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INTO MARVELOUS LIQHT N 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.” , 11