Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1874-12-10

CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
GOD..HIS EXISTENCE.

GOU'.HlS EAiSTENCE.
The denial of the existence of Supreme
Being is called atheism Theoretical atheists
are few /; practical atheists are numerous in all
countries. The existence of God is the fun
damental principle Of religion. He who dis
cards the idea of God, cannot be either re-
ligious or moral in the usual import of those
words. Learned men have attempted to de-
monstrate the existence of God by various
metaphysical arguments; but their reasoning
is so obscure that in most instances the argu-
guments amount to nothing The reasoning
on this subject, as on many others, easiest un-
derstood, is from effect to cause. Every man
possessed Of the five senses with which man
is endowed, is able to discover in himself and
in the world by which he is surrounded, effects.
He sees matter in its various forms, and in
many combinations He infers that matter
could not come into existence without ma
ker. In the field of his observation, he dis
covers that no effect ever takes place without
cause. The existence of matter is an effect.
Some cause must have produced it. 1t could
not produce itself The cause Of the existence
Of matter, either simple or compound, is God.
But another argument for the existence of
God is found in the incompatible harmony
which exists in everything around U.s. No
conflict exists in any part of the universe. In
the things around US, we find no dangerous
combinations. Nothing is in danger. How
ever diversified things may appear, harmony
the most sublime, exists between the whole
and all the parts.
From the design that is manifest in every
thing around US, we infer the existence of a
wise Creator The eyes in our heads, the
teeth in our mouths, our hands, our feet and
every part of our bodies, gives evidence con-
elusive of design. Whatever shows unmis-
taxable signs Of design had designer. The
designer of the universe is God. In the Bible
the existence Of Supreme Being is distinctly
stated 1t is declared in the first line Of that
ancient volume and repeated on every page
of the entire book.
Not only is there evidence of the existence
of God in the creation of the world, but the
government of the world is an incontroverti
BILE proof of his being. TO govern the world
requires being no less wise and powerful
than to create it. The providential care
which is exercised over all things, is as strong
a proof of the existence of God as can be pre-
sented. 1t may be said that all things exist
by law. This is true but who, it may be
asked, is the law-giver? The world governed
by law, but that law is the fiat of God. The
law ofnature is grand, but the law-giver is
God. Law cannot exist without law-giver.
It is powerless without an executor. There
must be some one to administer it. Matter,
in itself, or however combined, is inert. 1t
has being and nothing else. Every blade of
grass that springs up on the side of our path
testi6es most distinctly to the existence Of "a
Supreme Being. The law by which things
come into existence and grow up, never has
been discovered. No man can explain, by any
principles known, how the sap rises in the tree
from the ground and ascends to every branch
of the stately oak. Neither can any man ex-
plain how the blood courses through the whole
body of the living animal. The sap in the
tree, and the blood in the body of an animal
are made to perform their mission by the al
mighty power of an everywhere present God.