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

SCIENCE .4ND DIVlNE INTERPOSITION. 301in scriptural doctrine. Prayer does not implya probable reversal of the laws of nature; butit does imply a moral government in the midstof the physical world, and the subordinationof the physical to the moral under regulation ofan all-wise and almighty Ruler. The questionbefore us concerns this subordination, and thepossibilities which it implies.Towards the attainment of exact conceptionshere the first requisite is a clear understandingof the scientific doctrine of thegovernment of the world by fixed law. Inwhatever sense we take the word "law" asapplicable to God's government of the universe,there is no law which is fluctuating, orliable to have one signification at one time,and a quite different signification at anothertime; a narrower range of application at oneperiod, and a wider range at a later. Suchfluctuation would imply a suspension of a lawof nature, and the conception of such a thingis inconsistent with absolute rational government,alien equally to the principles of scienceand of religion. Laws physical, moral, andspiritual are equally fixed laws.But the laws of the universe are a harmony,and in the midst of the interdependence of