I could sing with the Psalmist:
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech and night unto night showeth knowledge. Their line is gone out thru all the earth and their words to the end of the world. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard."
As I have before said, I never had any doubt about the existence of a Supreme Being, and that the universe was in some way the product of his creative energy. I think the doctrine of evolution satisfactorily solves the "riddle of the universe," if it recognizes Infinite Spirit as well as Eternal Matter; and that this Infinite Spirit is in some way, tho beyond our comprehension, the real Force or Energy, both the Intelligence and Life, the Great Uncaused First Cause behind all phenomena, who, for the want of a better name we call God.
Perhaps it is impossible for any one to think of God without at the same time conceiving some sort of definition of him. Yet, God cannot be defined. He is infinite. And infinity cannot be defined in terms of the finite. Any attempt to define God is to limit Him. Our conceptions of God are at best limited, tho God himself is not. The finite mind cannot conceive unlimited space, nor eternal duration. We can conceive of them as existing; but we cannot conceive what they are. We can conceive of God as infinite; but we cannot conceive what infinity is. If we could, it would not be infinite, unless we are infinite. So all attempts to define God in terms of the finite are futile. And yet, when we look back over the past history of the human race and see what ruin has been wrought by this very thing it becomes appalling! All religious controversies, wars and bloodshed have had their ultimate source just here. Certain men have formed certain conceptions of God, of his character, his attributes, his will, and his purposes concerning mankind. These they have labelled, patented, copyrighted, and declared to the world to be correct, final and infallible, and demanded that all the world accept them on penalty of death!
To quote, in substance, from a recent author, we might as well try to make a meal of the stars and contain them all in our stomach at once as to comprehend God in his fullness. God is what He is, no matter what our opinions may be of him. But what any one of us thinks God is, that is what God is to him. This is all the definition of God that need be given. God is his own revelation. "The heavens declare the glory of God." Nature reveals God in greater power and splendor than any book.
What is my conception of God? Only this: God is the Life of the universe; and this includes the ALL. As what we call the spirit is the life in my body, and permeates the whole of it from the most central vital organs to the utmost extremities of nails and hair; so God—and He is Spirit—permeates the whole universe, and is the life of, or in it, as you please.
"'All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the Soul.'"
He is manifest in the majesty of the universe and is seen in the beauties of the flowers. He is reflected in the painted wings of the birds, in the rippling leaf, in the blade of grass, in the dewdrop, in the snowflake, in all nature; and above all in man himself, in whom He dwells and lives. How noble and inspiring the thought that I, even I, am a part of the life of the infinite, eternal God! All this I take on trust—by faith—and confess freely that, while believing it I cannot comprehend it. But such a God must be eternally good. He could not be the monster that Jewish tradition and orthodox Christianity paint him, eternally hating his enemies, all of whom were his own creatures, and plunging into an eternal hell of fire and brimstone the larger part of his own children, created in his own image and likeness. While I cannot understand the "problems of his providence," I am sure that "the Judge of all the earth will do right." As to the perplexities that have grown out of the ideas of God's foreknowledge, foreordination, etc., my view is that no such a thing as foreknowledge can be attributed to God. To do so is to attribute to him time limitations. To the Infinite God there can be no such thing as past or future. All is the "eternal present" in which God is still at work, as much as ever before. I confess I cannot comprehend how this is; but I can comprehend that it is.
"Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will."