(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

III.—MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCES AND ARGUMENTS FOR THE DIVINE EXISTENCE.

Special Text: "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms shall destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." Job xix:25.

NOTES.

1. Patristic Arguments: "The Patristic arguments for the Divine Existence rest mainly upon the innate consciousness of the human mind. They magnify the internal evidence for this doctrine. * * * * God was conceived as directly manifesting himself to the moral sense, through that Divine Word or Reason who, in their phraseology, was the manifested Deity. In their view, God proved his existence by his presence to the mind. In the Western Church, particularly, this immediate manifestation and consequent proof of the Divine Existence was much insisted upon. Augustine in his Confessions implies that the Deity evinces His being and attributes by a direct operation—an impinging, as it were, of Himself, upon the rational soul of His creatures." (History of Christian Doctrine (Shedd) Vol. I, pp. 229-30.)

2. The "Heart" Knowledge of God: "This heart knowledge is, after all, to each individual who has it, the most direct form of evidence for the existence of God—the personal intercourse with Him of our personal spirit—the communion in virtue of which we can say, 'I know that there is a God because I know him. I experience in prayer and sacrament and meditation a conviction of His reality and His presence which is quite as real to me as is the conviction that those things exist which I can touch and see. This conviction is clearest and strongest when I am at my best, and I attribute all that is best and highest in my character to such communion, as thousands have done before me.'

"This is the kind of Knowledge of God that cries aloud to us from the Psalms and Prophecies, and underlies the other writings of the Old Testament. And the perfection of this communion is to be found in Jesus Christ as portrayed for us in the Synoptic Gospels (Lk. 10:22; cf. Mk. 13:32), but especially in St. John (5:19 cf. 10:15, 30; cf. 14:11, etc.) and reaches its climax in the great high-priestly prayer of Jn. 17. After our Lord's Ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit, it takes the form, for Christ's members, of a fellowship with the blessed Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. (2 Cor. 13:14; cf. 1 Jn. 1:3.)

"Being, however, in one sense, a purely personal and individual matter, this sense of communion is commonly thought to be too subjective to be adduced as an argument for the existence of God. It is always open to an objector to say, 'You assert that you have this feeling; I am willing to admit your sincerity, but you may be the victim of illusion. All I can say is that I have no such feeling myself.' To such an assertion it seems perhaps inadequate to reply, 'If you will but assume first provisionally (as we have to assume many things in practical life,) that existence which you cannot demonstrate, and then act upon the assumption, conviction will come with experience.' Yet such a reply may be enforced and corroborated with all the weight of more than nineteen centuries of personal experience. Generation after generation of martyrs and saints have testified in the strongest possible manner to their conviction that God is, and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.' (Heb. 11:6); and have been ready to seal the conviction with their life's blood. ("Belief in God," Dummelow's Commentary, p. c.)

The General Sense of the Divine Existence Deepened by Christianity: "The consciousness of the God in whom we live, move and have our being. This, too, [by reason of Christianity] became, in believers, a more living, a more profound sentiment. They [the Christians] felt more strongly and vividly the all-pervading presence of that God who made himself to be felt by them in nature, and whose existence to the spirit is undeniable. It was to this undeniable fact of consciousness, indeed, they appealed, in endeavoring to lead the pagans away from the gods which they themselves had made to the acknowledgment of the only true God. This appears to us as the one common feature in the mode of expressing themselves on this subject, which prevailed among the church fathers, amid all the differences of form between those whose education had led them through the Platonic philosophy, and such men as Tertullian, who—a stranger and an enemy to philosophical culture—witnessed, in an original manner, of that which had penetrated deeply into the vigorous but stern individuality of his character." (History of the Christian Religion (Neander), Vol. I, pp. 55-66.)

2. The Spirit of Man Intuitively Conscious of Truth: Somewhat akin to this "Heart Knowledge" of God is the following very remarkable passage in one of the revelations of God through Joseph Smith: "Intelligence or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also, otherwise here is no existence. Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man, because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation, for man is spirit." (Doc. & Cov., Sec. xciii.) As if the Lord would say: Truth is native to the spirit of man, when unrestrained by man's perverse will—when he has not reached the point where he chooses darkness rather than light because his deeds are evil—then Truth is native to the spirit of man and will, when unrestrained, intuitively rise to meet it as flame leaps toward its kindred flame and unites with it. And it is because the spirit of man refuses to live true to this quality of his spirit that he comes under condemnation when rejecting the truth.

The Prophet Joseph emphasized this doctrine in his public teachings. On one occasion he said: "Every word that proceedeth from the mouth of Jehovah has such an influence over the human mind—the logical mind—that it is convincing without other testimony. Faith cometh by hearing." (Hist. of the Ch. Vol. V, p. 526.)

3. Defect of "Soul Consciousness" Argument: "They [who accept the soul conscious argument] labor under the common infirmity that one man cannot by proclaiming with ever so much confidence that he perceives an object, convince other people that they see it too. If, indeed, he laid claim to a divine faculty of vision, vouchsafed to him alone, and making him cognizant of things which men, not thus assisted, have not the capacity to see, the case might be different. Men have been able to get such claims admitted; and other people can only require of them to show their credentials. But when no claim is set up to any peculiar gift, but we are told that all of us are as capable as the prophet of seeing what he sees, feeling what he feels, nay, that we actually do so, and when the utmost effort of which we are capable fails to make us aware of what we are told we perceive, this supposed universal faculty of intuition is but

'The dark lantern of the spirit
Which none see by but those who bear it;'

and the bearers may fairly be asked to consider whether it is not more likely that they are mistaken as to the origin of an impression in their minds, than that others are ignorant of the very existence of an impression in theirs." "Theism" (Mill, p. 162.)

The proper answer to this argument is found in Note 2, this lesson.

4. The Consent of Mankind: "As far back as Cicero in the first century B. C. or even earlier, pagan thinkers had observed that religion in some form or other is a universal trait in human nature. And though in modern days apparent exceptions of 'atheistical tribes' have been adduced to prove the contrary, the trend of anthropological science may be said on the whole to support the judgment of antiquity. There may indeed be savages (though the point has not been proved) among whom no definite trace of religious observance can be discerned; but are they normal representatives even of undeveloped humanity? Is there no such thing as degradation? And have not even these poor savages some vestige at least of the religious faculty? For that is all our argument really requires. The world-wide progress of Christian missions to the heathen seems to testify quite triumphantly that no race or tribe of men, however degraded and apparently atheistic, lacks that spark of religious capacity which may be fanned and fed into a mighty flame.

"Granted, then, that the religious faculty is practically universal among mankind, what is the significance of this fact? From ancient times it has been regarded as an argument—often (wrongly) as a proof that God exists. It is called the argument 'from the general consent of mankind.'" (Belief in God, Dummelow's Commentary, p. ci.)

5. Existence of Gods by Universal Consent: "In the question now before us, the greater part of mankind have united to acknowledge that which is most probable, namely, that there are Gods. * * * * * * Here, then, you see the foundation of this question clearly laid; for since it is the constant and universal opinion of mankind, independent of education, custom, or law, that there are Gods, it must necessarily follow that this knowledge is implanted in our minds, or, rather, innate in us. That opinion respecting which there is a general agreement in universal nature must infallibly be true; therefore it must be allowed that there are Gods; for in this we have the concurrence, not only of almost all philosophers, but likewise of the ignorant and illiterate. It must be also confessed that the point is established that we have naturally this idea, and as I said before, or prenotion, of the existence of the Gods." (Tusculan Disputations (Cicero) Yonge's Translation, pp. 225-6.)

6. Cotta's Comment: On the matter of the foregoing note Cicero represents "Cotta" the Academician, as commenting as follows:

"You have said that the general assent of men of all nations and all degrees is an argument strong enough to induce us to acknowledge the being of Gods. This is not only a weak, but a false, argument; for, first of all, how do you know the opinions of all nations? I really believe there are many people so savage that they have no thoughts of a Deity." (Ibid. p. 231.)

7. Spencer's Comment on Universality of Religious Ideas: "Religious ideas of one kind or other are almost universal. Admitting that in many places there are tribes who have no theory of creation, no word for a deity, no propitiatory acts, no ideas of another life—admitting that only when a certain phase of intelligence is reached do the most rudimentary of such theories make their appearance; the implication is practically the same. Grant that among all races who have passed a certain stage of intellectual development there are found vague notions concerning the origin and hidden nature of surrounding things; and there arises the inference that such notions are necessary products of progressing intelligence. Their endless variety serves but to strengthen this conclusion; showing as it does a more or less independent genesis—showing how, in different places and times, like conditions have led to similar trains of thought, ending in analogous results. That these countless different, and yet allied, phenomena presented by all religions are accidental or factitious, is an untenable supposition. A candid examination of the evidence quite negatives the doctrine maintained by some that creeds are priestly inventions." ("First Principles," Appleton & Co.'s Edition of 1896, pp. 13, 14.)

Footnotes

1. As these works of reference may be somewhat difficult to obtain, copious notes are made for this lesson.