The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1868-01-09

his tae chursh claims special priyi-
h#. if nd het on earth wherssit Is
AesEidted Il its lower, yet in heayensit
promises discrimination. The modern
State tries to unite all harmoniousiy into
one bond Of fraternity, willie stheolog ~
-sows dissensions.- Therefore it is that
1he spirft ofthe present. age is ito separ-
ate Church and State. The State tries
to make theology as little injurious as
possible; il tries to keep the supremacy
Of the Church st bay; tries to force
theology. into that practice of equality
and love which il continually breaches
but is unwilling to carry into general
effect. Hence, the more enlightened
are looking for new religion. more
noble and more divine, which win unite
the human race instead of splitting it
into fragments.
But this is not all Our reason has
outgrown our faith. The spirit of mod
ern. science tries to establish harmony
in all departments of life !; we cannot
have two different intellects, one for
science and one for theology, Our age
wants harmony all over, and because
this difference between science and the
ology can no longer be ignored, and
cannot be easily smoothed over, what
are the. consequences? We perceive
them all over the modern state of society.
In the first place, superstition and blind
faith are driven to accept supernatural
and incomprehensible things-accepting
everything. yet doubling everything. In
the second place, we find communities
separated into factions, submitting to
outside conventional forms in order not
to give offense, and deceiying them
selves as much as they deceive others.
And again we find universal skepticism,
undermining the most cherished and re-.
fning institutions of the human race.
This state of things can not last. It will
rapidly engender decentralization and
the wisest men are asking: What will
be the principles Of the future religion,
which will unite AMI rec oneile the human
race 2
First. The religion Of the future mast
be in. accordance. VITA SCIENCE; il .lpast,
be in. accordance with common, sen SCI
it must be consistent With universal love
and liberty and charity, Qneo of the
most prominent and wise of German
authors, Bcrtilold Anerbach, once said
very boldly an very poi ntedly LAS
tronomy has broken the head OF theolo-
gy, and geology has broken the legs
thereof We must have no tribunals
for condemning Galileos, whose scien-
tific discoveries don't agree with our
notions of the Bible. We must not even
be under the necessity of acting like the
modern Lyell and his geological com 5
peers, who always asked pardon of the
Church for their ,unscriptural discover
les. No; there must be one truth al |
over the universe. Even the chapters
Of this holy book must be stricken out,
rather than there should be conflict
between the truths Of science and relig-
ion. For what can we lose if science
teaches that the creation of the universe
proceeded slowly, and was not accom-
plished in six ordinary days? What
can we lose if the coral reefs, down on
the coast of Florida, tell us that the age
Of the globe is not six thousand years,
but is to be counted by hundreds Of
thousands of years? What can we lose
if many Of the incontrovertible facts Of
science conflict with our ideas derived
from this book? Will we love God
less? Will we stand with less awe and
admiration i'm this His sacred temple of
creation? No. Look up to those my
RAIDS Of heavenly bodies, moving in
eternal harmony and in obedience to
law through their invisible orbits look
back through the epochs of time, which
stretch unsearchable before the mind
and fill US with becoming humility,
weighed down by our own insignifi-
canoe. With unusual fervor we exclaim,
80 Lord, how great are thy works !.
Thou hast made them all with wisdom
The universe is full Of thy glory"
Second The religion of the future
must not distort or twist the laws Of
nature. There can be but one law of
the m nd. There can not be one law of
The mind for science, and another for
theology or religion. 1t is written,
"know the Lord thy God" Man and
God are the subjects, and the law be-
tween the one and the other will ans wer
all our relations. AS to a MEDIATOR"
what more do we need than is contained
in the idea expressed BY wise man Of
! Spain. in the l ith century, when he said:
The siediator between God and man IS
common sense and reasoH@3 Common
sense must rule supreme, and they will
| ultimately save the human race. And