The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1878-02-28
CHURCH OF THE DISCIPLES.

IS CHRISTIANITY sAFE?-sERAoN BY REV.
Mr.. HEPwoRTH.
Rev. Mr.. HepEorth, at the Church OF the :
Disciples yesterday morning answered the
question-''is Christianity Safe?" He se-
'ected for his text the fifteenth verse Of the
second epistle of st. Paul to Tinothy-k
Study to show thyselfapproved unto God, /
a workman that needeth not to be sshsm-
I'D" There are two factors, said DR.. Hep
1ortb, in the great warfare of our Christian
life against which the hottest fire Of the |
nemy is directed. They are our belief ii T
"A personal God and in the Bible as an su'
thoritatiye declaration of Gods plan ard
will IF there be God and creator Of The
then it is fair to believe that Hes
is the governor Of it, and out OF that fact
comes the doctrine Of Providence. Thers|
9 personal relation between the finite and
the infinite; between that which is made
and the maker; between the child and theI
father. Then if there is an authoritative
revelation Calvary is great fact in human
consciousness, and over.ops and oyer
shadows all possible doubt by the truth
which the cross stands for and symbolizes
need not say to you, brethren, who have
: been accustomed to think somewhat con-
scerning these matters that here is the bat
tie field for the next twenty years. Stand
ling within these two bastions we must
never acknowledge ourselves defeated and
weld ourselves to the coDqueror. All other
squestioas are comparatively unimportant.
These are fundamental. Give me these
1.-TWO statements-rhere is a personal God
and the Bible is true, and you may have al
that is left. ! want to ask you, in the
: first place, What is the attitude Of the
Ewor,d toward those two bastions-on whaI
! foundations do they really rest? 1t makes
every little difference what you and think
aaon this matter. 1t makes great deal ci
xdfference what the experts, what the the
9 ologians, think about it. | want to taks
amy position on some high vantage ground
Swhere can look the battle field over snc
si5ell you some of the signs of the times ant
Ahow the battle is going. 1t is necessary
8 for me to begin with the German thinker.
8because for many generations they hav'
5abeen the most patient and the mos
q Thorough. Germany, Intellectually, rule
Rthe world. Our best works come fron
EGermany and our highest authorities ar
S all German. Thirty years ago, when wa
1, Ia boy and took my first outlook upon th
E great problem of life, death and immortaIi
Ety, was taught, and with good reason, {
81 fear the German mind because it was RI
Etionalstic. Those thirty years have effec
s led strong and marked change. To-da
3 no country in the globe is more conserya
& tie than Germany. Its highest though
aruns parallel With the Bible. The old or
1of doubt" ha. died cut, and an echo of
a can scarcely be heard. The names of thos
Hwho, single generation ago, denied th
q miracles of the New Testament and almos
Esneered at the supernatural character {
Hthe Bible, are scarcely heard of, or are no
Hooked upon as obsolete. The new though
of Germany believes in the Bible, and up
holds it BY the strength of its grei
Il thought.
n THE THINKERS OF ENGLAND.
n Let US now turn to the thinkers of Enc
Gland and of America. Spencer does N
Etcil as there Is 10 God, but that He is al
aknowable-that He is so high up that 1
zis practically out of reach and out of Sigh
EMr. Huxley talked about God as that my,
b Hterious substratum in the phenomenon
b 3 matter, which is only another way of sa,
q sing that lie is so far down that He Is b,
rsyond all practical knowledge. Mr. Tynds
Eturns the corner Of this question witao