THEISTIC CHURCH, THE. A Church and Congre gation established by Charles Voysey (b. 1828): Voysey was at first a clergyman of the Church of England. He was curate of St. Mark's, Whitechape], London, but had to give up his curacy after a few years on account of a sermon which he preached against endless punishment. In 1864 he became Vicar of Healaugh in Yorkshire, but he did not become more orthodox. The extreme orthodox party at length moved the Archbishop of York to take legal proceedings against him. The case was finally taken to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Voysey was deprived of his living and ordered to pay costs. Since 1885 his Services were held in Swallow Street, Piccadilly, London. He has explained his religion in a number of books and in a great many sermons. In three sermons on " Objections to Theism " will be found a summarized statement. " The Theistic view," he says, " begins with a refusal to discuss the mystery of the mode of God's existence and of the mode of His relation to the cosmos. Theism also repudiates the idea of God's omnipotence when the term is used to cover impossibilities or absurdities. All that Theism affirms of God's power is that He is perfectly able to carry out His purposes and can never suffer final obstruction or defeat. And because this cannot be proved it is wholly a matter of belief, but a belief which is entirely rational, based upon overwhelming probability and upon induction so large and comprehensive as almost to amount to cer tainty." Only One Being is the Author of all the order, beauty, and progress of the cosmos. " Theism does not concern itself with the problem of the origin of matter or whether it be self-existent. Theism is satisfied with the abundant proofs of the superiority of mind over matter and with the obvious fact that matter is controlled and regulated by mind." From the higher faculties of human nature, Theism infers the nature of the faculties of the Author of those faculties. " Man knows that before all things the order of the world ought to be right, and that conviction he gained solely from God who gave him a conscience and made him a moral being. This
enables Theism to affirm as a matter of certainty that the purposes of God are good and only good, in the best sense of producing true and lasting welfare." This of course is nothing more than an inference. It is wholly a matter of faith, but it is a most reasonable faith. Again, the conviction that God is able and willing " to accomplish His good purposes down to the very last and smallest detail " is an inference from tokens around and within us. Man is not constructed to be a blind wor shipper of sheer Power and even sheer Intellect. " There must be something more to excite his reverence and to win his homage. So Theism seeks some moral ground as a basis for belief in the adequate power of God to carry out His good purposes. And here it lies all ready in the human heart. It would be against reason, against conscience and against love for any Being to dare to create a single sentient being only for fruitless suffering and annihilation, still worse to create for endless degra dation and torment." But all these considerations involve the existence of the two worlds—the material and the spiritual. " If either be denied it disqualifies the denier from accepting the proofs. If there be nothing more than the body, the whole of religion and morality too tumbles down like a house of cards. Granting now the goodness of God's purposes and His certain ability to carry them out; in this life we cannot see the final issue.
We can only believe in it and hope for it. But our faith and hope are enormously increased by analysing the processes which are already going on before our very eyes wherein the good purposes of God are being wrought. Even here and now we can see what steps are being taken by the Great Ruler of our lives and destiny to promote our highest welfare." If the process is slow. it is sure and is " gradually mending the life that now is and giving promise of the life that is to come." See Charles Voysey, Objections to Theism, 1905; Religion for all Man kind, 1903.