ABSTRACT
Arthur Balfour was so devoted to his philosophical, theological, and scientific research that it often took precedence over his work as a statesman. Today, historians primarily remember Balfour in connection with tariff policy, Ireland, imperial policy, and the Balfour Declaration, but his contemporaries saw him as a notable Theist who sought to reconcile science and religion through philosophical skepticism. Although for Balfour neither authority nor reason provided an infallible noetic foundation, authority supported a belief system better than reason. Balfour’s entire philosophical and theological career was dominated by the attempt to reconcile seeming opposites, especially religion and science. Balfour’s primary strategy for alleviating tension between antagonistic ideas or groups was to minimize differences and emphasize common ground. Thus, Balfour’s thinking focused on theism—as opposed to revealed Christianity— based on a “common-sense” natural religion that he believed was accessible to all reasonable men.
