Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 80:320 (Oct 1923)
Article: Scientific Infallibility
Author: B. J. Stafford

BSac 80:320 (Oct 1923) p. 495

Scientific Infallibility1

B. J. Stafford

When the invitation came to speak before The Technology Club I was delighted. The reason is plain. The world over, scientific people have the same mentality, and when they foregather, the spirit of intellectual congeniality is present.

Mentality of any kind originates in the acceptance of some moral or intellectual position. To it the mind is anchored, and from it as a central ganglion, thought and feeling function in doing work. Peoples as well as individuals have their mentalities. That of the Attic Greek is clearly seen in the beautiful art of his loved Athens. It is also uncovered by the persistent use made of his keen and abundant mental machinery in attempting to arrive at the satisfactory meaning of life. The Roman had his mentality which is best seen in stating his leading characteristics. He was severe and strong, well-disciplined and trustworthy as far as his own interests were concerned. He was self-confident, and self-righteous, and accordingly was never troubled over moral issues. He lacked seriously in artistic and moral imagination. He was a heavy feeder and a lover of gladiatorial contests. His mentality was given expression in an uninspiring and massive architecture, in his logical but cold literature, and was the main compulsion of his greedy and merciless state policy of world conquest. The ponderous German mentality is stamped on Berlin. That of the French is best seen in the delicate but strong lines of his filigree art and literature. The mentality of the Turk is in abundant evidence in the shiftless and incapable native life¹ of Constantinople. The sullen spirit that pervades Peking is the direct output of the Chinaman’s religious mentality. He never removes his stare from the darkness shrouding his ancestors. The light of the new day strikes him on

BSac 80:320 (Oct 1923) p. 496

the back, and not in the face as with us Westerners. His pose is abnormal, and therefore he sours.

The scientific mentality originates in Law, and draws from it constant nourishment for enlargement. Law is the way Almighty God does things, and because things are being done everywhere, its realm is the universe and its reign is as extensive. There is no method of escape from either. Pruning Burke’s definition of involved phrases, the essential truth remains that all are born in subjection to immutable and persistent Law. It is prior to all our desires and is above all our contrivances. It is antecedent to our existence and will be here when we have passed away. Men, in politics and religion, make with much dignity compacts and conventions; any one and all have sanction and force as they are rooted in Law...