the constituent elements of manyforms of existence, and the laws which determinechange and continuance, as these werenever previously known; and thus there hasbeen vastly extended for us the range of recognizedfacts.To this advance, the whole human race hasto adapt itself. It is not merely one class ofmen, but all; not merely one department ofthoughtl, but all departments which must adjustthemselves to this new order of things.Religious thought is not thrown into any singularposition; it merely shares in the commonexperience, that is, the common advantage.And we may say religious thought is mostprepared for the mighty revolution. Thisstartling success in unlocking the mysteriesof nature; this sudden accession to the wealthof our ideas, apt to have an intoxicating effectupon those who value science and nothinghigher, a,wakens reverence and gratitudein the religious thinker. The greater the applicationof human intelligence to the studyof nature, and the greater the discoverieswhich reward such labor, so much greater becomesthe demand upon intelligence in accountingfor the origin and continuance of the