intelligence, and therefore there must be an intelligence greater than
his. Why not say, God has intelligence, therefore there must be an
intelligence greater than his? So far as we know, there is no
intelligence apart from matter. We cannot conceive of thought, except
as produced within a brain.

The science, by means of which they demonstrate the existence of an
impossible intelligence, and an incomprehensible power, is called
metaphysics or theology. The theologians admit that the phenomena of
matter tend, at least, to disprove the existence of any power superior
to nature, because in such phenomena we see nothing but an endless chain
of efficient causes--nothing but the force of a mechanical necessity.
They therefore appeal to what they denominate the phenomena of mind to
establish this superior power.

The trouble is, that in the phenomena of mind we find the same endless
chain of efficient causes; the same mechanical necessity. Every thought
must have had an efficient cause. Every motive, every desire, every
fear, hope and dream must have been necessarily produced. There is no
room in the mind of a man for providence or change. The facts and
forces governing thought are as absolute as those governing the motions
of the planets. A poem is produced by the forces of nature, and is as
necessarily and naturally produced as mountains and seas. You will seek
in vain for a thought in man's brain without its efficient cause. Every
mental operation is the necessary result of certain facts and
conditions. Mental phenomena are considered more complicated than those
of matter, and consequently more mysterious. Being more mysterious,
they are considered better evidence of the existence of a god. No one
infers a god from the simple, from the known, from what is understood,
but from the complex, from the unknown and incomprehensible. Our