The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1871-03-31
For the Conservative.
Reason and Revelation.

Editor Conservative = SfR-As
you let "boys ~, men of "braIns"
and stno brains write for your pa
per, / wish 10 say a few words in
regard 10 The above heading. There
are always two extremes, aud | be-
Iieye there are in this there is one
that says all Reason. and no Reye-
latlon, and the othcr says, all Rev.
latiOn and no Reason.
We do not believe IT necessary to
abandon oIIhcr IN orier to the hap.
piness Of man. but rather combine
th0m, and You have man IN his true
attributes. Revelation is to Reas-
on what light is to the eye. or sound
to the ear. A man with the beat
eye that pertains to the human spe-
eies canno see without hight, and a
man with the best resoDIng faculty
that pertains 10 man. canno. secure
his own happ ness without revela-
ton. This is demonstrated in the
history oil the Nations without the
revelation OF God truly dellneated
by Paul. in the last halt of the first
chapter of Romans, Even as they
did not like to retain God In their
knowledge. there is reason aloae),
he gave them over to vile Affections,
10 dishonor their bodies between
themselves, who changed the truth
of God into a lie, and worshipped
and served the creature more than
Creator" DC, then gives some twen-
" three of the darkest crimes our
flesh is herr to, and seals the whole
by saying, sit rs q shame even to
speak of those things that are done
ST them in secret."-Eph
The wisest and best of the Gem
tile Phi ilosophers felt the need of a
revelation. In Plato's dialogue
with AlcIbiades, upon the duties of
religious worship, a passags ccurs
which confirms this thought
Socrates-"To me 1t appears best
to be patient: it is necessary to wait
till you learn how you ought to act
towards the gods and towards
men,"
Alcibiades-"When, q Socrates,
shall that time be? and Tho riH
instruct me? for most willingly
would 1 see this person. who he is"
Socrates-"Ho is one who cares
for you /; but 1t is necessary that he
should first take away the darkness
from your mind ; and then bring
near those things by which you
shall know good and euil."
Alcibrades-"Let him take away
the darkness, or any other thing, if
he will ; for whoever this man is, /
am prepared to refuse none of the
things which he commands, if j
shall be made better. "-Piatonies
Alcibiade, II.
Thus CROPPED those best philoso-
pliers OF Greece, aided by reason a.
lone, and we would be no better off
rel it not that we have q revela,
ton that plainly reveals our duty
to God and man.
Reason creates nothing, but with
o proper basis of action before IT, it
may combine, define, and divide dd
minimum. We look at the beautiful
star spangled heavens over our
head, we admire and are lost in its
beauty and harmony-reason says
there was a great an,hor and flu
isher, but a no more lell the arch
itect than the reader can the auth
or of these lines. She may guess and
conjecture, but, like Aleibiades, 1t
is all in the dark. 1t is the same
with the origin, duty, and destiny
of man-we may PHILOSOPHERS, con-
lecture, and dispute, but the ques-
ton Is never settled till a revela-
ton kindly and reasonably tell us.
God madc man in His own image,
and we should love, serve and obey
Him, and one another, and thereby
make eternity our lasting, abiding,
and happy homo. May We thus do.
THINKER.
March u, 1871.