Education and life

by James H. Baker

Does evolution transform the nature of duty into a mere calculation of the sum of happiness? On the contrary, it adds to duty a practical way of discovering duties. Evolution affirms the truth that knowledge of right and wrong is a growth, and that new conditions bring new problems. The laws of nature and the organization of society promptly teach us applied ethics. True, we no longer search for eternally fixed codes; but whatever conduces to happiness and genuine welfare, whatever conduces to the beauty, dignity, and goodness of self and others is, as ever, a stern duty. It is not in the nature of man to bridge over the chasm between right, known as right, and wrong, known as wrong. The moral imperative, Turn toward the light, seek to see your duty and perform it, is “a presence which is not to be put by, which neither listlessness nor mad endeavor can utterly abolish or destroy.”

“Faith means belief in something concerning which doubt is still theoretically possible,” says a modern scientific writer. He continues: “Faith is the readiness to act in a cause the prosperous issue of which is not certified to us in advance. It is in fact the same moral quality which we call courage in practical affairs.” We admire confidence and courage in the world of affairs, even when disaster may possibly follow. Have we not in our hearts the “substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” which constitute the faith of St. Paul? And shall we not use the courage of faith to seek a supreme good, when, though we do not find it, there is a reward even in the seeking? If I were to define faith I would call it the X-ray of the soul.

There can be no absolute break between old thought and new. The history of thought is a history of evolution. Modern science has not destroyed the old grounds of faith; it enables us to correct the beliefs built thereon. The next step of science will be a recognition and examination of subjective problems as such. When discarding old things, separate the treasure from the rubbish. If you have ceased to pray selfishly for rain, you need not deny the efficacy of prayer for change of heart, forgiveness of sins, and communion of spirit. If you cannot accept certain views of the Trinity, you need not reject the sublime Christian philosophy, or refuse to pay homage to the perfection of Christ. If you have discarded some doctrine of inspiration of the Bible, you need not deny or neglect the value of the divine ethical teachings of the Hebrews, or their grand sacred poetry—

“Those Hebrew songs that triumph, trust or grieve,—

Verses that smite the soul as with a sword,

And open all the abysses with a word.”

There is a faith which is a personal and conscious relation of man to God. It is said that in its true nature faith can be justified by nothing but itself. Here we enter the temple of the human heart and approach the holy of holies. This we do with reverent mien, even with fear and trembling. We quote from Prof. T. H. Green: “That God is, Reason entitles us to say with the same certainty as that the world is or that we ourselves are. What He is, it does not, indeed, enable us to say in the same way in which we make propositions about matters of fact, but it moves us to seek to become as He is, to become like Him, to become consciously one with Him, to have the fruition of his Godhead. In this sense it is that Reason issues in the life of Faith.... It is our very familiarity with God’s expression of Himself in the institutions of society, in the moral law, in the language and inner life of Christians, in our own consciences, that helps to blind us to its divinity.”

There is a poem, from an author not widely known, entitled “The Hound of Heaven.” It will affect you according to the education, experience, and beliefs of each; but appeal to you it will, for in all is an insistent something that makes for righteousness.

“I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;

I fled Him, down the arches of the years;