The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-11-29 00:00:00

CANON KINGSLEY ON THE MYSTERY

OF PAIN.

- -
In his sermon t Westminster Abbey on Sunday
afternoon, on Psalm civ., 20, Canon Kingaley dealt with
the question of the mystery of pain, is seen in the ap-
parently superfluous suffering and death of the lower
animals; the following condensed report of which is
from the Pall Mali GeLetto From the top of crea-
tion to the bottom the rule is 'nivel Bad and even in
this cultivated country the hawk preys upon the
small birds, the small birds eat the insects, and these
ingests eat others in their turn while even a delicate
songster like the nightingale feeds chiefly on animal
food, each organism of which has coat God, With
reverence be it said, as much pains as the night
ingale itself. Why is this? Ought it to be so or
not? The solution of this question his tried many a
Christian soul—yes, and many • heathen too, and
hail driven them to answers which are not according to
Scripture of the orthodox faith. Sono, have said the
world is full of pain and death because it is ill-made.
created not by the good God hut by a stupid being, by
an inferior, halbrational God, whoru the good God
will conquer and depose—a pordonable mistake, butstill
a mistake. Others, good men, have said, like Milton in
his Paradise Loot, that before Adam'. fall there Was
no pain, no death. I say very distinctly (continued the
preacher) that this is nit part of the ortholim ('atholii
faith, and you need not believe it. In the first place,
the book of Genesis dois not say so; it dime not say
that the earth is cursed for nian's sakeCr for the animals,
but on the contrary ; neither do the pealmitts or prophets
take *ache view. Others tell us, St. Paul Iwo so when
he writes 'By one man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin; 'but I say (added Mr. Kingslsy),
humbly and firmly, that St. Paul her. speaks of the
world of men only, for he goes on te say that death
passed on all men, for that all have sinned, and, by
specially mentioning man, he excluded the ammahl
Be this salt may (continued the Canon), before Adam's
'fall animals deetro) lid each other as they do now; the
same process went on, and the very ricks and soil
wader one feet are the graveyard, of animals of past
ages. No ! the only avower to the problem Is that of
toe Psalmist —he sees the myetery of pain and death,
he does rod attempt to explain it, but he faces it
manfully in his faith, saying, 'Tide is as it ehould
be, for it is the law and will of God, from
whom come all good things, and in whom is
no dark uess at all.' Therefore, to the l'isaimist
the earth appears tilled with good things, and the
great and wide sea al., and, even though the animals
devour each other, it still teems a beautiful world to
him. But he goes farther still. He has looked into
life in all its innumerable variety ; he also looks into
death : Thou hidest Thy face, and they turn again to
th-ir duet.' l'atry this! Yes ; but like all the highest
poetry and philosophy, the soundeet truth likewise.
Nay, he goes on farther than we should dare to go,
unless he had gone be fore, and says the glory of the
Loud shall endure for ever. The glory of the Lord,
then, is shown forth and ecilares for ever in these and
Male, even though they devour e iash other; and the
Lord rept' ces in his works, though th ity ve by each others'
•'eathiii. But who is thin I.ovd ? Al, depends on the an-
,wer tr it rio'ti.•o. I (II q. St. ,
were gods many, and lords snotty, and since hi. Lillie men
have made goh'. and b.-het:rid they were the same Gins
of whom the Psalmist wrote. But he did hot mean
what—l will not say whom—men mean when they ialk
of a God who made the world and -et it going, aid has
touched it since; what G sorge Fox cal's •
'dead God,' and what one has ratedy but wisely
called 'an absentee God.' Not such a God did the
Psalmist believe in. His God was an ever-present
God, enforcing his own awe, wotking his owo machi•
nary, making all thing* work together for good to those
that love Him. In oue word his believed in the liv ng
God. And if any one had said to him, 'You believe
in the general providence of God, but surely you do
not believe in any special providence r the Psalmist
would have answered: ' I believe God governs by
laws, but by special providences also ; and I believe
that all that has ever happened Lao occurred
by special providence., that not a single organic
being has assumed its present form Have by • series of
special pr i vid-esi es acting upon it and its ancestors
at every moment of their hers; that not a sit gle
weed grows without it, that every person I meet,
every thought which is not sinful or brutal comes
to me by the speitial providence of God watching
over me and over every atom He has made.'
And if any philosopher declared this view to be
unthinkable, the Psalmist would have anssgerod :
If you can't conceive this, I can; and yo tir mast
not make your power of conception the standard
of other men's' Or, if the phil 'gopher had asked
fie a proof of God's ' interference' by special pro-
videnc,., then the Psalmist would have said : ' Inter-
ferences ! That is • word I never use.' He would have
gone back to the old story of Moses and of Israel in
Egypt. and have said, 'Whatever I know or don't know
about interference with the laws of nature, this I know,
that God Jan use these laws to reward the good and
punish the wicked as He did in Eopt, when He showed
Himself as the Lord of Nature and 11 Grace, and proved
to proud Pharaoh that He was not only Lord of the laws
which gave life and health, but of those which bring
disease and death. 'That is my God,' the old Psalmist
w add have said, 'not only great but good, for He
belpeth them to right that auffer wrong.' Yes it was
this alagniti dent notion of God's living and astive jus-
tice and goodness that made the Psalmist trust in Him
even amidst such mysteries am those of the pain and suf.
fering of the animals. 'All is well,' he answered; 'I know
isot why, but it is Its mill of the gracious God, and that
is enough for me,' Enough for him I And is it not
enough for us, to whom He is known to be more good,
more gracious, more period than Psalmist or prophet
I knew him to be, for we know that He gave His only
begotten Son for us. Yee! In this, as in all cams, rest
and comfort for doubts and lean are to be found at the
foot of the Cross, for we believe that He who was hung
on that Craw is the Maker of all; In darkness as well
as in light, in doubt as well as in certainty, In pain and
I sorrowss well as in health and joy, we eau say, Lord,
I believe.% help Thou -my unbelief.'" The congrega-
I tion was, I! partible, larger than on the previous -Sum.
day,