The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1872-08-07


ture state or what is required of man tt
win his immortal crown. In these par
ticulars the evidence from nature alone
: fails the weak intellect of man. AS ole
: Cato expressed it clouds and darkness
rest upon the future. If, as most moral
philosophers contend, man is endowed
by nature with the capacity to dis
tinguish right from wrong and virtue
from vice, or with what is sometimes
E called San innate moral sense" it is most
, certainly true, that the exercise Of that
'sense" has been anything else than uni
form. There is scarcely single vice
that in some age or country Of the world
has not been countenanced by public
opinion.
Under these circumstances q great
number of religious systems have sprung
up at different times among the differ
ent nations and races of the earth. The
God of nature has written His existence
on all His works and His law in the
heart of man, and to make plain
this writing and enforce this law, has
been the real or pretended aim Of the
prophets in every age. They saw, but
Through glass darkly." The ancients
were, in the main, rank idolators. The
most cultivated of them had systems of
Mythology. Their Pantheons were fill
ed with an infinite number of divinities.
Even the chosen people, the lsraelites,
set apart from the rest Of mankind from
the call of Abraham down, could with
difficulty be restrained from idolatrous
practices in the very presence OF the
Ark Of the Covenant! Nor are the
moderns in any way exempt from the
delusions of superstition. Even at this
day, in the blaze of the latter part Of the
18th Century, it is stated, upon what
seems good authority, that Of the $50
millions of people estimated to occupy
the surface Of the globe, only 260 mil
lions are christians 130 millions Ro-
man Catholics, 62millions Greek Catho-
lies and SO millions Protestants whilst
the other SO millions arc either entire
ly ignorant of christianity or ridicule it
as fable and superstition. a millions
profess Judaism, 800 millions profess
Buddhism and Brahmanism, whose male
votaries, amidst the most obscene rites Of
heather worship, throw themselves un-
der the wheels Of the car Of Juggernaut,
whilst their wives seek to secure their
immortal bliss by burning themselves an
the dead bodies of their husbands. 12O
millions are the fiery followers Of
Mahomet-Arabs, Turks and Saracens,
who brandishing their flashing scimitars,
shout Allah and propagate the faith
of the "True Prophet" with fire andsword!
And 146 millions profess other miscel-
laneous creeds, not rising to the dignity
of religion, including the different forms
of Fetichism among the negro tribes of
Africa, in Polynesia and in some parts
Of Asia and America-coming down to
the miserable caricature Of the Latter
Day Saints" the last if not the very
lowest Of the superstitions.
At first view it would seem strange
the light of nature vouchsafed to all
being the same-that the world should
be 50 full of different systems Of re-
ligion-difering so widely from each
other, and some so strange, so grotesque,
so ridiculous and absurd. These reli-
gions are so far from being in accord,
that the pious zeal Of the different secta-
ries has caused more bitter wars upon
each other and more bloodshed, than all
other causes in the history Of the world
combined. To say nothing Of the con-
hicts between different sects of the
Christian religion, the Protestants and
Greek Catholics and Roman Catholics
for centuries the crescent and the cross
have waved in fercest opposition upon
many fields of blood! 10 the honest
inquirer after TRUTH. this is startling
fact and sometimes a stumbling-block
When closely examined, however, It
may not seem so strange. These differ
ent systems of religion are the off
spring of a natural anxiety to secure
haven of rest beyond the grave, growing
out of belief in q future state and
working in ignorance Of the precise ma
ture Of that future state and OF what
is required from man. These systems
were constructed as Robinson Crusoe
constructed his boat to escape from his
solitary island, that is according to the
destitute circumstances Of the situation.
In other words in want Of revelation
of more light.
1t is very certain that all these differ
ent systems. of religion can not be true.
The votaries of each believe their own
to be true, but the votaries Of all others
know it is not. Assuming that the
great Creator, the Author Of so many
systems of worlds, possesses unity in ma
ture and design-is Interchangeable, the
same yesterday, to-day and forever, (and
no other idea is admissible) it is impossi-
bic to believe that systems so essentially
different and Observation-Disclosures i'll
theory-ditferent in form-difierent in
their objects Of worship and standards OF
conduct are all alike emaaations from the
same source, the great Creator and
benefcent Ruler Of the unirerse! AS all
cannot be true, there is danger that the
skeptical mind may jump to the conclu-
sion that all alike are vague, uncertain,
conjectural and doubtful-that the
whole subject is at last but Shadows,
clouds and darkness.
1t is perceived that upon the subject
of the final destiny of the soul of man,
which relates entirel to the unknown
future and is spiritual, invisible and i'll
tangible in its nature, the claim OF
divine origin for religion is not always
reliable. For we think it may be safely
stated that no religion has ever been
I-,,1uo+od -, tho whole history of