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CHAP. I - OF DEATH

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2010

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Summary

Nor is it at all incredible that a book which has been so long in the possession of mankind should contain many truths as yet undiscovered. For all the same phenomena, and the same faculty of observation, from which such great discoveries in natural knowledge have been made in the present and the last age, were equally in possession of mankind several thousand years before.

—Butler: Analogy of Religion.

MAN is in no other sense prejudiced than as he clings to that which he cannot feel himself justified in resigning. He is not unwilling to advance, but he is fearful. His very timidity, and consciousness of his liability to err, drive him to assume positions which only the most perfect selfconfidence could justify; for there is no rashness like that of fear. We are so bound to that to which we have been accustomed, because to us the unknown is full of vague terrors. To exchange that which has been felt as certainty, for that which seems uncertain, because untried, is painful to us. We fear disaster wherever we cannot see. The instinct which makes the stoutest heart shrink from darkness, and peoples it with phantoms, is equally strong in the intellectual world. On the accustomed principles certain results can be secured, and we wish to rest. We are content not to be wiser if we can but feel sure. But God will not let us rest. He has other work for us to do. Above all He will cure us of our mistrust. For the secret of this misgiving is that man has not faith in God.

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Man and his Dwelling Place
An Essay towards the Interpretation of Nature
, pp. 201 - 208
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009
First published in: 1859

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  • OF DEATH
  • James Hinton
  • Book: Man and his Dwelling Place
  • Online publication: 29 August 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511693052.017
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  • OF DEATH
  • James Hinton
  • Book: Man and his Dwelling Place
  • Online publication: 29 August 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511693052.017
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • OF DEATH
  • James Hinton
  • Book: Man and his Dwelling Place
  • Online publication: 29 August 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511693052.017
Available formats
×