And so of any state of things whatever,
either in nature or in history, which we find actually realized. For
the parts of things must always make SOME definite resultant, be it
chaotic or harmonious. When we look at what has actually come, the
conditions must always appear perfectly designed to ensure it. We
can always say, therefore, in any conceivable world, of any
conceivable character, that the whole cosmic machinery MAY have been
designed to produce it.
Pragmatically, then, the abstract word 'design' is a blank
cartridge. It carries no consequences, it does no execution. What
sort of design? and what sort of a designer? are the only serious
questions, and the study of facts is the only way of getting even
approximate answers. Meanwhile, pending the slow answer from facts,
anyone who insists that there is a designer and who is sure he is a
divine one, gets a certain pragmatic benefit from the term--the
same, in fact which we saw that the terms God, Spirit, or the
Absolute, yield us 'Design,' worthless tho it be as a mere
rationalistic principle set above or behind things for our
admiration, becomes, if our faith concretes it into something
theistic, a term of PROMISE. Returning with it into experience, we
gain a more confiding outlook on the future.
Pages:
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106