Liberal Republican. [volume] (Dallas, Or.) 1872-1???, 1873-02-15

must suppose they think buiwark
and not danger to religion, the doc
triue of Papal infallibiity. For hand
/ ling controversies of such class this
is not time, | am not the person, and
my office is not the proper office. And
it is not now only the Christian Church
or only the Holy Scriptures, or only
Christianity which is attacked. Tho
disposition is boldly proclaimed to deal
alike with root and branch, and to snap
the ties which under the still venerable
game Of r.@iason unite man with the
unseen world, and tighten the strug-
gles and woes of life by the hope of
better land Applause | will not
detain aud weary you with multitude
of details. | will only refer by name
to one who is not British wrter-to
the learned German DR.. Strauss.
II is a man of far wider fame than any
British writer who marches under the
same banner He has spent long life in
what he doubtless thinks a good cause
and | mention him with the respect
which is justly due not only to his
ability but to bis straigh forward earn
e>tness and to the fairness
and mildness toward antagonists
in argument with which so far as
| have seen, he Iur. us his i'll starred
aud hopeless enterprise. Applause. He
has published during the present year
a volume entitled ~ he Old Belief aud
heNew" In his introduction he frank
ly raises the question whether, con-
sidering the progress which culture has
now made there IS any longer occasion
=, to maintain religious worship in any
form whatever. Why, he asks on be-
half not only of himself, but of a
paJy in Germany for which he claims
tMt it answers the state of modern
fhoueht-Why should there be a sep
arate religious society at all, when we
have already provision made fo7 all
men in the State the school, science,
and fine art :" In his first chapter
ne puts the question, care we still
Christians p And after a detailed
examination he includes, always speak
ing on behalf of modern thought, that
if We wish cur yea to be yea, and our
nay, nay-if We are to think and
speak our thoughts as honorable up
right men, We must reply we are
Christians no longer, This question
and answer, however, he observes, are
insufficient. The essential and funda-
mental inquiry with him is, whether
we are, or are not, still to have u relig>
ion: To this inquiry he devotes his
second chapter, la this seco nd chapt-
er he finds that there is no personal
God there is no further state the
dead live in the recollection oc survivors
This is enough for them. After this
he had little difficulty in answering
the question he has put. All religi-
ous worship ought to be abolished.
The very name of Divine Service is
indlgnlty to man. Therefore, in the
sense III which religion has been here
tofore understood, his answer is that
we ought to have no religion any
more. But preceding, as he always
does with commendable frankness, he
admits tha, he ought to FL with some
thing the void which he has made.
This he accordingly proceeds to do.
Instead of God. he offers to US what
he calls the ALI or Universum. This
All or Univers lm has, he tells as,
neither conciousness nor reason. Bat
it has order and law. He thinks il
Fl ted, therefore, to the object Of new
and true piety, which he claims for his
Universum, as the devout of tho old
style did for their God. 1t any one
repudates this doctrine, to DR.. Strauss
reason repudiatlon is absurdity, and to
his feeling is blasphemy These are
not the rawlings of maniac nor are
these mere dreams of an imaginative
high wrought enthusiast such as Comte
appears to be; they are grave couclu-
sions, after elaborate reasoning, of q
learned, calm, and so far as form is
concerned, sober minded man, who
in this very year has been commended
Continued 10 fourth page.