Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1872-10-17
THE RUTLAND HERALD.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1872.
Scepficisn.

There are many comments among the
people relative to what they are pleased
to denominate modern scepticism. Much
that is called scepticism is very far from
being universal doubt, or a doubling
of the truth of revelation, or denial OF
the divine origin of the Christian religion
or of the truth of God. 1t is but the
expression of the more thoughtful upon
the varied topics presented in the Bible
and is far from being sceptical in its
tendency when rightly considered-and
If it has leaning in that direction there
is way to escape it or grow out OF it.
The time has gone by when any person
can afford to denounce doubt in or out
side the church, or look upon an unbe-
lever as a person utterly wicked and to
be avoided and stunned. No man or
body of men have attained that perfec-
ton that warrants them in claiming to
be utterly right, and those who disagree
with them to be utterly wrong. Every
individual upon the earth is, in a de-
gree, ignorant and sceptical, and though
he may be far advanced toward the
truth, a little time will behold in HIM
either progress or retrogression. Should
he be denounced as sceptic, it might
confirm him in his unsettled state, and,
hence. thousands are driven from the
ordinances of religion by thoughtlesS
Christian men who, at the instant, de-
nounce all religious opinions, except
their own, as wrong, and because of this
the age is called sceptical. TO be exactly
stationary is'impossible. No man occu-
pies position, moral or intellectual, he
has jumped into, but one he has gradu-
ally gained by thoughe by observation or
experience.
The doctrines of the Great Teacher
show the very progress of an advance
from scepticism toward Christianity. 1t
is a constant change of opinion as the
individual passes from one growth to
another. A man may believe his faith
to be firmly grounded on certain points,
and have no patience with those who
disagree with him. Yet a period further
on the occurrence of events, deeper
insight into religious truth, or the in
creased light from study, may entirely
change his views. 1t is this human
weakness, this impossibility of certainty
or perfection that should prompt Chris
tian people to charity in dealing with
the crecds of their fellows, and forbid
that spirit of dogmatism which is far too
prevalent in the community for the good
of the institutions of religion.
It is easy for people to dogmatize
about God; to analyze and pick to pieces
his character, to tell his intentions, his
power and his will and to declare what
should be and what should not be done
in this world of ours. The man WHO,
filled with the spirit of intolerant dog
matism, declares he will not fellowship
with those who believe differently from
himself, forgets that his grandfather
had a different faith, that his direct an
censtor, centuries before, might have
been pagan and that his own children
will in all probability, differ from him
ON certain and perhaps all theological
points. The world is world of pro-
gress and men are but pupils. Religious
convictions are gradual, and the mind is
developed towards truth as the grass
grows and the seasons come to the har-
vest. A truly religious individual is the
result of long growth The best exam
pies of Christian men and women in his
tory are not those who were born into
their positions, but who attained them
gradually and by a regular process of
development Thus it is that individuals
come out of Catholicism and from the
Journalism of New England.
From recent excited discussions on re-
ligious topics, in Which scepticism is
charged upon all persons of differing
views have led us to believe that indivi-
duals should not hold too rigidly the
idea that they alone are the partakers of
truth, but have patience with honest
doubt and scepticism and make them
selves teachers instead of judges. The
great Nazarine bore with one of his dis
ciples, he forgave another, and his lat
ter day disciples should not forget that
greatest of all the virtues, he exemplified
charity. Charity and forbearance to-
ward those who differ from us in reli-
gious convictions, would tend to brush
away from society much that is now de-
nominated modern scepticism and bring
men to the standards of religious truth