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1 UNBELIEF TRIED BY THE TEST OF SCIENCE
By REV. JAMES W. LEE, : 5'
1
PASTOR TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH -
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN.
SATURDAY. JANUARY 13. INK
Tl1f rr.it in at Grace* * ni on* of
■ in th* objective existence of
J*!? u In included between the yeiri
*2*100 B. C. Not 1h my two hundred
*r I he history of * people were
ftr ... many «r*«t men produced,
t 're »»re .tsteemen such u Mints-
L, Leonids*. Themlstoelra, Aristides,
r^nnn Kpamlnooda* Phoclon snd
I'hllneophor* such as l*y-
7*uor*«. H.vcrstes. Hippocrates. Eu-
JJSf pistn snd Aristotle; artist* such
2app»I*s. Phidias and Praxiteles:
tuterian* such as Herodotus. Thuct-
Xenophon. and orators such
..■chines, and Demosthenes.
' rut. brilliant period In the history of
i nought wss Inspired and dl-
5i"Uf bv the philosophy developed by
£L rii ir,; risto and Aristotle. Those In
5f, r days who held to the theory that
ill knowledge IS but a subjective proc.
*?, in the mind, and that nothing can
Z known except the modlllcatlons or
the self, were the sophists,
nerc the forerunners of Roacel-
unj. and of Hume end of Spencer,
Ini sti other teachers of sgnostlclsm.
Xf, sophists held that there was noth-
Ins good or bad by nature, but only
bv statue. They did not bellsve In th*
f.utside reality of general terms or
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
accepted the validity of universal tsrms
as objectively real. They believed In
th. existence of an outsr, world that
corresponded tn their' Ideas of It, and
Ib.v hslteved the outer world embodied
h. Ideas Of the Creator'* mind.
The only difference between Plato
-jnd Art-tot la—was—that—tha former
f.«nd Ides* In the outelde order, while
.a. ipttir found what he called ra-
i.nca ..r forms. Practically there wa*
no difference between them. They
both believed In the reality of out-
ovi.tonie nnd that it waa know-
**pia,.i held that God la the living. In-
telllslhle. perfect Being In Whom tire
,11 the Idese which take form In the
material world. Ho' It Is who possesses
motion In repose, who poseeaeee au-
gu» and sacred Intelligence, which the
suplllst denies.
■in tlod's name." eaye Plato, "shall
to. readily persuaded that He who
Is ahsolulely, haa neither motion nor
*•*»» iiniUBiii, Hint lie
inert, that he it without august and
sacred Intelligence? Shall we tell men
J5H Intelligence, bul haa not
Ilfs? Bhall we tell them that he has
had both, hut not personality? Shall
tv* 1st them tell ue that he le personal
Intslllgent. living, but Inert?" All this
would be absurd. According to Plato
the world does not proceed from a
blind, spontaneous cause producing
without consciousness, but It proceeds
from a God who create* with knowl
edge and with divine reason. Plato
taught that the world and all that Is
In It was mad* In the liken*** of Ideas-
That we cen know the world beceuee
It la the expression of Intelligence. That
the Idea* which proceed front the mind
of God Into the world are euch a* we
find In all things end ue* to build our
science. The phl'naopher differed from
the sophist according to Plato, In that
he proceeded from the thing* In which
God expressed His thought to God
Himself, while the - sophist moves
toward mer* nothingness. The sophist
just as Roscelllnus did, and Hume did.
and Bpencer did, pursues non-being
and takes refug* In Its shadows.
Plato taka* crested things, as
his starting point, just as one would
take the writings of Homer as a start
ing point to study the mind of the
poet. The world lo Pinto was a vest
library. In which God had written Hie
thought. God was to be perceived, as
St. Paul said, through the thing* He
had made. %
It le perhape In the mind at some
one to eay-that we ere- going back a
long dletence through the renlurlre to
fln'La..pbllni"'Phl,- haul* for our thought
It I* one of the most remarkable fncts
In the whole history of the human mind
that we have exactly In our day come
round to the posltluh held by Hoc rater,
Plato and Aristotle In our procedure
of dealing with the world In the realm
of aclence. The philosophic position
of the scientist* of the present day le as
naive and primitive and unsophisti
cated as that of the great Greek phi
losophers. Th* scientist believes the na
ture he Investigates Is an ohjectlve fart,
and that what he learns about It by
observation and experiment It not u
mere (tale nf hie own consciousness.
fact. He does not make himself rldic
uloue like tb* eollpelst, P. H. Bradley,
who says In "Appearance and Reali
ty" that "I cannot transcend experience,
nnd experience must be my experience.
From this It follow* that nothing be
yond myself exists, for what Is ex
perience Is Its Iths seifs) state*.'
After the death of Plato, toward the
close of 100 B. C., Epicurus and hla
empirical, sensational , . _
rStne prominent. In hla esteem the
areckt. led by the philosophy of Plato
and Aristotle, had been living m th<
Clouds; tie called them back to Uu
earth. They had been living under an
Infinite sky; he proposed to limit their
vision by Ihe actual horison that
bounded Greece. He taught there waa
nothing but matter. The soul wee only
a -delicate and extremely mobile sub
stance. consisting of ths minutest
round stoma. The universe waa not
tho product of the divine mind; It wa*
only an aggregate of blind stoma, drift.
Ing through Infinite space, and declin
ing aomewhat from their, course
through an accidental causa, pushing
and shoving one another until the
homogeneous onea got together. This
cheap philosophy, having no Brfrrstr*
alive In arrest It, a* he had that nf
the '(ophltt*. hitd tremendous Influ
ence. It soon passed from the heads
Into the lives of Ihe people. Under
the Inspiration of teachers like Pinto
the Oreeks accomplished In two hun
dred years a turn of axquItU* work
that has made them the wonder'nf all
ages. Under the leadership of ekeptlce
Ilk* Epicurus they became paupers
In capacity and spirit. Despising the
world for hleh Ideate.
DR. J. W. LEE.
they
found
turned It Into a wilderness of beauty.
Turning from belief In high Ideals anil
transcendental truth, they lost It and
left It a wilderness of desolation
standing on the Acropolis today one
may the the Bnul of Greece as It lived
In Ihe Athenian people from 100 to
100 B. C. It le embodied In th* Parthe
non, and the Erecthenum and In the
Temple of Theseus. There Is no bet
ter place under the sun to study the
results on life and chnrarter of belief
In the reality and Intelligibility of God
then th* Athenian Acropolis. There
one may contemplate belief In the most
-perfect sxnreralnn of hcnulv nnd truth
Ihe human mind hae ever made of It
self, and there one aeee the resultp of
unbelief In sixty generations of Impo
tent Greeks. The Epicurean philoso
phy was given to the Romans by Lu
cretius In his celebrated poem on "The
Nature nf Things." The people who
hnd subjugated and civilised tho world
found the Idea* of Lucretius an axcuee
for giving themaelvea up tn the sensual
enjoyment of the world. After th*
•tenth nf the Emperor Augustus he was
succeeded by Tiberius In the year 14
A. D.
was never lower than In ihe year 3S
A. D. Tiberius, one of the nbleet men
who ever occupied u throne, was ihe
world's undisputed master. He had
abandoned the lupiial snd was living
on the Island or Capri. near Naples.
Having exhausted ettry delight capa
ble of exciting his eirsual nerves, he
wa* offering a largo reward to anyone
who could Invent a new pleasure for
Itlm.
Bejanus, t|io favorite at the emperor,
waa In charge of aff tlrs at Rome. He
had poisoned Drustts, the son at hla
- master, and was echymlng la rut out
of the wny other m-ieher* <jf <Re Im
perial family. Pontius Pilate waa gov
ernor of Judes. Herod Antipaa, tlte
murderer of John the Baptist, wss gov
ernor of Galilee Seneca, tho most
celebrated writer of the time, was thlr-
ly-two year* old. He was the moralist
of Ihe period, and most eloquent wheir
describing the easiest method of com
mitting suicide. Philo Judaeus, the
Alexandrian Jew. was forty-eight years
old. snd was trying to reconcile the
word* of the Pentateuch with the phil
osophy oYreligion He had learned from
the Greek*. It wa* a time of Universal,
decadence, the extent of which may
be measure,I In some decree by the
distance between Livy, the noble his
torian of the preceding eg*, nnd Vale
rius Moxlntus. ihe rhetorics! chronicler
of the time of Tiberius. The world was
oold snd hard nnd cruel. There wss
not sn orphan nsytum under the sun.
Tenderness snd sympathy had seem
ingly died out of the human heart. It
the mldolght of the — The
power and luxury
tn thtlr city by the Tiber. They hui
converted th* wreckage of all nations
Into splendid marble temples, palaces,
baths, master-pieces of art for the liv
ing nnd Into magnificent mausoleum,;,
along the Applun tray, fur the dead.
The streams nf commerce from sit
quarter* of the globe flowed to this
seething center of corruption, snd were
there need to turn the wheel work of
the most complicated and mightiest en
ginery of wlckodness ever seen on this
earth before or elttee. Life became a
burden 'and sickening disappointment.
out of disgust at having been born.
"On that hard pagan world disgust
. And secret loathing fell;
Deep weariness snd sated lust
Made human life s hell."
In thut very time, snd In Ihe bounds
of thut very empire, s young Jew de
livered a short sermon on* Bebbsth
day from a long text In the eynegogu*
st Nazareth which created s sensation
among hie humble neighbor! and kins
folk In the slxty-flyat chapter of
Isaiah lie found s sketch of (he divine
program. One tn after retire would rise
up to complete. The speaker declared
that the prophet was referring to Him
self when raven hundred year* before
he wrote:
“The Spirit of the Lord Is upon me.
It,.cause He anointed me to preach
good tidings to the poor:
lie hath sent me lo proclaim release
tn tha esptlora ' _ __ _ '
And recovering of sight to the blind.
To rat aniberty them that are bruised.
Tu preclaim the acceptable year of-the
Lord."
To apply this language to Hlmaelf,
wen to assume that th* Almighty,
through HI* Inspired seer, singled Him
out from all the millions of the earth,
to build « new kingdom and people it
With new men. Reader* of th* New
Testament are so faifilliar with the re
corded fact that they sre In danger at
missing the . amazing _aspects ut_ll»
When by e process of mental detach-
ment we strive to I ravel back throw '
1177 yeara to Nusareth In order to tool
straight at It. In |ts primitive reality,
we are overwhelmed In wonder at one
who could stand up snd ray, the hour
nod come to birth when the forelook-
Inga of t he greatest of the prophets had
materialized themsslvsa In His own
nbaeure life. He I* there bock nf all
the history which has bran made elnce
the time of Tiberius Caesar. ■ He Is
there without family prestige, without
wealth or ofUclal distinction: without
a school or a system of philosophy,
Ithnut authority from the rulers In
■to excite th* Imagination or win tha
both*** of th* people. He l> there In a
little Syrian town off the highway of
travel, where th* doings of the simple
Inhabitants were not of sufficient con
sequence to be ever Heard of tn Ti
berias, nine mile* awny. There was
no Naur Testament, no apostle's creed,
no Christian church.
He la there beck of all th* Ilfs, liter- .
ature, art, science, theology, education
and political progrtu which maks up
Ihe civilisation known today. He I*
there in a small synagogue surrounded
by the common people, offering Him
self ** Ihe sermon which <c
p,Minded the text He had read. He did
nut attempt to explain th* process by
which lie had come. In His thought, to
Identify Illmeelf with th* words of
Isaiah. He waa ths sermon oa thal
day. not built of words, but pulsating
with life. Curiosity was excited, but
He rebuked.lt by what He did not tty, '
Indignation was stirred by what Ha
did say, but He did ZWt allay U. Her*
ts'ts man claiming to have a mission,
from the cor* and heart nf things. How
can w* account for hla Illimitable self-
confidence? He had no expaflenoo, ■
He had never traveled. He had never
measured wits with th* thinker* nr-
crossed sword* with the captains. Wa*
He unbalanced, or wa* He the only*
sene men on earthT The wonder of
Bltn Increases when the Items of th*.
program He said He had com* to fill
out are considered. He waa to klsddeG'
the poor, heal th* broken-hearted, re
lease the prisoners, bring In a naw day.
and brain the Issue nf a naw edition at '
humanity. When th* heart of mail.
wss breaking because of hla lawle
ness, or aching because of his despair,
here la one brimming with Ilf* ana'
overflowing with optimism sufficient to
set the whole world singing with de
light. Here In th* midst nf an empire,
falling to pieces. Is a man, up In tho
rustic hills, giving to hi* neighbor* an
outline of one He Is to bultd that shalL
stand forevsr. Ha Is to begin Hta
work at the bottom with ths very dreg*,
and off-acouring of society, and us*
them us so much splendid raw material
out of .which to build His new and
beautiful order of life.
T HERE Is a familiar process In
ms,hematic* known ss cancella.
lion. All Ihe factors of a prob
lem are set down against each other
and rnncelsd ouL When everything Is
ranee led that will ranoel, the remaining
terms are the true answer to the prop-
Ofltlnn.
There Is * principal like that In the
methods of scientific Investigation. It
1- railed the process of elimination.
A’,I possible theories are exposed to test
sn,l the Impossible ones discarded, and
then ths theory that has best stood th*
test t, taken at probably the true
[.theory it was by this method that
Kepler cam* lo the discovery of th*
I Jaw of planetary motion. He took
tixhtren the-rle. and tried them In th*
-1—k at Hie starry universe All felled
until but one, th* eighteenth, remain
ed—When he put that Into the lock
the gates of Truth, abut for millen
niums. flew open and exclaimed In rap-
awe. "Oh. pod, I am thinking
Thy thoughts after Th**."
Peter sweeps th* field clear. Only
Christ remain*. "Lord, to whom shall
»<• g„'.' Our "Id Leader le dead, and
If we ,„uld g,> to John the Baptist
hr would say again. 'Behold the Lamb
"I i»o,|, whose shoe latchets I am not
worthy to unloose.'
.“hall we go to Moses? He woutd
tend us back to Thee. And to th*
prophets; they would point ue to
Thee
Shall we go to the scribes and phar-
i-ee«? We have been too long with
Tux and havo heard too often tha
truth about them, that they are blind
leaders of the blind.
'“hall w* go to Ihe world? It will
d"e!\e us. and mock our hungry souls
“oh bread that periaheth. Shall we
*••-In? It will destroy us nnd bring
bou rnes* and death.”
I -at he sweepa the field nnd Christ
"«ly remains. That heart study of
r :.native religion pute eome of the
r--l; element Into Peter's character.
Th. -!ime mood Is upqn him when he
Teams at the temple later and declare*
"There i, none other name under heav
er clv,n among men whereby they
name of
may be saved except
Jesue."
Chrlet to these men Is the all essen
tial one. They have left all to follow
Him, and they will not now leave Him
to follow a nothing, a delusion, i
despair. They have tasted of the llv
Ing bread.
The Dernier ReserL
So these words have become historic.
They have com* to stand guard at th*
very gateway, of Christianity. They
sweep the mlet from the chasm'of Im
man need end disclose the block depth*
for those who go away from Chrtat. It
Is Christ or nothing. Chrlet Is the last
resort.
Tt le tht* about th* gospel that of
fends many people. Christianity
would be more popular If It waa less
exacting on this one point. If It said,
"There are many nomas glren among
men whereby they may be saved.” If
It agreed that one religion I* a* good
a* another; that Christ I* Just an Im
provement on Buddha and Confucius—
that there are several goad foundation*
for men to .lay .In"(end of Ju*t the one
that le laid In jesu* Christ. IhiTRlgW-
eous. But It doe* not and wttl not ray
Therefore, eome ore greatly of
fended. More then In any other age
there Is a dislike of th* Imperative
mood In religion. Men do not like to
he shut up tn an alternative of necessi
ty. Tell a man that he muat be horn
again, anil he straightens himself at
once against vou. It la John B. Gough
that tells of a woman, a good Christian,
by the way. who when the ship waa
In a fearful atnrm at sea, went to the
captain and said; “Captain, la there
any real danger?"
"Danger, madam!" the captain re
plied. "I should ray there Is. Th*
truth It there'* nothing left now but to
put our truet In Providence."
"My goodness!" ahe said, "has It
.omc to that?"
Th* Soul's Dasparata Chance.
The kingdom ef God la Ilk* an Invert,
cd pyramid. At the top It la "an
abundant" entrance and at Ihe bottom
a desperate alternative. Human so
ciety In the primary and lowor orders
of its life la not exacting, but It nar
rows as w* rite to its higher circles
Mocletv there become* more exclusive.
But the kingdom reverses this order
snd leys Its sternest conditions at the
very threshold of Ita entrance,
"Btratt la the way and narrow
the gate, and few there be that go
In thereat."
This was raid not nf heaven, but of
the kingdom of God now at hand.
Not only for tha rich man. but for
the proud man, th* self-willed man, It
la easier for a camel to go through the
eye of n needle. It le a desperate Is
sue that confronts every one of ue.
It le life at close gripe. It I* the soul
shut In to' a stern necessity.
Until a man realises the serious real
ity of that fact he la not neaV tha king
dom. Mr. Campbetr Morgan. In dedi
cating hla recent book, "Th* Crises of
the Christ," to hla father and mother,
says that so did they train him from
Infancy, "that when th* necessity came
for my personal choosing ao did I
recognize the claims of IBs love that
without 1 revulsion and h*rdiy kB*wtW|r
when I yielded to Him my altaglanre.
Admit the exception, you aay. Ah,
hut mark, "necessity coma." A man
may take a desperate chance with per.
fact yielding and without revulsion,
hut tt was a desperate ohanc* Juat the
•am*. Whnt 1 aay la that we are thut
up tn one chance of salvation from sin.
And there le no aalvutlon for ue so
long ns we are unconvinced that It ta
the only chance. When President Gar
field waa carried wounded tn Long
Branch the doctors made their exami
nation and held their consultation. The
president said. "Tell mo candidly, doc
tor, what are the chances?" The phy
sician faithfully replied, “There Is one
chance In ten for your recovery."
'Then," exclaimed Garfield, "I will take
that chance."
Toplady'e greet hymn has signalled
the match of thousands Into God's
kingdom and will signal thousands
more. It Is true to the Bible, to the
conscience, in experience and to the
very reason of things.
"OTHER REFUGE HAVE I NONE.
HANGS MY HELPLESS BOUL ON
THEE.”
If Net Chrlat, Whet
Now, th* burden 1* on any man who
has n soul to save and who I* about
turning away from seeking or serving
Christ further to consider this question.
DR. JOHN E. WHITE.
If not Chrlet, who?" There la a com
mon sense of men that a man should
think before he abandon* one enter
prise In a necessary business whether
he has another plan better to fall hark
A man should look before he leaps.
It Is never wlae to resign, pick up both
feet nt once, until you have another
place In view. Don't give up the house
you nr* In, even though it may not he
exactly what you want, unless you
have another aa good, nr better, at
jour command. This 1s good acnee on
ihe level of the secular, and la It not
good sens* on tho higher level of th*
sacred? If not Christ, who?
If you can find another Jeeua—fend
the Infidels have a book called "The
World'* Hlxteen Crucified Bavlors," who
can do ns much for you as this one
can; if you ran get one whoes charac
ter Is a* noble, whose love la aa self-
denying, and whose words are th*
words of eternal Ills, who ran heal nnd
save and satisfy in the great perma
nent needs of your life; If you ran find
one or have found one who hae ao emp
tied himself for you, who. equal with
God In dignity and power, haa so made
hlmaelf of no-reputation a*, to take
upon him th* form of a servant end
wee made Into th* likeness of man.
and who, being found In fashion as a
man. humble* himself alllt further and
becomes obedient unto death, even the
the death of Jh* cross; If you ran find
somew here, end thle la n big world and
ML .of geniuses and heroes, another
who wore such a thorn iroen as Hla,
agonized In a bloody sweat Ilk* Hit
and groaned upon a ernes like Hie. amt
all for Just a soul like yours; If you
can find nno whoa* life hae wrought
the mtrnrle nf such a civilisation us
t whloh history- calls Christian civ
ilization, whose life and death have
lifted forward humanity aa has Ills,
whose blood atones for the sins of Ihe
nice, who has gone Into tho grave and
lifted off prison chains of dealli and
nut of death's dark domain has brought
faith to light, life and Immortality, and
w ho has ascended to the right hand of
God to elt aa an acceptable mediator
between God and man; If you can find
another than ll« who haa the power
and uuthortty to give you a erown of
eternal glory for your head, an eternal
song of deliverance for your tips, a
[>a!m of vtrtory for your hands, a royal
none of many mansions for your ever
lasting habitation nnd who will wipe
all iear* from your eye*, then all I
have to aay Is, "Go after him." The
steamship company does not Interdict
the man who chooses to swim from
New York to Liverpool. But I submit
that they would have the right to in
quire of the men who declined all
steamboats, what kind of craft he hn«
tv. Ho I submit this question: "If
not Chrlet. who?"
Henry Drummond said: "Time does
not change men. Death does not
change men. Christ does. Wherefore
put on Chrlet." Thnt I* logic on the
posltlva eld* of thla question. Peter
but the alternatlva tide with squat
■Ogle when he eaye: "Lord, to whom
shall we go away?" If Chrlat ta not
the Savior, there le none.
"The Good le Enemy to th* Beat.”
1 do, not pretend tn ray that there ta
no good in other religion*, and Gauta
ma and Confuclv* and Mahomet and
Socrates and Plato have Hot virtue In
them, lint I do auert that exactly
where their virtue ends th* shut's real
need begins. "My cable la aa good at
your*.*' "Yes, hut tt doesn't come
within ten fathoms nf th* bottom,"
raid tha other sailor. Wa want a faith
that will drop the Anchor of hope both
sure and steadfast to the depths of
our need.
A mnn-onre fell Into a very deep
ell. A friend came along, saw hi*
leeture ea walk
ing with hla syra open. "It you ever
get out.” he said, "remember what I
have fold you." That ta Confucianism.
Another friend Chanced by end he
called to the man, "Climb up, my
friend, and give me your hand and I'll
inin you 'but." TI»T'Wtnr-Bufidlilitui.
Then came another, who, seeing the
man's peril, was moved with great
compassion nnd he went down Into the
well and took the fainting, wounded
man In hla anna from Ihe Very bottom
of the deep well and climbed with hla
burden to the top. end then said to
him, "Watch, leet ye fall Into tempta
tion." "Abide In me nml I will abide
In you." That was Christianity, and
that Was a deathless friendship. If
nut Chrlet—Who?
The Difficulties of Disbelief.
At any rete.I hold that (hose who
seek for tho reason of thing* end as
sume to b* particularly thoughtful on
religious aubjrct*. and who turn awtiy
from tho gospel of Christ because ihey
find In It what the Apostle Paul calls
'the mystery of the gospel." should
onsldrr honestly two things.
First, whether there ere not more
tllfilcolMes In doubt than flit re are tn
faith, more and greater dilemmas of
the mind tn negation than there ere
In belief.
Really. It requires more credulity to
be an Infidel than tt requires faith to
be a Christian. Napoleon one* said to
Marshal Duroo, an avowed Infidel:
'There are some who are capable of.
believing everything but the Bible."
Second. Whether this being the ess*
you are acting on the plane of ordlnur’
Intelligence, leaving Christ for a creed
that uteris Its own hopeltsenefes.
Let It be understood there ta no log-
leal standing ground between them.
"He that Is not for me ta against zne>"
There ta no half-way ground wide
enough for a soul to eland on. Athe
ism border* right alongside.of Chris
tianity. If there Is n God nnd vnu
believe It. thore le nothing about Oirillt “
incredible, nothing that Juetinea a mo
ment's doubt. "All things are possible
with God." The Chrlat and all His
claims, Hls Atrtntty, lnc*rt»atl(
reeurreetton. and th* whole ,
the gnttpel or* not at i
"Ye believe In God. btllev* also In I
Tou are either much further from ,
Christ than you Imagine or you are
much nearer. I think you are much '
nearer. Ah, to think of It. that a man
should be standing for a space, and It
osnTjeTor only A lltUi apses, at IM—
portals of the kingdom, and then go
away, away, away tn the dismal region
of Godleaeneaa forever.
Tbl* la w hat you aay you cannot un
derstand, that there Is a line to cross,
• going over and Into Christ and eter
nal Ilf* for you'a feet and a necessity.,
But there le aurh a line. Have you '
examined your thermometer recently i
in this changeable weather of ounf j
Then do *o when you go home. And /
mark that wonderful, that mysterious ;
point in th* thermometer called 13 da- ,
grrea Fahrenheit. What does It stand
for? It stand* for the fact, th* slant I
unalterable law that a hair'* breadth 1
above that line tee become* suddenly
water and a hair’s breadth below It
water becomes Ice. Do you believe
that and not thla?
over the line by us unseen that
crosses every path a man leaves Athe
ism nnd Qndleasnrra behind and cornea
Into that marveloue relation which
changes everything for him, eternally.
■me over the line. It le only A
step, h stop between yoU and Jesus." I
THE UNTAMED MEMBER
By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD.
PASTOR UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
>»••••••••••••••• »4
itt*a**a*t*«tattttaetfetaettaatetaaeattteattatattattti
W HAT an unhappy and trouble
some member of society Is the
Individual with the loose and
IrrezpinslM# tongue! How much of
“orld'a tear* and heartache, how
» of tha world'* hatred and malic*
murder, how much of th# world'*
“ft.ling regret and remorse are
‘"• I hy the ceaseless, eenteless wit*.
«!r.c Of thla little tmruiy member, so
“"it .sited by th* apostle “the un-
••med and unruly member, full of
deadly poison."
T • priceless friendship of a lifetime
-< .,0,-red by a single hn|jy word;
thr a .0 name, dearer to the poesessor
»"n life itself, It snatched away by a
utterance perhaps even un-
T ' ! ‘M with malice; the light end har-
!c."nt of heaven In a happy home are
img-d to the gloom and dltcord of
by the earns tongue endowed to
' N i ''l, **lng* Instead of curate,
y ; under the anoalla declared the
"cue lo be "a fire, a world of Inlqul-
>' "on It defileth the whole body and
'"*'!i on fire the course of nature;
,M I* »et on fire of hell!".
• v "*lk or station In life, no voca-
u profession Is exempt from th*
n <sr. 0 f hasty and unthinking
te>- h
N " walk or station In life, no pro-
' -. n or vacation aeeme able In liaeif.
^ : M back tho tongue from It* work
'• •'ruction. The lie spoken In the
'"‘“I l* no tnore deadly In Ita final
' •e-iuencee than the slander boldly
form from the pulpit. The most
"»N« and trusted man tn public
*e ,s no more tmihuna from th* deadly
attack of careless or malicious speech
Ihon 1s the moat prolific promoter of
Iniquity.
The Individual whose very though)*
are often and whose motives bear with
safety the soul's most searching scru
tiny escapes no more easily ihe malic*
tipped, tongue winged shaft of Ihe tra-
dueer than doe* hi* unhappy brother
(contested libelling match between two
‘ Incensed and outraged citizens In a
public meeting nf her legislative body
When we have advanced that rar along
the pathway nf true civilisation It will
hr no longer posalble for anv would-hr
reformer In well-meant hut misguided
teal to publicly slander a group of re
spectable rltlsene and honorable public
hoec past la a panorama of evil ufficlals under the eancllty and pro
memorise nnd who#* future Intention*
are dark with the shadow of crime
It may b* true enough that "hard
worde break no 'bone#." but certainly
thev have ihe power to break hearte.
ami tn destroy hope and honor ana
h *ArthoTl*te speech and the creation
and Intelligent uee nf langusge are
popularly euppoaed to he unmistakable
Indications of progress In enlighten
ment and civilisation, yat It Is certain
that the civilisation of some men and
women would be more evident and
more acceptable to their fellow cltlstni
were they occasionally providentially
•trlcken with precautionary dumhneaa
an p*rhapa group of civilised beings
under the »V» of God are *p given to
Indiscriminate rv»'«“ n «" ,n ,h « “*•
nf the tongue as tha American people.
It it a falling due probably to an In
ordinate desire to exercise our much
b,mated "freedom of speech. W#
need lo learn, among other things, that
liberty l* not license and that freedom,
misconceived and abused, degenerate*
into anarchy. We aball have reachedi a
true conception of th* meaning of lib
erty and of the function* of govern
ment when we ehall demand that men
shall he held a* accountable for their
word* as for their deed*. hen that
happy time romei It will be Impossible
- ' v ’ to be called upon to en-
tectlon nf * religion* Institution.
Insult Is .in Insult whether It emanate
from a pulpit or from a saloon, ami tta
hurt and sting are no less poignant
when It Is sal veil by the promise of an
apology any more than a dose of castor
oil is rendered more palatable by
the prospect of a caramel which may
follow It.
Many of the men and a omen whose
assumed function Is to point the way
to . better living have .apparently con
ceived the notion that reformation fol
lows In the wake of abuse and thnt
mm are made mure responsive to the
claims of duty by misjudging their In
tentions nnd maligning their motives.
The veriest tyro In kindergarten
work-know* full well that the growth
of the soul Is fostered by. encourage
ment and always retarded by* .rebuke
and condemnation and that obedience i
to the higher Instincts Is Heculvri by
the evident confidence «m the part of
the teacher In that result.
"Men are only boyn grown tall, and
hearta don’t change much, after all.”
Perhaps If we would eg press our con
fidence. by word and, deed, In the In
tegrity and the*.good Intentions of those
whom we select -lo create shd to main
tain our governments Instead of bring
so ready to accuse them In advance of
dishonesty and malfeasance, their serv
ice of righteousness might be more
REV. E. D. ELLENWOOD.
fnr a areat city to be called upon to en- ice or righteousness might be more
dure the humiliating spectacle of a well spontaneous and universal. Why nut
try It?
When we reflect how ready the
American people are to vilify and
slander and misjudge those who are
elevated to placed of trust and of re-
*pon*tblllty, how then* men stand con
stantly In Jeopardy of lor ing “that
which makes them p*n»r Indeed,”
through the careless wagging of the
tongue of the fanatic or the demagogue,
[lioivst men, men who hold their repu-
|lat|ons as anything of worth*, can ever
b* found Willing to accept public of-
: tl«
So long an the pulpit, the press, tho
curbstone orator, and the saloon Joafer
keep up their unholy chorus of nhuso
and Insult, so long may we expect thnt
In the main we shall have |H>l|tlr|an*
inetend of stnti smei) to make and ex
ecute for us .rui- hiws.
Why do we vln thus grievously nml
continuously with our lips? Why do
we continue t*» >i>ejik words of bit
terness and unklmlnesH nnd untruth to
nnd nf our neighbor.'adding nothing to
the sum total of the world's liapplnesn
anil taking away from our own pence
of mind?
One who came to teach to men the
true way dT life Is reported to have de
clared that "out of the abundance of
the heart the mouth apeaketh.” and wa
know that this Is true because the
truth In our own souls responds to Its
appeal. * What than? Shall we con
clude that the words of bitterness nnd
hatred and malic* nnd suspicion whl
N OltDKR to do snrlbltig well you must
leant to crnirmtrtte your thoughts snd
energies. You cannot do good work If
tour attention is mile# sway. If your
thoughts are all bent on whst yon did last
night or el|tcet to do tonight
Think of whst you are doing while you
nrc doing It. I^t te'tr mind nnd hands
travel together %
.... You may be merely washing dishes, or
dwal (Mnwokn alike u» Wu< speaker swrcpthg the floor, hut If yon want to d<
and to the hearer are but faithful
pies of tho heart's storehouse of evil
and unhappy thoughts? The con
clusion la humiliating, hut Inevitable.
It seems t*» be Impossible, to ^ct ef
fectually u watch uiNin the tongue In
the unguarded moment It Is HltmMt
certain to apenk the thought* which
have their home In the heart. 8L Paul
must have had th* same* disappointing
experience which awaits every man
who tries to civilise the tongue* while
i he'heart la filled with anarchy, and
that experience yielded this priceless,
ounsel; "Finally, brethren, whatso- 1 rousedi
,... lesson of ronrentratlon Is one of the
hardest of alt lc#»>!>s to learn; the mind
is nn unruly thing and u«t always subject
to ri»tnrtd.
|ln\i< you ever talked to any one when
your intention wn* wandering all civet the
nlnre, when you found It next to lm|M>s*h
ble to concentrate your mind on what wsa
being said t» you? It la not a comfortable
sensation, and you are .always miserably
luIlilw *** * * eonartoua that the person talking to you Is
tho wonder grows upon us that really ever things are true, whatsoever things aware of your lack of attention.
are Ipmest, whatsoever things are Just,
whatsoever things nre pur%», whatso
ever things nre lovely, whatsoever
things me of good report; If there be
any virtue, nnd If there be nnv praise,
think on these things.” The heart that
Is persistently and hopefully search
ing for hnne.ly In the world will not
nnd the mlalnterpretation of his nelfh-
bor'H Intentions «uch an easy task; the
mind which dwell* (qttlently upon the
thlnx* thut are of food report will be
obi,. t« tell the world thst there Is more
of k*hhI than nf evil In all men. "Cre
ate In u* s clean heart, O God! and re
new u rlRht spirit within us.”
LEARN CONCENTRATION, •
SAYS BEATRICE FAIRFAX
I
It properly you musl keep your attention
nu your work.
You may be s school girl, studying your
lessons; you won't get any good from them
unless you put your mind ou them.
in the room but the volca of th#
talking to you.
1 know s young man who wrltsa Na
matter how much disturbance Is gulag tm
In the room, b# writes serenely ea. sot In
the least disturbed by tb* noise. That Is
Imm'siiso he can concentrate hi# satlr# at
tention on the thing h# Is doing.
\ou must remember, girts, that rear via-
ployer do## not #lone pay you Jtor yoar
lime; he pava you for your attention #d4
ydoriotnw t» jimr m——
you alwaya feel that you,hav# abao-
l^v earned It? 1H> you slwsyi do your
•a busy every
re you thought
aud hay# you
i
rosy \ tslona long enough to
cal aide of thing#. While*
others nr*- plodding steadlh