I The Method of Argument

The Method of Argumen know where to begin. Then precisely what is the principle, which has supplied them with the basis for an argument against religion? Whatever it is, it is not based on the direct observation of religion, but on an interpretation of certain observations. For instance, the discovery of gravitation in the universe lead them to believe that there is no God who is sustaining the universe, since the law of gravitation explains this phenomenon. Obviously, the observation on which this theory is based is not of the non-existence of God. That is, no telescope has definitively given us the news that this universe is God-free. Rather, it has been inferred on the basis of an external observation that there should be no God. That is, the observation or experience was not one of the non-existence of God, but of another event from which God’s non-existence had been inferred. I contend that this method of argument, which in modern times has been considered sufficiently valid to reject religion, is actually the greatest proof of its veracity. The fault does not lie in the principle of the argument but in its application. When correctly applied, the result will be quite the contrary. Now let us turn from the negative application of this criterion to the positive. This same criterion has been applied supportively to organic evolution, and the latter has been accepted so fully in the modern world that it has affected all branches of knowledge. The truth of organic evolution cannot be proved by the first, second or third criterion. The ‘proof of its truth can be based only on the fourth criterion, i.e., it is considered the best working hypothesis. Yet in the eyes of the modern world, organic evolution is a ‘scientific fact’. The writers of Science of Life assert that ‘No one now denies the truth of organic evolution except for those who are ignorant, or biased or superstitious.’ The Modern Pocket Library in New York has published a series of books entitled The Man and the Universe, the fifth of which hails Darwin’s book Origin of Species as an epoch-making work. ‘Man has been making efforts for a long period to trace his geneology. No other concept has received as much religious opposition as that