Newspaper Page Text
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS SATURDAY, MAY 11, 1907.
5
A RELIGION FOR TODAY
By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD,
Pastor Universalist Church
.lIHlmMinttHHIIMUIIIIMN UttUIHUMM • • • |,
O NE of tho evils of tho common
and quite too widespread con
ception of religion Is that It
tends to distinguish and differentiate
between tho nominally religious Ufa
and the life of simple, unaffected right
eousness.
Thu moral damage of this distorted
Idea can scarcely bo overestimated.
Beeauso of It millions of truly spirit
ual. genuinely religious men and wom
en lose tho certain help of compan
ionship and deny to the world the
power of their personal co-operation
with tho men and women of the church
In practical work for social redemp
tion.
Ono of the greatest stumbling blocks
In the pathway of social, economic and
religious freedom Is that too many of
the natural leaders of their fellows,
men otherwise reasonably Intelligent
and thoughtful, persist In Identifying,
and thus in confusing, religion and
theology. These two avenues of hu
man thought, emotion and service are
allied, but by no means Identical. Re
ligion, cither consciously or uncon
sciously, always has Its foundation In
theology, but there are certain theolo
gies whose full development and faith
ful following leads the devotee widely
apart from actual religion, as we And
that force defined by one of the great
Christian writers in the New Testa-
menu
Religion may well be considered to
be the personal practice of the pres
ence of Ood In the human soul, while
theology. In these bitter days of In
creasing freedom and fluidity o
thought, may well be deflned as "what
a >nan thinks he thinks about Ood."
Ono of the most readily recognisable
differences between religion and theol
ogy Is this: A man's private religion
Is always made abundantly apparent
In his public practice. His actual con
sciousness of the presence of Ood Is
' evidenced by his conduct among and
toward his fellows. Genuine religion,
therefore, neither requires nor seeks
subterfuges or deceptions. Theology,
on the contrary. Is not so marked by
frankness and cardor and bravery.
Very many of the world's modern the
ologians have one theology for the pul
pit and another, and quite a different
one. for the Intimacies of the study,
or the secret recesses of the mind. They
seem to be burdened by the conviction
that It Is not safe or expedient that
thoso who look to them for spiritual
Instruction and counsel should be made
acquainted wltlf the things they "think
they think about God."
Theology has ever proven a pleasant
postlmo for the speculative part of tho
human consciousness, and In so far
as It has Innocently nnd harmlessly
fulfilled this mission It has occupied Its
proper place In the great scheme of
the gradual unfolding and develop
ment of tho human Intellect. But. In
shame and In sadness, must the con
fession be made that theology's hands
have not always been free from the
REV. E. D. ELLENWOOD,
stain of blood. The so-called “re
ligious'' wars occupy the most horrible
and the moat sanguinary pages of hu
man history. But religion has always
been entirely Innocent of these mighty
conflict. of blind and stupid bigotry
agnlnst venerated and plausible super
stition. It Is not religion, but rather
theology, which causes men to kill and
malm und shockingly misuse eaqh oth
er, merely because they dlfTer slightly
concerning speculations which can
never be proven or assured this side
the “great awakening." And It Is the
ology and not religion which makes
men today forget the real object of the
religious life and continue to abuse
each other with the subtle cruelties of
an age of greater refinement
A thoughtful and vigorous writer,
laboring under the popular delusion
concerning the Identity of religion and
theology, brings this sweeping and se
rious charge against that which he
terms religion: "Religion takes away
our attention from earth, something
which should never be done until every
man. woman and child has enough
bread to eat enough clothes to wear,
a home In which to lay their heads and
Just a little time to love, laugh and
loaf.''
And In so far as religion has becomo
contaminated by theology does sho
stand convicted of this charge, the
charge of “wasting her substance In
the riotous living" of the eagerly spec
ulative mind.
Doubtless speculation and conjecture
regarding the future state are Inher
ent In the human soul. Man feels
himself to be Immortal, and because
this Is so he can not refrain his Imag
ination from painting Its Idyllic pic
tures of the Ilfo of which ho believes
himself to be an heir. This hope and
Arm belief In the unending life Is one
of man's most valuablo assets, and
must never be neglected, but it must
not be allowed to embody tho whole of
tho religious Ufe. Tho great npostlo
and preacher of Christ declared that
“If In this Ilfo only wo have hope In
ChrlsL then are we of all men most
miserable." And whenever life's olden
history of grief and bereavement re
peats Itself upon our personal pages,
and we aro called upon to stand beside
"those low greeh tents, whose doors
swing not open, outward," where Anal
ly bivouac those whom wo havo "loved
and lost, awhile,” wc aro cheered and
comfurli'il t.i lind within our hearts Liu-
echo of this beloved writer's splendid
resurrection faith; but, as 1 have read
again nnd ngntn. this familiar Scrip
ture passage, I am always Increasingly
thankful for the spirit within him
which prompted that small but momen-
tool word, “only."
Hero Is. too often, tho grlovously
neglected emphasis of tho great Chris-,
tian church. Either by apathy or by
proclamation, tho church* has allowed
herself to come to a point where, la the
consideration of an alarmingly Increas
ing number of serious, sober sod sub
stantial-minded men null women sho
Is regarded as a sort of safe haven for
the sanctified, a select clrdo of pre
ferred saints furnishing free passport
to realms of eternal bliss, or an amal
gamated association of Are Insurance
underwriters* w
I And It Impossible to believe that
Jesus Christ over intended that the
great organization which should spring
up and call Itself after His name should
become so engrossed In tho specula
tions of theology os to allow religion to
die In the hearts of men. I can not
conceive of Jesus Christ os having
any Intimate interest In any “plan or
salvation," not designed, flrst of all, to
save nun and women from fin nnd
sickness and tho wretchedness of pun
ishment. In the life of breath nnd
speech and feeling In. tho today. I
con not think of any other emotion
than that of sorrow and disappointment
ns having rcsldcnco In the heart of tho
great Master, upon the discovery that
thoso who profess to bo His followers
have nil too often utterly forgotten HU
teachings In their violent squabbling
over their differences of opinion con
cerning HU nature and HU origin.
Tho reason for tho Christum church's
persUteht prostitution of her splendid
opportunity Is not so far to seek.
Christ's message to the world must
como through men and women, nnd,
unfortunately, although many of thoso
men, and occasionally one of those
women, may receive from their fcUows
tho label which announces that they
are "Doctors of Divinity,", yot the di
vinity, which each oae has within him
to some extent, no doubt, has not en
tirely eliminated the indqtence and
cowardice which, like hidden demons,
lurk In every man's heart. All this I
say, fully realising that 1 shall proba
bly bo misunderstood, and consequent
ly misquoted, and only asking that
those who are pleased to sit In Judg
ment upon my utterances shall be wlso
enough to bear In mind that The At
lanta Georgtnn Is In no wise responsi
ble for my heresies.
Preachers are Just ordinary human
beings, after all, even though there are,
unfortunately, a good many senti
mental, hysterical women who try to
mako deml-gods out of them. And the
preacher, being human. Is quite a(t to
taka his preaching Just • os easily rs
posslblo, to allow his messages to tho
pooplo whom ho Is supposed to try to
lead, to "taka tho lino of least resis
tance." Now, If Is certainly much
easier, and decidedly safer, for tho
preacher to discuss before an enrap
tured congregation the dimensions and
quality of the paving of tbe New Je
rusalem than It Is for him to discover
and to reveal to them the cause and
the method of cure for any one of tho
municipal plague spots which are n
continual stench In the moral nostrils
of the community In which ho lives,
and to which he must look for support.
It Is certainly much easier and It Is de.
ctdcdly safer for the preacher to spin
yarns about hell. In the abstract than
It Is for Mm to make Ids hearers ac
quainted with some of the local evi
dences of Its existence, nnd to mention,
for their odMention, tho particular devils
In charge of these particular hells.
Paradoxical as It may seem. It Is gen
erally easier for tho preacher to talk
about that concerning which absolute
knowledge Is Impossible than It-is to
prepare himself to speak Intelligently
upon a subject which Is knownble, nnd
whoso increased knowledge Is aBso-
lutely Imperative to the safsty and
progress of tho race. It Is always per- .
fectly safo for tho preacher to talk
about heaven and hell, provided he la
always so careful as never to localize
his remarks. But, when he attempts to
show his hearers hour It Is posslblo for
them to begin the answer to tin- ag«
long prayer of Christendom, "thy king
dom come, thy will bo dono on earth as
It U In heaven." then It Is that ha dis
covers that ho Is treading upon very
dangerous ground.
Tho very essence of tho religious Ilfo
Is unselfishness, and unselAshnoss has
tho Aold of Its operation In tho life that
now Is. \Vhon actunl religion takes
hold of a man or a woman, that Indi
vidual becomes so engrossed In tho
great work of “visiting the widows and
tho fatherless In their affliction” that it
is no longer a difficult task to “keep
himself unspotted from the world," nor
has he any longer tho time to give to a
consideration of any hypothetical “plan
of salvation."
YES, MA’AM—NO, SIR!
a grrraborn by t!
rosy lie Insisting
the f.imlly seyft
By IRENE GARDNER.
People are beginning to realise that there
should not bo one form of courtesy for
children nnd another for adults.'
Most of us when we were young were
taught to aay "no, ma'am," and "no, air,"
to our elders, bnt as soon ss we grew up
we dropped tho form of reply ns lielug
k'rEeyneug'man who wants to make (prod
with Ids bast gild's mother doesn t address
■■ •ina'am.” • If Im ilora ho I* Totnl
tbe who. however.
f j upon tni* small «*
ng "ma'am" to all the
women he’knows. . , .
and natty, hut, anraly. this form of ad
dress Is lieing eliminated from tho child r
vocabulary. It's a good thing, kor ea
any ono giro a good reason why a ehlld
should be ungbt a form of eourtrty which
Ifhe uses when he becomes older pals
Mm In the attitude of ose who bean t teen
* imncfne*!’young man at a dinner party
addressing his hostess as Ms sin. The
other sweats would also him up as
TEL HosbSs|ssks: "n»TU you see
aew play this week, Mr. blank?
young Mr. Illank answers:
“No, ma'am. 1 haven't been to a theater
for a month.'* „
m% KSS &5? roar 2S&
Eire she returned homer and tho answer
"SfS. ma'am, 1 bad a letter thin morn-
’'l't would never do, soma klad friend
wwuSre to tell theVoong man thjttpeo-
pie are not to bo ao addressed in polite so-
But tho correction should hivegooe for-
thor back. Jto^sboold have been toogbt
tho child's conversation In school. Tho
dlseiuudon baa railed forts both protest and
condemnation. Home parents say they are
glad, beeauso for a long time they have not
Ono parent said that ho was going bo-
fore the school board with tho matter, for
he saw nn alarming sign In their abandon
ment of tbs old form of address. “I shall
try to correct this evil." said ha poattleaty.
Now. I'd Ilka to koow If that man always
says "yeii. ma'am." to Ids mother In-law.
If ho doesn't, then what rixht has be gut bi
Insist upon Ms own boy saying "Yes,
ma'am" end "ho, sir?"
There -cannot l>o one form of courtesy
for tbs young and another fur the old.
&srj5r?
other* does not depend upon OCT form of|
sm‘£."558
mother," or Just plain "no" caa bo made
*■»,r
given forth <h- vcr-li-l Cist "m, 1
"sir" aro to bo hereafter eliminated from
WE LEAD
Others folloar. That others Imitate our hsbtts shows
that our policy Is sound.
“Asconite”
Stands for quality and quality saves money. Vso AS
CONITE QUARTZ or GRAVEL ROOFING and your In
vestment Is secure. "You esn put It on."
ATLANTA SUPPLY CO.,
MANUFACTURERS,
29-31 8outh Forsyth Street, Atlanta, Ga.
J. C. GretnAeld, Pres. C. A. Pack, See.
ecured
Money Back
POSITIONS £
Contract given, backed by 3300,000.00 capital and IS years* success
DRAUGHON’S PRACTICAL ^ COLLEGES
28 Colleges In IS States. Indorsed by business men. No vacation
Law, Letter Writing, EnglUb. Drawlog, U-| or call on or sttdrras Usosgrr Draugboo'a
rating, etc. Money back If not satlflled I Practical Business College:
ATLANTA, 13 Peachtree, Piedmont Hotel Block; or Jscksoorillo or Montgomery, atrocious accounts.
•••••••••!
CURIOUS QUESTIONS. I
Msi
By PROF. EDGAR L. LARKIN
“Why do wo shsko hands when
friends moot, or strangers art intro
duced?"—P. A., Duluth, Minn.
A.—They hod to 100,000 years ago or
more, to show that they were not arm
ed. Two savages from two different
tribes or clans meeting aqywhcre hud
to offer their bore hands to each other
to show good wilL If they refused It
was tight. If one offered his hand and
the other refused to “shako" ho could
at once be killed according to "law."
the. presumption being that he was a
deadly enemy. ,
“Why do men grind and grit their
teeth when filled with rage and uncon
trollable anger?"—P. R.
A.—This disgusting habit—I havo
seen strong men do It here In this ob
servatory when the insurance thieves
in New Turk were exposed—is a lineal
descent from the time when men
fought with teeth, hands and nails, be.
fore they Invented tho use of clubs, or
clubs were at hand.
"Will wsr over end?”—R. A. 8.
A.—This I ran not answer. Not for a
long time at least Each “civilised"
nation will not rest until It engages in
colossal war merely to see how quickly
dynamlla and lyddite ran destroy a
great city. Tho Inborn killing Instinct
was never stronger than It is now In
any period mentioned by authentic his-
if-
"Why do the people talk war? It is
always heard of in hotels, trains and
on thb streets.”—P. R., Sants Barbara*
Cal., And others.
A.—This modern talk Is based on the
deep-seated law of Influence, now com-
Vnonly catted "Suggestion." Tire erase
for battleships suggests tight leg Mon
uments to bloody kings and generals
are an awful source of “light sugges
tions” evor before the youths of the
country. The shooting of deer ami
other loving animals by the emperor of
Germany acts like a dreadful curse
upon the minds of those who read the