The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-02-19
MASONIC TEMPLE.

THE RESPONSIBLE AUTdOHS OF
SERMON BY REV. O. B. FRoTHINGHAM.
~ PROPOSE" said Mr.. rockingham yesterday morn
ing o his hiding place tho author Of dsbe-
lief That there Is great deal OF disbelief In our mod
ern society need not be disputed. do what
Is popularly called dsbelio-the disbelief In any spe-
ciai doctrine or system OF theology Not what Chris
tians call disbelief or what Jews call disbelief mean
something very different from that-a disbelief that
goes much deeper; that touches all tho fundamental
questions and reaches tho places of heart
and lic-lho disbelief that encrva,cs all moral ear
ncstness and undcrmines tho foundations OF
character There Is great deal Of that In
our modern society. and the question Is,
who Is responsible for itS' l received
letter from ar other State last week wrtton by woman
whom never knew nor saw 1t was a sad, bitter
letter. written by woman who was not uncultivatcd
nor unframed nor unreancd. She knew how to write
English ami wrote 1t we'll. She had evidently read
books and reflected much upon hem but she flung this
bitter problem before Inc, is there my such thing as
truth Is there any such thing dutys II there any
thing worth living ior?' Then she SAID she had been
reading Spencer. Huxley and Darwin. and wished to
know II could remove this awful shadow OF doubt
that had settled down upon her life. Now, who was
responsible tor that state of mind? Not those men
whose writings she had been reading. Not Spencer;
nor Huxley nor Darwin for she had begun doubt be-
orc she came to them; and BESIDES II ! wished to
convince any that there was such a thing as
truth, to certainty OF truth, 1 would roier
them TO these very men. They believed in
thought. stuuy and earnest quest alter truth. They
may not have believed us Christians beeve-they may
have defined any OF the ARTICLES Of faith US they
defined by theol0gians but they believed that
there IS such thing as truth, and they sought
t,on AI lure thorough and virtuous IN their
lives-irr.proachabc, SIMPLE sincere, singe-ininded
These devoted their attention TO the organization
rI.ex fNptr mo- trnIh a.
these men not answcrablc for tins poor woman's
desperate state oil NINA. Whence then came her
douutsy Some may say they cime from the nature Of
the mind, which unable, when It gets off the path OF
Christian truth to FIND any truth at all That cannot
be So Tor II is the natural tendency oi the human
mind 10 believe, not disbeieve. Tho instinct to
seek to ask 10 question when there Is knowledge
Crcouty is OF the ancient facts OF history Haste
10 believe. Superstition IS the belief 0l the inaglna-
ton-beIief without reason, question or argument
the belief OF iancy therefore. say that those TWO
universal facts prove that belief, not unbelicf Is tho
natural atti; ude Of the human mind. What the
visionary forms OF doctrine that prevail over tho In
teectua mind to-day but SO many efforts TO come at
thugs SO many yearnings after what
There creed the lace o the Garth that not
In its time positive creed. As men go forward they
believe and nationally and inteliigontly.
Science opens the world OF material thingshe earth,
the skes-to the knowledge OF the human mind; re.
the vi nature tut iecl that
tho world Is sporl oil chance. knowledge OF h,s
tory Is simply knowledge OF tue laws 10y which hu
mainly has been developed from age ougc. Psychology
that looks into the condition Of the human MINI has Tor
object this presence Of law. So II Is with literature
that gathers up The thoughts OF men. SO II is with
art that tries to penetrate the realms OF beauty.
knowledge and belief are synony nous terms The be-
lief ignorance call creuuIlty the belief of knowl-
edge call iah. Therefore, 1t was not owing TO the
natural unbeef oil the human mind that this poor
disheartened woman has gone down the depths OF
sorrow. Who is responsibility Who the authorY Tho
person, whoever IT is-the system, whatever IL Is
that which the window OF truth, shuts the
OF knowledge and prevents people going out OF their
! ignorance INTO light Is there any such PERSON. Is
tuere any such SYSTEM There Is II rs needless to
say We all know that there Is System ol thooIogy
t.asN n,x.,V Arin
mended by Divine rcvclatong, resting upon the very
word OF Goa--tho Christian theology. rhc claim IS
entirely Irrespective OF It's truth that 1t IL Divine, hot
human that it Is truth, the only TRUTH that 1t Is
knowledge aud all knowledge; that everything else
that calls itself truth Is error u IT does not accord with
this IL this system that Is responsible Tor this sad,
bitter, desperate disbelicf because IS this system
that shuts the door against knowledge; this
system that forbids the reading oil books
mat contain knowledge; that prosciibes volumes
reputed sacred by all the rest OF the world
tuat would put out all light that its light may
shine: tnat would discredt all bibles that its own
Bible may he read; that alirns what Is Simply ido
without human reason. II Is TINS system TINT has
PANTY OF philosophy as vain thing; OF literature ~
au Idle pursuit Of frivolous minds TO waste themselves
IN worthless specuations The writings OF lyndail,
| Huxley, and Darwin vetoed, and earnest minds
see King for the light warned away from tho very
books that would give them ''goI ~ shey d'soeieve
closed, all the windows barred. and the helpless,
bapcss spirit thrown out OF ITS simple oophole OF rev.
claon INTO n waste oil sand My poor, unknown
! friend Ia Virginia never read with understand DR
Spencer, Huxley or Darwin. She could not. Her
mind had been preoccupiod-so previously possessed
with ideas OF another KIND that they sgnlicd nothing
She had been warned that such IDEAS their writings
eyinced led into atheism and she dare not pursue
then Take into connection with this that the great
teachers OF the word have been under the ban by
tins arrogant, narrow minded theology; all minds,
however great which have presumed to hnd
knowledge not contained In the Scriptures,
woo have dared TO found ideas not revealed
IN the creed have been casscd among pre- endcrs and
imposters. Mohammcd was sconed VoaIro even
III tins day Is repudiated by MANY and yet he was
great champion oil reason better his day could
be lound Yet Noiaire Is set down of the pes
OF the human race. so u was with Tom Paine. HIS
theology ~ gooa Tor nothing. HIS ideas had any
value, and yet IN his generation Tom Paine was u
champion iUr liberty against the thruidom OF Church
una state. lie was one Of the emancipators. There
was not one OF these detained teachers that was not
believer IN truth as they understood II. But let mo
say with all sincerity that II Is my profound belief that
none vi these men havo done much 10 spread dis.