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AN
“On Earth Peace, Good-will towards Men”; rescued from
the New Testament Revision.
Jetta
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
SUNDAY LECTURE SOCIETY,
ST. GEORGE’S HALL, LANGHAM PLACE,
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, 19th FEBRUARY, 1882,
BY
A. ELLEY FINCH.
bonbon:
PUBLISHED BY THE SUNDAY LECTURE SOCIETY.
1882.
PRICE THREEPENCE.
�SUNDAY LECTURE SOCIETY.
To provide for the delivery on Sundays in the Metropolis, and
to encourage the delivery elsewhere, of Lectures on Science,—
physical, intellectual, and moral,—History, Literature, and
Art; especially in their bearing upon the improvement and
social well-being of mankind.
PRESIDENT.
W. B. Carpenter, Esq., C.B., LL.D„ M.D., F.R.S., &c.
VICE-PRESIDENTS.
Professor Alexander
Bain.
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F.R.S., F.L.S.
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F.S.A.
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son, Esq., M.D., F.R.S.
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Esq.,
LL.D., Pres.R.S.
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F.R.S.
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with Super
“ An Aspiration of Science : ‘ On Earth Peace, Good-will to
wards Men;’ rescued from the New Testament Revision.”
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�SYLLABUS.
Origin and history of the English authorised text (a.d. 1611)
Luke ch. 2, v. 14, before quoted, and its Greek and Latin source8
since the invention of printing. Erasmus (1516). Tyndale
(1534). R. Stephens (1551). Genevan-English Version (1557-60).
Beza (1580).
Our authorised form of this text not found in the great uncial
Greek nor in the Latin Manuscripts, nor in the printed Latin
Vulgate (decreed as authentic by the Council of Trent).
Ambiguous evidence in support of this text as embodying an
actual utterance by the heavenly host.
Its inconsistency with the declaration of Christ (Matt. ch. 10,
v. 34): “ Think not that I am come to send Peace on Earth,”
&c.
Its want of fulfilment as a prophecy. Hence probably ex
punged by the Revisers.
Divergent aims of Theology and Science—the one regarding
the Glory of God—the other the Well-being of Man.
Illustrations from some of the chief Theologies of the world,
showing that the Well-being of Man is therein subordinated to
the Glory of God.
Hence the conflict between Theology and Science. Its rise and
nature.
The text explained as an Aspiration of Science.
Illustrations of the primary care (good-will) of Science for
Humanity from its discoveries, deductions, and teachings in re
ference to (e.g.):—•
1. The Order of nature.
2. The Constitution of Man.
3. Health.
4. Education.
5. Morality (Virtue, Happiness).
6. Aversion from War.
7. International Arbitration.
Concluding inferences.
Editions
Scriptures shown in Illustration
of the Lecture:
TheEditio princeps of the Greek New Testament, by Erasmus,
in which the text ‘ good-will towards men ’ (ai>0pd>7rois eiboKia
—hominibus bona voluntas) is first met with in print (Basilese,
1519).
The first Bible in which the Scriptures are separated into
verses, and the text “ towards men good-will ” first appears in
the English language. (Geneva, 1560.)
The Greek and Latin New Testament of Beza. (Editio tertia,
1580.)
of the
�AN ASPIRATION OF SCIENCE:
“ON EARTH PEACE, GOOD-WILL TOWARDS MEN";
RESCUED FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT REVISION.
T is a remarkable circumstance connected with the
origin of the Christian Religion, that no authentic
record of the Life and Doctrines of its founder should
now exist, or ever have existed, written in the language
of the country where Jesus lived and talked; the only
language in which he could have been listened to and
understood by the majority of his disciples, or the com
mon people, who, we are told expressly, heard him gladly.
This reflection must often have occurred to, and more
or less embarrassed, the numerous scholars and critics,
whose investigations into the authenticity and genuine
ness of the New Testament Scriptures form so consider
able a portion of the vast library of Christian theology
and history.
It is a reflection, moreover, that must be borne in mind
when considering the value and authority of the various
translations,, commentaries, and revisions that appear
from time to time, and whose production indeed follows
a natural law, arising as they do out of the necessity of
accommodating these ancient writings to the continuous,
however slow, progress of human thought and intelligence;
that is to say, the spirit of the age requires to be read
into them before it-can be read out.
This view of the function of the commentator, trans
lator, or reviser is not indeed quite obvious, nor is it the
I
�6
An Aspiration of Science,
ostensible reason put forward for undertaking their
work; that reason is invariably alleged to be, in order to
make the translation or revision in question more accurate
in reference to the original; a task which, if we only had
the original as a standard to refer to, might be a not
unprofitable proceeding, but any such original, in the
sense I have adverted to, is not now, and never was, to
be met with.
For the New Testament Scriptures were at the very
first written in a foreign tongue, that is, the Greek
language. We cannot even except the Gospel according
to St. Matthew, for, though there is a probable tradition
that Matthew wrote his Gospel in the Syro-Chaldaic
dialect (the colloquial language of the Hebrews in Pales
tine), this supposition can hardly be accepted as more
than a tradition, since we have not only no positive
proof of it, but not even such a consensus of biblical
critics as might warrant our receiving such supposition
as an admitted fact.
Now the Greek version of the sayings and discourses
of Jesus and others narrated in the Gospels, however
ancient, can no more be regarded as the original of such
sayings and discourses, than an Italian report of one of
the splendid speeches of Mr. Gladstone could be regarded
as the original of what that great English orator may
actually have spoken.
These reflections are especially applicable to the con
sideration of the narrative which St. Luke gives in the
second chapter of his Gospel, part of which, as English
Protestants have hitherto understood it, I have taken for
the subject of the present lecture.
St. Luke, probably a Grecian, at any rate writing in
Greek, tells us (according to our authorised version of
the year 1611) that, shortly after the birth of Jesus in
Bethlehem, ‘ there were in the same country shepherds
�An Aspiration of Science.
7
abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by
night, and lo! the Angel of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and
they were sore afraid. And the Angel said unto them,
fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy
which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day
in the City of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of
the heavenly host praising God, and saying—Glory to
God in the highest, and on earth Peace, Good-will
towards men.’
We are now told, on the authority of the eminent
scholars and divines constituting the company of the New
Testament Devisers, that Luke’s relation of this remark
able supernatural occurrence is not accurately given in
our authorised version. That what Luke really wrote
must be translated or rendered into English thus—‘ Glory
to God in the highest, and on Earth peace among men in
whom he is well pleased.’
This correction, or corruption, of so venerable a text
will be variously regarded, according to the critic’s point
of view. To the pious mind, accustomed to revere the
Scriptures as inspired Oracles, the shock must be great
on finding that he has been imposed upon in being taught
to believe that so sublime an utterance ever formed a
genuine portion of the Gospels, and his dismay will
hardly be diminished on finding further that it has long
been, and will still remain, notwithstanding the revision,
a matter of dispute amongst biblical experts what it really
was that St. Luke actually wrote. The critical scholar,
uninfluenced by dogmatic or doctrinal prepossessions,
will still probably retain his sceptical ©pinion on the sub
ject ; whilst the man of science must consider that what
Luke may himself have written, if not a matter of con
jecture altogether, can be of very little real importance,
�8
An Aspiration of Science.
seeing that he is no authority whatever for what the
heavenly host did really say. For Luke was not present
on the occasion, he does not allege that he received the
report from those who were present, his account of it is
therefore simply hearsay, and, whatever the very words
were, it is morally certain they could not have been
spoken in Greek, that being a language utterly unintelli
gible, an unknown tongue indeed to the shepherds of
Bethlehem, so that, putting it at the highest, if we were
sure, or were agreed, that we were in possession of the
exact language of Luke, it would only in itself amount to
a version or translation of a non-existent, and long since
vanished original.
The man of science, however, will not care to reject
the reviser’s alteration, for he knows that the sublime
aspiration of our text enshrines a truth having higher
intrinsic value than ancient manuscripts, or biblical
critics can confer, and, that though it may henceforth
cease to be received as part of authentic Scripture, it
will live, where in truth it originated, in the noble
inspirations of the human mind, yearning in its benevolence
to ameliorate the lot of man. That it is one of those
scientific forecasts which, flashing from human genius,
are found in history sparsely strewed along the path of
human progress, not confined to creeds, but illuminating
the entire earthly highway towards that goal of human
happiness which all good men are now striving to attain,
for others as well as for themselves.
Before finally parting with our text from the Scrip
ture record, it may be interesting very briefly to trace
its origin and history, to see how and when, in point
of fact, it came to get into our authorised version of
1611.
At the time of the birth of Jesus Christ the language
of the Jews, the Hebrew language, had long ceased to be
�An Aspiration of Science.
9
current amongst the inhabitants of Syria, and their
vernacular speech was that known to scholars as the
Aramaen or Syro-Chaldaic, a dialect very little used as
the vehicle of literature. Hence it happened that the
written accounts or narratives of the life and discourses
of Jesus Christ came from the very first to be composed
in the Greek language ; that language being not only the
language of the learned, but, dispersed through the con
quests of Alexander, was very generally familiar to
educated people of the ancient civilised world, even
amongst the Romans, though their vulgar tongue was
Latin, St. Paul, for instance, when writing his grand
Epistle to the Romans, using the Greek and not the
Latin language.
In the earliest churches established after the death of
Jesus and the spread of a knowledge of his religion, in
the churches, for instance, of Jerusalem, Antioch,
Ephesus, Alexandria, and Rome, the Greek manuscript
gospels had not only to be copied for the purpose of their
dissemination, but, as regards Rome and Alexandria
(Northern Egypt being then a province of the Roman Em
pire), as the religion became dispersed amongst the people
at large, the gospel had to be translated into the latin
tongue, and such translation took place so early, and to so
great an extent, that of the at present existing ancient
manuscripts of the Scriptures the Latin are not only more
numerous than the Greek, but it is by no means a matter
of agreement amongst scholars which of such manuscripts
are the highest in point of authority for what the orginal
writings or autographs of the Apostles (long since utterly
lost), actually contained. Protestant theologians and
critics consider the Greek to be the higher authority.
On the other hand, the Roman Catholic Church consider
the Latin to be now the more reliable source.
Amongst other arguments relied upon by the Roman
�10
An Aspiration of Science.
Church is this, that the most ancient existing latin manu
scripts, even if not more ancient than the existing greek
ones, are known to be recensions of a text that was re
vised in the 4th century by St. Eusebius, and also by St.
Jerome, through comparison with greek manuscripts con
fessedly more ancient than any now existing, or of which
we have now any other knowledge; and from that early
period up to the time of the Reformation, that is for
upwards of 1,000 years, the only Bible of western chris
tendom was a latin book, generally known as the Latin
Vulgate, the text of which was decreed to be authentic
by the Council of Trent (in the year 1546).
The first English translation of the New Testament of
any note was that executed by John Wiclif (the gospel
doctor, as the people called him) about the year 1380.
This was evidently made from the latin version, such
appearing to be the case, not only from internal evidence,
but from the fact that at that time greek manuscripts
were scarce in Europe, and a knowledge of the greek
language rarely possessed by englishmen, and almost
certainly not by Wiclif. His translation therefore simply
followed the latin.
Previously to the next stage in the history we are
following there occurred two memorable events. The one
was the invention of the printing press in the year 1440,
and the very first book that was printed was the splendid
latin bible of the Cardinal Mazarin. The other event was
the taking of Constantinople by the Turks in the year
1453. Its immediate consequence was the diffusion of
greek manuscripts, and greek scholars throughout the
chief European cities.
The first published New Testament in the greek lan
guage, the Editio princeps, was compiled and edited
by the illustrious Erasmus, being printed for him by
Eroben of Basle in the year 1516. Erasmus’s second and
�An Aspiration of Science.
11
greatly improved impression (which I possess here) being
printed in the year 1519.
Now it is observable that in none of the latin manu
scripts, nor in the printed latin version of the Scriptures
do we find the text “ good-will towards men.” The text
of the latin version invariably runs thus: “ Peace on
earth towards men of good-will.” The meaning of which,
as seemingly held by the Roman Church, being, “ Peace
of mind amongst true believers”; such being of course
Roman Catholics.
When Erasmus published his New Testament he gave
to the world a version from Greek Manuscripts that could
not be so rendered. Along with the Greek text he printed
a literal latin translation of his own, differing greatly in
many important particulars from the Latin Vulgate, and,
in reference to the text we are considering, he gave in
latin, more plainly to mark his meaning, the words
‘ hominibus bona voluntas’ ‘ good-will towards men.’
It is really then to this illustrious scholar, who, I venture
to say, was, in learning and scholastic accomplishments,
in liberal-mindedness, in large-heartedness, in love of
toleration, and in disrelish of dogma, the very proto
type of our late lamented Arthur Stanley, Dean of West
minster—it is to Erasmus we really owe our first distinct
knowledge of the sublime expression ‘ On Earth Peace,
towards men Good-will.’
To those of you who are not acquainted with Greek it
may be surprising to hear that the whole difference
between the two renderings turns upon a single letter of
a single word. That is to say, if the G-reek word were
eiSoKla ending with the letter a, as it is found in some
manuscripts, then the literal translation would be ‘ towards
men good-will,” but if the word were euSoKtas, having the
letter s, as it is found in other manuscripts, then the
rendering would be ‘ towards men of good-will ’ or some
�12
A n Aspiration of Science.
equivalent phrase, even so far fetched, and apparently
strained as that formulated by the Revisers, viz.: “ among
men in whom he is well pleased.”
From Erasmus we may at once turn to our great
countryman and reformer, William Tyndale. He had
probably become personally acquainted with Erasmus on
one of his visits to this country. Tyndale being at
Magdalen Hall, Oxford, whilst Erasmus was at Magdalen
College. Tyndale had great admiration for the erudition
of Erasmus, and had read his Greek Testament, for we
find him paraphrasing the paraclesis prefixed to this
impression of 1519. Tyndale, in his English Translation
of the New Testament (first published in 1526), had
evidently the Greek text of Erasmus in his mind, for his
translation widely differs from the Vulgate Latin, and he
renders our text thus—‘ Peace on Earth, and unto men
rejoicing.’
Erasmus was more closely followed by Robert Stephens
of Paris, who in his fourth edition of the Greek New
Testament (published at Geneva in 1551) not only
reprinted the Greek text of Erasmus with slight variation,
but adopted his latin version verbatim. This Edition of
Stephens is noticeable also as being the first in which the
Scriptures were divided into verses, that is so numbered,
not altogether broken up into verses; that was first done
in the Genevan-English version which I am now going to
mention.
The Greek and Latin texts of Erasmus and Stephens
are the foundation of the valuable translation of the New
Testament executed by the English Exiles at Geneva in
Queen Mary’s reign (in the year 1557). This, together
with their English translation of the Old Testament pub
lished in 1560 (the second year of Queen Elizabeth) formed
for many years the favourite popular household Bible in
in this country (I possess it here). Erasmus and Stephens
�An A spiration of Science.
13
were also further followed on the Continent by the
weighty authority of Theodore Beza, the eminent Genevan
Reformer, and discoverer of the ancient uncial Codex
Bezse, presented by him to Cambridge University, and
whose Greek and elegant Latin Testament of 1580 I also
have here.
In the Anglo-Genevan version we meet with the text
under consideration for the first time printed in the
English language as it was subsequently given in the
authorised version of 1611, the translators of which were
commanded by King James to show especial regard to
this Genevan-English version. Now such as we there
find the text it has ever since remained, and been
accepted by the Protestant English nation and all englishspeaking protestant peoples, until the revision of the New
Testament published last year, that is from the year 1557
down to the year 1881, when we find this time-hallowed
text expunged, and in place of it the strained expression
I have already quoted, that the Peace on Earth, instead
of being for all men, is only for those in whom he is
well pleased; and thus we have the angelic announcement
of ‘ good tidings of great joy to all people ’ cut down and
narrowed by the utterance of the heavenly host (as
interpreted by the revisers), to some portion only of the
great human race.
Now I must not be understood as dissenting from, or
in any way presuming to criticise what the revisers have
accomplished. Erom a doctrinal point of view, there were
doubtless many inducements tempting them to tamper
with the text, and to get rid if possible of the elevated
conception primarily presented to us in print through the
critical acumen of Erasmus. In the first place ‘ Peace
on earth, Good-will towards men’ as general Christian
sentiments, are strikingly inconsistent with the subse
quent declaration of Christ himself. (Matt. ch. x. v. 34.)
�14
An Aspiration of Science.
“ Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth ?
I tell ye, Nay, but rather division. Think not that I
came to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace
but a sword. For I am come to set a man at vari
ance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-inlaw.”
Then again, if regarded in any prophetic sense, the
announcement has had no fulfilment. Indeed the history
of the world since the coming of Christ fully and fear
fully contradicts it. Not only has there been no increase
of peace on the earth, there have probably been more
wars and bloodshed arising out of Christianity, or since
its birth, than ever took place before. An eloquent his
torian has remarked ‘ That from the very commencement
of the Christian era the sword has accompanied the Cross,
a sword that has never found and never will find a
scabbard, till superstitious creeds and immoral dogmas
shall be abandoned as things invented in the dark ages of
the world, as things directly calculated to sow the seeds
of discord in society, create feuds between man and man,
and perpetuate those animosities which turn the sweets
of life into wormwood. This dogmatic Christianity has
done in every age and in every country into which it has
been introduced. Wherever the Cross has been raised
thither have followed fire and sword, horrid burnings,
brutal massacres. All history teems with accounts of its
savage wars, its deluging bloodshed.’ Even at this very
time our common humanity is being outraged by the
atrocities of the Christian persecution of the Jews now
being carried on in ‘ Holy’ Russia!
From a theologian’s point of view therefore the
authorized text of 1611 might well be considered as a
stumbling block, and the reasoning above adverted to may
not improbably have contributed, even unconsciously, to
�An Aspiration of Science.
15
the decision which has now expunged, or attempted to
expunge, the text, entirely from our English Bible.
If however we are to lose the sublime sentiment of
‘good-will towards men’ from the gospel, it may be
worth while to consider whether we are compelled to part
with it altogether. If it be not inspired Scripture, and
if dogmatic theology disown it, may it not find its true
home to be with Science ? Let us consider shortly how
this may be.
The conspicuous conflict between Theology and Science
which characterises our transitional progress from the age
of Eaith to the age of Reason, when looked into with
the object of ascertaining its less obvious causes, will be
found to arise out of the divergent ends which each of
these great systems of thought appears to be aiming at.
Theology will be found to have for its ultimate realisation
the Glory of Grod. The Aspirations of Science, on the
other hand, are wholly directed towards the well-being of
Man.
I could give you abundant illustration of the aim of
Theology taken from any of the great book-religions of
the world enumerated in my lecture of last year, showing,
as they unmistakeably do, that the glory of Grod and the
well-being of Man are very often not altogether consis
tent ; but it will amply suffice for my present argument
to confine my illustrations to those two great Theologies
the Jewish and the Christian, which are embraced in the
single volume of the Bible, and in the creeds and con
fessions of faith that have been deduced from its pages,
and which are supposed, more plainly than Holy writ
itself, to explain its meaning.
In the very first book of that volume we find the Deity
represented as cursing man and the whole human race his
descendants on account of his having partaken of the
forbidden fruit. The fearful fate thus decreed to man
�16
An Aspiration of Science.
kind universally, though subsequently a comparative few
termed “the Elect” were excepted, is better known
through the adroitly devised and necessarily subdued tone
of it that has been evolved through ecclesiastical subtlety,
such, for instance, as we find it moulded in that authorita
tive theological standard the Westminster Confession of
Eaith, presented by the Assembly of Divines to both
Houses of Parliament in the year 1646, and wherein it
is thus expressed: “ By the decree of God, for the mani
festation of his glory some men and angels are predes
tined unto everlasting life, and others foredained to
everlasting death. God hath appointed the elect unto
glory. The rest of mankind God has pleased, according
to the unsearchable counsels of his own will, for the glory
of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and
ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their sin, to the
praise of his glorious justice I ”
I need hardly quote familiar passages from the book of
Psalms and other books of the Old Testament showing
the many fearful human calamities ordained or practised,
even to the sacrifice of the lives of human beings, all for
the glory of God! If we turn to the New Testament
Scriptures the awful idea we are contemplating culmi
nates in the appalling announcement of the everlasting
punishment of Hell!
Now the God of Theology is an idea of the human
mind. Like the Poet’s, the Theologian’s eye
“ Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven,
And, as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the theologian's pen
Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.’'
Even the ghastly conception of eternal torments, and
the foredoomed fate of millions of human beings is all
�An Aspiration of Science.
declared by theologians to be for the glory of God.
the grim irony of Burns expresses it—
17
As
I Oh Thou, wha in the heav’ns dost dwell,
Wha, as it pleases best thysel,
Sends ane to Heaven, and ten to Hell
A’ for thy glory,
And no for ony guid or ill
They’ve done afore thee.”
If we turn from theological theory to the practice of
theologians, as exhibited in history, we plainly perceive
how their treatment of mankind has ever corresponded
with the cruel character of their credentials. The
reproachful summing up of their conduct by the learned
historian Buckle is only too true. ‘ The theologians,’ he
declares, ‘considered as a class, have in every country
and in every age deliberately opposed themselves to
gratifications which are essential to the happiness of an
overwhelming majority of the human race. Eaising up
a God of their own creation, whom they hold out as a
lover of penance, of sacrifice, and of mortification, they,
under this pretence, forbid enjoyments which are not only
innocent but praiseworthy ... It must be admitted
by whoever will take a comprehensive view of what they
have done, that they have not only been the most bitter
foes of human happiness, but the most successful ones.
In their high and palmy days, when they reigned supreme,
when credulity was universal, and doubt unknown, they
afflicted mankind in every possible way, enjoining fasts,
and penances, and pilgrimages, teaching their simple and
ignorant victims every kind of austerity, teaching them
to flog their own bodies, to tear their own flesh, and to
mortify the most natural of their appetites.’ And Buckle
emphatically warns us, ‘ that we shall assuredly sink under
the accumulated pressure of our high and complex
civilization if we imitate the credulity of our forefathers,
�18
An Aspiration of Science.
who allowed their energies to be cramped and weakened
by those pernicious notions which the clergy, partly
from ignorance, and partly from interest, have in every
age palmed upon the people, and have thereby diminished
the national happiness, and retarded the march of the
national prosperity.’
As we are now accepting it as settled by the New
Testament Revision, that the text ‘ Peace on Earth,
Good-will towards men ’ was no part of original Scripture,
and is discarded by theology, it becomes the privilege of
Science, with the right hand of fellowship, to bid it wel
come. It embodies indeed her most cherished aspirations,
for we shall see that, as the ultimate end of Science is to
bring about the greatest happiness of the greatest num
ber, ‘ Good-will towards men,’ that is human well-being,
and ‘ Peace on earth ’ have ever been objects Science has
had nearest and dearest to her, are indeed of the very
essence of her transcendent faith.
And here I call to mind that the leading idea of my
lecture was a few years since, with almost prophetic
foresight of the work of the New Testament Revisers,
shadowed forth in the luminous and lofty language of a
pioneer of progress, one of the bravest and soundest of
our sons of Science. In professor Tyndall’s Presidential
Address on ‘ Science and Man,’ delivered before the
Midland Institute in October, 1877, he asks “ Does the
song of the herald angels ‘ Glory to God on the highest,
and on earth Peace, Good-will toward men,’ express the
exaltation and the yearning of a human soul, or does it
describe an optical and acoustical fact, a visible host, and
an audible song ? If the former, the exaltation and the
yearning are man’s imperishable possession, if the latter,
then belief in the entire transaction is wrecked by nonfulfilment. The promise of ‘ Peace on Earth, Good-will
toward men’ is a dream ruined by the experience of
�.An Aspiration of Science.
19
eighteen centuries, and in that ruin are involved the
claim of the heavenly host to prophetic vision. But,
though the mechanical theory proves untenable, the
immortal song, and the feelings it expresses are still ours,
to be incorporated, let us hope, in the poetry, philosophy,
and practice of the future.”
Now we seem to breathe the free atmosphere of
Science; Science so variously defined, so differently
understood in the past ages of the world. To us, Science,
in its general sense, is simply real knowledge—know
ledge that may be tested and known to be real by verifi
cation through, or comparison with, the facts of Nature.
This is no mere verbal definition, for, side by side with
real knowledge has always existed the persuasion of false
knowledge. This distinction helps to explain, too, how it
has come to happen that Theology and Science are so often
seen in conflict. To say, as is sometimes done, that
Theology is based on supernatural knowledge, whilst
Science is limited to knowledge that is natural, does not
really solve the problem. It might account for difference
in their respective degrees of knowledge, but not, if both
be true, for downright contradiction between them.
The conflict, in its present proportions, has really
arisen in comparatively recent times, and we shall best
get at its source and nature by glancing at it historically.
In the ancient world, and throughout what might be
termed the golden age of Theology, Science was very dif
ferently conceived to what is now regarded as its right
meaning. In that subtle dialogue of Plato,—Theaitetos,
which is a discussion concerning what is meant by Science,
(written nearly 400 years before the Christian Era,) we
find that Socrates could only define or conceive Science
as being the inmost perception of the mind, or inner
consciousness, concerning any matter. He thought that
there could be no external standard, and that what the
�20
An Aspiration of Science.
individual mind arrives at through pure reflection as
true, must be regarded as the truth by that mind. Such
was the only conclusion that consummate thinker could
come to as to the nature of Science. In Plato’s more
mature Dialogue ‘The Republic’ we again find the nature
and end of Science repeatedly referred to. Thus, with
reference to the Sciences of Arithmetic and Geometry,
Plato thought nothing of any worldly use they might
serve. The object of the study of the properties of num
bers, he says, is to habituate the mind to the contempla
tion of pure and abstract truth, and so to raise us above
the material universe.
In these writings of Plato we have then distinctly
stated the end of Science, and also its method, as he
regarded them; such method being, in the majority of
instances, utterly fallacious, viz.:—That the intuition of
the mind, or the idea which is subjectively conceived, is
to be accepted as the equivalent or correlative of an
objective fact. This fallacy may be detected underlying
those metaphysical systems of philosophy that so authori
tatively prevailed until they were displaced by the modern
inductive method of research, which is based, not on
mental intuitions, but on material facts, ascertained
through the senses, and so marshalled as to constitute an
objective criterion, to which speculative propositions may
be referred, for the purpose of testing which are true and
which are false.
Now the Platonic idea of Science was very early
pressed into the service of Theology. The late Bishop
Hampden, in his learned lectures on the Scholastic Phil
osophy, has acutely explained how this arose, and he
remarks that its abstractedness from the visible world
was one chief reason why Platonism became established
as the orthodox system of the Western Church. This
Platonic notion of Science, having thus become combined
�An Aspiration of Science.
21
with, or subordinated to the dogmas of Theology, with its
universal panacea of prayer, really continued, not always
in practice, but, in intellectual theory, until the advent of
our illustrious countryman Lord Bacon. Bacon, by the
exercise of his marvellous insight, penetrated to the very
core of real knowledge, showing, especially in that latin
casket of scientific gems, the Novum Organum (published
in 1620), that the first thing necessary in the search of
truth is intellectual light—‘ lumen siccum ’ pure light,
unobscured by the mists of superstition, passion, preju
dice, or interest. But then he at once points out that
the intellect left to itself, like the naked hand, can effect
little, that it must be assisted by helps and by instru
ments, and that its intuitions must be corrected, or duly
verified by the observation, or interrogation through ex
periment, of the facts of Nature. That ‘wre scire esse
per causas scire ’—we only truly know anything when we
know its cause.
Utterly ignoring the jargon of theology concerning the
Kingdom of Heaven, Bacon avowed his object was to
establish on Earth the Kingdom of Man, whose sovereignty
would rest on Science, which was not a thing to be
demanded back from the darkness of antiquity, but
must be sought from the light of Nature.
That Science was not derived from human authority,
but is the offspring or fruit resulting ‘ commercio mentis et
rerum’ from the intercourse of mind and matter, or, as
he quaintly phrases it, ‘ the happy marriage between the
mind of man and the nature of things.’
But Bacon’s sagacious discovery, or, at least, his vigorous
presentment in clear and cogent logic of the right method
of arriving at the source of real knowledge, was only a
portion, though a magnificently grand one, of the ser
vices he has rendered to mankind. He proceeded further,
and showed that the speculations of the ancient Philoso
�22
An Aspiration of Science.
phers were comparatively worthless, as not having in view
the true end of Science, which was not, he averred, an
intellectual pastime, or ‘ web of the wit,’ woven merely to
amuse or mystify the dialectical faculties of the human
mind, but was an investigation into Nature, in order to
establish the well-being, and bring about the happiness
of the human race. The end of Science was to consist in
the multiplying of human enjoyments, and the mitigating
of human miseries, concisely it was, to use his own preg
nant words, ‘the relief of man’s estate’; and this is the
sense in which we are to understand his often-repeated
aphorism ‘ Scientia est Potentia,’ real knowledge is power
—power enabling man to grapple with and overcome the
evils of life.
And thus, through the exhaustive exposition of Bacon,
Science was no longer limited by the definitions or ideas
of Plato, the human intellect became liberated from the
bondage of verbal disputation, and Was turned to the con
sideration of useful truths. Science came to be seen as
we now know it, that is, as the process of discovery, by
man’s natural faculties, of the order or laws of Nature.
The laboratory of Science being, according to Plato,
the inner sanctuary of the mind, and the materials of
Science being, according to Bacon, facts, acquired through
the senses, from the outer World of Nature. So con
sidered, the sphere of Science comprehends everything
that, by the constitution of the human faculties, can be
positively known; the region of reality, as distinguished
from the realm of visionary knowledge, that has been
built up, by means of unverified mental intuitions, into
theological and metaphysical systems.
Now what the genuis of Bacon was so powerfully
propounding in precept, others were almost simul
taneously performing in practice.
In our own country we find William Harvey, the
�An Aspiration of Science.
23
friend and physician of Bacon, discovering, by the aid of
experiment, the circulation of the blood, and, in his con
cise ‘exerdtatio de motu Cordis et Sanguinis’, explaining
this grand truth (published in 1628, two years after the
death of Bacon), and also in his larger work ‘ de generatione
Animalium ’ (published in 1651) we may, I think, perceive
many passages proving the extent to which Harvey was
indebted intellectually to his great predecessor Bacon.
Another almost immediate result of the profound
impression made upon thinking minds by the extra
ordinary brilliancy of Bacon’s philosophical writings
appears in the very striking treatise of Richd. Cumberland
on the Laws of Nature, his ‘ de legibus Natures disquisitio’
(published in 1672). “In this work” (says Hallam)
“ the Bathers and Schoolmen, the Canonists and Casuists,
have vanished like ghosts at the first daylight.* The con
tinued appeal is to experience, and never to authority,
unless it be to the authority of the great apostles of
experimental philosophy.”
And thus piety was becoming purified from the dross
of dogma, for with Science, ‘ laborare est orare ’—prayer
consists in work, and the world was being aroused from
the supineness of superstitious sloth to the activity of
intelligent industry.
And now we may distinctly observe what is the relation
which the Baconian or Inductive Science holds towards
Theology. I pass by the attempts that were made by the
Church to strangle it in its birth. The persecution of
Science by the Church when it possessed power, and of
scientific men, the great men who have been the inter
preters of Nature,
“ Their only crime that they should dare
To think, and then their thought declare ”—
is indeed a theme painfully familiar, but happily it forms
no part of my present argument. We are now only
�24
An Aspiration of Science.
referring to the intellectual influence of Science, which
is by Buckle thus tersely summarised, and contrasted
with Theology:—
“ Inductive Science takes for its basis individual and
specific experience, and seeks by that means to overthrow
the general and traditional notions on which all church
power is founded. Its plan is to refuse to accept prin
ciples which cannot be substantiated by facts. In Theology
certain principles are taken for granted, and it is deemed
impious to question them. In England, the rise of the
Baconian Philosophy, with its determination to subordi
nate ancient principles to modern experience, was the
heaviest blow which has ever been inflicted on the Theo
logians, whose method is to begin, not with experience,
but with principles which are said to be inscrutable.
That is, they proceed from arbitrary assumptions, for
which they have no proof, except by appealing to other
assumptions equally arbitrary, and equally unproven.
Over the inferior order of minds our clergy still wield
great influence, but the Baconian Philosophy, bv bring
ing their favourite method into disrepute, has sapped the
very base of their system. From the moment that their
method of investigation was discredited, the secret of
their power was gone.”
And the present attitude of the Church towards
Science is thus graphically portrayed by Dr. Draper :—
“ At length the Church has fastened its eyes on Science.
Under that dreaded name there stands before it what
seems to be a spectre of uncertain form, of hourly dilating
proportions, of threatening aspect.
Sometimes the
Church addresses this stupendous apparition in words of
courtesy, sometimes in tones of denunciation.” This
mingled and trembling tone of courtesy and defiance, of
welcome and of dread, may I think be detected in nearly
all the great theological utterances going on around us.
�An Aspiration of Science.
25
We however may in Science recognise the spirit that
has promised to lead us into all truth, and we may hail
as the children of light those who are endowed with the
intelligence enabling them to follow whithersoever such
spirit may lead, and therefore, when the Bishop of Man
chester asks, as he did in his somewhat singular sermon
preached before the British Association in August last
—“ Is Science to tell me what I am to believe, and how
I am to act,” let us, however respectfully, ask empha
tically, Why not ? For it has now been demonstrated
by experience, that only by belief in Science, and by
acting in accordance with its teaching of Grood-will to
wards man, can the great miseries of human life, its
pinching poverty, its depraving intemperance, its de
moralising vices, its agonising diseases, its premature
deaths, with their attendant train of heartrending sorrows
and corroding griefs, be banished, and life on earth ren
dered tolerably happy. It is only by belief in Science,
and by following its teaching, that wars will ever be
abolished, and ‘ Peace on Earth ’ practically realised.
I need not now dilate on illustrations of the primary
care of Science for humanity, as manifested in its dis
coveries, deductions, and teachings in reference to the
Order of Nature, to the Constitution of Man. The great
astronomical and physiological discoveries are more or
less known to every one. On the subject of Health, so
essential to our happiness, I will dwell for a few moments.
The theological theory of disease (explained in my lecture
last year) has been completely exploded from the creed of
the educated classes, and it is now acknowledged that
Health is entirely dependent on the observance of immu
table and imperative laws of Nature. Diseases are
now distinctly traceable to infringement of these
laws, and several diseases are indissolubly associated
with the poisonous nature of some of the food we
�26
An Aspiration of Science.
eat, and the liquids we drink. But the scientific
knowledge of the subject requires diffusing, to be more
generally taught, and brought vividly home to the reason
and common sense of the people.
Now, some of you may remember that in a former
lecture I deplored the paucity of scientific tracts and texts
or axioms disseminated amongst us, compared with the
number of superstitious stories with which we are literally
deluged by theological Societies. Yet I think that scien
tific teaching might to a great extent be carried on in a
similar manner. Let me hazard a suggestion, illustrative
of my meaning. Some of you I dare say have observed
the scripture text that is engraved above a drinking foun
tain within a quarter of a mile from our doors : “ Whoso
ever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whoso
ever drinketh of the water I shall give him shall never
thirst.”
Now, don’t assume that I am quoting this text for the
purpose of scoffing. I only now say, it is not Science,
but it strikes me as pointing out to us a corresponding
method of diffusing scientific knowledge, and that we
might well have our fountains engraved with some scien
tific axiom or truth in connection with their use. Thus,
we might have written over them some such scientific
axiom as the following : “ Whosoever drinketh of water
polluted with organic germs shall be in danger of disease
and death; but whosoever drinketh of water purified
therefrom by Science shall escape taking thereby diarrhoea,
dysentery, cholera, typhoid fever, diphtheria.”
Going to the subject of Education I may point out
that in our Great Schools and Colleges the curriculum
of studies has been considerably changed since society
has come to appreciate the educational value of the study
of the Physical Sciences, not only as regards the real and
useful knowledge thereby imparted of the material world
�An Aspiration of Science.
27
and our actual mode of existence, but in reference to the
discipline of the mental faculties involved in learning their
precise and accurate methods of investigating and veri
fying truth, and showing what concrete truth consists in.
In the Parliamentary Report of the Public Schools Com
mission published in the year 1864 we find Professor
Owen, the late Sir Charles Lyell, and Professor Faraday,
our esteemed President Dr. Carpenter, Professor Tyndall,
and other eminent scientists giving the most clear and
convincing testimony to the value of such study in training
a class of mental faculties which are almost ignored by
purely classical and mathematical culture; such as the dis
tinguishing things from words ; the accurate observation,
and classification of the facts of Nature, and the exercise
of the reasoning faculties on such facts ; the teaching to
the student the principles of real evidence; and how, in
the unprejudiced pursuit of truth, to estimate correctly
the weight of such evidence.
But perhaps the greatest blow that enlightenment has
publicly dealt to superstition in our day was inflicted by
the Elementary Education Act of 1870—under which
Board Schools have been so widely established for impart
ing some amount of really useful secular common-sense
knowledge to the children of the masses of our people,
in the place of the Bible reading and Hymn singing, in
the learning of which their precious time was so much
consumed in the old Church Schools. By Sec. 7 of that
Act of Parliament it is expressly provided, that no religious
observance, or instruction in religious subjects shall be
given during the necessary school hours. That no scholar
shall be bound to attend any religious observance or in
struction, and that it shall be no part of the duty of Her
Majesty’s Inspectors of Schools to enquire into any
instruction in any religious subjects given at such school,
or to examine any scholar therein. Now, bearing in mind
�28
An Aspiration of Science.
that the term religious instruction used in the Act has
especial reference to the jarring and discordant theologies
of the rival religious sects, all of whom were contending
to get the child under their special influence, and that the
prohibition in the Act of Parliament of religious instruction
was resorted to as the only practicable course of getting
rid of the obstructive opposition of such sects; I don’t
think I am going too far in characterising the enactment
in question as the greatest legislative blow dealt at super
stition since the passing of the Act of the 9th of Greo. II.
which repealed that astounding statute of James I., which
had actually recognised as realities the theological delu
sions of witchcraft, conjuration, and dealing with evil
and wicked Spirits, and authorised prosecutions, con
victions, and the infliction of barbarous punishments,
for the alleged commission of such purely imaginary
crimes 1
Now we are all taught in our youth to believe that
Theology or our Religious System is the source or sanc
tion of all morality. If Boman Catholics we are taught
that in matters of Faith and Morals the Pope is the in
fallible authority; a dogma the more astonishing, inas
much as it must be obvious to unprejudiced historical
students that, as the power of the Pope has decayed, the
moral tone of European society has improved. But, in
the decomposition, or decline of theological belief every
where going on, there must exist a danger that what has
been supposed an essential part of its teaching may
decline too. Hence has arisen the necessity of showing,
as the fact is, that the true foundation of morality, or the
right conduct of man towards man, is scientific or secular,
and not essentially theological at all.
Now, that pure morality is absolutely independent of
all theology has been known to Science from the time of
Aristotle, whose demonstration of the doctrine is con
�An Aspiration of Science.
29
tained in his profound and sagacious treatise the Nicomachean Ethics.
Turning then to the consideration of virtue, as the
supreme moral end, we shall see what Science has dis
covered and taught us as the indestructible basis of the
duty of doing, not only what is just and right, but what
is calculated for the happiness of mankind, all of which
are comprehended in that felicitously compendious ex
pression, ‘ good-will towards men.’
It is to the illustrious Grotius (whose great work on the
principles of human conduct I somewhat fully referred to
in my lecture of last year) that we are indebted, according
to his able editor the late Dr. Whewell, for the first
clear enunciation of the true source of moral science.
Man, says Grotius, following the lead of Aristotle, is by
his nature a rational and social being. He can only exist
in the society of his fellow-creatures, and he must live
with them, not anyhow, but according to his instincts,
his faculties, and his desires, that is, peacefully and hap
pily. Human Nature then is the mother of moral right,
and the moral guilt or rectitude of any action is deter
mined by its agreement or disagreement with our rational
and social nature.
These ideas of Aristotle and Grotius have been admirably
developed by (amongst others) Jeremy Bentham, John S.
Mill, and Herbert Spencer. ‘ Nature (says Bentham) has
placed mankind under the government of two sovereign
masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point
out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what
we shall do. The standard of right and wrong is fastened
to their throne. In words a man may pretend to abjure
their empire, but in reality he will remain subject to it
all the while. The principle of utility recognises this
subjection, and assumes it for the foundation of that
system, the object of which is to rear the fabric of felicity
�30
An Aspiration of Science.
by the hand of reason and of law. Systems which
attempt to question it deal in sound instead of sense, in
caprice instead of reason, in darkness instead of light.’
This scientific foundation of morals, general utility, or
the greatest happiness principle (adds John S. Mill) holds
that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote
happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of
happiness. This utilitarian standard, however, is not
the agent’s own greatest happiness but, the greatest
amount of happiness altogether. Utilitarianism there
fore can only attain its end by the general cultivation of
nobleness of character, and the multiplication of happiness
is, according to such standard of ethics, the object of
virtue. Thus it embraces not only our duties, but by
what test we may know them. And the highest life,
says Herbert Spencer, is that which includes the greatest
happiness, and ‘that happiness is the supreme virtuous
end is beyond question true, for it is the concomitant of
that ultimate end which every theory of moral guidance
has distinctly, or vaguely in view.
Such shortly is the ideal of Science in regard to the
true nature of virtue, but so backward is our present
social state, that so far from our being able to realise
such an ideal, the greater part of our present virtue
consists in practising the duty of self-denial, lest the
attempted gratification of our own faculties aud activities
should interfere with corresponding gratifications on the
part of others. For (says Herbert Spencer) the main
tenance of equitable relations all round is the condition
to the attainment of the greatest happiness of all..
There is probably no subject respecting which the
teachings of Theology and Science are more at variance
than in their respective views concerning the dreadful
ordeal of War. You know, if you consult the pages of
the Bible, you find that War is treated as almost, under
�An A spiration of Science.
31
certain circumstances, a normal condition of human
existence. I will not stay to quote texts illustrating this
conclusion, in which the Deity is represented as the Lord
of Hosts, as the Grod of Battles, as a Man of War, over
and over again taking part in and encouraging warfare,
and even expressly commanding Wars to be undertaken.
What the human mind may be degraded into believing
through the too exclusive study of Theology, and the too
confiding credulity in all that we find written in the old
historical books of the semi-barbarous Hebrews, may be
gathered from a recent utterance of one of our learned
Bishops, who declared that he believed War was one of
the means by which the Almighty carried on the govern
ment of the world, and promoted civilization!
Now Science cannot conceive an Almighty power
governing or encouraging a world of human beings
through the dreadful horrors of war, and such power
could not, in any scientific sense, be regarded as benefi
cent, if he were really capable of coolly carrying on human
government by means of the atrocious machinery of
warfare. According to Science, such an idea can only
be a delusion of the morbid imagination, enfeebled through
unreflecting faith in the senseless suggestions of supersti
tion. Science can indeed show that it is quite unneces
sary to attribute war to the intentional Will of an
Almighty Supernatural Being, for it can trace its causes
to the passions of human nature, acting in ignorance or
disregard of those preventives of war which the human
understanding, enlightened by Science, has succeeded in
discovering, and by following which wars might be alto
gether banished from the face of the earth, or, at least,
from amongst the Nations of Europe. Hence in nearly
all such Nations have arisen Peace Societies, founded for
the purpose of diffusing such intelligence amongst the
people at large, that they, being instructed to recognise
�32
An Aspiration of Science.
that their true interest always lies on the side of Peace,
may, through enlightened public opinion, bring pressure
to bear upon their rulers, in order that Peace may be
preserved, and the horrors of War avoided. That this
could even now be effected, through the instrumentality
of International Arbitration, can hardly be doubted by
those who have considered the subject from a scientific
point of view.
I may now then conclude by affirming that the senti
ments ‘ Good-will towards men ’ and ‘ Peace on Earth,’
though expelled from Sacred Scripture, and disowned by
dogmatic Theology, are the inalienable heritage of Science,
and under its guardianship will remain, to exemplify the
sublime sympathies of those noble-minded men, whose
fervent thoughts and dignified lives are devoted to the
realisation of their spontaneous aspirations to improve, to
lift up, and to sweeten the earthly lives of their fellow
creatures ; aspirations which superstition has not suc
ceeded in suppressing, because they are the natural
promptings of the uncorrupted heart, and mind, and con
science of man, civilized through Science.
KENNY & Co., Printers, 25, Camden Road, N.W.
�
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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An aspiration of science : "On earth peace, good-will towards men", rescued from the New Testament revision. A lecture delivered before the Sunday Lecture Society, St George's Hall, Langham Place, on Sunday afternoon, 19th February, 1882
Description
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Place of publication: London
Collation: 32 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: Part of Morris Miscellaneous Tracts 5.
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Finch, A. Elley
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1883
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Sunday Lecture Society
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G3429
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Bible
Science
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (An aspiration of science : "On earth peace, good-will towards men", rescued from the New Testament revision. A lecture delivered before the Sunday Lecture Society, St George's Hall, Langham Place, on Sunday afternoon, 19th February, 1882), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
Morris Tracts
Science