PEEFACE.
.
“Whoever has liad an opportunity of becoming ac
quainted with the mental condition of the intelligent
classes in Europe and America, must have perceived
that there is a great and rapidly-increasing departure
from the public religious faith, and that, while among
the more frank this divergence is not concealed, there
is a far more extensive and far more dangerous seces
sion, private and unacknowledged.
So wide-spread and so powerful is this secession,
that it can neither be treated with contempt nor with
punishment. It cannot be extinguished by derision,
by vituperation, or by force. The time is rapidly
approaching when it will give rise to serious political
results.
Ecclesiastical spirit no longer inspires the poHcy of
the world. Military fervor in behalf of faith has dis
appeared. Its only souvenirs are the marble effigies
of crusading knights, reposing in the silent crypts of
churches on their tombs.
That a crisis is impending is shown by the attitude
of the great powers toward the papacy. The papacy
represents tlie ideas and aspirations of two-tliirds of tlie
population of Europe. It insists on a political suprem
acy in accordance with its claims to a divine origin
and mission, and a restoration of the mediaeval order
of tilings, loudly declaring that it will accept no recon
ciliation with modem civilization.
The antagonism we thus witness between Heligion
and Science is the continuation of a struggle that com
menced when Christianity began to attain political pow
er.
A divine revelation must necessarily be intolerant
of contradiction ; it must repudiate all improvement in
itself, and view with disdain that arising from the pro
gressive intellectual development of man. But our
opinions on every subject are continually liable to mod
ification, from the irresistible advance of human knowl
edge.
Canwe exaggerate the importance of a contention in
which every thoughtful person must take part whether
he will or not ? In a matter so solemn as that of reli
gion, all men, whose temporal interests are not involved
in existing institutions, earnestly desire to find the
truth. They seek information as to the subjects in
dispute, and as to the conduct of the disputants.
The history of Science is not a mere record of iso
lated discoveries ; it is a naiTative of the conflict of two
contending powers, the expansive force of tbe human
intellect on one side, and the compression arising from
traditionary faith and human interests on the other.
No one has hitherto treated the subject from this
point of view. Yet from this point it presents itself
to US as a living issue
—in fact, as the most important
of all living issues.
A few years ago, it was the politic and therefore
the proper com-se to abstain from all allusion to this
controversy, and to keep it as far as possible in the
background. The tranquillity of society depends so
much on the stability of its religious convictions, that !
no one can be justified in wantonly disturbing them.
But faith is in its nature unchangeable, stationary ; )
Science is in its nature progressive ;
and eventually a,/
divergence between them, impossible to conceal, must
take place. It then becomes the duty of those whose
lives have made them familiar with both modes of
thought, to present modestly, but firmly, their views
to compare the antagonistic pretensions calmly, impar
tially, philosophically. History shows that, if this be
not done, social misfortimes, disastrous and enduring,
will ensue. When the old mythological rehgion of
Europe broke down under the weight of its own incon
sistencies, neither the Eoman emperors nor the phi
losophers of those times did any thing adequate for the
guidance of public opinion. They left religious affairs
to take their chance, and accordingly those affairs fell
into the hands of ignorant and infuriated ecclesiastics,
parasites, eunuchs, and slaves.
away ;
The intellectual night which settled on Europe, in
consequence of that great neglect of duty, is passing
we live in the daybreak of better things. Society is anxiously expecting liglit, to see in what direc
tion it is drifting. It plainly discerns tliat tlie track
along wliicli the voyage of civilization has thus far been
made, has been left ;
and that a new departui-e, on an
unknown sea, has been taken.
Though deeply impressed with such thoughts, I
should not have presumed to write this book, or to
intrude on the i)ublic the ideas it presents, had I not
made the facts with which it deals a subject of long
and earnest meditation. And I have gathered a strong
incentive to undertake this duty from the circumstance
that a “Ilistory of the Intellectual Development of Eu
rope,” published by me several years ago, which has
passed through many editions in America, and has been
reprinted in numerous European languages, English,
French, German, Russian, Polish, Servian, etc., is every
where received with favor.
In collecting and arranging the materials for the
volumes I published under the title of “A Ilistory of
the American Civil War,” a work of very great labor,
I had become accustomed to the comparison of con
flicting statements, the adjustment of conflicting claims.
The approval with which that book has been received
by the American public, a critical judge of the events
considered, has inspired me with additional confidence.
I had also devoted much attention to the experimental
investigation of natural phenomena, and had published
many well-known memoirs on such subjects. And per
haps no one can give himself to these pursuits, and spend
a large part of his life in the public teaching of science,
without partaking of that love of impartiality and truth
which Philosoi^hy incites. She inspires us with a desire
to dedicate our days to the good of our race, so that in
the fading light of life’s evening we may not, on look
ing back, be forced to acjvuowledge how unsubstantial
and useless are the objects that we have pursued.
Though I have spared no pains in the composition
of this book, I am very sensible how unequal it is to
the subject, to do justice to which a knowledge of sci
ence, history, theology, politics, is required ;
every page
should be alive with intelligence and glistening with
facts. But then I have remembered that this is only as
it were the preface, or forerunner, of a body of litera
ture, which the events and wants of our times will call
forth. “We have come to the brink of a great intel
lectual change. Much of the frivolous reading of the
present will be supplanted by a thoughtful and austere
literature, vivified by endangered interests, and made
fervid by ecclesiastical passion.
What I have sought to do is, to present a clear and
impartial statement of the views and acts of the two
contending parties. In one sense I have tried to iden
tify myself with each, so as to comprehend thoroughly
their motives ;
but in another and higher sense I have
endeavored to stand aloof, and relate with impartiality
their actions.
I therefore trust that those, who may be disposed to
criticise this book, will bear in mind that its object is
not to advocate the views and pretensions of either
party, but to explain clearly, and without shrinking,
those of both. In the management of each chapter
I have usually set forth the orthodox view first, and
then followed it with that of its opponents.
In thus treating the subject it has not been necessary
to pay much regard to more moderate or intermediate
opinions, for, though they may be intrinsically of great
value, in conflicts of this kind it is not with the mod
erates but with the extremists that the impartial reader
is mainly concerned. Their movements determine the
issue.
For this reason I have had little to say respecting
the two great Christian confessions, the Protestant and
Greek Churches. As to the latter, it has never, since
the restoration of science, arrayed itself in opposition to
the advancement of knowledge. On the contrary, it
has always met it with welcome. It has observed a
reverential attitude to truth, from whatever quarter it
might come. Hecognizing the apparent discrepancies
between its interpretations of revealed truth and the
discoveries of science, it has always expected that sat
isfactory explanations and reconciliations would ensue,
and in this it has not been disappointed, ft would
have been well for modern civilization if the Homan
Church had done the same.
In speaking of Christianity, reference is generally
made to the Roman Church, partly because its adherents
compose the majority of Christendom, partly because — !
its demands are the most pretentious, and partly because
it has commonly sought to enforce those demands by
the civil power. None of the Protestant Churches has
ever occupied a position so imperious
—^none has ever
had such wide-spread political influence. For the most
part they have been averse to constraint, and except in
very few instances their opposition has not passed be
yond the exciting of theological odium.
As to Science, she has never sought to ally herself to
civil power. She has never attempted to throw odium
or inflict social ruin on any human being. She has
never subjected any one to mental torment, physical
torture, least of all to death, for the purpose of uphold
ing or promoting her ideas. She presents herself un
stained by cruelties and crimes. But in the Vatican
we have only to recall the Inquisition
—the hands that
are now raised in appeals to the Most Merciful are
crimsoned. They have been steeped in blood.J
There are two modes of historical composition, the
artistic and the scientific. The former implies that men
give origin to events ; it therefore selects some promi
nent individual, pictures him imder a fanciful form,
and makes him the hero of a romance. The latter, in
sisting that human affairs present an unbroken chain, in
which each fact is the offspring of some preceding fact,
and the parent of some subsequent fact, declares that
men do not control events, but that events control men.
The former gives origin to compositions, which, however
much they may interest or delight us, are but a grade
above novels; the latter is austere, perliaps even repul
sive, for it sternly impresses us witli a conviction of the
irresistible dominion of law, and the insignificance of
human exertions. In a subject so solemn as that to
whicli this book is devoted, the romantic and the popu
lar are altogether out of place. He who presumes to
treat of it must fix his eyes steadfastly on that chain of
destiny which universal history displays ;
he must turn
with disdain from the phantom impostures of pontiffs
and statesmen and kings.
If any thing were needed to show us the untrust
worthiness of artistic historical compositions, our per
sonal experience would furnish it.
How often do oui*
most intimate friends fail to perceive the real motives
of our every-day actions; how frequently they misin
tei*pret our intentions !
If this be the case in what is
passing before our eyes, may we not be satisfied that it
is impossible to comprehend justly the doings of persons
wholived many years ago, and whomwe have neverseen.
In selecting and arranging the topics now to be pre
sented, I have been guided in part by “the Confession”
of the late Vatican Council, and in part by the order of
events in history. Isot without interest will the reader
remark tliat the sul)jects offer themselves to us now
as they did to the old philosophers of Greece. “We
still deal with the same questions about which they dis
puted. What is God? AVhat is the soul? What is
the world ?
How is it governed?
Have we any stand
ard or criterion of truth ?
And the thoughtful reader”
will earnestly ask, ” Are our solutions of these prob
lems any better tban theirs ?
The general argument of this book, then, is as fol
lows :
I first direct attention to the origin of modern sci
ence as distinguished from ancient, by depending on
observation, experiment, and mathematical discussion,
instead of mere speculation, and shall show that it was
a consequence of the Macedonian campaigns, which
brought Asia and Europe into contact.
A brief sketch
of those campaigns, and of the Museum of Alexandria,
illustrates its character.
Then with brevity I recall the well-known origin
of Christianity, and show its advance to the attainment
of imperial power, the transformation it underwent by
its incorporation with paganism, the existing religion
of the Eoman Empire. A clear conception of its in
compatibility with science caused it to suppress forcibly
the Schools of Alexandria. It was constrained to this
by the political necessities of its position.
The parties to the conflict thus placed, I next relate
the story of their first open struggle ; it is the first or
Southern Eeformation. The point in dispute had re
spect to the nature of God. It involved the rise of
Mohammedanism. Its result was, that much of Asia
and Africa, with the historic cities Jerusalem, Alex
andria, and Carthage, were wrenched from Christendom,
and the doctrine of the Unity of God established in the
larger portion of what had been the Roman Empire.
This political event was followed by the restoration
of science, the estahlishment of colleges, schools, libra
ries, throughout the dominions of the Arabians. Those
conquerors, pressing forward rapidly in their intellect
ual development, rejected the anthropomor^^hic ideas of
the nature of God remaining in their popular belief,
and accepted other more philosophical ones, akin to
those that had long previously been attained to in
India. The result of this was a second conflict, that
respecting the nature of the souL Under the designa
tion of Averroism, there came into prominence the the
ories of Emanation and Absorption. At the close of the
middle ages the Inquisition succeeded in excluding
^
those doctrines from Europe, and now the Yatican
Council has formally and solemnly anathematized them.
Meantime, through the cultivation of astronomy,
geography, and other sciences, correct views had been
gained as to the position and relations of the earth, and
as to the structure of the world ;
and since Eeligion,
resting itself on what was assumed to be the proper
interpretation of the Scriptures, insisted that the earth
is the central and most important part of the universe,
a third conflict broke out. In this Galileo led the way
on tlie part of Science. Its issue was the overthrow of
the Church on the question in dispute. Subsequently a
subordinate controversy arose respecting the age of the
world, tlie Church insisting that it is only about six
thousand years old. In this she was again overthrown.
The light of history and of science had been gradu
ally spreading over Europe. In the sixteenth century
the prestige of Roman Christianity was greatly dimin
ished by the intellectual reverses it had experienced,
and also by its political and moral condition. It was
clearly seen by many pious men that Religion was not
accountable for the false position in which she was
found, but that the misfortune was directly traceable to
the alliance she had of old contracted with Roman pa
ganism. The obvious remedy, therefore, was a return
to primitive purity. Thus arose the fourth conflict,
Bible.
known to us as the Reformation
—the second or IsTorth
ern Reformation. The special form it assumed was a
contest respecting the standard or criterion of truth,
whether it is to be found in the Church or in the
The determination of this involved a settle
ment of the rights of reason, or intellectual freedom.
Luther, who is the conspicuous man of the epoch, car
ried into effect his intention with no inconsiderable
success ;
and at the close of the struggle it was found
that ISTorthern Europe was lost to Roman Christianity.
“We are now in the midst of a controversyrespecting
the mode of government of the world, whether it be by
incessant divine intervention, or by the operation of pri
mordial and unchangeable law. The intellectual move
turies ;
ment of Christendom has reached that point which
Arabism had attained to in the tenth and eleventh cen
and doctrines which were then discussed are pre
senting themselves again for review ;
such are those of
Evolution, Creation, Development.
Offered under these general titles, I think it will be
found that all the essential points of this great contro
versy are included. By grouping under these compre
hensive heads the facts to be considered, and dealing
with each group separately, we shall doubtless acquire
clear views of their inter-connection and their histori
cal succession.
I have treated of these conflicts as nearly as I con
veniently could in their proper chronological order, and,
for the sake of completeness, have added chapters on
An examination of what Latin Christianity has done
for modem civilization.
A corresponding examination of what Science has
done.
The attitude of Eoman Christianity in the impend
ing conflict, as defined by the Vatican Council.
The attention of many truth-seeking persons has
been so exclusively given to the details of sectarian dis
sensions, that the long strife, to the history of which
these pages are devoted, is popularly but little known.
Having tried to keep steadfastly in view the determina
tion to write this work in an impartial spirit, to speak
with respect of the contending parties, but never to con
ceal the truth, I commit it to the considerate judgment
of the thoughtful reader.
ፍትህ ለሁሉም / Justice for All