The Portland daily press., 1870-07-12

made spiritual, intense and noble by affection
ate trust in God and confidential intimacy
with him.
The preacher made the following points,
l. Christian virtue grows from the conscious
ness of sin through the consciousness OF for-
giveness or reconciliation with God. CHRIS
tianity does not create the sense OF SIN ana
guilt. 1t has been powerful in all religions
crushing mankind like the LAGOON IN the
folds of the SER ents, the marble anguish I'M
changing through all ages. The conscious
ness of guilt is not ennobing, but the contra
ry. In its very nature il is the consciousness
of failure, of unworthiness, OF ill-desert. 1t
compels the substitution OF seif-loathing and
self-cOndemnation for self-respect. It is the
consciousness of having no claim to the an
probation either of God Or man. 1t depresses
with fear. 1t brushes in despair. 1t makes
life dread OF the future, a despair of the
present, a lamentatiOn of the past Both the
ethnic religions and the ethnic PHILOSOPHERS
fail in the presence of this terrible fact, the
human consciousness of sin. Neither can
evoke life of virtue out 'of it. They act
however, In opposite directions. All religions
necessarily intensity the sense of sin. They
quicken the moral nature ;they bring God and
the unseen world and retribution close to the
soul. II is the defect OF the ethnic religions
that, while intensifying the sense of guilt,
tney intensity all its depressing influences, and
leave the soul scorching beneath its burning
neat. Hence in heather civilization the high
est nobleness of life has been realized outside
OF the popular religion. Philosophy, on the
contrary, turning away from religion as fail
ure, ignores sin. 1t would save men from the
sense of sin by forgetting it, by running away
from it. Philosophy, therefore, attempts to
create virtue out of self-respect. 1t aims to
develop human excellence not from the sense
OF sin but from the pride OF virtue. Such was
stoicism, the best type of ancient philosophy.
But philosophy itself is as one sided as the
heather religions. 1t can get rid of the sense
OF sin only by getting rid of God. Hence it
divests the idea of God of its moral power bv
calling God the Infinite or the Absolute.
Thus excluding sin and God, selfrespect be-
comes pride 1.-THE principle which philosophy
presents as the essence of all goodness, be-
comes self suficiency, which, if there is God.
Is ar absurdity and the essence of sin. Be-
sl0es, the sense of sin springs from moral ele-
ments and relations inseparable from human
nature; philosophy ignores it, but does not
meet and heal it; therefore it perpetuaLy re-
asserts itself in spite of philosophy.
Christianity, more than any other religion.
by its clearer revelation of God and His law,
lntenslfies the sense of sin. At the same
time, by its revelation in Christ of Gods love
to sinners, redeeming them from both the
guilt and power of sin, it takes from the sense
OF sin its power to depress, it frees from the
abJectness OF self-contempt, terror and despair,
and creating instead the consciousness of ius.
LITIGATION and of sonship with God, quickens
new NE OF 1ree, joyous and loving SERVICE
Cnrlstianlty thus combines in one harmonious
whole the otherwise separate and incompati-
pie ideas OF religion and philosophy; and In a
Christian excellence dStinctiyely religions
and growing out Of the sense of sin. realizes
the nobleness of character which philosonby
aSortlvey attempts to develop out Of the pride
of virtue. fNo
This origin of Christian virtue in the sense
OF SIN and forgiveness through Gods redeem
1 ng grace, stamps it with some peculiarities.
Inc consciousness of sin against Gods love
brings lnto it an element of tenderness and
patience, as if Gods love, outreaching and
oVerpowerlng the sense of guilt, had melted
1t into its own nature as love, In Christian
virtue IS developed delicate spiritual sensi
tiveness to the difference between right and
wrong. 1t is also characterized by the Hottest
and most intense aspiration; the whole life
becomes longing for perfection. The virtues
ured by the knowledge of Gods love: "See
that ye walk worthy Of God" The doctrine
OF the indwelling of the holy Spirit-so much
above the inspiration by which Socrates
thought himself restrained from evil-gives
courage 10 attempt great things and to expect
toreailze Inc highest possibilities.
~ On r.ount of his deep conviction of sin, a
Chr'SSCian in doing good will aim first to deliv-
er men from sin and guilt by bringing them
into reconciliation with God. At the same
time his own consciousness OF sin creates the
deepest compassion and tenderness towards
sinners, and Chrstlike earnestness OF en-
deavor to save them from sin. Hence, a
Christian experience, passing through the
sense of sin to the Joy of forgiveness, often
moves the soul to its depths. Such the expe-
fience OF Paul, Augustine, Luther, Edwards,
Wesley. This type of experience and the
sense Of sin out of which it grows are less no
ticeabe now than formerly. This does not
necessarily prove decay of religion. One
may grow up with knowledge of Gods re-
deemng grace meeting and healing the sense
OF sin, and SO the whole life may pass peace
fully beneath the healing of Gods love. This
type OF Christian piety has never been want
ing; as Christianity prevails it will be more
and more the prevalent type. On the other
hand, the decay of the sense of sin may indi-
cate decay OF religion; it may be the placid
ity OF indifference. If you have never had
the struggling experience of Paul, Augustine,
and the like, you have no reason to look down
on them as from the superior heights of Sc.
renlty above the storms. Your placidity NAV
indicate the superficianess of your life: YOU
may never have sounded the depths of your
being nor known the grandeur of its relations,
obligations and possibilities. 1t is fatal ex-
change to escape the consciousness of sin by
losing the consciousness of God. The modern
ratlonalism starts from the pride of virtue and
not from the sense of sin, and is philosophy
as distinguished from religion and antagonis-
tic to it. The ancient philosophy was a Iceiti-
mate outgrOwth of human thought. Where
religion quickened the sense of sin onlv to
crush the soul in terror and superstition. il is
not wonderful that the best minds should re-
claim the nobler elements of humanity even
at the sacrifice of religion. But now that
Christ has come reconciIing man to God and
c"ickening the noblest growth of humanity
i"nt OF the sense OF sin, there is no longer an
apology for philosophy to maintain its separ-
ate and antagonistic position.
IL. A second characteristic of Christian
virtue is that it springs from faith in God,
This philosophy disclaims. St0ieisim is an ex-
amp& Cicero says that safety, wealth and
victory are the proper objects to ask from the
gods; but no man ever referred his own vir-
tue to the gods as divine gilt, or gave to the
gods thanks for being good man. Christian
ity teaches that all goodness springs from faith
m God. The Christian doctrine of salvation
by faith does not mean, as it is often misun-
derstood, that God is induced to pardon sin
ner on account OF an act OF faith which the
sinner performed one day. That makes faith
an isolated act and not the inspiration of
life; and teaches that its efficacy lies in its
responsiveness with God, not in quickening
and inspiring the man. Even the sense Of
pardon thus viewed is not ennobling, for it is
only the criminals gladness that he has es-
capped penalty, not the consciousness of SON.
ship towards God. Religion then becomes
hope of heaven instead of divine life on
earth and the religious life is sundered from
tne secular: Jesus has declared Gods love to
sinners redeeming them from sin. Faith is
the sinners confidence in that divine love.
The life of faith in Coo is life of filial trust
OF loving service, of confidential intimacy.
ram INNS becomes an inspiration at every
life of 1--we. :"
~. Christian love has some peculiarities.
One is the spirit of selfsacrifice for Others as
exhibited in Christ's. This was illustrated by
the early Christians in the plague at Alexan-
dria, Carthage and Antioch, nursing the sick
and burying the dead whom their prosecutors,
the panic-stricken heather, had abandoned
Lecky, abiding to the dissolution of the Ro-
man empire, says that after making the fullest
allowance for other influences, it remains san
undoubte1 fact that the reconstruction of So
ciety was mainly the work of Christianity
1t did this in three ways; it abolished slav-
cry; it created charity; it inculcated self
sacrlhce. by revealing Gods love to sinners
II mas taught reverence to man and intro
ouced those principles of the worth of man
ana the sacredness of his rights which are
FORCES IN the civilization of Christendom, and
turn thought and action into militant hro.
py, Christian love is also distinctiyelv cbarac-
terized by IT'S breadth, extending to mankind.
and by its hopefulness expecting progress to,
"a fIIlf Af