Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1877-07-19
&eadiug far the Sabbath.
CONDUCTED BY
REV. BERT LATHAM.
[Original.]
esMY OPINION.0

the opinions of men are worth something
whilst there are other subjects concerning
which human opinions are not worth fig.
There are some subjects about which much
has been learned by observation and expert
ence, whilst there are not few subjects about
which we can have no observation and no ex-
perience. With regard to multitude of
subjects of the most vitalimportance, we can.
not reason. They are either above reason or
we have no data given us on which, unassisted,
reason can act. When it is said that these
subjects are above reason, it is not said that
they are contrary to reason. A man with
good eyes cannot see without light. He may
be placed in dark room full of beautiful OBJ
jects, but so long as the darkness remains, the
beautiful objects must remain undiscovered.
Introduce light into the room, and the eye
that saw nothing will now see many things.
What would the opinions of man who had
been born blind he worth respecting the colors
of the rainbow, the delicate tints Of rose, or
the grandeur Of the setting sun Nothing.
There is a proueness in, perhaps, all men, to
form opinions concerning all subjects that are
in any way presented to the mind. Many
persons have perplexed themselves in reason
ing to prove to others that the moon is inhab.
tied whilst others have strenuousl y main
tained that the moon is not inhabited. What
is the opinion of any mau worth on this or any
similar subject? He is placed in that pecu-
liar condition of things that, take whichever
side Of the question he may, his reasoning is
but the rawlings of crazy man. He knows
nothing about the subject. He never was on
the surface of the moon, and never saw any
one that visited the moon. He has no obser.
vation and no experience on the subject.
Much of the reasoning which the human
family do about religious subjects, or subjects
connected in some way with religion, is like
the reasoning of those who argue that the
moon is or is not inhabited. my opinion" !"
say they, is thus and so, with regard to this
or that subject. Well, what is their opinion
worth? The most important subject connect
ed with religion are matters of faith, and not
of reasoning The introduction of sin into
the world, the Nervousness of sin, the resur-
rection of the body, the Immortality Of the
soul, the state or condition of the soul between
the death of the body and the resurrection,
are subjects upon which we may talk at ran
dom-we cannot reason. We may say, as
individuals, my opinion is so and so;" but
our opinions will not be worth any more than
the idle rawlings of a mad man. In all mat
ters of religion, all correct opinions are either
the express declarations of the Bible, or they
are fair and legitimate deductions from the
Bible. The man who says, 81 think so aud
so will take place at the resurrection" thinks
right, if what he thinks is found taught in the
Scriptures and if his thoughts are not found
in the Bible, they are simply mental abe7a-
tions.
Religion is not founded upon opinions, but
upon faith. 1t consists not in nicely worded
creeds but in believing the Bible as the word
of the living and true God, and accepting the
plan of salvation revealed in the Bible. In
religion, we are not called upon to reason, but
to believe. The only question which we are
called upon to settle in religious matters, is
what does the Scriptures teach' Our under
standing has nothing to do with the thing,
farther than to discover what are the teach
ings of the Bible. God has given us an abun'
dance of evidence that he is the author of the
Bible. 1t is his book. He is the author of
its laws, of its precepts, of its promises and OF
its threatenings. Our reasoning powers are
called into question only to discover what the
Bible does teach, and our opinions are safe
only so far as they are founded upon the
word of God. To refuse to believe the Bible
because we cannot understand its teachings,
is absurd. There is nothing we do or can un-
derstand. The simplest thing in nature is a
mystery. No man knows any thing but facts,
and why these facts are as they are, he cannot
tell. If we refuse to believe everything that
we cannot understand, we will refuse to be-
lieve that we are living creatures. No man
can understand the construction of his own
eye or ear BY observation and experience,
he has collected some facts. That is all. Be-
yond this he knows nothing. Why we see
with our eyes and hear with our ears, no man
can understand. All we can say is, God made
US so.
The conflicting opinions which men enter
tain respecting religious Subjects is wholly
due to the fact that men refuse or neglect to
follow the teachings of the Bible, and adopt
their own opinions instead.
| lorlglnal.]
THE GOSPEL FROM HEAVEN.
Many proofs of the heavenly origin of the