To be near unto God - pagina 217

is

alive,

it

is

unconscious.

And

tliough

we

are

aware of some consciousness in the more highly domesticated animals, it is exceedingly weak with the best of them. The glory of conscious life, which is only perfect in God, is found in man alone, because with respect to this also he has been created after the Divine image. Consciousness may not reach by far its highest develop-

ment in some people. With the insane it is sadly disturbed. But the most unfortunate idiot clearly shows the unspeakable greatness of the gift of consciousness, of self-consciousness, and of a conscious life which even the ordinary man has received from God. Hence we have no right to And all estimate it as inferior to the heart. religion that would confine the service of God solely to the heart, and to good works, to the exclusion of this glorious human consciousness, cripples itself, robs God, and is bound to degenerate into pseudo-religion. This shows at once that it is the Christian duty of human science to direct itself to God, and that not only a part of it, such as Theology, should take the knowledge of God for its object, and leave no path untrod in which it can enrich itself, but that science as a whole, and ever>'where, All science, should exhibit the glory of God. however much disciplined and learned, that leaves God out of count, that awakens doubt about his existence, or dares to deny him, is no science but sin. It sins against the great commandment that with all the mind we should first of all love God. And since it is at variance with every idea of love to pass its object b}' with indifference, or to ignore it altogether, it follows that the scientist^ 209

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen