THE Issued by the DIVINITY FACULTY AND CONFERENCE OF GERALD BIRNEY SMITH Editor VOLUME III THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Volume III JANUARY 1923 Number 1 THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF NATURE' EDWARD CALDWELL MOORE The enlarged and more exact knowledge of Nature due to modern science has occasioned serious problems for Christian thinking. This article discusses the view of Nature expressed in Scripture, and its modification in modern religious thinking; the character of the new naturalism and its relation to the conception of the supernatural; and the conception of God demanded by our modern conception of the universe. I feel bound to say, at the outset, that if we weigh our words carefully, I cannot present "The Christian Doctrine of Nature." I do not think there is such a thing. I can present only, a Christian doctrine of nature, a view in accord with the principles of science, as our generation understands these, which is at the same time, capable, of combination with Christian feeling and consonant with the motives of the Christian life. The long past of Christianity embraces not merely twenty centuries, but almost every racial and intellectual tradition. It has had the environment of the most varied cultures. have shown, we must gladly admit, the loftiest Christian faith, the most inspiring enthusiasm for work, and they have achieved that upon which our present Christian world is based, while holding views of nature utterly at variance with those which I find myself forced to adopt. Not only so, but among our contemporaries there are many in the service of Christian learning, and many more in the membership of our churches, whose Christian character we could not impugn, although Men 1 An address given at the meeting of the Association of Theological Seminaries of the United States and Canada, Toronto, June 27, 1922. I |