n
them), is not needed when one reaches a certain stage of intellectual
development. His reply is that religion is not superstition and does not
rest upon a vague fear of the unseen forces of nature, but does rest
upon "man's consciousness of his finiteness amid an infinite universe
and of his sinfulness." This consciousness, Tolstoy adds, man can never
outgrow.

Evidence of the existence of an Infinite Being is to be found in
the Bible, in the facts of human consciousness, and in the physical
universe. Dr. Charles Hodge sets forth as follows the principal
arguments used to maintain the existence of a God:

I. The _a priori_ argument which seeks to demonstrate the being of a
God from certain first principles involved in the essential laws of
human intelligence.

II. The cosmological argument, or that one which proceeds after the
_posteriori_ fashion, from the present existence of the world as
an effect, to the necessary existence of some ultimate and eternal
first cause.

III. The teleological argument, or that argument which, from the
evidence of design in the creation, seeks to establish the fact that
the great self-existent first cause of all things is an intelligent
and voluntary personal spirit.

IV. The moral argument, or that argument which, from a consideration
of the phenomena of conscience in the human heart, seeks to
establish the fact that the self-existent Creator is also the
righteous moral Governor of the world. This argument includes the
consideration of the universal feeling of dependence common to
all men, which together with conscience constitutes the religious
sentiment.

V. The historical argument, which involves: (1) The evident
providential presence of God in the history of the human race. (2)
The evidence afforded by history that the human race is not eternal,
and therefore not an infinite succession of individuals, but
created. (3) The universal consent of all men to the fact of His
existence.

VI. The Scriptural argument, which includes: (1) The miracles and
prophecies recorded in Scripture, and confirmed by testimony,
proving the existence of a God. (2) The Bible itself, self-evidently
a work of superhuman wisdom. (3) Revelation, developing and
enlightening conscience, and relieving many of the difficulties
under which natural theism labours, and thus confirming eve