Walter Richard Cassels
Supernatural Religion
(Discovering the Reality of Divine Revelation)
Vol. 1-3
Published by
Books
- Advanced Digital Solutions & High-Quality eBook Formatting -
2021 OK Publishing
EAN 4064066381691
Table of Contents
Volume 1
Table of Contents
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
AN INQUIRY INTO THE REALITY OF DIVINE REVELATION.
CHAPTER I. MIRACLES IN RELATION TO CHRISTIANITY
CHAPTER II. MIRACLES IN RELATION TO THE ORDER OF NATURE
CHAPTER III. REASON IN RELATION TO THE ORDER OF NATURE
CHAPTER IV. THE AGE OF MIRACLES
CHAPTER V. THE PERMANENT STREAM OF MIRACULOUS PRETENSION
CHAPTER VI. MIRACLES IN RELATION TO IGNORANCE AND SUPERSTITION
CHAPTER I. CLEMENT OF ROME—THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS—THE PASTOR OF HERMAS
CHAPTER II. THE EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS—THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP
CHAPTER IV. HEGESIPPUS—PAPIAS OF HIERAPOLIS.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
The present work is the result of many years of earnest and serious investigation, undertaken in the first instance for the regulation of personal belief, and now published as a contribution towards the establishment of Truth in the minds of others who are seeking for it. The author's main object has been conscientiously and fully to state the facts of the case, to make no assertions the grounds for which are not clearly given, and as far as possible to place before the reader the materials from which a judgment may be intelligently formed regarding the important subject discussed.
The great Teacher is reported to have said: "Be ye approved money-changers," wisely discerning the gold of Truth, and no man need hesitate honestly to test its reality, and unflinchingly to reject base counterfeits. It is obvious that the most indispensable requisite in regard to Religion is that it should be true. No specious hopes or flattering promises can have the slightest value unless they be genuine and based upon substantial realities. Fear of the results of investigation, therefore, should deter no man, for the issue in any case is gain: emancipation from delusion, or increase of assurance. It is poor honour to sequester a creed from healthy handling, or to shrink from the serious examination of its doctrines. That which is true in Religion cannot be shaken; that which is false no one can desire to preserve.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
The Author has taken advantage of the issue of a second edition to revise this work. He has re-written portions of the first part, and otherwise re-arranged it. He hopes that the argument has thus been made more clear and consecutive.
INTRODUCTION.
Theoretically, the duty of adequate inquiry into the truth of any statement of serious importance before believing it is universally admitted. Practically, no duty is more universally neglected. This is more especially the case in regard to Religion, in which our concern is so great, yet the credentials of which so few personally examine. The difficulty of such an investigation and the inability of most men to pursue it, whether from want of opportunity or want of knowledge, are no doubt the chief reasons for this neglect; but another, and scarcely less potent, obstacle has probably been the odium which has been attached to any doubt regarding the dominant religion, as well as the serious, though covert, discouragement of the Church to all critical examination of the title-deeds of Christianity. The spirit of doubt, if not of intelligent inquiry, has, however, of late years become too strong for repression, and, at the present day, the pertinency of the question of a German writer: "Are we still Christians?" receives unconscious illustration from many a popular pulpit, and many a social discussion.
The prevalent characteristic of popular theology in England, at this time, may be said to be a tendency to eliminate from Christianity, with thoughtless dexterity, every supernatural element which does not quite accord with current opinion, and yet to ignore the fact that, in so doing, ecclesiastical Christianity has practically been altogether abandoned. This tendency is fostered with profoundly illogical zeal by many distinguished men within the Church itself, who endeavour to arrest for a moment the pursuing wolves of doubt and unbelief which press upon it, by practically throwing to them, scrap by scrap, the very doctrines which constitute the claims of Christianity to be regarded as a Divine Revelation at all. The moral Christianity which they hope to preserve, noble