Unescapable dilemma
When we endow matter with vague spiritual power,
that is, when we do so in our theories, for of course we
cannot really endow matter with what it does
not and cannot possess, - we disown the Al-
mighty, for such theories lead to one of two things. They
either presuppose the self-evolution and self-government
of matter, or else they assume that matter is the product
of Spirit. To seize the first horn of this dilemma and con-
sider matter as a power in and of itself, is to leave the cre-
ator out of His own universe; while to grasp the other
horn of the dilemma and regard God as the creator of
matter, is not only to make Him responsible for all disas-
ters, physical and moral, but to announce Him as their
source, thereby making Him guilty of maintaining perpet-
ual misrule in the form and under the name of natural
law.
