Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1872-04-22
THE RATIONALIST'S COURT.

q.
sense and reason, yet | suppose a very
real newer, if we 500 how 1t has hTfrt
its own from the beginning of the
world, now neither sense nor reason
have been able to overcome it, while
it alone is able to overcome both rea-
son and sense"-MAx MULLER.
The most bigoted of skeptics-and
there is bigotry of skepticism as well
as of religion-will not accuse Mr..
Muller Of being superstitiOusly devot-
ed to the christian church or the chris
tan faith But he has admirably stat
ed the foundation on which christian
ity, as belief, is built The radical
difference between christian philoso-
piers and rationalists, is psycholog
ical one. That is, they differ in their
estimate of the character and capacity
Of the human mind.
The nationalist assumes that reason
is the supreme faculty in man; that
it is the final arbiter and Judge; that
it solves all religious problems and at
fords all religious knowledge; that
whatever reason cannot see cannot be
seen; that whatever reason cannot
prove is not to be believed. And,
unfortunately, controversial theology
too often comedies, unconsciously,
this false premise. 1t goes before the
Judge whom the Nationalist has APP
pointed. 1t undertakes to establish
the truth of the Christian religion be-
fore the bar Of reason. 1t depends
upon the same class and kind Of argu-
ments which we employ in political
and social science. 1t undertakes to
demonstrate the existence of a God
by the same methods by which we
undertake to establish the existence
of new star. 1t endeavors to de-
monstrate the nature of the soul by
the same intellectual process by which
we endeavor to analyze and make
clear the true nature of force, or heat,
or electricity. And it does not salts
fly the Nationalist. 1t does not even
satisfy the Christian. Men call such
arguments cold. They demand diff.
ferent kind of logic-a logic that shall
speak, as they express it, "to the
heart"
The truth is, that the assertion Of
Rationalism and the implication of all
such controversial theology are wrong
The premise is a false one Religion
is not a result of reasoning. 1t is not
conclusion of the mind on balanc
ing of arguments. It is not doubt
ftll disputation. Though it is not un
reasonable, it is not built on the rea
son. And reason is not the supreme
faculty. It is not the arbiter anC
judge.
We ale not to believe alone what
the reason makes clear. There is
world, on which it is incompeten
alone to pass. This is the world O
the Infinite and the Unseen. Tha
world is apprehended by the spiritua
insight, by the power which Max Null
Ter has so admirably described above
Our belief in justice, honesty, love
does not depend on proof We d,
not believe in them because of evi
dence or demonstration. We know
them. We carry the witness of then
in our hearts. No acute argument g
learned llisanthrope will shake al
honest mans faith in the reality of il
tegrity. For integrity is an exper
ence. 1t is within the soul, not with
out 1t. 1t is part Of the pattern c
the true mans being, and cannot b
taken out without unraveling tn
whole fabric. SO the christians fait
in the existence ofa personal God an
an atoning Savior is not built on a
gument. Argument can neither CT,
ate nor destroy our convictions. w
know that there is God because w
have walked with him. We kno,
that there is a pardoning Savior b.
cause we have experienced his pardon
and the peace which flows from it,
We do not rest our relief on the We
diet Of tie reason, though the iud
ment OF tie reason confirms it. w
know the truth. Reason does not OF,
us our belief, and reason cannot tail
it away.
The Nationalist will make no pro,
ress against Christianity by reasonin
He must contrive to deaden and d
stroy the faith faculty or he will new,
get on. The Christian can rare
make progress against rationalis
merely by reasoning. He must co
trlve to awaken the sleeping faith ia
ulty or he will never get on. II
Nationalist does not believe, becau
he only uses half his faculties, ar
those untouched by the inspiring inf
ence of an indwelling God. He CROP
for the truth. The Christian sees