CHAPTER IV - THE APPEAL TO HISTORY

Summary

To appeal to history for guidance is a very natural resource on the part of those who distrust philosophy. It is found even among theologians who are interested, as Comte was not, in preserving belief in God. Probably the appeal was never made with more clearness or with more confidence than by Dr. Edwin Hatch in his St. Giles Lecture, “From Metaphysics to History.” Dr. Hatch can find no language in which to express his contempt for metaphysics, or his confidence in modern physical science. “We have passed into a new atmosphere. We have around us, not the glamour of a splendid mist, but the light of day.” Science has “passed from metaphysics to fact, and” has “passed thereby from doubt to certainty.” One province remains to be liberated–that of theology. Let us make a similar transition here, “from metaphysics to history” ; then, even in theology, we shall find solid ground below our feet. The history which Dr. Hatch has in view is history of doctrine, the history of theological beliefs. If we treat these in the light of the comparative method they will no longer be meaningless, but meaningful; we may even discover that “God is not only revealing Himself to His creatures, but also realising Himself to Himself” in history.