by Edna McKinney

Every subject presented to a thoughtful audience must be supported by
rational proofs and logical arguments. Proofs are of four kinds: first,
through sense perception; second, through the reasoning faculty; third,
from traditional or scriptural authority; fourth, through the medium of
inspiration. That is to say, there are four criteria or standards of
judgment by which the human mind reaches its conclusions. We will first
consider the criterion of the senses. This is a standard still held to by
the materialistic philosophers of the world. They believe that whatever is
perceptible to the senses is a verity, a certainty and without doubt
existent. For example, they say, "Here is a lamp which you see, and
because it is perceptible to the sense of sight, you cannot doubt its
existence. There is a tree; your sense of vision assures you of its
reality, which is beyond question. This is a man; you see that he is a
man; therefore, he exists." In a word, everything confirmed by the senses
is assumed to be as undoubted and unquestioned as the product of five
multiplied by five; it cannot be twenty-six nor less than twenty-five.
Consequently, the materialistic philosophers consider the criterion of the
senses to be first and foremost.

But in the estimation of the divine philosophers this proof and assurance
is not reliable; nay, rather, they deem the standard of the senses to be
false because it is imperfect. Sight, for instance, is one of the most
important of the senses, yet it is subject to many aberrations and
inaccuracies. The eye sees the mirage as a body of water; it regards
images in the mirror as realities when they are but reflections. A man
sailing upon the river imagines that objects upon the shore are moving,
whereas he is in motion, and they are stationary. To the eye the earth
appears fixed, while the sun and stars revolve about it. As a matter of
fact, the heavenly orbs are stationary, and the earth is turning upon its
axis. The colossal suns, planets and constellations which shine in the
heavens appear small, nay, infinitesimal to human vision, whereas in
reality they are vastly greater than the earth in dimension and volume. A
whirling spark appears to the sight as a circle of fire. There are
numberless instances of this kind which show the error and inaccuracy of
the senses. Therefore, the divine philosophers have considered this
standard of judgment to be defective and unreliable.

The sec