rates;
as old as the writer who said, 'Try all things, hold fast by that
which is good'; it is the foundation of the Reformation, which
simply illustrated the axiom that every man should be able to
give reason for the faith that is in him; it is the great
principle of Descartes; it is the fundamental axiom of modern
science. Positively the principle may be expressed: In matters of
the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you,
without regard to any other consideration. And negatively: In
matters of the intellect, do not pretend that conclusions are
certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable. That I take
to be the agnostic faith, which, if a man keep whole and
undefiled, he shall not be ashamed to look the universe in the
face, whatever the future may have in store for him."

CHAPTER XV

THE BIBLE AND MIRACLES

Why Huxley Came to Write about the Bible--A _Magna Charta_ of the
Poor--The Theological Use of the Bible--The Doctrine of Biblical
Infallibility--The Bible and Science--The Three Hypotheses of the
Earth's History--Changes in the Past Proved--The Creation
Hypothesis--Gladstone on Genesis--Genesis not a Record of
Fact--The Hypothesis of Evolution--The New Testament--Theory of
Inspiration--Reliance on the Miraculous--The Continuity of Nature
no _a priori_ Argument against Miracles--Possibilities and
Impossibilities--Miracles a Question of Evidence--Praise of the
Bible.

Huxley was by training and habit of mind a naturalist, busy with
dissections and drawings, pursuing his branch of science for itself
and with no concern as to its possible relation to philosophical
speculation or religious dogma. It is possible that, had his life been
passed under different conditions, his intellectual activities might
have been spent entirely on his scientific work. As it was, he became
almost more widely known as a hostile critic of accepted religious
doctrine than as a man of science. Many causes contributed to this
effect, but the chief reason was the contemporary attitude of the
churches to Darwinism. He tells us as a matter of fact that in 1850,
nine years before the appearance of _The Origin of Species_, he had
"long done with the Pentateuchal cosmogony which had been impressed on
his childish understanding as divine truth." In the chapter he
contributed to the _Life of Darwin_