The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-08-04

witnesses. Their SUBSTANTIAL argument III -
mands our belief, while their seeming uis-
crcpancics prove the absence oil coiiuslon;
The scholarly Luke. the speculative ohh, anu
the practical Matthew and Marx nave eucn
given us their own impressions Oh 'it'rnis,rd
n fuller and justcr account man hny rhn lug
writer could have done. Ana lnouEn nv.
indcpcndcnt accounts have PROVOKED t.ie ~,
tacks of enemies, they have not becn louliu
nv the most rigid criticism TO contain any
irrcconcilablc statements, but on me cohtru.
nv. have yielded under the crucihlc nanS
beautiful and delicate h~arlnnnies Thai 40 moe
appcnr to the superficial reader; so tnaL we
things meant to injurc have fallen ont raul
ler unto the furthcranrc Of the gospel.
. In what Is revealed OF God. The exist
encc of the Supreme leins Is IN tne oc TIP {,
ture declared, rather than proven. amc
proofs are found mainly, In the inaiG con-
r'Ss,S"S and d Is WIN nature, the great
counterpart Of revelation, cNIlpiis. ~ nnS
never been shown that the human reason
rncc of God. But the great truth being Sllii-
ply announced reason finds SO many coniirni-
:,ionS tina: Il firm belief Is at once rchcncu;
And until this idea OF God Is reached ana
rested in the mind is In painful prrlicNl'S.
II seems to need this starting point even 10
think satisfactorily. The reason rcscn'S me
cause. As one OF thcnblc writers has iofcinly
nut 1t, "That somewhat now exists proves
That somewhat must have always existed,
TO this conclusion our minds incviiahly teHn.
Darwin d Go. may try to show how nothing
NOV, mn have nroiIcci something-how the
world may have come into existence wl,nnut
a creator, hut it is only under severe urltinS
that the mind reaches Sucn u coiic'usioh' "'"
then under protest. J., na
existence of II Great fiiSt Cause, me NaNG'
Of all things and the Governor Oh the UNI
verse. the Scriptures reveal to MS SO much Oh
| his character and attributes as IL concerns uS
to know. What lie Is in His absolute ana
glorious pcrIrctiOns we cannot comprehend.
dwelling in light which no man can APP
proacl INTO, wnom no man hath seen or
can sec" "CAnSt thou by searching llnh out
God. const thou find out the Almighty unlo
perfection ?" He is not revealed to us,ns lie
is Himself but rs we may KNOW ana Scryc
Him. He is Al Person, II VIII exercising sS.i-
determining power, one VINO can DC iniu.
enced By motives though not controlled by
them. one consequently who hears ana an
swcrs prayer, and who shapes his Treatment
OF his creatures according to thrar e"Iauvt
en-" This Is the utmost we can Know, anu
enough to know. With this assurance we up
proach him in confidence, and render mn
our ready and cheerful obdience.
The rcSsOnablcncss of accepting what has
been revealed to us without rainly striving
10 discover more is manifest when We con-
slider how little we know or can know OF any
lining. We do not know how II blade of grass
grows, or how the wind blows or how the sun
Shines. We do not even know what our OWN
mind is Mind is mniarr m soI Z an,ot Inss
"inalter is mind modified, for what you GAIL
matter Is Il phenomenon The ni!nd often
questions Itself: "Whrrc do ! exist? Am !
in the rain? Am | in the Whole body? Am
u~nyWLcre?" At one time 1t says, u cnn
have no local existence for l am immatcrini.'
At another time, 81 must nave IL loc;ll nlol-
tat0n for | am MATERIAL anu so this endlcSs
doubt and diSputation proceeds. Il!c result
too ofcIl is destructive to all belief. The soul
lands on the shores OF universal skcPtlclsih.
with the conclusion: All that can be known
Is that We know nothing!
=. once mere, We sec In the evidence whicn
establishes lhe truth OF christianity tue rca-
sonablcncss Of the faith which revelation re
rejects It's claims. We freely admit that there
are difficulties in the way OF CHRISTIAN ialtn'
particularly as 10 the doctrine or INC ;lone,
meat and that Of the resurrection. but tne
faith which accepts these mysteries rcslS, up
ON conclusive evidence that they are from
God. while the prrversity that REJECTS lnrIl
argues not tho absence OF faith, but ratiier
the possession of II faith which has nothing
for It's SUPPORT and yet is strong enough 10
S%urmuunt all difficulties and aoS1:ditlvs.
The Christian believes the miracles tue
which grove his religion to be from God. Inc
iniidel processes 20 disocllevc l,G imlf" then'
vet he believes much greater things IMAM
ilese. lie must bolicrcthat thcSelhipoSlurc
Or frauds lis he holds them t" be, though per
formed in Open day, ON 4 great variety VI oc'
caSions, and In presence OF m'lllsnnm' III ITn
mics. were never detected and exposed. ne
must believe that II few fishermen, lSnn,nnt,
obscure, and bigotcd, SUI dcu multituuus
of their courtrymcn by these miracles 10 sur
render their religion winch tney atkmpmr,
edged to be- divine, and lnultitudcS"f hcaihen
to rive up their venerable and wen cs''"'!;H-
ed SuperStilions lie must believe ti.aC tniS
imposture succeeded so well llaI ~ a. IT,"
wears prciut;icC and persecution were dis'trln-
ed. and in about three centuries tiie hcw iS.
ligi0a took possession OF the temples oi tmc
yunuuished drilicS of the great roman FIN
pire, lie must believe that the hrst rrcariiI
rrrs submitted TO the greatest p~rirntioIis aliu
prrrSccutinns, in their work, not only without
any aSsignahle motive, but III Opposition t"
the strongest motives, ahathat Will i ."h
ing this fraud they invented IN coahcetl"i'
with IL n system OF the pureSt ana hiosI w,
allied morality the world has ever sen, iilI
that Notwithstanding their flilaln3, ivy No.
cftrOntcrY to preach, ana Tie lhcoii'is'e'Ns ~
practice this morality. or tho
or, ii he maintain that the accounts %. lme
mir:tclcsa are fictitious, then he must ociiehc
i'm the most unparalleled literary forgery !ho
world has ever Sccn-a forgery WhicL tnf
bittcrest cnInity of Jews ahl 6rltll's il.tc"
ut the time to expose. and when mas eo.tiu-
ued to impose OH the ncutest nllhISa mel Er-
rut nations and ages ever since. lic ihuslnc-
lirvc ttatth world, Owi inc ciHi',et.t
of these ~iictions, suffered itself 10 D.; liiilp>eu
on by them, and to be thus beiooicn ON W >,
thattt had previously believed ana u ncleu
thus. as strict historical Investigations nhgc
shown within thirty OrIoriE yclrs0i 'ir va.
lime when the alleged wonders were Salu "
occur wonders which. the world must
have known 1t had not seen, but was aSdGr-
mined to belle c in spite Of evidence, Pre9u-
dice and persecution. cr
Ucn must believe TINT this imposturc, SO lar
from being confined to the land where II orig
inuted, has hecn making progress for more
than eighteen centuries among all natlons "i
the earth; and that the most enlightened ana
powerful nations nave Deen lnose iioSI 'u'iS
lie must believe that there have been mul.
titudes in every age who from Their belicl Oh
his deluSion have derived Tic greatest peace
nnC consolation, that II has wrought a Won
dcrful change in the lives Of many who were
addicted 10 vice, and that whenever Pc:sccu-
ton has arisen on account OF IL lts Eoaries
iachment to its cause with tleiT lives. All
this and much more must lie believe who re-
iects Christianity. Truly we nav say TO
linn, go Intidel, great Is thy faith"
And what is tie reward Of all this marvel OF
crcdulity? What does the Intldcl gain by
his buaStcd frccdOlne Nothing but me PRIV,
ilcse of saying that there Is no liSnt oG' "nu
science, no Mediator between Coo ana. MAN,
and no hope when we bury our loved ones
out Of our sight that we shall ever SEQ mem
faith assures him that the God whom he
serves Is God Of mercy and love, who gave
his Son to be the Rcdccmcr and Saviour OF
fallen man. 1t shows him the person and OF,
crown of Him who WAS manifested to take
away the sin of tho world. 1t sets his sin and
and points out too the way Of saliva;
ton. 1t assures him OF life life and
immortality, the gift of God to all
who truly repent and believe In Jesus with
the heart unto righteousness. O heavenly
balm for all our woes! o light divine to dis
pei all our darkness! O welcome dcliverancc
from the bondage of sin and the horrors of
the gravel Nowhere are you to DC found but
in this sacred book, which Is the charter OF
our Christian privileges, and the basis Of our
immortal hopes.
And now while we return our gratitude and
thanks to the Father Of MercicS for the light
of revelation, let us remember tho condition
of nll those to whom this light has not shin
ed. They are sitting In darkness and the
shadow Of death, doomed to lives of doubt
and uncertainty, with.absolutely no hope be-
yond the grave. For anything they know to
the contrary the grave closes upon them for
ever, They have no hope as an anchor to the
soul, no eye of faith that can pierce tho
heavens: for how can they believe when they
have not heard, or how can they know what
has not been declared unto them? And con
we, who nave the unsearclable riches OF
Gods grace declared to us-can we think with
Indifference of those who arc living In the
darkness Of natures night? Freely we have
received, freely let Us give. This blessed b.
bic is the light and strength and joy of our
hrarts-lct us not cease our efforts In circu-
latinCi IL. tin ii sheds It's light In every land,
and into every doubling heart.
The Business of the Society
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