STUDY VI.

A PERSONAL GOD.

STUDY VI. A PERSONAL GOD.

"Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel

By words without knowledge?

Gird up now thy loins like a man;

For I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare, if thou hast understanding.

Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest?
Or who stretched the line upon it?

Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened?
Or who laid the corner stone thereof,

When the morning stars sang together,

And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

(Job xxxviii. 1-7.)

PART I. MODERN SCHOLARSHIP AND A PERSONAL GOD. In our modern time some have feared lest the advance of science would drive God out of the universe. The supposed conflict between science and religion is not so acute now as formerly, but there are still those who feel that there is conflict. Let us see. Science proceeds on the assumption of the uniformity and the universality of law. It assumes that a rock dropped here or in China or anywhere else on the earth will fall to the ground-that is, the law of attraction of bodies is uniform and universal. But what is the deeper meaning of this fact of uniformity? Does it not mean essential unity? If I should go into the customhouse of a city and see the clock set itself just at twelve, then on another day go into the courthouse and see the clock there set itself just at twelve in the same fashion, I would, if I were a thoughtful man, begin to wonder what the meaning of this uniformity could be. I think I would come to the conclusion that these clocks were unified either by common device and design, or else they were connected up somewhere to a central clock-that is, I would conclude that uniformity of action meant some kind of unity. I would probably find that they were all connected up with the Western Union and hence were really unified.

Now, the thoughtful man sees that there is a law of uniformity throughout the universe. This does not just hap

pen. A self-running universe is a fiction of muddy thinking. There is somewhere a unifying element, a something that grips up all forces into itself and makes them one. Science calls this force. Hartley said that it was a very mysterious force, and so it seems to me; but at least it is unity. There are not a thousand or a hundred or even two supreme elements in the universe. The whole is unified, else there would be cross purposes and utter confusion. Then there could be no science. Science, therefore, gives us unity. This is not God, but it certainly does not deny God. The Christians claim that God unifies all life, that he is the supreme force in the universe. Science does not deny this. Indeed, it looks in this direction, but cannot go so far.

Again, science proceeds on the assumption that life is a process; that nothing is, but all things are becoming; that all things are moving toward a goal, be that goal good or bad. The law of evolution says that there is uniformity of procedure. Even the so-called jumps of nature are uniform in action and come about in accordance with fixed law. But when science says there is uniformity, progress, movement toward a goal, it says there is intelligence; for nothing save intelligence can have purpose. Blind force and purpose belong to two unrelated fields. They cannot be put together. Hence science, as pure science, says there is a unifying element which knits all life into one unity, and this unity is shot through with intelligence. This is not God, but it does not contradict him.

STUDY VI. A PERSONAL GOD.

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament showeth his handiwork.
Day unto day uttereth speech,

And night unto night showeth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language;

Their voice is not heard.

Their line is gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.

In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course.
His going forth is from the end of the heavens,
And his circuit unto the ends of it;

And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof."

(Ps. xix. 1-6.)

PART II. MODERN SCHOLARSHIP AND A PERSONAL

GOD.
(Continued.)

THE very definite and decided tendency in philosophy is toward personalism. The old form of crass materialism has lost its hold. No one now believes that the higher states of consciousness can be evolved out of sheer matter. Pure idealism has likewise passed. We cannot deny the existence of matter. To define it as a delusion of our senses is sheer nonsense, for it cuts the nerve of all true thought and makes knowledge impossible. Therefore we must say that matter and spirit are somehow akin. They are not absolutely opposed to each other. The personalistic philosophy claims that material is the manifestation or embodiment of idea. Now, thought incarnated is person; and so philosophy to-day is looking toward personalism as the ultimate meaning of the universe. "Unless, then," says Dr. Bowne, "appearances are unusually deceitful in this case, it is plain that man is no impotent annex to a self-sufficient mechanical system, but is rather a very significant factor in cosmic ongoings, at least in terrestrial ongoings." And proceeding further he says: "A world of persons with a Supreme Person at the head is the conception to which we come as the result of our critical reflection."

1Bowne, "Personalism," page 279.

"But," objects a student who came to me recently, "how can God be infinite and yet personal? Does not personality limit him?" That depends on your conception of personality. "These, then," says Illingworth, "are the constituent elements of personality as such-self-consciousness, the power of self-determination, and the desire which insistently impels us into communion with other persons-or, in other words, reason, will, and love.”

A person is a spirit which is conscious of itself in all its differentiations. If we think of human personality, it certainly would limit God. But we must remember that no human being is completely personal. We are just growing toward personality and are far from complete. We have a little intelligence. We know that we can find some truth, even though we often conceive falsely. We have some love power; for we know that we love our mothers and our friends, even though we often go astray in our emotional life. We have a little will; for we do choose right part of the time, even though we choose falsely often. Growth in personality is growth in fullness and accuracy of these faculties. All education is to help us know right, respond rightly to that knowledge, and act right when we know and feel. It is not impossible to conceive of a personality in which the knowing faculty is complete, in which there is right response to all life, and in which all choices are right and true. Here would be a perfect person, an unlimited person-that is, unlimited in the realm of personal life. The fact that one person has all the powers, emotions, and qualities of all his friends and his own besides does not limit him. He does not become less personal because he is not set over against his friends. If God contains all the attributes of humanity and nature, as well as all that our imperfect natures point toward, he is not thereby limited, nor is he less personal.

Dr. W. N. Clarke defines a perfect person as "the being in whom these essential powers which constitute personality (intelligence, affection, and will) exist in perfect quality and degree and are perfectly bound together and welded in use in the unity of self-directing consciousness." Such a conception is not impossible, and such a conception approaches the idea of a personal God. It is poor and barren compared with what God must be, but it does not limit God.

'Illingworth, "Personality, Human and Divine," page 38.