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POSITIVISM VS. IDEALISM

The rapid development of scientific thought and investigation—the new conceptions of matter and force—the theory of evolution—and the thought that has evolved from these sources, has tended to give to modern philosophy a decided trend toward Positivism, or the doctrine which holds that philosophical thought must be limited to the data and methods of the natural sciences . This doctrine is diametrically opposed to the methods of metaphysics, which is now manifesting its fullest flower in Monistic Idealism. And in these two opposing schools we find the secret of the present-day conflict in modern thought. On one side is the extreme “All-Mind” doctrine, and on the other the spirit of natural science, each striving to carry off the prize of philosophy. The struggle is now on, and the dust of the battle somewhat obscures our sight. But through it all I think I see the approaching figure of a mediator who will show the combatants that they are not enemies, but really are brothers-in-arms.

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IN OUR last chapter I spoke of the Renaissance—that remarkable period of transition from the thought of the Middle Ages to that of modern times—that strange reawakening of religious and philosophical thought, and of art, letters and material progress. The term renaissance means, literally, “new birth,” and while generally used in the sense of a revival of anything long extinct, lost or obsolete, it has an inner sense or meaning, i. e., the generation of the new individual or thing from the body of the old—the birth of the new generation of the thing. And the Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries affords an excellent illustration of this birth of a new generation of thought. This wonderful period of history manifested “rebirth” of nearly all forms and phases of thought. In philosophy it brought about the death of Scholasticism and the birth of the newer conceptions of reasoning and the tendency to go “back to nature” for truth. In metaphysics it brought about the overturning of the popular Aristotelian thought, and the revival of the Platonic influence under the form of Neo-Platonism. In religion it brought about the attack upon the absolute power and authority of the Church, which resulted in the Reformation and rise of Protestantism. In short, the Renaissance was a period of the sweeping away of old things and the replacing of them with new ideas, new forms, new names. The old, dying, gave birth to the new.

In considering the influences at work to-day in the field of theological, metaphysical, and philosophical thought, one must be struck with their general resemblance to the influences operative during the period of the Renaissance. The same spirit of unrest and the desire for change is manifest. The same iconoclastic tendency on the one hand, and the creative impulse on the other, are seen in to-day’s field of thought. The same demand for a new synthesis is heard from the schools of theology, philosophy and metaphysics. The same revival of the search for truth, the same demand for, and willingness to accept truth in whatever form it may present itself, just so it really is truth—and last, the same remarkable revival of interest in the Neo-Platonic philosophy—all these are manifested to-day as strongly as they were in the Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In fact, many careful thinkers have expressed the idea that we are now entering into the stage of a new Renaissance—the new generation of thought—the Renaissance of the twentieth century.

And it is this tossing of all the old conceptions and thought into the great Crucible of Modern Thought—the melting process now under way—and the new Something which is to result therefrom—that forms the subject of this book. We have seen herein the evidences of the great mental and spiritual unrest. We have seen the direct influence of Transcendentalism upon this unrest. We have also traced back to ancient Greece and ancient India the beginning of the ideas observable in the latter-day conceptions. We have re-traced the path of these ideas from the past to the present, showing their influence upon the present thought. We have had, in short, presented to us the various elements and ingredients which have been tossed into the great melting pot of thought. And now, before we venture to prophesy what the outcome is likely to be, let us consider the evidences of the bubbling of the pot—let us see what is being brought to the surface of the pot by the ebullition of the various ingredients under the heat of the fire of mental evolution. For, be it remembered, this is not as yet the period of the new crystallization. We have not as yet reached the period of the new which is to succeed the old. We are merely in the transition stage—the stage of the bubbling pot. The periods of “pouring out,” and “cooling,” must follow later. Let us now examine the bubbling pot and see what is being brought to the surface.

In the field of theology and religion we are brought face to face with evidences of the most marked and radical changes. Thoughts which twenty-five years ago would have stamped the utterer thereof as a “free-thinker” are to-day calmly stated without protest from many orthodox pulpits. An examination of the heresy trials of twenty years ago will show that ministers were expelled from their churches for utterances which would pass unnoticed and unrebuked to-day. Thomas Paine, for a century proclaimed as a “heathen,” and by an eminent personage called “a dirty little atheist,” is seen today to have been not an atheist at all, but merely a Unitarian born a century before his time. Were he living to-day, he would be received in full membership in many of the liberal churches, and his much decried statements would be seen to be practically in accord with many of the findings of the Higher Criticism of the Church of to-day. The universities of to-day are giving utterance to the most heterodox ideas and statements, and yet only here and there an ultra-orthodox clergyman objects.

The Christianity of to-day is an entirely different conception from that of the Christianity of our fathers. There is everywhere among educated people seen the desire to examine the fundamental basis of the theology and doctrine of the Church, and much that was formerly accepted without question is now being thrown overboard by the churches as unwarranted and irrational. The Old Testament conceptions are rapidly losing favor, and Christianity is growing more and more away from the doctrines based thereon. Christianity to-day is adhering closer than ever to the New Testament conceptions—and to the spirit thereof rather than to the letter. It is clinging closer to the Christ ideal than to the Church doctrine, the latter being now regarded as due more to the influence of Paul than to that of his Master. Christianity means a great deal less to many than it did formerly— but also a great deal more . It is not too much to say that, while theological Christianity may be declining, the idea and ideals of the Christ are gaining in favor. The theology of the Christian Church is suffering, but the religion of Christ is gaining strength, in new forms and from new sources.

Science and Religion, so long thought to be inveterate foes, are now seen to be growing closer together, as new points of agreement are being reached. Science, throwing away much of its former materialistic dogma, and Religion throwing away much of her old theological dogma, find that they are kinspeople and not enemies. It was the old clothing of each which hid the familiar form, and deceived each other and the onlookers. We hear much now of the “Religion of Science” and of the “Science of Religion”—surely a hopeful sign. Religion is now taking into consideration the problems, ideas, conceptions and discoveries of Science, applying them to the religious concepts, the result being the broadening and vitalizing of both. In the more advanced pulpits we hear ministers considering the most radical conceptions of Science, not necessarily to oppose them, but rather endeavoring to blend them with the truths of religion. Both Science and Religion are now seen striving, hand in hand, to discover truth. The best in each camp care nothing as to which side shall make the discovery first—the only concern being that it must and shall be truth. It is true that there are the ultra-orthodox in both camps. There are scientists who hold that “Religion is a huge aberration of the human mind;” and theologians who hold that “Science is atheistic— the handiwork of the Devil.” But the most advanced in each camp see the coming of the reconciliation. A writer of a recent scientific book upon “God,” when told by a friend that “People will say that the book is written by an atheist,” replied: “I would make no objection if they only modify the statement by saying, ‘ Written by an atheist who loves God. ’”