Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-01-27
MODERN SKEPTICISM.
ABLE AND ELOQUENT DISCOURSE
UPON II
BY President Thompson at the Fourth Street
Church Last Night,


occasion being the delivery, by Rev. J.
X. Thompson, president OF the state
University, of lecture ON the subject
Of Modern Skepticism. Before the
time for the commencement OF the ser
vices the church Was comfortably nlled,
and by quarter past seven every aNall,
able space was occupied. This vast
assembly was both an evidence OF IN
terest on the part of the people in the
subject to be considered, aud mark oil
confidence in Mr.. Thompson's abilityto
present the matter IN a manner
worthy of their thoughtful auen-
ton. This, We feel justified III
saving, was a confidence only greater
at the conclusion OF the discourse thalI
AT its commencement. The speakers
feryid manner is too wcll-known Tor us
To attempt to describe it, further than to
say that the effort Was in his best VEN,
and abounded in passages OF impsls-
stoned elouuenCe, rs we'll rs OF conNlnc-
ing argument OF u calmer kind.
lie took for his text u passage from
the first letter Of Paul 10 the Thcsalon-
ians Chapter 5; verse 2ll:
Prove all things; hold fast to that which "
good"
We live, lac said, in questioning,
transitional age. He had sometimes
thought that the man who wrote a hls,
tory of the Nineteenth century, would
do well to place an Interrogation point
upon his title page rs token, sign
and an index of its ruling spirit; Tor
from its beginning To- the year 1871 II
had been the chief business ui man to
question all things that We have IN
hcritnl from our fathers. lie did not
know what custom, what tradition,
what ceremony, what belief, had not
been questioned, Men hat questioned
| ancient forms at governments bIe
mcthods OF reasoning in vogue among
our fathers; the position at woman ia
her various relations ia lille, 10 the
family and Ia society; the Fundamental
PRINCIPLES If Jurisprudence. Only -
! short time ago the speaker lad read II
series Of truly able articles which
went Ia prove that triad by jury was
traditiunary humhug. Ii had been
| questioned whether the mongamlc mar
riuge was the true foundation oi
| Christian civilization; IT Is questioned
even now.
This critical, questioning spirit has I'M
! yndrd the realm of religious thought
/ Men have questioned the truth OF every
fundamental principle OF the Christian
religion THERE'S peculiar species ct
this doubling that might hc called
! "modcrn skcplicism, though at IlseIl
| skcpticsnl is not modern. From ih'm
! until l7IO the same state ul intellectual
: mhcliri existed in England rs exists
/ now ia that country, IN thus country, ih
| Germany, France, Spain and Italy. There
MAS A tendency tudouht the miraculous,
to discrcdit the crcdibilily ol the
plrnary inspiration al the Scriptures, L.
! uurstinn-yca. To- deny the existence
| nl a personal God. This tendency VAS
( met i'm England lay the Wesleyan
| reformation; in France there was II"
r f,rmatiou, and the tide of intidcity
| eliminated in 1881 in the French rcyu-
! luton, with itS carnival ot hluud.
The species oi skcpticism with which
We have To- deal at this close OF the
| nineteenth century, il, with the one
execution ul that brilliant but mis-
| GUIDED man Robert lnscrsoll, VII" Is
Nightly drawing large crowds to hear
! him DENY the existence ct a Nud
| dcicreutiai, patroniling, prolcssrdly n
sprrtiul II is not licCntluus, like the
iniidrlity ui Paine; not bLISphcmouS,
, like that of the French atheists: not
crude, coarse, vitupcratiye, 1t az
kuuwlcdgcs the Importance, the ncccs.
siN. ui the Christian religion IN the
Development ot civilization; tut pro
uuunccs it now obsolete, NO longer
worthy ol the homage at intelligent
men. Indeed, these skcEilcs assume
IT, uSurp all the culture. They say,
virtually, it not ayuwcdly: "Nlvcn a
sufficient culture, aud skcptici>m will
follow. Given Il dense enough iguor-
once, and orthodox belief Is = natural
consequences.
tie feared that the extent ct this
spirit WAS much greater than Christians
were in the habit ol surprising; aye,
than even the clergymcn themselves
suppose TO show the existence 10 tins
alarming extent he quoted statistics
which showed that in Berlin IN the last
hundred years the population has IN
creased one hundred per cent, while
but three new churches have been built
i'm that time, and but from two To four
per cent. Ut the citizens NJ Berlin 90 tu
church, and that few arc mostly the
women and children of the lower
classes. In Paris much the same state
utatlairs exists In the former city the
most popular book Is Strauss lItc ct
Christ iur the common people IAN
mfdel work. In Italy, the higher
classes have not only rvbCllvi and
seeded from the church, but they
show much bitterness IN war
ring against II. Tie quoted
remark oi Prot Goodwin smiths "m
the appalling groNtl OF unlcllcL and
senteuce hy j. q. Holland: American
society is houcy-cumbcd with intidcllty.
The New York Tribune was also quoted
To- the effect that nearly all the writers
on the secular press ni. the great cities
are skcptical, do not believe in the
miraculous; doubt the plenary inSpira
ton uf the Scriptures deny that God
ever made amy authoritative revelation OF
himself g. man. \ significant iad wa
that Iugcrsoll nut only drew largo
audiences tlt Was PERHAPS natural that
crowds should thruug To- hear brilliant
and cultured man., hut that those
audiences applaudcd tu the echo the
very portions of his discourse that
seemcd the most reprehrnslbe aud
horrible lie had beeH loudly applaud.
cd in three ui the largest cities at thc
Union when lac declared his disbelief IN
the existence ot a personal God; and
where lac had said that Jesus Christ
was mo better than Socrates; in some
particulars not So good"
But not only does this alarming ten
dcncy exist in a widely extended form, it
is furthermore rapidly on the increase.
lie proposed to consider briefly some OF
the causes OF this state OF affair And
first on the list he placed a perycrsiou
oi the political doctrine Of human free
dom. Iuther's reformation, coming at
time when the people were taught
that they belonged to the Pope and their
emperor, Infused into mankind the
knowledge nj the rights ii man, and
taught him that his conscience belonged
only to himself aud God But To- such
an extent has this doctrine been drawn,