legitimate senses. It is not only used to designate the external world, but also for the forces active in the material universe, as when we speak of the operations and laws of nature, sometimes for all that falls into the chain of cause and effect as distinguished from the acts of free agents ; and, as natura is derived from nascor, na- ture means whatever is produced, and therefore includes every- thing out of God, so that God and nature include all that is.
2. The second objection to natural theology is that its arguments are inconclusive. This is a point which no man can decide for other men. Every one must judge for himself An argument which is conclusive for one mind may be powerless for other minds. That the material universe began to be ; that it has not the cause of its existence within itself, and therefore must have had an ex- tramundane cause ; and that the infinitely numerous manifestations of design which it exhibits show that that cause must be intelli- gent, are arguments for the being of God, which have satisfied the minds of the great body of intelligent men in all ages of the world. They should not, therefore, be dismissed as unsatisfactory, because all men do not feel their force. Besides, as just remarked, these arguments are only confirmatory of others more direct and power- ful derived from our moral and religious nature.
3. As to the objection that religious truths are the objects of in- • tuition, and that intuitive truths neither need nor admit of proof,
it may be answered that in one sense it is true. But self-evident truths may be illustrated ; and it may be shown that their denial involves contradictions and absurdities. All geometry is an illus- tration of the axioms of Euclid ; and if any man denies any of those axioms, it may be shown that he must believe impossibilities. In like manner, it may be admitted that the existence of a being on whom we are dependent, and to whom we are responsible, is a matter of intuition ; and it may be acknowledged that it is self- evident that we can be responsible only to a person, and yet the existence of a personal God may be shown to be a necessary hy- pothesis to account for the facts of observation and consciousness, and that the denial of his existence leaves the problem of the uni- verse unsolved and unsolvable. In other words, it may be shown that atheism, polytheism, and pantheism involve absolute impossi- bilities. This is a valid mode of proving that God is, although it be admitted that his existence after all is a self-evident truth. The- ism is not the only self-evident truth that men are wont to deny.
24 mXRODUCTION. [Ch. H. — Theologt
B. Siriptural Argument for Natural Theology.
The Scriptures clearly recognize the fact that the works of God reveal his being and attributes. This they do not only by frequent reference to the works of nature as manifestations of the perfections of God, but by direct assertions. " .The heavens declare the glory of God ; and the firmament shewetli liis handy-work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech noi language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world." (Ps. xix. 1-4.) " The idea of perpetual testimony," says Dr. Addison Alexander,^ " is conveyed by the figure of one day and night following another as witnesses in un- broken succession The absence of articulate language,
far from weakening the testimony, makes it stronger. Even with- out speech or words, the heavens testify of God to all men."
The sacred writers in contending with the heatiien a])peal to the evidence which tlie works of God bear to his perfections : " Un- derstand, ye biutisli among the people : and ye fools, when will ye be wise ? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear ? He that formed the eye, shall he not see ? He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct ? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?" (Ps. xciv. 8-10.) Paul said to the men of Lystra,' " Sirs, why do ye these things ? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein : Who in times past suf- fered all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." (Acts xiv. 15-17.) To the men of Athens lie said : " God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not 'in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation ; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us : for in him we live, and move, and have our being ; as certain also of your own poets
1 Comm. on Psalms, in loc