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INTO MARVELOUS LIQHT
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0 matter what the time for this evolu
tion may be named by anthropologists,
no contradiction is produced to the Bible
teaching that the first man, Adam, was
of the earth, earthly, placed in a fruit
ful garden, associated with animals, bur
with dominion over them; that God
breathed into him a living soul and
made him after .His own mage,
that as in Adam all die; so in Christ shall
all be made alive, and as we have borne the
image of the earthly, so also shall we bear the
image of the heavenly, and that the man of proph
ecy, as renewed after the image of Christ, the Lord
from heaven, shall yet inhabit the new heaven and
the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
And, again, in the conflicts between archaeologists
and the Bible, suppose we grant that the inspired
story of creation and of Eden may have some crude
counterparts in the corresponding myths and le
gends of Babel—is it quite inconceivable that both
have descended, the one in a pure and the other in a
corrupted form, from the same primeval revelation
in the dim period before the flood? Are not the
Hebrew scriptures one continual protest against the
religious errors of surrounding nations; and have
they not, at the same time, infinitely surpassed them
in the religious truths which they have unfolded?
More over it was distinctly taught that both Juda
ism and Christianity were destined to universal
prevalence, and Christ himself be revealed as the
desire of all nations. And, as Christianity, clad in
civilization, is now going forth among the religions
of the world reclaiming their truths and rejecting
their errors, she is simply fulfilling her mission as
the one absolute and universal religion—the faith
ful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
came into the world to save sinners. And upon the
basis of the radical school of the higher critics,Jet
"us assume, just for the moment, that the Biblical
stories of creation and paradise Jn their literary
form are allegorical and unhistorical; assume still
further that, in these respects, they bear some ex
ternal resemblance to the creation —myths and
paradise—legends of other Eastern peoples; prove
all this, if possible, and yet you will not have de
stroyed the incontestable fact that these ancient
writings contain an objective revelation from God
to man which is infinitely superior in kind and de
gree to any supposed revelations in any or all other
religions, ancient or modern; and which even as to
literary form surpasses any other books of the past
or present.”
“John, I frankly admit that you present your
side of the question in a very plausible manner.”
“All I ask in any discussion is fair play. Most
questions are viewed from a prejudiced standpoint
and discussed in that light; and most discussions
where science and religion seem to conflict, are
started with the mysteries of science alone, and
would result in as many conflicting opinions as if
religion had never heen brought into the question.
■Religion is brought into nlay as a scapegoat, again
T reneat. Take that which meets our eye everv dav.
seed is put into the soil, roots go down, a bud hursts
tip. some well known plant greets the eve, a flower
blooms and ripens into fruit. What human mind
knows anything of the force which gave life and
growth to that seed? The answer mav come. ‘A
certain law of nature brought about the results.’
What a scapegoat also is that expression, ‘law of
nature.’ It is a power that lies heyond the ken of
the human realm. To know that power would he
to know God. Tennyson in his exquisite lines to a
flower, said, ‘To know what von are, would be tn
know God.’ To be able to go beyond .the limits of
the human mind, one must put off this mortal coil
and nass over the gulf between us and God.
“No matter how great our determination. hmv
broad our study, we could not conceive of the possi
bility of putting the waters of the Atlantic into a
The Golden Age for August 23, 1906.
By LLEWELYN ST EP HENS.
cup, running the Hudson through a goose quill or
making of the stars in heaven a string of diamonds.
Even our imagination is limited. But God performs
the impossible (to man) every moment. We look
with wonder upon the inventions of the day, the use
to which Franklin’s bottled lightning has been put,
but even the greatest electrical genius admits that
he understands absolutely nothing of its source.
To know that source would be to know God. A man
gets up and walks. What power moves him? A
thought comes to his mind, a desire to move. The
power of that thought, like the electric current, is
transmitted to the otherwise motionless limbs, mere
blocks of wood as it were, and they move, according
to the dictates of that mind. Explain the connec
tion between that mind and those limbs. To be able
to do so would be to know God. Great ado is made
about the incomprehensibility of Christ having been
both man and God, both human and divine. Yet,
that is no more of a mystery than that of man’s
immortal soul being caged within a body of human
flesh. We look through a blurred glass at all
things, and as we see them, they look out of pro
portion. Where is the fault, in what we see, or
what we see through? All great things tower above
us. When we reach a height, it no longer seems
high. When we attain greatness, it no longer seems
great. We reverence only that which is above and
beyond us. God states truths to us. Because our
human eyes cannot see across His boundless horizon,
are we to doubt the existence of everything beyond
the ken of our human vision? Or should we bo dis
satisfied because God towers so far above us that
we are incapable of reaching the pinnacle upon
which He sits enthroned? Instead we should joy
ously exclaim, like the apostle, ‘O the joy of the
mysteries of the unsearchable riches that are in
Christ Jesus!’
“So, it seems to me, the mysterious heights, so
far off our eyes can catch but a faint gleam now and
then, should fill us with joy to know that such
heights, such beauty, such happiness, heyond our
capacity to even anticipate, lie in store for us when
we have been released from mortal confines, and in
spirit form wing our way across the bounds of the
human horizon into boundless day. where the sun
never sets, and where the light of His face unveils
all mysteries and we shall know as we are known.
“ ‘Acquaint thyself with God, if thou wouldst taste
His works. Admitted once to His embrace.
Thou shalt perceive that thou wast blind before:
Thine eyes shall he instructed: and thine heart
Made pure shall relish, with divine delight
Till then unfelt, what hands divine have wrought.’
“You almost persuade me to believe in the God
you present to me, John; but T cannot fully make
up my mind just yet.”
“After all that has been written from the begin
ning to the present time upon the wonderful dis
coveries in science outside of the Bihle, after man
kind has experimented with the redeeming power of
every other religion, after the changes which cen
tury upon century has made *n every man-made
creed and dogma. after the Adamic nature in the
first man of history has continued to descend upon
generation after generation, with no transforma
tion into a higher life through anv of these scien
tific discoveries or theories or nhilosonhies of men,
will you not frankly tell me, after looking into vonr
innermost soul for the unwritten revelation from
God. does the transformation of the teonl—"the
spirit, that which makes man man, that individual
you which can never die—depend upon whether you
believe that the universe was created in six days,
each measured from sunrise to sunset, or whether
the sun stood still according to Joshua’s command:
or Jonah was swallowed by the whale; or the chil
dren of Israel ■went across the sea on dry land; or
whether every human being was once drowned ex
cept Noah and his family or not; or whether yon
literally accept any of the other supposed incredible
records of Biblical history?”
“Candidly, my soul answers that it does not.”
“Nor does the transformation of your soul de
pend upon whether you attach your name to the
roll of some church—l say this reverently, for a
true church is the bride of Christ, and each true
member of this church is a member of the body of
Christ —or whether you proclaim this or that man
made creed, but it depends upon whether your soul
has been transformed by the indwelling of the
Spirit of God. Does not your inmost soul believe
this, Julian?”
‘ ‘ Yes. ’ ’
“Then upon this belief which you confess to me,
will you not publicly profess God as your Father,
Christ as your elder Brother and the Holy Spirit
as your guide in the great work which you contem
plate undertaking?”
“Not yet.”
“Do you think, by waiting, to discover some more
comprehensible manifestation of God than is re
corded in that Book of books, that Divine library,
the Bible? Do you think, by waiting, to find a
more personal God than was manifested in his Son,
Jesus Christ? Do you think, by waiting, to have
revealed to you, through some scientific discovery,
other and better means of redeeming fallen man
kind than through this God-man? Do you think
to erect some more lofty pinnacle from which to
proclaim your desire to uplift oppressed humanity,
be they Catholic, Protestant, Jew, or Gentile, Saxon
or Slav, black or white, bond or free, than the Cross
of Christ? Do you think, by waiting, that some
greater power may be sent to dwell within the souls
of men to convict them of sin unto repentance, to
give them birth to spiritual life through faith in
God, and, by His mighty power, to keep them unto
the end, through every temptation of Satan, than
that comforter who came after Christ had ascend
ed?”
“No! no! John, no!”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
“Well, to publicly announce my aceptance of the
Christian religion, as the basis of the work which I
intend to begin in uprooting Romanism, is so for
eign to any of the plans I had in mind, that I must
take time to measure well such a step before taking
it. Furthermore, for me to adopt the Christian re
ligion would so revolutionize my personal world, it
would present countless complications. And just to
be frank with you, John, I don’t see the necessity
of my publicly adopting any religion, just yet any
way.”
“Ah!” John almost gasped, with a feeling as if
every drop of blood in his heart were being drawn
at once. He arose to depart, knowing there was
nothing more for him to say. He left the rest with
God.
(Continued next week.)
Looks Dagoesque.
An exchange tells of a small boy who repeated
a stanza of a, well known classic at the school ex
hibition as follows:
“Liza Grapemen allry mindus
Weaken maka Liza Blyme,
Andy parting Lee B. Hindus
Foot Prince Jonny Sanza time.”
The other verses, which have not appeared here
tofore in print, were:
“Foot Prince Zatpa Hapzy Nut her
Travlin Noorlice rugged main,
Sumfer lawin’ shipwreck brother
Seein’ May take hearty gain.
Lifiz Reenl, Lifiz Earnest,
Andy gravy’s knotty gold—
Dust thou art too dusty turnips,
Wuznut Spokin offy sold.” ,
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