Lanterna Rally

Author: Douglas Clyde Macintosh

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-24

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 9781330343364

Excerpt from Theology as an Empirical Science A word of explanation seems called for, in order to remove, if possible, an initial prejudice which is likely to be aroused by the title chosen for this volume. Let it be understood from tho first, then, that what is claimed here, essentially, is just this: that it is possible to relate theological theory to that acquaintance with the divine which is to be found in religious experience at its best, as the physical and social sciences, with their theories as to the nature of things and persons, arc related to our common human acquaintance with things and persons in sense and social experience. What is aimed at in almost all of the recognized empirical sciences is not a mere description of the processes of our experiencing; otherwise individual psychology would be the only empirical science. What we are after, ordinarily, is an adequate understanding of the nature of the things and persons with which ordinary experience makes us acquainted. And if the reader comes finally to grant not only that genuine knowledge of a divine Reality has been gained through religious experience at its best, but also that this knowledge may be formulated and further developed by means of the inductive procedure advocated and exemplified in the body of this book, the author will not be disposed to quarrel with him over the comparatively unimportant question as to whether or not it is expedient to speak of the resultant theology as "an empirical science." In order that the theology may be viewed in relation to a harmonious philosophical background, I have appended to the main discussion a sketch of the philosophy of religion, with illustrations of a point of view and method which I have called Critical Monism. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.