Itcanappealtoacriterionwhichisnotsupernatural，andisasvalidforthesinnerasforthesaint。
HereisoneresultoftheOxfordindifferencetoscience。
WhenNewmanwasinvitedbyinnocentpeopletoappearasthechampionoffaithagainstscience，herefused，forthereasonamongothersthathecouldnottellwhatwasthepositiontobeassailed。Hewouldnotdenythat’sciencegrew，butitgrewbyfitsandStarts，’andthrewouthypotheseswhich’roseandfell。’266*Hesupposessciencetorepresentafluctuatingsetofguesses。Evenifitappearedtocontradictrevelation，thecontradictioncouldbeevadedbyaneasydevice。ScienceandScripturecontradicteachotherastothemotionoftheearth。Wecannotdecidetillweknowwhatmotionis，andthenitmayturnoutthatscienceisfalseorreconcilabletoScripture。267*
ThissayingalienatedFroudeandKingsley，and，Ifancy，withgoodreason；butwecanseehowNewmancametoit。Theology，hethought，restedonadeeperfoundationthanscience。Itrepresentedasinglebodyofdeductivetruth；whilesciencerepresentedasetofdetachedconclusionsformeduponparticularfacts。
Thisappearstoreversethetruth。’Thescientificprinciple，inthefirstplace，isatissuewiththetheologynotuponthisorthatpoint，notontheconflictbetweenparticularstatements，butallalongtheline。Twodifferingconceptionsoftheuniverseareatissue，andonemustbeaccepted。Newmansubstantiallyrepliesthatsciencehasitsown——alower——sphere。268*IntheIdeaofaUniversityhearguesthattheologymustbeadmittedintothecourse，becauseitdealswiththerealitiesunderlyingphenomena，andisthereforetherightfulqueenofsciences。Thehistoryoftheactualrelationsofscienceandtheologywouldsupplyacuriouscommentaryuponthisopinion。Newmanmeanwhileholdsthattheconflictarisesfromascientificmisconception。
Thelatestinfideldevice，hesays，istoleavetheologyalone。
Themanofsciencetruststotheinterestofhisownpursuitstodistractthemindfromtheology，whichthenperishesbyinanition。269*Hiserrorconsistsinleavingthehigherstudyoutofsight，orapplyingmethodslegitimateinonespheretothoseoftheothersphere。Science，then，doesnotgivecertainty，orgivescertaintywhichhasnobearinguponthehigherordersoftruth。
Thereplyisobvious。Thephysicalsciences，inthefirstplace，giveabodyofconsistentandverifiabletruth，andtheonlysuchbodyoftruth。Inthenextplace，itisimpossibletoassignscienceandphilosophytotwodifferentprovinces。Thescientificdoctrinesmustlaydownthebasetowhichallothertruth，sofarasitisdiscoverable，mustconform。Theessentialfeatureofcontemporarythoughtwasjustthis：thatsciencewaspassingfrompurelyphysicalquestionstohistorical，ethical，andsocialproblems。Thedogmatistobjectstoprivatejudgmentorfreethoughtonthegroundthat，asitgivesnocriterion，itcannotleadtocertainty。Hisrealdangerwaspreciselythatitleadsirresistiblytocertainty。Thescientificmethodshowshowsuchcertaintyasispossiblemustbeobtained。Themanofscienceadvocatesfreeinquirypreciselybecauseitisthewaytotruth，andtheonlyway，thoughawaywhichleadsthroughmanyerrors。HistestisthatwhichsoimpressedNewmanhimself，Securusjudicatorbisterrarum；onlyorbisterrarummustnotbetranslatedoneEuropeanChurchduringafewcenturies。ThemanofsciencefullyagreeswithNewmanthatthereisatrue’illativesense’；thatmencanreasonimplicitlybeforetheycanreasoninlogicalform，andmakeapproximatelytrueformulaethoughinvolvedininnumerablesuperstitionsanderrors。Theultimatecriterionisthepowerofverifyingconclusions，oftestingtruthbyitscapacitytoexplainphenomena，andbyitsconformitytothescientifictruthalreadyestablishedbeyonddispute。Butthereisnoroyalroadtotruthinphilosophyanymorethaninscience；or，rather，itmustbefarlongerandmoredifficulttoreachit。Thereforewemustnotlaydownrulesasabsolutelycertain，butsubjectthemtoperpetualexamination，towhatNewmancalls’theall-corrodingforce’oftheintellect，intheconvictionthatbythatprocessweareslowlyapproximatingtosounderbelief。Theerrorshavetobe’corroded。’Thisisadmittedlytrueofallthenaturalsciences；wehavetopuzzleoutthetruthineverydevelopmentofthought，fromastronomytophysiology，byaslowandpainfulprocess。Moreover，itistrueofallthereligionsoftheworldexcept，asNewmanwouldsay，theCatholic。Whyisthattobeanexception？Newmancandidlyadmitsadifficulty。Thesuggestionthatareligiontobeuniversallyacceptedshouldbeuniversallyrevealed，asthoughwritten’onthesun，’is，headmits，plausible。270*Heurgesthattherealwayswasarevelationsomewhere，thougharevelationinJerusalemwasnotofmuchuseinPeking。Yettheadmittedfactseemstobeafatalobjectiontotheaprioriprobabilitywhichheassumesofarevelation。Tonine-tenthsoftheworldtherehasbeenonlya’virtual，’thatistosay，norevelation。How，then，doeshetrytomakeroomfortheoneexceptionalcase？Thesecretistokeeptothegeocentricpointofview。ShutyourselfupwithintheChurch，interprettheworldbyreferencetoit，insteadofinterpretingitbyitsplaceintheworld；pronouncetheinstinctsbywhichithasbeensupportedtobeultimateandinfallible，insteadoflisteningtotheobviousexplanation，andyoucancertainlyescapeself-contradiction——asitisstillalwayspossibleonthesametermstoholdtothePtolemaicastronomy。Youhaveonlytoassumeasafirstprinciplethattheearthdoesnotmove，andthefactscanalwaysbeforcedintoconformity。Tooutsidersthisistoconfusethecauseswiththereasonsofbelief。SoNewmaninhisfamousdevelopmenttheoryprovidesakindofparalleltothescientifictheory。Heshowswiththegreatestclearnesshowacertainbodyworksoutthepropertiesimpliedinthetype，andsoobeysanimplicitlogic。
Heillustratesthecasebyanalogieswithotherbodies，suchastheAnglicanChurch。271*Butwhystopthere？Howdidthefirstbeliefsariafromwhichthefulltheologicaldoctrineexpanded？
Newmanagainsuggeststheanswer。Theyarisefromthe’naturalreligions’orsuperstitions，manyofwhichwereadmittedlyembodiedintheChurch。272*Wehaveonlytocarryouthisviewlogically，andthe’supernatural’elementbecomesneedless。
ChristianandHebrewlegendstaketheirplaceinthegeneralprocessofhumanthought，andtheassertionoftheultimateauthorityofoneparticularbodyissimplythedescriptionofthearbitraryclaimswhichitdevelopedundernaturalconditions。Ifwekeeptheearthinthecentreofoursystem，werequireasupernaturalforcetomakethesunrevolve。Letthingsfallintotheirrightorderandallbecomesharmonious。
Thepositionsthusoccupiedbytheleadingwritersofthetimeindicatethetrueissues。The’dogmatists，’the’liberals，’
andthe’Utilitarians’arevirtuallyagreedupononepoint。ThePaleytheologywasinahopelessposition。Protestantismcouldonlyleadtoinfidelity。Theargumentsfromdesignandfrommiraclesareradicallyincoherent。Theyconfuseascientificwithaphilosophicalargument，andcannotleadlegitimatelytoprovingtheexistenceofasupremeormoralruleroftheuniverse。Whileacceptingscientificmethodstheyareradicallyopposedtoscientificresults，becausetheytendtoproveinterventioninsteadoforder，anddisappearasscientificknowledgeextends。
Mill’sattempttosuggestsomekindoftentativeandconjecturaltheologywasobviouslyhopeless，andinterestingonlyasshowinghissenseoftheneedofsomekindofreligionwhichwouldembodyhighethicalidealsandstimulatethepurestemotions。Empiricismwasdestructiveofthehistoricalcreeds，butcouldnotofitselfsupplytheplaceoftheoldfaiths。
Herethenwecometothegreatproblemsbywhichmenarestillperplexed。TheUtilitarian，whichisthescientificview，laysdownanunassailabletruth。Areligiouscreed，sofarasitisastatementoffact，muststatefactstruly，andbeinconformitywiththeresultsofscientificteaching。Moreover，notheologycanbelegitimatelyconstructeduponthisbasis。Thegodsbecomefigments；andtheologyisrelegatedtotheregionoftheunknowable。Ifthatbethewholetruth，religiouscreedsaredestinedtodisappearasknowledgeisextendedandorganisedsystematically。’PhilipBeauchamp，givesthetrueUtilitarianposition。Religion，however，asJ。S。Millfelt，isanameforsomethingfarwider。Itmeansaphilosophyandapoetry；astatementoftheconceptionswhichmenhaveformedoftheuniverse，oftheemotionswithwhichtheyregardit，andoftheethicalconceptionswhichemerge。Ithasplayed，asitstillcontinuestoplay，avitallyimportantfunctioninhumanlife，whichisindependentoftheparticularstatementsoffactembodiedinthehistoricalcreed。The’mystical’doctrine，representedbyCarlyle，correspondstothiselementofreligion。
Menwillalwaysrequiresomereligionifreligioncorrespondsnotsimplytotheirknowledge，buttothewholeimpressionmadeuponfeelingandthinkingbeingsbytheworldinwhichtheylive。Theconditionremainsthattheconceptionsmustconformtothefacts；
ourimaginationandourdesiresmustnotbeallowedtooverrideourexperience；orourphilosophytoconstructtheuniverseoutofaprioriguesses。Whatdoctrinecanbedevelopeduponthoseterms，whethera’religionofhumanity’insomeshapebepossible，isstillanopenquestion。Tothedogmatistthisviewseemedtobeequivalenttothesimpleevaporationofallreligionintomerevagueemotionalmist。Tohimareligionappearedessentiallyasasystemofdisciplineoragreatsocialorganism，governingmen’spassionsandprovidingthemwithacultandaconcretevisionoftheuniverse。Thedifficultyisthatsuchacreedcannotbereallydeducedfromageneralphilosophy。Thedogmahastobebasedupon’authority，’insteadofbasingtheauthorityuponproofThatisaradicallyincoherentposition，andleadstotheacceptanceofthedogmasandtraditionswhichhavebecomeessentiallyincredible，andtoahopelessconflictwithscience。Tofoundareligionwhichshallbecompatiblewithallknowntruth，whichshallsatisfytheimaginationandtheemotions，andwhichshalldischargethefunctionshithertoassignedtothechurches，isaproblemforthefuture。ImustbecontentwiththisattempttoindicatewhatwastherelationtoitoftheUtilitarianposition。
NOTES：
1。Mill’sExaminationofSirWilliamHamilton’sPhilosophyandofthePrincipalPhilosophicalQuestionsdiscussedinhisWritingswasfirstpublishedin1865。Irefertothefourthedition1872。ThebookwasmorechangedthananyofMill’sotherwritingsinconsequenceoftheinsertionofrepliestovariouscriticisms。Alistofthoserepliesisgivenintheprefacetothethirdandfourtheditions。Theessayson’Religion’appearedin1874。
2。SeeVeitch’sLifeofHamilton1869，andanarticlebyHamilton’sdaughterintheEncyclopaediaBritannica。
3。AletterfromHamiltontoDrParrin1820Parr’sWorks，vii，194-202，onoccasionofthecontestatEdinburgh，givesanaccountofhisstudies。HewaspersonallyunknowntoDugaldStewart，towhomhedesiresParrtowritealetterupontheadvantagesofstudyingancientphilosophy，tobeshowntotheTownCouncilwhothenelectedtheprofessor。HamiltonsaysthathetookupnearlyallAristotle，mostofPlato，andofCicero’sphilosophicalworks；thathehadreadmanyGreekcommentatorsuponPlatoandAristotleandthatmanyofhisbooksweredeclaredtobetoometaphysicalfortheschoolsandwereforbiddentobetakenupagain。Veitchgivesasimilaraccount。
4。Napier’sCorrespondence，p。70。
5。NoticebyLordCanarvonprefixedtoGnosticHeresies1875，andBurgon’sTwelveGoodMen。
6。SeeMill’sExaminationofHamilton，p。496。