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

EXPERIENCE FROM PAST CONFLICTS. 47velopment, but should rather seem as anuncaused existence,-" spontaneous generation."It might have been urged that thesuggestion was contrary to reason; that " inexorablelogic," of which we often hear fromscientific observers, forbade the supposition ;that all the conditions of scientific thoughtwere against it ; that the very conception of~pont~aneous generation " m7as a logical inconsistency,alien to the requirements of scientificthought, as implying uncaused existence;but we were reminded that we areprohibited from supposing any thing is impossiblein the pathway of science, .that observationmust be first, and reason only second,and accordingly the needful experiments wenton under all due precautions. The briefchapter in the history of science which recordsexpectations and results connected withthese experiments, well deserves to be remembered.It is here selected for illustration,both on account of its inherent importance,and its relation to the theory ofdevelopment, which must afterwards havespecial attention.Some descent is required from ordinaryscientific observation to the level where this