Religion and Science
5. Religion and Science
~ 72 ~
spread by rat-fleas, an outbreak of plague can
no longer be looked on as sign of divine
wrath. If animals and plants have slowly
evolved through hundreds of millions of
years, there is no room for a creator of animals
and plants, except in a metaphorical sense
totally different from that in which the word
was originally and is normally used. If
hysteria and insanity are the natural results of
disordered minds, there is no place remaining
in them for possession by devils.
After presenting this piece of ‘reasoning’ with great
conviction, he says that the ascription of such events
‘to supernatural beings is merely due to man’s
ignorance combined with his passion for some sort
of explanation.’ He then sums up with: ‘If events
are due to natural causes, they are not due to
supernatural causes’ (pp. 18-19).
There is a serious weakness inherent in such
arguments of the anti-religionists, which can be best
understood through illustrations. Think of the
railway engine speeding along the track. How do its
wheels revolve? If we attempt to answer this
