Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1880-06-26
ATHEIsM,
An Outcome Of That Form Of
Unhelief.

IL the effect Of atheism be TO sap en-
tirely our unreasoned confidence that
the every vision OF truth il In itself 4
glorious aud enabling vision in other
words, TO check and 81 bsidue the en-
thusiasm for truth-exploring, will not
its effect on the passions be equally
paralyzing, so as 10 diminish, to = great
extent, the arrogant egotisms OF men by
foregoing upon them the belief in the
precariousness Of their position, aud the
relative insigniticance OF their life? |
mold that il would he So; that 30 far as
a conviction intrlnsics,ly at variance
with the nature within Us could ever
take root in us at all, its peryerting ten
dency must necessarily be- in the dlrec'
lion OF artifiCially reducing the whole
scale of our inner life as well as the
standard by which il is To be measured,
and thus, no doubt dwarhng some OF
the most mischieyous aud destructive
of human agencies, as we'll as sappisg
the nobbleT affections by which hitherto
they have been counteraCted or subdued.
For the life Of the higher passions, no
less than that of the affections, the IN
tellecl, and the conscience, depends on
the intrinsic value attached by man to
the inner state of his own character.
What a proud man cares Tor Is TO ieel
ia himself that he ls independent OF the
Judgment Of hls iellow.rhen. What
vain man cares for is 10 feel in himself
that he attracts their attention or admir-
alton. What an ambitious man cares
for is 10 be assured in himself that he
eNerts Mt will over them a lar greater IN
fluenCe than any Of them eKerts over
him. In all cases the loitier pas.
slons, whether destructive or beneh-
cent, depend Tor their yividness
and their exAltatiOn on the impOr-
lance attached by men to the seen
cry at their inner life, on the value they
place on being what they are, ON be-
coming to still greater extent what
they have aimed at being Now, no
one can adequately gauge the difference
IN this respect between the atmosphere
Of thought belonging to an inward re-
hgion, like the Christian religion, aud
the new sgnostiCism or atheism of eyo-
luton. Christianity, like every other
religion with any high inward standard
Ot spiritual lie, produces probably quite
AZ much effect on those who do not
really conform, who do not even dis.
tlnctly try tn conform their hearts tO its
standard, as on those who do; only the
effect ia very different in kind. On
both alike such religions exert a vast IN
tluenCe, by concentrating the attention
within instead Oi without, On what man
ia, rather than what he does. For
where such religions Tail. as they often
4. -. IN
their standard, they seldom fail IN max
ing him measure himself 10y some in
warl standard Of his own, which as-
rumes, 10 him, the same kind ui i'm
poTtance az that Oi the religious stand
ard itself Thus, chiyalry ~ code
would probably have been utterly i'm.
possible had not the way Tor II been pre-
pared 10y the inward habit Oi thought
promoted by Christianity. Indeed, the
hole class Ut ideas peculiar Ia the ~
mantle literature, widely as they have
dlyerged from the Christian standards,
have been rendered possible only 10y the
tendency oi Christianity To- make men
think of the attitudes Ia he assumed by
their own inward life under various
strains Oi temptation aud peril, as, after
all, the final ends at existence, the TAIL
ure Ia attain which implies IN effect the
failure IL live Ia any good purpose. \
man, Tor instance, who prldes himself
N being man Of honor will realize
most profoundly that It were lar better
ia had never been AT all, ar should at
once aud utterly cease to lie, than that
hls mind should become the scene ui
nw aud fraudulent Cnnspiraclcs Tor the
deception oi other men DIAN Of Ncd-
R,uIisisr. ~ EIdS,T's MdJdsiHf