242 PAET I. — THEOLOGY. [Ch. HI. — Anti-Theism.
to reconcile religion and science. The ultimate principle of religion, that in which all religions agree, is that there is an inscrutable power which is the cause of all things. This also is the ultimate principle of science. They have therefore a common ground. Nothing can be predicated of this cause ; not consciousness ; not intelligence ; not will ; only that it is a force. This is all the God the new phil- osophy leaves us.^
Language, however, has its rights. The meaning of words cannot be changed at the pleasure of individuals. The word God, and its equivalents in other languages, have a definite meaning, from which no man is at liberty to depart. If any one says he believes in God, he says he believes in the existence of a personal, self-conscious being. He does not believe in God, if he only be- lieves in "motion," in "force," in "thought," in "moral order," in " the incomprehensible," or in any other abstraction.
Theists also have their rights. Theism is a definite form of belief. For the expression of that belief, the word Theism is the established and universally recognized term. We have the right to retain it ; and we have the right to designate as Atheism, all forms of doctrine w^hich involve the denial of what is universally understood bv Theism.
Is Atheism
The question has often been discussed. Whether Atheism is pos- sible ? The answer to the question depends on the meaning of the term. If the question be. Whether a man can emancipate him- self from the conviction that there is a personal Being to whom he is responsible for his character and conduct, and who will punish him for his sins ? it must be answered in the negative. For that would be to emancipate himself from the moi*al law, which is im- possible. If, however, the question means. Whether a man may, by speculation or otherwise, bring himself into such a state as to lose the consciousness of the behef of God as written in his heart, and free himself, for a time, from its power ? it must be answered affirmatively. A man may, in this sense, deny his individuality or identity ; the real, objective existence of soul or body^ mind or matter ; the distinction between right and wrong. But this is un- natural, and cannot last. It is like deflecting a spring by force. The moment the force is removed, the spring returns to its normal position. Men, therefore, often pass in a moment from a state of entire skepticism to a state of unquestioning faith ; not of course
1 See First Principles of a New System of Philosophy, by Herbert Spencer.