In His Image by William Jennings Bryan
page 8 of 242 (03%)
page 8 of 242 (03%)
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the Bible, in the facts of human consciousness, and in the physical
universe. Dr. Charles Hodge sets forth as follows the principal arguments used to maintain the existence of a God: I. The _a priori_ argument which seeks to demonstrate the being of a God from certain first principles involved in the essential laws of human intelligence. II. The cosmological argument, or that one which proceeds after the _posteriori_ fashion, from the present existence of the world as an effect, to the necessary existence of some ultimate and eternal first cause. III. The teleological argument, or that argument which, from the evidence of design in the creation, seeks to establish the fact that the great self-existent first cause of all things is an intelligent and voluntary personal spirit. IV. The moral argument, or that argument which, from a consideration of the phenomena of conscience in the human heart, seeks to establish the fact that the self-existent Creator is also the righteous moral Governor of the world. This argument includes the consideration of the universal feeling of dependence common to all men, which together with conscience constitutes the religious sentiment. V. The historical argument, which involves: (1) The evident providential presence of God in the history of the human race. (2) The evidence afforded by history that the human race is not eternal, and therefore not an infinite succession of individuals, but |
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