Theism and Humanism: Being the Gifford Lectures Delivered at the University of Glasgow, 1914Arthur Balfour's famous lectures, delivered in 1913 at the University of Glasgow, offer insight into the link between theism, a belief in God, and the philosophical aspects of humanism. In delivering and publishing these lectures, Balfour sought to explain complex concepts in a way that ordinary people could understand. The connection between faith in a divine God, and the humanistic attainment of the highest qualities celebrated in mortal beings, are neither obvious nor clear to most. As a devoted Christian and academic, with a background as a statesman and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the author understands well the need for clear communication. The lectures examine in sequence the moral, artistic, scientific and intellectual values held in the highest esteem. Each is explained as being connected deeply and vitally with the qualities of God and belief in the divineness of human existence. Each of the ten lectures is lively and spirited, showcasing the author's eloquence and passion for eclectic debate. Although his ideas span many disciplines of academia, Balfour demonstrates a keen knowledge for each, imbued by his lengthy background in learning. |
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accept admit æsthetic emotion æsthetic interest æsthetic values agnostic Agnosticism altruistic appearance argument from design ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR artist atoms attribute causal series causes common sense concerned conclusions conservation contrivance course creed deemed Descartes described desire difficulties doctrine doctrine of chances doubt effect egoism energy ethics evidence example existence experience explain external fact feeling Gifford Lecturers harmonised human ideal ignorance inevitable beliefs inference instincts intellectual kind least Leslie Stephen less logical loyalty mankind material matter means ment merely metaphysical moral natural beauty Natural Selection naturalistic never objects observation ordinary particular perceived perception persons philosophers physical point of view possess possible practical problems proof question race rational reality reason regarded religion religious scientific seems selection shape Sir Oliver Lodge speculation suggest suppose survival value Theism things thought tion treated true truth universe UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
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Page 20 - The highest conceptions of God seem to approximate to one of two types, which, without prejudice, and merely for convenience, I may respectively call the religious and the metaphysical. The metaphysical conception emphasises His all-inclusive unity. The religious type emphasises His ethical personality. The metaphysical type tends to regard Him as the logical glue which holds multiplicity together and makes it intelligible. The religious type willingly turns away from such speculations about the...
Page 274 - ... isolated and imperfect, unless we add to them yet a third. We must hold that reason and the works of reason have their source in God; that from Him they draw their inspiration; and that if they repudiate their origin, by this very act they proclaim their own insufficiency...
Page 120 - I have already urged, the practice of that which is ethically best — what we call goodness or virtue — involves a course of conduct which, in all respects, is opposed to that which leads to success in the cosmic struggle for existence. In place of ruthless selfassertion it demands self-restraint...
Page 21 - I speak of God, I mean something other than an Identity wherein all differences vanish, or a Unity which includes but does not transcend the differences which it somehow holds in solution. I mean a God whom men can love...
Page 250 - Beauty must be more than an accident. The source of morality must be moral. The source of knowledge must be rational. If this be granted, you rule out Mechanism, you rule out Naturalism, you rule out Agnosticism ; and a lofty form of Theism becomes, as I think, inevitable.
Page 175 - THEISM AND HUMANISM''] I I WISH I were a mathematician. There is in the history of the mathematical sciences, as in their substance, something that strangely stirs the imagination even of the most ignorant. Its younger sister, Logic, is as abstract, and its claims are yet wider. But it has never shaken itself free from a certain pretentious futility : it always seems to be telling us, in language quite unnecessarily technical, what we understood much better before it was explained. It never helps...
Page 21 - I mean a God whom men can love, a God to whom men can pray, who takes sides, who has purposes and preferences, whose attributes, however conceived, leave unimpaired the possibility of a personal relation between Himself and those whom He has created.
Page 138 - For the history of speculation I cared not a jot. Dead systems seemed to me of no more interest than abandoned fashions. My business was with the groundwork of living beliefs ; in particular with the groundwork of that scientific knowledge whose recent developments had so profoundly moved mankind. And surely there was nothing perverse in asking modern philosophers to provide us with a theory of modern science ! I was referred to Mill ; and the shock of disillusionment remains with me to the present...
Page 82 - What has in the main caused history to be written, and when written to be eagerly read, is neither its scientific value nor its practical utility, but its aesthetic interest. Men love to contemplate the performances of their fellows, and whatever enables them to do so, whether we belittle it as gossip or exalt it as history, will find admirers in abundance.
Page 22 - God) been moved to do what a later and higher morality condemns, that is because, for the sake of such an Absolute, no man has ever yet been moved to do anything at all.