ions of a god. Not alone does it leave no room for a god,
but if the scientific conception of the world is to stand, then it would
be necessary to repeat Bakunine's _mot_, and to say, "If there were a
god it would be necessary to destroy him." You simply cannot have at one
and the same time a universe in which all that occurs is the consequence
of calculable and indestructible forces, the operations of which can be
foreseen and relied upon, and a universe controlled by a
self-determining deity, capable of modifying the action of these same
forces. You may have one or the other, but it is sheer lunacy to imagine
that you can have both. Either uniformity with invariable causation, or
a world in which every scientific calculation must be prefaced with the
"D.V." of a prayer meeting. And the Atheist, who accepts the principles
of modern science, says, not merely that he is without a belief in god,
but that he fails to see any necessity for his existence, or anything
for him to do if he did exist. He passes the gods of the world in review
and categorically dismisses each one as a myth. In doing this he has the
concurrence of all theists in discarding every god save one--his own.
The Atheist simply applies the same rule to each, and metes out the same
judgment to all.

CHAPTER XII.

SPENCER AND THE UNKNOWABLE.

We have already referred to the use made by religionists of Spencer's
"Unknowable." This theory was not without its forerunners, and in
England was already in the field in the teachings of Hamilton and
Mansel. Spencer gave it a still greater vogue. As he presented it, it
came before the world with all the prestige attaching to its association
with one of the most comprehensive of modern thinkers, and one of the
most influential in the schools of evolutionary philosophy. It was also
connected with a world theory that claimed to be strictly scientific in
its character. It became not only a fashion in certain circles, it
founded a school, and gained numerous followers in the religious world.
Its author propounded it as a basis on which to reconcile religion and
science, and many were ready to accept it as such. Printed in all the
glory of capital letters, appearing sometimes as "The Ultimate Reality,"
sometimes as the "Unconditioned," sometimes as an "Infinite and Eternal
Energy," it was equally impressive under all its forms. It provided just
that solemn kind of formula that the religious mind is accustomed to