Martian Visitor III

A MARTIAN EXAMINES CHRISTIANITY by Arthur Levett, Page 18
Chapter III The Martian Inquires As To PRAYER “ You say you pray to him? ” asked the Martian. “ By that I assume you ask him to grant your requests for something that might otherwise not occur? ” “ Yes,” answered the Fundamentalist. “ We are told that if we have sufficient faith He will answer our prayers.” “ But,” replied the Martian, “ You tell me God possesses infinite wisdom and knowledge. May I ask why you pray to him if all things are governed by his infinite wisdom? ” “ You believe,” remarked the Modernist, “ That no prayer can be granted? ” “ An all-powerful being such as has been described could undoubtedly vary or interrupt his own laws in order to grant a prayer,” answered the Martian, “ but I do not understand how, if those laws were established in the first instance by one perfect in his wisdom, such a being could break or change them without being unwise.” “ Let me say,” said the Modernist, “ that formerly it was believed that God suspended His laws from time to time, permitting the accomplishment of what we called miracles. That idea was erroneous, and it is now generally accepted that the laws of nature were established by God in the beginning and are unchangeable, and that nothing has ever occurred contrary to these laws.” “ I take exception to that statement,” said the Fundamentalist. “ God has performed miracles, and still performs them.” Page 19 He turned to the Modernist: “ You pray to Him yourself, and if you don’t believe your prayers will be answered why do you pray? ” “ We offer prayers of praise and thankfulness; we ask guidance and protection from harm; but we do not ask for the performance of miracles nor a change in His established laws.” “ You accept the evidence of the immutability of his laws? ” asked the Martian. “ Naturally.” “ You assume, however, that as a being of infinite wisdom and understanding he is pleased with praise and adulation? ” “ Why no! But the soul can rise to its highest ideals through communion with the All-Pervading Spirit that is God.” “ And you achieve this communion by addressing him with prayers of praise and thankfulness. You must, of course, assume he listens and hears you. Or do you sometimes yourself doubt if this All-Pervading Spirit, this Supreme Energy, this Power Beyond Authority, this Inconceivable Conception, this Ideal Realizing Capacity, hears you, appreciates your prayers of praise and gratitude, and directs the universe to your advantage? ” “ We Modernists believe, as I have said, that the Supreme Intelligence created the universe and guides it through established laws, by which all things now existent, including man, were evolved to their present condition; that evolution is still at work and will always be at work until the final purpose is achieved. We do not ask for a change in these laws in order that a prayer may be granted, nor do we any longer endeavour to propitiate Him in order to obtain better treatment than He accords others either in this world or the next.” Page 20 “ We have never claimed,” interjected the Priest, “ that His laws were changeable, but we do believe that God is not bound by those laws and therefore was and is able to perform miracles apparently contrary to these laws, and does so.” “ And why should not that be true? ” added the Fundamentalist. “ If God is all-powerful He certainly can perform miracles, and if He can perform them why should we not believe they are performed? ” “ I cannot quite follow you,” said the Martian. “ We on Mars, through centuries of thought and research, have come to the conclusion that all Nature is governed by laws which are immutable.” “ Our view.” said the Modernist. “ May I ask you then, replied the Martian, ” as you so believe, what do you conceive God had been doing since he first established those laws? Being omniscient, he must have forseen in the beginning the result of their operation to the smallest detail throughout eternity, and must have known that all would proceen as he planned.” The Modernist made no answer. “ He is concerned with the smallest thing that happens,” said the Priest. “ The very hairs of your head are numbered.” “ And not a sparrow falls without the knowledge of the Heavenly Father,” added the Fundamentalist. “ But,” pursued the Martian, “ did not God prescribe in the beginning just how many hairs would cover your head, and the exact time and place that the sparrow would fall? Will you therefore explain to me why, after the establishment of perfect laws whose prescribed effects were bound to be in accordance with his divine plan, there was need for him to continue to exist? ” Page 21 “ God reigns in Heaven and rules the universe. He guides the stars and the planets in their courses. He constantly watches over us, and is always ready to listen to our prayers and grant them when in His wisdom He believes they should be granted,” answered the Fundamentalist. “ Have you considered,” asked the Martian, “ the effect of the granting of a prayer? By way of example, suppose that a young married man, through natural causes, sickened and died; that his widow remarried and bore children; that the descendants of these children numbered amongst them scientists, inventors, and philanthropists who greatly advanced the world and the cause of civilization. All this must have been prescribed and forseen by omniscient God. Now let us assume that because of a prayer granted by God the natural course of things were altered, that the dying man recovered; that after his recovery he begot children. In the course of time the descendants of these children would number thousands, not one of whom would ever have been born had not the prayer been granted. Assume that one of these descendants was a powerful monster whose crimes caused untold misery and suffering to hundreds of thousands of innocent people.” “ Like Nero, for example,” suggested the Modernist. “ I do not know of your Nero,” said the Martian, “ but you will note that this monster would be the indirect result of a granted prayer. Now I would like to inquire whom in such a case you would consider responsible - the man who by his prayer induced God to produce this monster or God himself? ” “ God would not grant such a prayer,” said the Fundamentalist, “ because He would know it would be unwise to do so. He would know what was best.” Page 22 “ Then you mean to imply,” asked the Martian, “ that whenever he does grant a prayer he does so because, after hearing the prayer, he comes to the conclusion that his original plan was unwise? ” “ The basic assumption is absurd,” said the Modernist. “ His laws are immutable and must operate in an orderly manner. The appearance of such a monster ensues through the laws of cause and effect.” “ That is my view,” said the Martian, “ and it would follow, would it not, that God, if he granted a single prayer, would have to reconstruct his entire scheme for the future of your world and to map out a course not contemplated in the original plan? Conceive of all the changes to be adjusted throughout eternity, for I confess myself unable to imagine such a thing as a merely temporary effect of a single interruption of the laws of Nature.” “ God is the cause of miracles because He performs them and He does answer our prayers,” said the Fundamentalist. “ May I ask, did any one of you ever know of an answer to a prayer? ” inquired the Martian. “ Many times,” said the Priest. “ I have observed many miraculous cures in answer to prayer. I have seen the lame throw away their crutches and walk unaided, the sick rise from their beds and recover health.” “ And are you sure that their recovery was not in accordance with natural laws? ” asked the Martian. “ Yes, I am sure of it,” replied the Priest. “ You yourself have spoken of cause and effect. These men were sick; doctors had been unable to cure them, and yet when a prayer was offered they recovered. Was not the prayer answered? ” “ You are not familiar with all the laws of Nature, I presume? ” asked the Martian. “ No, I am not.” Page 23 “ Nor with all the laws of Nature as they affect the mind’s influence on the body? ” “ I am not a psychologist.” “ Then how are you able to state that these miraculous cures were not the effect of the operation of natural laws with which you are not familiar? May I illustrate what I mean? You have recently invented the radio. If you had seen it in operation without first having heard of it, would you have called it a miracle? ” “ Very possibly I would,” answered the Priest. “ And yet it is simply the application of one or two of Nature’s laws. Perhaps you do not fully understand its working to-day, but you accept the statement of others that the laws by which it works are natural laws. Why? ” “ Because,” said the Modernist, “ We know the scientists have discovered many heretofore unknown laws, and are applying them and producing these marvellous results.” “ It is less difficult for your mind to believe these scientists than to consider the radio a miracle operating in defiance of Nature’s laws? ” “ Yes, that is so.” “ Then why is it not more reasonable,” said the Martian, turning to the Priest, “ for you to believe that the cure of these people is due to natural laws of which you might be unaware than to believe that an all-wise being changes his perfect laws for the purpose of curing a disease which is itself the result of the operation of those laws? ” “ Well, I know,” said the Fundamentalist, “ that if my son were suffering I would relieve his pain if I had the power. Isn’t it reasonable to suppose that a Father infinitely more loving and powerful than I would do the same if in His wisdom He thought it best? ” Page 24 “ Nevertheless,” replied the Martian, “ if you had already provided for the best interests of your son, although it included the infliction of some suffering, would his prayers for relief cause you to act contrary to what you had already decided? ” “ Certainly not.” “ Then do you think there would be any use for your son to make such a request? ” “ We are taught: ‘ Ask and it shall be given to you’ ! ” “ But are you not voicing a lack of confidence in God’s wisdom and benevolence each time you pray to him to change his mind, in effect presumptuously saying to him, an all-wise father who has in his wisdom inflicted the suffering upon you: ‘ I think you are making a mistake’; are you not, in fact, actually insulting him by doubting his wisdom and his benevolence? ” Chapter IV The Martian Inquires As To SIN Chapter II The Martian Inquires As To GOD Home: Chapter I The Martian Visits The Earth

A MARTIAN EXAMINES CHRISTIANITY by Arthur Levett, Page 18

Chapter III
The Martian Inquires As To PRAYER
“ You say you pray to him? ” asked the Martian. “ By that I assume you ask him to grant your requests for something that might otherwise not occur? ”
“ Yes,” answered the Fundamentalist. “ We are told that if we have sufficient faith He will answer our prayers.”
“ But,” replied the Martian, “ You tell me God possesses infinite wisdom and knowledge. May I ask why you pray to him if all things are governed by his infinite wisdom? ”
“ You believe,” remarked the Modernist, “ That no prayer can be granted? ”
“ An all-powerful being such as has been described could undoubtedly vary or interrupt his own laws in order to grant a prayer,” answered the Martian, “ but I do not understand how, if those laws were established in the first instance by one perfect in his wisdom, such a being could break or change them without being unwise.”
“ Let me say,” said the Modernist, “ that formerly it was believed that God suspended His laws from time to time, permitting the accomplishment of what we called miracles. That idea was erroneous, and it is now generally accepted that the laws of nature were established by God in the beginning and are unchangeable, and that nothing has ever occurred contrary to these laws.”
“ I take exception to that statement,” said the Fundamentalist. “ God has performed miracles, and still performs them.”

Page 19
He turned to the Modernist: “ You pray to Him yourself, and if you don’t believe your prayers will be answered why do you pray? ”
“ We offer prayers of praise and thankfulness; we ask guidance and protection from harm; but we do not ask for the performance of miracles nor a change in His established laws.”
“ You accept the evidence of the immutability of his laws? ” asked the Martian.
“ Naturally.”
“ You assume, however, that as a being of infinite wisdom and understanding he is pleased with praise and adulation? ”
“ Why no! But the soul can rise to its highest ideals through communion with the All-Pervading Spirit that is God.”
“ And you achieve this communion by addressing him with prayers of praise and thankfulness. You must, of course, assume he listens and hears you. Or do you sometimes yourself doubt if this All-Pervading Spirit, this Supreme Energy, this Power Beyond Authority, this Inconceivable Conception, this Ideal Realizing Capacity, hears you, appreciates your prayers of praise and gratitude, and directs the universe to your advantage? ”
“ We Modernists believe, as I have said, that the Supreme Intelligence created the universe and guides it through established laws, by which all things now existent, including man, were evolved to their present condition; that evolution is still at work and will always be at work until the final purpose is achieved. We do not ask for a change in these laws in order that a prayer may be granted, nor do we any longer endeavour to propitiate Him in order to obtain better treatment than He accords others either in this world or the next.”

Page 20
“ We have never claimed,” interjected the Priest, “ that His laws were changeable, but we do believe that God is not bound by those laws and therefore was and is able to perform miracles apparently contrary to these laws, and does so.”
“ And why should not that be true? ” added the Fundamentalist. “ If God is all-powerful He certainly can perform miracles, and if He can perform them why should we not believe they are performed? ”
“ I cannot quite follow you,” said the Martian. “ We on Mars, through centuries of thought and research, have come to the conclusion that all Nature is governed by laws which are immutable.”
“ Our view.” said the Modernist.
“ May I ask you then, replied the Martian, ” as you so believe, what do you conceive God had been doing since he first established those laws? Being omniscient, he must have forseen in the beginning the result of their operation to the smallest detail throughout eternity, and must have known that all would proceen as he planned.”
The Modernist made no answer.
“ He is concerned with the smallest thing that happens,” said the Priest. “ The very hairs of your head are numbered.”
“ And not a sparrow falls without the knowledge of the Heavenly Father,” added the Fundamentalist.
“ But,” pursued the Martian, “ did not God prescribe in the beginning just how many hairs would cover your head, and the exact time and place that the sparrow would fall? Will you therefore explain to me why, after the establishment of perfect laws whose prescribed effects were bound to be in accordance with his divine plan, there was need for him to continue to exist? ”

Page 21
“ God reigns in Heaven and rules the universe. He guides the stars and the planets in their courses. He constantly watches over us, and is always ready to listen to our prayers and grant them when in His wisdom He believes they should be granted,” answered the Fundamentalist.
“ Have you considered,” asked the Martian, “ the effect of the granting of a prayer? By way of example, suppose that a young married man, through natural causes, sickened and died; that his widow remarried and bore children; that the descendants of these children numbered amongst them scientists, inventors, and philanthropists who greatly advanced the world and the cause of civilization. All this must have been prescribed and forseen by omniscient God. Now let us assume that because of a prayer granted by God the natural course of things were altered, that the dying man recovered; that after his recovery he begot children. In the course of time the descendants of these children would number thousands, not one of whom would ever have been born had not the prayer been granted. Assume that one of these descendants was a powerful monster whose crimes caused untold misery and suffering to hundreds of thousands of innocent people.”
“ Like Nero, for example,” suggested the Modernist.
“ I do not know of your Nero,” said the Martian, “ but you will note that this monster would be the indirect result of a granted prayer. Now I would like to inquire whom in such a case you would consider responsible - the man who by his prayer induced God to produce this monster or God himself? ”
“ God would not grant such a prayer,” said the Fundamentalist, “ because He would know it would be unwise to do so. He would know what was best.”

Page 22
“ Then you mean to imply,” asked the Martian, “ that whenever he does grant a prayer he does so because, after hearing the prayer, he comes to the conclusion that his original plan was unwise? ”
“ The basic assumption is absurd,” said the Modernist. “ His laws are immutable and must operate in an orderly manner. The appearance of such a monster ensues through the laws of cause and effect.”
“ That is my view,” said the Martian, “ and it would follow, would it not, that God, if he granted a single prayer, would have to reconstruct his entire scheme for the future of your world and to map out a course not contemplated in the original plan? Conceive of all the changes to be adjusted throughout eternity, for I confess myself unable to imagine such a thing as a merely temporary effect of a single interruption of the laws of Nature.”
“ God is the cause of miracles because He performs them and He does answer our prayers,” said the Fundamentalist.
“ May I ask, did any one of you ever know of an answer to a prayer? ” inquired the Martian.
“ Many times,” said the Priest. “ I have observed many miraculous cures in answer to prayer. I have seen the lame throw away their crutches and walk unaided, the sick rise from their beds and recover health.”
“ And are you sure that their recovery was not in accordance with natural laws? ” asked the Martian.
“ Yes, I am sure of it,” replied the Priest. “ You yourself have spoken of cause and effect. These men were sick; doctors had been unable to cure them, and yet when a prayer was offered they recovered. Was not the prayer answered? ”
“ You are not familiar with all the laws of Nature, I presume? ” asked the Martian.
“ No, I am not.”

Page 23
“ Nor with all the laws of Nature as they affect the mind’s influence on the body? ”
“ I am not a psychologist.”
“ Then how are you able to state that these miraculous cures were not the effect of the operation of natural laws with which you are not familiar? May I illustrate what I mean? You have recently invented the radio. If you had seen it in operation without first having heard of it, would you have called it a miracle? ”
“ Very possibly I would,” answered the Priest.
“ And yet it is simply the application of one or two of Nature’s laws. Perhaps you do not fully understand its working to-day, but you accept the statement of others that the laws by which it works are natural laws. Why? ”
“ Because,” said the Modernist, “ We know the scientists have discovered many heretofore unknown laws, and are applying them and producing these marvellous results.”
“ It is less difficult for your mind to believe these scientists than to consider the radio a miracle operating in defiance of Nature’s laws? ”
“ Yes, that is so.”
“ Then why is it not more reasonable,” said the Martian, turning to the Priest, “ for you to believe that the cure of these people is due to natural laws of which you might be unaware than to believe that an all-wise being changes his perfect laws for the purpose of curing a disease which is itself the result of the operation of those laws? ”
“ Well, I know,” said the Fundamentalist, “ that if my son were suffering I would relieve his pain if I had the power. Isn’t it reasonable to suppose that a Father infinitely more loving and powerful than I would do the same if in His wisdom He thought it best? ”

Page 24
“ Nevertheless,” replied the Martian, “ if you had already provided for the best interests of your son, although it included the infliction of some suffering, would his prayers for relief cause you to act contrary to what you had already decided? ”
“ Certainly not.”
“ Then do you think there would be any use for your son to make such a request? ”
“ We are taught: ‘ Ask and it shall be given to you’ ! ”
“ But are you not voicing a lack of confidence in God’s wisdom and benevolence each time you pray to him to change his mind, in effect presumptuously saying to him, an all-wise father who has in his wisdom inflicted the suffering upon you: ‘ I think you are making a mistake’; are you not, in fact, actually insulting him by doubting his wisdom and his benevolence? ”

Chapter IV The Martian Inquires As To SIN

Chapter II The Martian Inquires As To GOD

Home: Chapter I The Martian Visits The Earth