New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-05-21
SOME THOUGHTS FOR SUNDAY.
Reaseu RELIGION, Christianity. Greed

SOME THOUGHTS FOR SUNDAY.
Reason, Religion, Christianity. Greed
The above four nouns constitute surely a
| text as comprehensive as is desirable
What if we say of them, once for all, prob
ably they are not synonyms, perhaps no two
of them are as most generally used and
understood. Yet in a certain sense they
NAV be harmonious. There may be creed
professedly Christian, embracing all essen
tials of true religion, and this enlightened
reason may affirm. If such reason does not
SO say, alas for the creed, for who can, who
dare do violence to what his best and
most thoroughly informed reason decides
and proclaims. 1t still remains that this
same Christian creed may embrace a great
deal more than true religion, so much more
that the latter may he well nigh hidden be-
| meath forms. ceremonies and dOgmas SO
absurd that they will only command re-
spect because, like the folles of man, they
are very, very old.
Promising this much, what if the text
be left to shirk for itself, to come up, in
whole or in part, in what follows, just as
the writer's thoughts, left free to travel
where they will, may dictate. For, to his
thoughts, sitting down to write, he issues
no peremptory order, only hint that he
would wish TO say something reasonable OF
and concerning this reasoning age, and of
and concerning true religion, true Chris
tianity and creeds in connection with 1t.
Almost trite is the saying that this is an
age of inquiry. 1t will bear repetition here
to add that so thoroughly is it true, that
even most venerable and venerated re-
ligious dOgmas can not refuse to be tested
| BY the most rigid criticisms truth and rea-
son can suggest. Time was. perhaps, when
the man in surplice could boldly say to the
doubling inquirer, or the hes.tating neo-
| phyte, Sir, there are subjects too sacred
for criticism, as to which doubt is not to be
| tolerated, and the voice of authority is to be
accepted with faith cOmmendable i'll pro-
! portion to its blind submisslveness.' That
| time has pretty nearly, if not quite passed.
| NeolOgy is now as much fact as theology
| and the missionary of any particular faith
| feels. if he does not confess 1t, that he is
| only sure of winning AN intelligent inquirer
| by convincing his best informed judgment
! The earnest thinkers, comprising all the
best informed, are beginning to be under
stood. They do not say they never did
away with mystery" but they do say ''let
our emil ghtenod reason command US TO ac
cept the incomprehensible, and to the limit
of such command we obey. We know THAT
never will it order us TO swallow as sacred
mystery what is palpable absurdity."
Nor is ii longer of much avail to denOunce
civilized world over is legion) as intidels,
atheists, natural God-haters, seeking only
some excuse Ito flee unto TarshiSh.' As To
most of them, the bigOted eye alone fails
now to see that they not merely seek relig-
ious truth with tervor little short OF agony
of desire, but that such search is prompted
by their spiritual nature yearning, crying
out for necessary religious aliment and by
Judgment which says, "trte, real religion
there must be, else would there be no such
craving of the soul. demanding herewith
to be satisfied
IN this connection it may be remarked
that there seem to be many protessed
Christians who doubt whether. if Christian
ity be the true religion. il is not neverthe-
less something quite different from the faith
TO which they subscribed-quite at vari-
ance with the sO-called article as dressed in
the creeds and dealt ont in the ''confes-
sions of faith of many a popular church,
and such doubling is quite in harmony
with the spreading desire for religious
reality, and the equally extensive resolve
to be content with nothing else. Indeed,
it j. but one manifestation of the same gen
eral spirit of inquiry after all truth, which
will not be stayed by sacred wells or sacer-
dotal robes, which viii duly respect the pat
tern of long worn vestments. but will no
longer consent to call them silk when
they may be " shoddy." Nor can
there be mistake as 10 the
manifestation. There is very general
longing, not for any new gospel, but rather
for the old: for Christianity simple-un-
trammeled by the crotchets of creeds-
Astounding in charity and practicabiity
which find small modicum of nourishing
soil in the dogmas of the schools. Many
who have SUBSCRIBED to the narrowest creeds,
who do not now even propose to break
away from once honored, still loved church
associations. seem certainly heartily sick of
creed preaching, and almost anxious 10 con-
TESS that they no longer believe the road to
heaven to be single grOOved track. mon
opolized by one close corporation, or that
their car is the only one whose platform can
be trusted for a safe journey or sure arrival
at kingdom come
1t might be unsafe to specify what the
proportion is, of those belonging to s0-called
orthodox churches, who subscribed TO the
unbending article" with mental reserVa-
ton. because such subscription was indis-
pensable to their admission to the cOmmu-
MON which. for this or that reason, was the
one of their choice; but the number of such
is probably far from insignificant. Larger
still, surely, is the number of such
church members, who, whether at first
there was or not any mental reserva-
ton, could now hardly be more Disguised
shocked, it may BEL than by hearing some
of the doctrines to which they originally
assented, proclaimed, pictured in their
actual colors, and enforced, >abbath after
sabbath, from pulpits where they are wont
to resort for spiritual supplies. There are
tenets. as well as individuals. whose charms
are not enhanced by familiarity.
With no one person in mind at this writing,
the assertion could be proved not ground
less that many, very many, have sub
scribed to this or that article of faith with