, 1877-03-31

which the facts seem to make him, and
his ideal of TINT which each man ought
TO he, holds the same whatever his theo-
nv Of the nature of Jesus. Sin, again, is
the same. as bad, as curahe and as peril
Gus. whatever he the speculation upon
its origin and guilt and responsibility
are facts. whatever definitions, Arminimn
or NrccsSrarlan, are given them. In re-
Iiginus organization, governments and
methods likewise. the liberal uses, mo IL
ties or discards, according to present
exigencics.
A word now of the law Ot religious
development. tits, AS in every other de
partmrnt of nature, II sort OF survival OF
the tittcst. Whatever is good 10 its own
best evidence, and holds its place he
cause better than anything else. Con-
formty to facts. reasonabIeness and act
ual experience, are the stern and axio-
matte tests Of truth
1t may be interesting now to indicate
what appears to he the general drift Of
religious movement. Tn the first place,
the extreme conservative party is loosing
strength. 1t is impossible for people to-
day not to read, to question and to learn
charity. There is an irresistible atmos-
phere around them of unrest, of doubt
and of thoughtfuness.
Next, the extreme radical wing repre-
scnted by matorialism, agnostaoism and
atheism, necessarily becomes weak as
fast as its real meaning is clearly appre.
hrndcd. Whenever philosophy denies
mans religious nature, doubts the eter-
nal character of truth and goodness, and
destroys the hope of immortality, the
very purpose and motive of philosophy
themselves are lost. II this is what Mr..
Cook means by skepticism, 1t is probably
true when he says that there is no sdhsl
arly ski pticism to-day.
NV next point is that the SO. called re-
ligi0us ciogmas, having for some time
lost their distinctness, are dcclining in
influence and consideration. The COM
mon Ignorance and thUughtessness
abou. them is a silent proof of their un
reality. The zeal with which they are
stfa occasionally set forth il rather a
sign Of alarm than of conviction among
their defenders, while many OF the most
intelligent thinkers already deem them
unworthy OF serious attack.
Meanwhile in all denomination theo.
logical unsoundness is frequent, and few
ministers care to discuss the dogmatlc
forms of their creeds; they prefer to &C
cept their articles for substance of doc.
trin9," and to let them alone in thcir
preaching. Thus to take the single case
Of the doctrine of regeneration all are
agreed that man needs spiritual lite, and
that God is its source. But be is bold
man who win dare squarely to say that
his children are born into the world, by
nature, lost souls and enemies to God /;
that before the change called conversion,
whatever the character, they are doomed
to remediless hell, but the infant after
they are sure Of paradise. The over
whelming fact, by Jesus faRcsite test OF
the fruits of mems liges, is that no sharp
lines of difference divide men into two
distinct classes of saints and sinners
but the bad and the good, ae IN every
other department OF nature, grade into
each other with almost insensible vaia.
tions. 1t is hard to find man who is
wholly sinner. or, again, who 10 entirely
q saint and the divine seeds of good
ness just as really lie in the heart Of each
child awaiting development, as the germ
ofevil tendencies to be repressed. The
corner stone of "evangelicalism," as a
theological system, consists in the denial
Of these seemingly plain facts, and bene
perhaps, more than anywhere else, ertho.
doxy is unconciOuSiy losing its hold over
men who ind themselves unable clearly
to face premises terrible, unreasonable.
contradictory to experience and observa-
ton, and, to say the least, doubtfaily
scriptursl.
More positively now men are coming