THAT a very great change is taking place in the thought of mankind respecting God's relation to the world about us, is indicated by the fact that whereas fifty years ago the dominant word in theological writings regarding the matter was sovereignty, today the dominant word is immanence. The mechanical concept and explanation of the universe, in which the creator is thought of as simply the supreme ruler whose will is law, has very naturally found its parallel, and in large part its explanation, in the controlling lordship which men, and especially kings, have exercised over the things which they have instituted or made, and this point of view was given distinction for long years by the fact that Paley built his famous and impressive argument for design upon it.
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