George Horton Tilden an Ernst Haeckel, Paris 27. April 1907
PARIS
26 Rue Guillaume Tell
April 27th 1907
Dear Sir
I have just read with much interest and entire assent your „Riddle of the Universe“. I have lived some years in the far East and ran across a popular saying the Chinese which has always seemed to me to express in the best way the nature of God who is in reality subjective and not objective. This saying is “If you believe that there is a God, there is one; if you do not believe that there is || a God there is no God.”
I was brought up in a very „High Church“ school in the United States. The boys who were educated at this school became invariably bigoted & dogmatic Christians or else unbelieving Agnostics and I who was born without any devotional attitude of mind naturally became one of the latter. A French writer whose name escapes me well illustrates the absurdity of the doctrine of the Trinity by making the Triune God say „Je faisons“ so & so. ||
And St. Augustine after writing 16 volumes on the mystery of the Trinity sums up by saying „Credo quia impossible, credo quia absurdum“
I have the honour to be
Your very obedient servant
G. H. Tilden