ible, not even excepting
evil. And this, let it be observed, Dr. Mansel has the hardihood to
affirm. "If the Absolute and the Infinite is an object of human
conception at all, this, and none other, is the conception
required."[324] "The Infinite Whole," as thus defined, can not be
thought, and therefore it is argued the Infinite God can not be known.
Such a doctrine shocks our moral sense, and we shrink from the thought
of an Infinite which includes evil. There is certainly a moral
impropriety, if not a logical impossibility, in such a conception of
God.

[Footnote 322: Hamilton's "Lectures on Metaphysics," Appendix, vol. ii.
p. 531.]

[Footnote 323: "Limits of Religious Thought," p. 76.]

[Footnote 324: Ibid.]

The fallacy of this reasoning consists in confounding a _supposed_
Quantitative Infinite with _the_ Qualitative Infinite--the totality of
existence with the infinitely perfect One. "Qualitative infinity is a
secondary predicate; that is, the attribute of an attribute, and is
expressed by the adverb _infinitely_ rather than the adjective
_infinite_. For instance, it is a strict use of language to say, that
space is infinite, but it is an elliptical use of language to say, God
is infinite. Precision of language would require us to say, God is
infinitely good, wise, and great; or God is good, and his goodness is
infinite. The distinction may seem trivial, but it is based upon an
important difference between the infinity of space and time on the one
hand, and the infinity of God on the other. Neither philosophy nor
theology can afford to disregard the difference. Quantitative Infinity
is illimitation by _quantity_. Qualitative Infinity is illimitation by
_degree_. Quantity and degree alike imply finitude, and are categories
of the finite alone. The danger of arguing from the former kind of
infinitude to the latter can not be overstated. God alone possesses
Qualitative Infinity, which is strictly synonymous with _absolute
perfection_; and the neglect of the distinction between this and
Quantitative Infinity, leads irresistibly to pantheistic and
materialistic notions. Spinozism is possible only by the elevation of
'infinite extension' to the dignity of a divine attribute. Dr. Samuel
Clarke's identification of God's immensity with space has been shown by
Martin to ultimate in Pantheism. From ratiocinations concerning the
incomprehensibility of infinite space and time, Hamilton and Mansel pass
at once to conclusi