The very terms of the assertion are as _yet_ an enigma in language, the fact is _yet_ a problem in philosophy; the world possesses _as yet_ no adequate logic for that province of our speculation which lies beyond our immediate experience."[262] "Man must die to solve the problem of Deity's existence."[263] "The existence of God is a problem to which the mathematics of human intelligence _seems to me_ to furnish no solution,"[264] "a problem without a solution, a hieroglyphic without an interpretation, a gordian knot still untied, a question unanswered, a thread still unravelled, a labyrinth untrod."[265] That there is here a strong expression of Skeptical Atheism is evident; but is there not something more?
Does not Skeptical Atheism insensibly transform itself into Dogmatic, when doubt respecting the sufficiency of the evidence is combined with a denial of the possibility of any satisfactory proof, or of the capacity of the human mind to reach it, here or hereafter?
Yet the plea is the want of sufficient evidence now; and this plea is urged in connection with the admission that "the power of reason is yet a growth," and that although "it has not yet attained to evidence of Supernatural Being," the denial of it "would imply infinite knowledge as the ground of disproof." Mr.Holyoake does not deny that there _may be_ a God, distinct from Nature and superior to it; but he denies, first of all, the sufficiency of the evidence to which we appeal, embracing here that form of Atheism which is merely skeptical; and he denies, secondly, the possibility of any sufficient proof, for "no imaginable order would be sufficient," and the whole "subject exceeds human comprehension," embracing, in this instance, that form of Atheism which is strictly dogmatic, if not in affirming that there is no God, yet in affirming that it is impossible He can ever be known to exist.

What then becomes of his cautious limitations,--"The fact is _yet_ a problem in philosophy."-- "The world possesses as _yet_ no adequate logic for that province of speculation"-- "Men must die to solve the problem of Deity's existence ?" Is it still a problem, and one, too, which may after all be solved, and solved even in the affirmative?
If it be, why may it not be solved before death?
or what _other_ evidence will there be after death?
And as to the plea of insufficient evidence, what is its precise meaning?
Does it mean merely that it has hitherto failed to convince himself and his associates?
If so, how can he tell that it may not yet flash upon him with irresistible power, and that he too, like his former associate, Mr.Knight, may be able to say, "By the blessing of God, the exercise of those mental powers which He has bestowed upon me has led me to the conclusion that He exists.

There is a God."[266] If it means more than this, will he say that it is insufficient for others as well as for him?
But why, if others believe on the ground of that evidence, and if, according to his favorite theory, belief is _the inevitable_ result of evidence?
Is his belief, or theirs, the measure of truth?
Does he not know that multitudes have passed through the same dreary shade of unbelief in which he is still involved, and have afterwards emerged into the clear light of faith, discovering what they now wonder they had overlooked before, and saying with heartfelt humility and gratitude, "One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see" ?[267] But what has their belief, or his unbelief, to do with the great, the momentous fact?
The truth, whatever it be, is independent of both: and it is the _truth_, and not our apprehensions of it, it is the _evidence_, and not our belief or doubt, that is the subject of inquiry.

Will it be affirmed, then, either that the supposed existence of God is intrinsically incredible, and as such incapable of proof, or that the evidence is insufficient, in the sense of being illogical and inconclusive?
This is the ultimate ground of atheistic unbelief, and here the Skeptical unites and blends with the Dogmatic form of Infidelity.
But when driven to this last resort, and before taking up the position which it is concerned to defend, Secularism puts forth certain preliminary pleas, partly in the way of self-defence, and partly with the view of exciting prejudice against the cause of Theism.[268] "I make no pretence," says Mr.Holyoake, "to account for everything.

I do not pretend to account for what I find in Nature.