p. 208 | The Great Danger by F. W. R.

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · May 10, 1883

The Great Danger.

By F. W. R.

At the dedication of the new chapel at Princeton, Dr. McCosh delivered a discourse, from which the following on "Agnosticism" is an extract:-

The leading philosophic and religious error of this day is not Unitarianism, which, in fact, is dead and laid out for decent burial. It is not rationalism, for thinking men now see that human reason cannot construct religion. It is not exactly atheism. Few are so bold as to assert or argue that there is no God. They claim, "We do not deny the existence of God, we are not so presumptuous as this; we make no denials, we simply maintain that we have no evidence." The most influential error of the day, the one underlying every other, is what is called Agnosticism. The founder of it in modern times is David Hume, usually called the skeptic; he would be called in the present day an Agnostic. According to this system we do not know things, we simply know appearances; and we know not and cannot know whether there is any reality beyond, or, if there be, what the reality is. Its supporters virtually affirm that truth cannot be found.

Few are aware—indeed none, except those who have looked into the subject specially, are aware—how prevalent this style of thought and sentiment is, in the present day, in the English press all over the world. It is adopted by a vast body of young writers in England, and is being followed, without their being aware of it, by numbers in this country. In some cases it is openly stated and defended; in more it is implied without being avowed. When thoroughly and conscientiously carried out, it means that we cannot know anything. More frequently it means that we cannot discover any truth beyond what the senses reveal, that we have no certainty of spiritual truth, or, indeed, of moral truth, except as utility, or the power of imparting pleasure. Only those who have penetrated beneath the surface are aware how much this creed, or rather sentiment, is lowering the moral tone and religious faith of educated young men. It is bred in the damps of the earth; it rises up and is in the air; it covers the heavens from the view, and we breathe it as malaria. It is contradictory to maintain that we know, that we can know, nothing. But when we have shown this, we have not destroyed the error any more than we have killed a spectre by thrusting a sword into it. For the strength of its defense is, that supposed truth is contradictory, and therefore not to be believed. The only way to meet it is to stand firm, and to point to truth which we know as being self-evident, and which we are constrained to believe.

What we have to do with those who favor the system is to set the truth before them and let it shine in its own light. We know that we exist, we know that others exist. Proceeding on in the same way, we find that God exists, that we are capable of knowing the distinction between right and wrong, and that we are responsible to God for the deeds done in the body, whether they have been good or whether they have been evil. We have as strong evidence of the higher and spiritual truths as we have of the lower. I have evidence that I exist, but I have also proof that God exists, the author of my being. These men would accept the lower truths, what can be seen and felt, in pleasure and in pain, in what they eat and what they drink, in meat and in money, and some are anxious to secure as many earthly goods as possible. Their agnosticism, practically, and in fact, consists simply in their affirming, and trying to persuade others, especially young men, that we can know nothing of the higher truths, of moral and spiritual truth, of God, of immortality, and a judgment day.

This is the deadly influence of the system. It is seeking to kill the germs of spiritual life which are deep down in our nature, so as to keep them from germinating. It is undermining the faith of the rising generation, and holding back all the aspirations of the soul, which lead to high ideals, and to deeds of heroism and self-sacrifice. It is filling the air with doubts, difficulties, uncertainties, perplexities. It is, I fear, hindering many an earnest youth from devoting himself to the work of the church, and lessening the number of candidates for the ministry. It can be shown that we have good and valid proofs of these higher truths of morality and religion, even as we have of the lower ones of sense and sight. If we neglect either kind of truth, evil consequence must follow. If we do not eat and drink, we must die. If we refuse to believe in ethical and spiritual truth, we offend God and must suffer the penalties of a broken law, and live without the grand beliefs and hopes that elevate and cheer the mind. God is declared in his works. "The heavens declare the glory of God," the whole earth is full of his praise. It is the declared doctrine of Paul, and, I may add, of the highest philosophy which ever carries up to this high religion: "The invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood from the things that are made, even his eternal power and God-head."

F. W. R.