The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-04-28
For THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN.
LIFE ASSURANCE. is THERE ANY RE
LIGI0N IN IT?

The articles of "F. j." and "Scotch-
Irish" induce me to deviate little from my
prescribed order; not to reply to their ar
guments, directly, but to answer the ques-
ton which lies at their basis. Has life as
surance religious aspect 2 The question
has not been presented before, because it
seemed to be necessary to know what life
assurance is, before we could possibly know
anything clearly as to its relations and as
poets. We have perhaps g,ne far enough in
exposition of the former point to serve as an
adequate basis for a satisfactory solution of
the latter. In order to do this, however,
the exercise of some discrimination is neces-
sary. No one would doubt the propriety of
discussion, upon suitable occasions, of the
best mode of organizing benevolent boards
and committees. And yet the whole dis
cussion would be with respect to business
arrangements and modes respecting which
one of your correspondents might ask, "Is
there any religion in all this?" The an
swer would be, that true religion demands
the publishing of the gospel; the means are
essential to the end; and religion itself re-
quires the employment of the best available
means to the end proposed. So, here; the
modes and forms of organization in life as
surance certainly have no religion in them.
But is there no religion in providing for the
''widows and fatherless in their afiiction?"
Is there none in making provision that the
bereaved families of the ministry shall have
bread through the instrumentality of those
who have from them been nourished with the
mama of heaven? Is there no suggestion
of religious characterize appeal to the
sanctifed affections of Gods people, in the
announcement which so many read with joy
amid tears, that the afectionate congrega-
ton of our beloved brother Gilmer had lately
secured for him policy in one of the
life assurance societies, which now provides
for that stricken one, whose heart had so re-
Gently been linked to his in the sweetest and
most sacred of ties Let it be borne in
mind that the question of life assurance is
simply and only this-How shall provision
best be made for the families from whom,
sooner or later, we must part? And let no
one who owns the sacred duty of providing
for his own" deny the religious bearings of
the subject.
1t is to be remembered that there are tvo
parties to whom God has committed the duty
of providing for our families. Primarily it
rests upon parents, and upon their death or
inability to fulfil it, devolves upon the COM
munity. 1t is not the right of any man to
look merely on his own things, without re-
gard to those of his neighbor. The amount,
therefore, which any man has contributed to
the common stock of the community consti-
tutes no rule as to the title of his bereaved
family to the supply of their necessary
wants. That title is independent of all such
consideration, and is consequent wholly upon
our common brotherhood and dependence
upon God. Life assurance is, therefore, de-
vised as a systematic mode of fulfilling
these obligations. Its basis is a mutual con-
tract by the members to each other, for the
performance of their joint obligations. The
assurer pays his premiums, not as the quad
pro quo, the compensation for what his fam
lily are hereafter to receive, but as his pro-
portion towards the means by which they
and others like situated are to be provided
for. The contingency of his death, to which
"Scotch-Irish" so strenuously objects, comes
in precisely because that is the condition
which God himself has expressly fixed as
determining parental duty and originating
that of others. The moment when a man
dies, his family comes under the category of
''the fatherless and the widow" whom to
visit in their affliction is an element of pure
religion before God and the Father. Sure
ly, in all this, there are some religious as
poets, even though ''F. j." should fail to
see them, and "Scotch- Irish" should prove
to his own satisfaction, that, IF he should
hpe, he can do better for his family by buy
ing more land; result to which he must
have come through some mistake in his
studies of the assurance tables.
But we 60 farther, and undertake to main
tain the proposition that the system of life
assurance offers means of provision for our
families, which, as compared with the ordi-
nary mode, presents advantages of moral
and spiritual nature far reaching and most
important. According to the present sys-
TEN of the world, as pursued by saints and
sinners alike, each one is anxiously engaged
in the effort to acquire and hoard, indefinite
ly, for the future. The whole subject unde-
fined, he may at first have comparatively
moderate plans and cravings. But, as he
goes on accumulating, the habit of gather
ing and boarding grows, and what was at
first looked upon as liberal competence, is
finally regarded as penury. The very un-
certainties of business induce an unbounded
grasping, in the hope of providing margin
against contingencies. Space will not allow
an extended development of the process and
results. Evidently they tend toward iliber-
atty and avarice; disregard of the claims of