The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-05-26
The Religion that Satisfies tho Soul the
Right Religion.


you win convert to a purpose. N q. N.
The Religion that Satisfies tho Soul the
Right Religion.
To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD:-
1t is said "the agitation OF thought Is the begin
ming of WISDOM" and as your columns evince con-
siderable of this agitation, especially in that portion
devoted to religious correspondence, 1t surely must
be earnest of more light the subject than has
hitherto been revealed to the masses. 1t must be
admitted that In all ages OF the world certain few
have received TRUTH as 1t were from the air, far in
advance OF the times in which they lived-truths
which, had they the moral courage to utter were
secuted at as fancies fit for lunatics and not for
moment to be entertained by sober, respectable,
honest people-the promulgators of which were i'm
prisOned, cruci1ed. 1t Is all matter OF
time; 1t is so much easier to believe that
which our parents and grandparents be-
leved before us; so much more respectable
to endorse that which has become the fashion, so
much better for our worldly interests to belong
to a rich and powerful society; so much more con-
ducive to our ease and comfort to walk the
well-trodden highway than to mark out path for
ourselves through the hitherto UNEMPLOYED forests
OF Gods mysteries, exposing ourselves to the wild
beasts of prejudice scratched and torn by the brers
ofpetty malice, pierced by the arrows of venomed
ages Of bigoted humanity. 1t is surprising how little
power the human mind seems to possess OF bring
ing all past events into the present by mere force
OF will and viewing them in the light of the present,
Judging of them according to our present standard
We say the laws OF God are immutabe; then how
o thing happen to-day which in few hundred years
from now will be regarded as violating all known
hundred years back which no one at the present
time would believe could possibly come to pass now
but by the strangest faith in the world believe most
I'M " nIIA nd han fhnnY fha
rolling away OF centuries seems to cast q halo
around an event, elevating it into holy mystery
making that seem possible and plausible which to-
day would be regarded as an utter impossibility
Oh, how strange II H. that when the very doors Of
heaven are opened and light Is pouring In on every
side the people Of to-day Obstlnately turn their
backs upon 1t, and falling on their knees, blindly
worship the dead images OF the past, rising up out
ern fables. Those who profess and call themselves
Christians" are today popular people;
but few hundred those who
public market place and even put to death. So II
''Sceptc" had realized his wish and lived in those
same fate. 1t may be glorious thing to die for
truths sake; but does 1t not augur well for the
progress Of our nation when we may be allowed to
out being G,adtltend nodrdndtha ? Any creed any
faith, any religion that satisfies the soul is good for
that soul alone, but not for all Others as the food
that is good for one may not be good Tor another
milk for babes, meat for men,. When the babe has
outgrOwn the demand for milk he must have some
thing more substantial, and So when the spiritual
element of man has outgrown the food admin
Mustered, he will seek for something more, and
there Is no proof more convincing OF the
expansion and development OF the soul than the
cry for more light, the determination to think for
oneself, the doubts, the perplexties and the moral
courage to express what comes to one as truth,
whether In accordance with time-hOnored institu-
opinions. Here is a correspondent ("B. Y. A.'D
who sincerely desires to become a Christian, but
cannot in reason believe what the Christian faith
imposes. and cannot accept its dogmas in blind
faith without reason What Is IL to be a Christian
If not to believe in the doctrines Taught by the
Christi And who is the Christi find, by refer
ring to Webster, Christ is simply Greek
word signiiying to anoint it being the
In aay 70 n
still hold TO that custom, amounting children ut
christening. Are they not, then, the only literal
taught any but the purest spiritual truths am
unable to find. That His words have been twisted
never Intended by Him will not deny 6onceding
the Bible to be an imperfect historical record
allowing that Jesus son Of Mary WAS also the son
spirit TO Joseph, the husband, announcing that
fact, the High Priest in those days being, also
somewhat difference can it possibly make
with the great spiritual truths which He
taught ana for which He suffered and. died
rolling away one by one, have elevated higher and
higher and made so glorious that 1t overshadows
the great God Himself, receiving all the homage
this meek, loving, holy, suffering Jesus. We do well
to love and honor Him, even after so many hun
to-day, did His prosecutors, arrayed against
higher purer truth than the masses are yet able to
comprehend. Let us not, ''Sceptic" be so "ten-
der on the point OF ridicule." Let US be honest,
fearless, God-serving, using the reason which God
Himself has implanted In us, spark from His own
altar fires, as light to guide nearer
to Its source. Shut out reason? Never! 1t Is
all that saves US from being mere machine. Why,
even the brutes reason; and are we less than theyS
The very creeds which are required of me to accept
in blind faith had their rise in the reasoning of
progress through struggles many and severe, and
their present consequence through the martyrdom
of many who espoused their cause They have had
their day and accomplished their mission we have
grown older and stronger and require more food,
more light We cannot live on the dead husks of
the past; we must have the everything, ever-grow
ing fruits OF the present, and
Woe to him who trampes on the mind
That deathess thing. He knows what he does
Nor what he deals with man may rear again
The flower his foot hath crushed; or light anew
The torch his breath hath quenched;
But for the soul, OH trcmble and beware
To lay rude hands upon Gods mysteries there
b. Il. WASHBURNE.