It is not innate in the sense either that any man is born with a correct idea of God perfectly developed, or that, independently of instruction, any man can, in the development of his natural powers alone, arrive at a correct knowledge of God. Some very debased fragments of the human family have been found who were even destitute of any definite idea of God at all. On the other hand, independently of all instruction, a sense of dependence and of moral accountability is natural to man. These logically in- volve the being of a God, and when the intellectual and moral character of an individual or race is in any degree developed, these invariably suggest the idea and induce the belief of a God. Thus man is as universally a religious as he is a rational being. And
ORIGIN OF THE IDEA OF GOD. 13
whenever the existence and character of God as providential and moral ruler is offered as fact, then every human soul responds to it as true, seen in its own self-evidencing light, in the absence of all formal demonstration.
5. How far is the idea of God the product of the speculative reason ?
If the phrase speculative reason be used to signify the abstract intellect of man, his moral constitution being excluded, acting upon its own a priori principles, then we believe that the reason can not be said to originate, but only to confirm and complete the idea of God furnished by other sources. But if that phrase be used to express the intellect as informed by the conscience and by the emotional and voluntary nature of man, and acting upon the abundant evidences of wise and beneficent design, powerfully executed, with which all God's works are filled, then the reason thus exercised must lead to certain knowledge that God is, and to some knowledge of his natural and moral attributes.
6. How far is the idea of God traditional ?
It is impossible for us, who enjoy the light of a divine revela- tion, to determine how far the knowledge of God might be spon- taneously attained by each generation for itself, and how far the actual knowledge possessed by each people is due to a tradition from the past. It is on the other hand very plain that the form in which the idea is conceived, and the associations with which it is accompanied, is determined among every people by the theologi- cal traditions they have received from their fathers. It is certain also that a tradition of the true God and of his dealings with man long lingered among the Gentiles, and even now, though variously perverted, enters as an element into the mythologies of heathen nations.
7. How far is the idea of God due to a supernatural revela- tion ?
The natural revelation which God makes of himself to man, in the constitution of the human soul, and in the works of creation and providence, would unquestionably have been sufficient to lead him to the knowledge of God, if man himself had continued in
14 THE BEING OF GOD.
his natural moral condition and relations. But since by reason of sin man's mind has been darkened, his heart hardened, and his relations to God infinitely involved, man never can be able, by the mere light of nature, to reach both a certain and an adequate knowledge of God. It is certain, both from the reason of the case and from universal experience, that a supernatural revelation is absolutely necessary, 1st, to make certain by additional evi- dences the conclusions of reason ; 2d, to complete and render practically adequate the knowledge of God which reason other- wise has reached.
8. What are the two great questions involved in this inquiry as to the being of God ?
I. Is there any conclusive evidence that such a being as God exists ? II. What is the nature of God, as far as his attributes are manifested by the evidence which proves his existence. This second question resolves itself into two others. 1st. What are the attributes of God, as ascertained to us by the light of nature alone ; 2d. What are his attributes, as ascertained by the light of the supernatural revelation given in Scripture.
9. Can there be any strictly logical demonstration of the being of God constructed ?
The idea which we entertain of God is a complex one, the different elements of which are furnished to us by different sources. No one single line of demonstrative proof can establish the exist- ence of that Infinite Spirit which is known to the Christian as Jehovah. Many different arguments, however, concur in converg- ing to this inevitable center, each contributing at once confirma- tory evidence that God is, and complementary evidence as to what God is, and thus concurrently establishing the being of God upon immovable foundations.