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PHILOSOPHIC BASIS OF UNBELIEF
! j
By REV. JAMES W. LEE,
PASTOR TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH
W HATEVER Is assumed to be true
in the realm of matter and Yno
tlon that uniformly answers t<
act as though It were true may be put
amvn as physical science. If It Is ns-
that hydrogen and oxygen In
certain proportions can bo turned Into
the compound called water, and if upon
sctlon In accordance with the formula
jj; o water results. It may be known
that the assumption was scientific. If
It la assumed to be true that one atom
of hydrogen will combine with one of
Chlorine to form hydro-chlorlc acid,
•ad artlon upon the assumption In-fits-
cordance with the formula (He'D re-
■tilts In hydro-chlorlc oeld, then it may
be known that the assumption. con
formed to reality and Is sctentlfla. If
fmm certain calculations It Is assumed
to be true that there will be an eclipse
of the sun at a, particular hour on a
(.articular day 20 years In the future,
ind the action of the sun on that day
inswers exactly to the assumption,
then It may be known to be scientific.
It has been Inferred for a long time
that all solid substances are permeated
by a mysterious, colorless, odorless.' In
tangible substance called ether. Hein
rich Herts discovered that ether not
onlv tarried waves of heat, light and
color, but also electric vibrations. But
the discovery of Herts had. not been
im t to practical test until Marconi on
Phis father's farm In Italy, put up a
transmitting pole on one side of a gar
den and a receiving pole on the other
and actually sent a message from,one
to the other. "Herts caught the etheric
Wtves on a wire hoop and saw the an
swering sparks jomp across the un
joined ends," but this satlsfled his own
mind, without Impressing or convinc
ing the multitudes. Marconi, however,
demonstrated that the assumption to
the nature of ether answered to net,
und now wo have knowledge of the
fact that mossnges have been' sent
across the Atlantic by moans of ether
vibration^ Hence, our knowledge of
ether Is science. It It certain and
verifiable. The things assumed to be
true about It uniformly answer to act,
as though they were true, and hence
conform to conditions by which ull
Items of science are established. It
would be easy to assume that world
wide commerce would be Impossible If
all men were Inveterate liars and con
scienceless thieves, and prove the truth
of It. Hence, to say that trade rela
tions are based upon honesty and
truthfulness Is scientific because the
statement Is sustained by the facts of
practical commerce. To say that so
cial existence would be Impossible If
all men practically and violently hated
one another and never missed a chance
to bite and devour one another, would
be sclentlflc as to say that a thing can
not be both white and black at the
same time, or os to say it would not he
rad hot and xero cold at the same time.
tVo repeat, therefore, that whatever Is
assumed to be true In the realm of
thoughts, Ideas, conceptions, sensa
tions. feelings and emotions that uni
formly answers to act ns though It
were true, Is science. If we assume It
to bo true that God Is good, that Ho 1s
on the side of human progress toward
Ideal morality and thnt If our will sets
Itself on the side of His goodness, we
will rise In tho scale of existence nnd
upon so acting wo do In fact find our
selves rising from a lower to a higher
level of life, we know that our assump
tion was sclentlflc. If we assume It to
be true that God Is against what Is
base and mean, nnd that If our wills
choose what Is evil we will fall to a
lower level than that of which we are
capable, arid And upon actually choos
ing what Is bad, we do In fact fall to a
lower level of life, then we may know
that our assumption tvas sclentlflc.
I.
The attempt has been made to limit
science not only by confining It to ma
terial objects and to such knowledge
as the mind can make out of Impres
sions from tangible objects, but atsa to
limit It to the outside appearances of
objects. It Is said we ran not know
'vhat things are In themselves; we can
only know what they appear on the
surface to be. It will appear to the
average reader a waste of time to dis
cuss this phase of the question, but if
we arc to establish, a scientific basis for i
religion, we must be patient enough i
to study the question at tho founda
tions. It Is difficult work, but the
profit of It will be apparent when we
come to the superstructure of religious
knowledge. If as much effort had boon
mode to disclose the fundamental pre
suppositions of materialism nnd ag
nosticism nnd atheism as has hem
made In fighting (hem In their devel
oped form, there Would have been no
such miserable manifestations of the
absurd Isms today. Their existence In
the open light today Is a serious re
flection upon the mental powera of
those supposed to have-the cause of
truth at heart, as the existence of
fortune-teller Gypsies In a community
Is a reflection upon the enlightenment
of Its people. We have been content to
fight agnostic lions and materialistic
tlgtrs as they came upon our theologi
cal premises furious and full-grown,
but havo made no determined effort
to clean up and clear out and capture
the habltnt where they breed, so as to
rid ourselves of further molestation
from them.
II.
In 1804 Immanuel Kant, the greatest
thinker since Aristotle, died. In the
last quarter of the eighteenth century
he published his Immortal work, “The
Critique of Pure Reason,” a book
that has done more harm and
more good than any philosophical
REV. JAMES W. LEE.
treatise ever published. In arresting
the sensatlonlsm of John Locke, and
the out and out skepticism of David
Hume, Ilia contribution was of untold
VRlue. but In reviving and giving form
to the view that we can know' nothing
but phenomena, the appearances of
things, and not things In themselves,
he arrested the progress of the human
mind In Its efforts to arrive at a ra
tional theory of tho sum of things. He
proposed to do In the realm or
metaphysics what Copernicus did In
explaining celestial movements. When
he found that he could matte no prog
ress by assuming that all the heavenly
bodies revolved around the spectator,
he reversed the process and tried the
experiment of assuming that the spec-
tato'' revolved, while the stars re
mained at rest. Hunt proposed lu make
the same experiment with regard to
the Intuition of objects. He aald that
It had hitherto been assumed that our
perceptions conformed to objects, but
that all attempts to ascertain anything
about the essences of these objects
upon this assumption had failed, ft-
he proposed to see If he could not be
more successful In metitphysle* by ns
sumlng thut objects conformed to cog'
nltlony. The attempt to Introduce a
complete revolution IK the procedure
of metaphysics, after the example of
the geometricians and the natural
philosophers, constituted, he said, the
aim of Tho Critique of Pure Reason.
He proposed to overturn tho experience
of the human race, and rule out of
court tho combined common sense of
nmnklnd, by seeking to prove that
our notions do not regulate themselves
according to tho things ive see nnd
touch and taste, but that things regu
late themselves according to cur no-
lions. That Is, where a tree stands be
fore a person. It la not as the plain
farmer supiose*. a tree out there as It
appears to be. hut Is the tree the no
tion of the farmer has inode It. His
cognition of It does not conform to
the tree, but the tree conforms to his
rngnltlon. As to what the tree Is In
Itsell. the farmer has no means of
knowing, he only knows the thing as
It appears In hit cognition. That la
the tree before him out there tn the
field he does not know at all, he only
know ' n I'l'Oir.'il lice 111.- powers of
his thought have set up In his mind
He knows nothing of the tree tn Itself,
nnd nothing, of the mind upon which
the appearance of tha tree la
pressed In Itself. He simply knows the
appearance, the notion. So. in reality,
the tree Is nothing but his own notion.
It Is the state of Ills own consciousness
during the time the object In question
Is before his eyes. This will seem
trivial nnd ubsmd to common sense.
Hut, however ridiculous It may ••pponr,
It Is well enough t. consldei It. For
from this thickly set grove of words
about the Impossibility of knowing tie
mind in itself, and the object that lm
nresscs It In Itself, nnd nothing but the
appsnrnpee of the obJWt, etc., hat come
the little foxes which havs been spoil
ing the vines of thought for n hundred
years. It may appear to some that In
tellectual fox-hunting Is a waste of
time. But it Is not. All harmless ani
mated forms of existence have a right
to dve, hut such as prove themselves to
lie pests should be tracked down and
killed.
Thai ..MM
In tha economy
others thet cause disease. Pasteur
used all the powers of his genius to
show the nature and hiding places of
distinctive germs, and ha aarvad the
Interests of universal health.
(II.
Religious science, and for that mat
ter any science, Is Impossible with
Kant’s theory of knowledge. Any
knowledge that gets hold of reality
must presuppose three points as set
tled. If you are to have knowledge of
a tree you must take It for granted that
you pereelve It and all there Is of It.
thing. In Itself, appearance and all, nnd
you must tnke It for granted that you
are the person who perceives tho tree,
and that the mind with which you look
through your eyes to see the tree von
know In Itself ns well as the part of tt
that appears, anil you .must take It for
granted that for tire time you are look
ing at the tree you are In correspond
ence with It through the perception of
It. So In this simple hit of knowl
edge there Is a percelver, a thing per
ceived, and a perception.. The first
lepresmis a per.-ou niptiha- of seeing,
the second an object tn be seen, nnd the
third the activity "f to,, mind in
Ing. Now, Kant denied the possibility
of knowing the object In Itself, and the
mind that lu holds the object In Its. If,
and contended that In knowing a tree
we really know nothing beyond the ap
pearance ,.f it In perception.
Professor Clifford said "the object Is
a set of changes in my consciousness,
nnd not anything out of lb" Upon the
basis of Kant's theory of knowledge
Fichte declnrcd: "There Is nothing
lasting either within me or without me.
but everywhere ceaseless change. I
know nothing whnttoet of any other
being, and nothlrjg of mvodf. Thor.-
Is no being. I mvself know absolutely
nothing, and I am nothing. Images
exist. They alone are, and they know
themselves after the manner of Images
—Images which flit by without there
being anything bef ire which they lilt;
Images which by Images depend upon
Images. I myself am one of these Im
ages; Indeed, I am not even this, hut
merely a confused Image of these Im
ages. Sate reality bet omen a mystar-
lous dream, without life ns an object,
or Intelle, t its tlm snhjet t if this
dream—a dream which Itself depends
solely upon a dream." Thus by Clif
ford and Fichte, we have Kant's theory
of knowledge reduced to Its last an
alysts, one denbd the tealltv of tbs
object perceived, nnd the other, deny
ing both, regarded perceptions its im
ages flitting by, without there being
anything before which they enn tilt.
IMIlHtNtHHIMHHMtHIMlfHMI
"HOME, SWEET HOME”
“When he came to himself he said*
'I will arise and go.'”
—The 14th chapter of Luko.
By REV. JOHN E. WHITE;
PASTOR SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH
I HAVE wished thnt I could gather
out nil the fragrant words of
language, and garland all tns
street flowers of rhetoric and weave In
ill the tints of beautiful literature and
call to aid the genius of the poets and
lav under tribute all learning and cul
ture and refinement of thought and
be thrilled with the breath of true elo
quence, to mnke n fit eulogy of the
fact wrapped In the significance of the
treat word "Home.” But though this
wete an achievement possible, there
would bet some one to say, "You have
not told It all. More than that, my
home meant to me.” t
J r.d i could not resent his disap-
itment. for I would disappoint tny-
* e Sf|ore thaw I van tell, my home
meant to me. My boyhood's home, tho
home I threw kisses at when I drove
off on the day of tho great Charleston
earthquake, to go to college, the home
that death had entered nnd sanctified;
the home that welcomed me when I
came hack nfter futtr years, changed
nnd altered home, but home W me
still, because my father Is there and
I am safer there-than anywhere else
In nil the world.
I have known a man who in middle
nge ratne to crushing ruin through
fault and human weakness. He did
not wait to ask If the world would
despise hint nor even to test the loyal
ly of his friends, but quickly threw all
behind him, nnd wounded though he
was. and a prodigal’s story to tell
though lie had. he sought a straight
flight through the bitter, wretched dis
tance nnd found the hiding of his old
hpme nnil Ills father's house.
It was a true instinct. The happy
heart bents happier at home, but to
the miserable, home Is almost heaven.
There la no pine* like home.
In the evening when the shapes arc
forming about the corners of the
streets the belated child runs—home.
In his desolation nnd frlendlsssnsas
the young man who boa come to grief
In the city nutkes one plea, "I want
to go home." Ih her Inst moments n
poor, lost girl, dying In sin, begged
that we would bury hor nt home. The
ruined business rnnn stnrts up from
the wreckage about him nnd goes
home for pence. The widowed daugh
ter. shattered and lonely, goes back
home to wear Iter weeds of obscurity.
In a while the student boys at our
colleges will be packing up, joyful,
happy, hilarious. Where are you go
ing? Going home, aren't you?
The Center o( Civiliaation.
The h6me Is the germinal nucleus
of civilisation. Every problem of hu
man society has Its nerve center In
the home. It Is the seed of all the
harvests of all the upward evolution
of the race.
If you will put an acorn under Ihe
glass you will find rudiments of a per
fect oak. It Is all there, roots, trunk
and limbs.
If you will put the home under the
test of history It will yield every car
dinal fact of civilization. The state Is
In the home, the church Is In the
home, social forces are In the home,
Industrial organisation Is In the home,
. Not more accurately does the ncorn
prophesy the great oak than the home
foretoken the manifold organizations of
society.
Look bock at that. farlleit record of
home life. The grand old Patriarch
Abinhnin stands by his fireside In the
center of n home. Sarah sits In the
helpmeet's place by his side. The first
thing. Is authority gathered to. a point
In the Patriarch. This foreshadows
political authority. He then builds an
altar and gathers his family about
This foreshadows the church.
The chlldt-en nnd tha servants have
their allotted tasks. They drive the
herds forth In the morning nnd bring
them In the evening. This Is the
first Isbor organization. Abraham
exercizes a masterful nnd undisputed
sway over all. This Is government.
He gathers Ills family together nnd
pursues tha robbera who have kid
naped his son. This was the first
military force. Bo also It Is In the
home that the wondrous working of
family redupllcntlnn takes Its rise.
From the parent root grows out other
homes nnd families, and In nn orderly
progression humanity Is multiplied and
safeguarded. The tribe Is horn out of
the process, having common Interest
nnd common cause. A chief, chosen
bv consent as being stronger than Ills
kindred, nssumes the place of leader
ship. Thus the nation follows the
tribe. People come to social conscious
ness. Society has arrived. Civiliza
tion Is society expressing In the large
what the homo expresses In the minia
ture. The endless interdupllcntlon con
tinues In unaltered relation to true cen
ter .and source of energy—the home.
The nation Is a grand fact. Jptt the
home Is a subllmet moral entity.
Home Ideals.
Have you ever pondered the slgnlll-'
entice of tho word "homely?" If about
a person, you mean a certain appear
ance of unpretentious plainness; If
about a figure or manner of speech,
you mean a certain quality of sim
plicity and nbtence ot the artificial.
Does this not suggest one of the no
blest Ideals known to men? Truth,
reality, nnd force, for which no apology
can be demanded, lies In that Ideal.
Definitely, the conviction Is common
that the home Idea In Its highest ex
pression Is found not In palaces nnd
mansions, but In the domiciles of sim
pler and more modest families. Not
that the palace may not be a home.
It may be If heart la there and life
finds there Its primary lows of rela
tion. Some palaces have been homes,
queen Victoria's palace was a home; It
had the great home Ideal. One day
Queen Victoria, desiring during some
state ceremonial to consult her hus
band, the prince consort, went to hie
beil room to find him. She knocked
and ho inquired: "Who la It?" She
answered: "The queen." But the door
was not opened. Again she knocked:'
"Who Is It?" "The queen,” she said,
somewhat stiffly. "The queen has no
place In my room.” the prince consort
answered. Sho understood and knock
ed again. "Who Is It7" "Victoria." she
said. "Victoria has nil right and ull
honor In my room," the husband said
as he gallantly led her In. The Brit
ish people were taught for almost a
half century to appreciate what that
grand broken-hearted woman meant,
when In paroxysm* of tears she sobbed
out by her husband's coffin a grief so
strange In u palace; "Oh. there's no one
to call me VlctorU now!"
" 'Tie home where the heart Is
In dwelling, great or small,
And there's many a stately mansion
That Is never a home at all."
The royal Ideal of the home Is aim-
K le, honest, old-fishloned love. Love
i n casket full of many gem*. Courte
sy Is one of them, unselfishness Is one
of them, klndncsa Is enp of them, loy
alty Is one of them.
A true home breeds gentlemen and
gentlewomen. Do you ever consider
REV. JOHN E. WHITE.
that your conduct on the street or out
In tho busy world may reflect honor
nn your futhcr and mother, or bring
them Into an undeserved contempt?
The other day a street car conductor,
with a good face, rudely addressed a
gentleman and his family, Including
myself, as we tvera returning front the
burial of a dear and beloved daughter
In the rudest fashion: “Come on, or
you can wult fifteen minutes for the
next ear." How It Jarred. But do
you know what I at once thought oft
I thought of that young man's home.
What a sorry family It must have
been. Now It may be 1 tvna wrong—
that he misrepresented hts father and
mother.
I could not say a truer word to some
of you than to remind you that this
world la going to judge your home and
your people by your conduct. Un
justly perhaps, but that la all the more
cruel and mean of you that you will
bring tbe smut of contempt and dis
grace on people who are clear of guilt.
Home Perils.
Let me speak of one of the Insidious
perils of the home. Every iterll of the
home Is a menace to society, because
the stamp our homes put upon child
hood and youth will be the moral Im
primatur of our citizenship. Ono ot the
clearly marked perils of the home In
our modern life Is the tendency to
renounce authority and discipline.
This Is not Imwlnatlon. I know It
to be the truth. Domestic lawlessness
Is rampant. Many fathers era too busy
creating an estate to leave when hs
dies to pay any real attention to the
creation of heirs fit to Inherit It. "I
always let him do os he pleases,” says
the bnckbnneless conglomeration of
Inert pnternlty In a tone of proudly
foolish generosity. "I always let him
<l(j us he pleases." What Is the natural
result? If tho parent Is poor, the
boy will swell the ranke of the law
breaker* and curse society. If the pa
rent Is rich, the boy Is.practically sure
to me a wealth-proud idiot of a citizen
who bribes truculent society to make
a place fur a fool because he has
money to set 'em up with—a non-pro
ducer. a useless counterfeit of man
hood—and If he doesn't go to the
ilofn. ho might as well, for not one
single human Interest suffers Shock
or loss, dot one blade of groat nr a
single leaf quivers In regret when he
dies.
If there were any practical way for
the world to protect Itself, It would be
a latv of eminent social Justice If fath
ers nnd mothers were fined and pun
ished upon proof that they did not
maintain discipline In their household.
Why do I say so? The citizens of a
city met some time ago to Investigate
and inaugurate a movement against
lawlessness and crime which had
broken out alarmingly. The Inefficien
cy of the pollce was the principal cauee
assigned, though some said It waa'the
laxity of the rourte; some said it was
the vagrant laws, and variously the
-lesion ranged. A communication,
was sent hy the chief of polka, who
was not present because he was under
criticism. Here Is what he said. He
said It was the homes of the people,
rich and poor. He declared that the
absence of a wholesome discipline In
the home and lntllfferenco to church
attendance had much to do with the
Home." To that principle latent fn
every line of "Dixie" ttntl vibrant In
every note, the Southern boys marched
away to advance the records of the
world In valor. My father has often
spread of crime. It was a well-known J said In my hearing thnt he got no In
fact. he said, that W por cent of the splratlon as a soldier from any love
Inmates of the jails and prisons are | for the Institution of slavery and Uttlo
tinder twenty-five years of nge. Crltn!
nal tendencies arc begotten In boy
hood nnd girlhood. Where there te no
supervision of reading, no care taken
ns to the cholcf of companions, no
knowledge of heunts. no concern about
habits, no regulation aa to the even
ing hours, no Insistence upon church
attendance—In short, no righteous
home government—It Would be more
than passing strange If a vrfst ratio of
those who are thus permitted to drift
toward manhood and womanhood
should not become dcsplsrrs of the law
(,r th. i B rii » 37 a. mh.r w* have an Insignificant slam!
Of.-I’l® 'h«n™nort U |n b n \vlVt~ ® rn 'V l n this country, but we arc 1
wise. Now, this happened In n West- , . ,, .. m vrmlrtn«* thnt
rrn city. It might have happened In
Atlanta, without missing a line.
% W* express our horror thnt the ne
groes are, so many of them, criminal.
It Is no wonder. They hnve little home
llfo, little home regulation. They arc
not always encouraged by Ibelr white
neighbors. Just after our riot an . old
negro nut his finger on the sore spot
when he complained thnt the negro
boys. Including one,of Ids own, did as
they pleased at homo, without correc
tion. "Anilf boss,: he said, "tho white
folks won’t 1st u* whip 'em. I Jos'
been arrested and carried down to
Judge Brlles’ court, snd what fur?
'Cause some white folk* said I was
*r whipping that boy *r mine and ha
was er hollering. Course, he was hol
lerin'. but now I'm erfeard to whip
him again.”
A south Osorgla widow explained to
General Wheeler how ah* nymnged
raise her boy*. “How did you manage
to rals* such a fine lot of boys, 'way
off here in the woods?” he asked her.
"Waal, atranger," she answered, "I am
a wlddy woman, anti till I had tn ralsn
'em on was prayer and hlrkory, but I
raised 'em powerful frequent."
The Power of the Home.
The power a man's love-of his home
has over him Is a noble power.
As a man yields himself to Its Influ
ence the finest elements of his man
hood awaken tn response. The Inspira
tion of Southern chivalry In the days
of the Confederacy was "Home, Sweet
from the constitutional right of seces
sion, for ha was opposed to 1.,n.
but that one thing nerved his heart un
failingly. and that was that his back
was to Ills home and native soli nnd
the onopiy trus clamoring at the north
ern border. The earliest picture of
American knighthood shows a forest
lln..I with Indians .ind u settler stand
ing In his rude doorway with a .Smok
ing rifle In Ills hand und a dauntless
light on hts fare, while behind are-Ilia
frightened wife and children.
hove an Insignificant standing
M
safe from all the myrmidons that nil
the foreign powers could Inunch against
us by the millions of qjen who would
rally In a day to defend,their' homes
from Invasion.
Now, I thank God that spirit ts here
In us all. But how retnote the harm
our homes may suffer'from war. How
murh nenrer and more real the danger
of their dishonor nt our own hnnds.
The power our homes have to com
mand us Is Invoked In behalf of good
morals. I appeal to It In lln- name of
sobriety and purity. ' 1 appeal to It in
l>. half of a Ilee, „t life lived amid
temptations tfl Indecency.
The Colton Mill, Indicator.
Arlndno tied o silken cord about the
ankle of her brother, Theseus, os ho
went toward the labyrinth to slay lit
mortal combat the ■ monster of the
grotto. "When you feel the gentle
drawing of th* cord." she sold.' It Is
to let you know that >a>ur slJler la
thinking of you." There are two thou
sand students In Atlnnfit nnd three
thnusnnd young men and'women who
hnve left homes behind them to do bat
tle In this city.
And so I know that there are five
thousand silken cords stretching from
Georgia nnd Southern firesides held by
the loving hands of fathers and mothers
anil sisters, •
Do you not feel right often the draw
ing of the silken coni?. They nre
thinking <>f you. They are praying for
you at home.
THE MOTIVE OF MANHOOD
By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD, j
PASTOR UNIVERSAL1ST CHURC1J
T here «
l>ul*oa
ItuoL- n
the transcendent soula whose lives
recognized for their dominant motlvea
neither the lash of fear nor the bland
ishments of hope or desire, but who
answered, as naturally as the bird to
his mate, the clear call of duty.
Tho soul who llvas on these heights
of moral grandeur must hnve n feel
ing of genuine pity for hint whose
- - ... ,., T decency Is due mainly to the gaoler, __ ... .
<K the second belongs to the moral'and on lll-eoncenled contempt for that The offenders are brought
st r *ery, while the third Is only at righteousness which la tlje jirociuctking »*•« i.v.inns „ tore
™rae In the henrt of a ntan, a man
with dlvtne possibilities.
are three fundamental Im-
or emotions which lie
back of the motives which are
wsp'ttslhic for all human activity.
Mentioned in their regular order In the
|“>ng scale of the development of
ratral consciousness, they are fear,
'UpMity and duty. Tho first Is the
pniluet of the Jungle order of civlllzn-
horrlble death by being caet Into the
the midst of a "burning fiery furnace."
The ubiquitous trouble-maker soon
brings tn tho monarrh the report that
certain Hebrews then residing within
his domain have refused to be guided
and governed by the communds of the
edict, notwithstanding the extreme
m.n "created a title lower than the
■Jmqnr'' be crown * <1 *lth glory and
"f these three motives ts in-
ril. '1 y *" k* condemned or ar-
P. U* 1 Each Is good In Its place,
,„,? represents a different stage
ts. v. lnor “i development of a man.
highest morality Is a growth and
«rn«rh n, , ribu,,n * element In that
rtcsth Ik f„ be despised. The Im-
JT.Ihlng, for spiritual culture. I*
nat „ no should early learn to nttach
"hmrer estimates of value to these
"firings of conduct,
hsittn ra f e has suffered much In the
llhso of J" mft rch toward a true clv-
hy the undue emphasis and
tu?' a,l "h by its leaders tn moral cul-
'ighteou.nes*. tno ,nfer,or , " 0,lv " to
«st °* 0od ' taken In Its strict-
beul.t 1 ' 11 **nsc, may Indeed be "the
PunuSll!* of wisdom:" the fear of
Ksh n .t a * a deterrent may truly
«tm U th' the way to the moral life,
JJ , earnest desire to win the favor
satrcM- 8 ^" ,,f Ood »>*y lead the
them , ""“l **'l' farther uway from
Wiiii ~ ra . ch, °" nt savagery, but not
,‘’ an a earnest searciting of the
Ilk.-” feveal* to hint that hla
hi » motive la duty may he
hm th Mlf , to . h« In any degree freed
vv" '!? , depressing bondage of sin
T?T strength Is thslaw."
"Virat I "V y geest men, the actual
'he ,,r every age have been
W that , T, 1 *”* righteousness exesed-
i nal,, fttie "Scribes and Pharisees,
an earnest and persistent yearning for
"the recompense of the reward," but he
welcomes with the eager hall of a
comrade the one who simply, and with
singleness of motive, choose* for his
feet the path of right for no other
reason whatever than that It Is tho
path of right.
The codes of morals formed by our
race In Its younger years centered, or
neceeslty. very largely about the first
two of these primal motives, and It
would appear that we have not yet
made sufficient progress to place entire
dependence upon the third a* the rul
ing motive of society. But, from time
to time In the march of the ages, wc
have been given Inspiring foregleams
of a coming tlm* when righteousness
shall be something more than a dimly
outlined Ideal and shall be the posses
sion of every human soul without
either compulsion or purchase.
One of these flashing foregleams
must have lighted the tmul of that
dweller upon the mountalntop ot in
spiration, whoever he may have been,
who gave to the world the book of
Daniel. The soul of the man who
clings to n belief In the possibility of
righteousness for righteousness sake
must be helpfully thrilled by the dra
matic story of the three Hebrew chil
dren In the court of Nebuchadneszar.
Afflicted with an Inordinate egotism
the pagan ruler has caused to be
erected an enormous Image of gold and
has decreed that at the sound of any
sort of tousle, all men of "hatever
standing or station shall Immediately
foil down and worship this Image. The
penaltv for refusal Is Immediate and
ho develops a terrifying rage
upon their calm adtnlsalnn of their
neglect to obey hi* command*. The
edict with the pehally of It* dslobedl-
cnce are repeated In their hearing and
a demand made to know their inten
tions In the matter. Calmly and de
liberately there came a reply which
must have astonished beyond measure
the venal listeners and which thrllla
every reader of this Inspiring drama.
Sustained by the Inborn faith of their
loader who at one time had gone out
to a place appointed, "not knowing
whither lie went," these three Hebrew
children declare unto the king their
absolute faith In the ability of their
God to deliver them out of any situ
ation. however perilous. If that dellver-
nnre shall be in accordance with the
soul development provided for them by
His wludom and His love. Moreover,
they derlare their nbeolute assurance
of their deliverance from the power
and authority of their tormentor.
They are certain that God Is able to
deliver them from the "burning, fiery
furnace” If Hla omniscience and His
all-embracing love shall determine
such deliverance, but they are entirely
willing to leave this decision with
Him. Anti now come* the most splen
did declaration which may spring
forth unfetered from a human soul.
"But. If not, be It known unto thee,
O king, that we will not serve thy
gods, nor worship the golden Image
which thou hast eet up.” They believe
absolutely in the power of Ood to do
whatever Is best, but. In this particu
lar Instance, without any revelation of
precedent, they admit their lack of cer
tainty as to the Immediate outcome.
REV. £. 0. ELLENWOOD.
But, as for themselves, they will be
controlled by neither fear nor. hope.
Duty speaks, and her voice alone will
they answer. They calmly admit the
strong probability that temporarily the
carnal man may triumph and the In-
lllctlon of the cruel vengeance of th*
king shall visit upon their bodies sud
den and horrible death, but the un
happy prospect Is powerless to swer^
them fmm their purpose. They know
what Is right. They recognise the path
of truth and honor, and In this path
shall they move regardless of the Im
mediate consequences. They evidently
believe In righteousness for Itself.
The writer of this thrilling drama
evidently Insists upon the Inevitable
triumph of the right, evep in Imme
diate and temporal things, for he her*
Interjects a miracle, Impossible to phys
ical law, and which possibly lessens
somewhat the valua and power of th*
story to the materialistic mind. But
we need not allow the difficulties ot the
miracle to obscure for ua the snlendld
lesson of the unqualified an
and Into the way of life by painting
for your enraptured Imagination beau
tiful pictures of tbe city celestial? Or
does he seek to sooth* for you an out
raged conscience by promising the
elimination of saiutary retributive Jus
tice by means ot a vicarious atone
ment? Or does he try, with all his
might, to help you to realise that you
. - . .. . ore son* and daughters of th* most
, rt g h !*“ u * ne, ‘ of ,h «** thr * e “"'I - 1 high Ood; that you are moral and splr-
"TvZ. . .v V,,, .. . , . .. Itual beings, endowed with the rapacity
This la the sort of virtue which the
world must havo before lu men and
women shall be able to boast them
selves as actually civilized nnd truly
cultured, the virtue which la neither
of necessity or convenience, but by
natural and Instlnctlyp choice.
Wc believe thnt religion and Itn
teachings shall be frittnd to be the moat
certain mean* to lha highest culture
and the purest ethic*. But our prog
ress tn this direction must of necessity
depend largely upon »ur interpretation
of religion nnd upon thejtuman motive
of conduct to; - filch that Interpreta
tion make* strowqrst appeal.
Wc can not legislate decency and or
der Into human hearts, W# do not
make men good hy putting them In Jail.
We only temporarily restrain them
from doing evil. Human soul* are not
made actually righteous, cither by ter
rifying them with the fear of hell of by
entrancing them with the hope of
heaven. Actual righteousness, the
righteousness which causes unfetgnrd
rejoicing In the homes of eartfi and In
the courts of heaven. Is not a sponta
neous production. It I* the result of
slow and painful process, but It Is aa
stable as the eternal hills.
What sort of religion does your
preacher feed to you on Sunday, when
you go to him In search of spiritual
Instruction and discipline? Doe* he
attempt tn frighten you Into decency
by rhetorically cracking the whip of
hell in the ears of your superstitious
terror? Dr doe* he endeavor to whee
dle you away front the path of death
K , endowed with the rapacity
tween good and evil and to
determine what Is right and what Is
wrong, and that because Ood has en
dowed-you so Cully and freely with Hi*
spirit of triumphant righteousness, He
has a right to confidently expect grent
things of you. He has a right to expect
thnt you wilt choose right In preference
to wrong, simply because It Is right,
and not primarily bscaus* It will bring
you happiness, while Its opposite will
result In misery?
Which of these method* does your
preacher pursue?
It Is assumsd that th* majority of
preochsrs are honest; that they are
conscientious; that they nre anxious
to adapt what may appear to them to
be the best avenue of approach to the
henrt* and lives of their people.
This being stg then It follow* that
you who listen may form a reasonably
correct Idea of your preacher's mental
estimate of your spiritual condition
and your spiritual needs, by the habit
ual tenor of his message, and from the
basis upon which He makes to your
consciences His appeal for righteous
ness.
And In case you ithould resent and
repudiate hi* hypothesis, remember
that your only hopo of successful vin
dication of your position ' will lie in
subsequent conduct. Perhaps your
preacher ts right.
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