Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-11-05

thousand ways, But it may I've scri.
ouslv questioned whether III amy pre-
NiouS section Of this century thorough
/ ~ religious books have been more cad
and studied or whether the bottom
facts VI Christianity have ever been
more thoroughly >incd Ii earnest
men doubt, they doubt in the desire ~
know the truth; if they try the natural
before they venture the supernatural
| II is not because they have exclusive
regard for science, At least, out Of
the suUing chaos 81 beliefs and opin.
ions, this much may he gathered rs the
brighter aspect Of the hour.
II Is iii the opening of situation
hike this that the opportunity OF tho
christian church comes, and il appears
to have come nj theNery moment when
il seemed ss ii its leaders were singing
the old songs Of Xion utterly regardless
of the new songs with the old thoughts
i'll them which men are longing 10 sing
nov, The question has been, what NJ.
Spouse will come To the unhcNrf of tho
hour from the authorized guardians of
christianity, and these RESPONSES within
II few months, even within the weeks
that one can count ON the fingers ofonc
hand. have been notable almost hH.
yond precedent Firt Camr Leo Nil.
rcmanding Roman Catholic students
back 10 st. Thomas Aquinas, who
held the questions growing ont of free
thought rs i'll the hollow of his hand.
Then the archbishop of Canterbury,
than whom no Englishman better nm
derstands modern thought, devoted
the bulk Of his charge to n vigorous
conspectuS Of the present field Of r.
ligious Thought, and drew his infer
cnces, ina broad Commuu-Scuse FASH
ION, 10 the end that, whatever danger
there might he of diminuteu of The
catholic faith on which all forms Of
christianity depend il they contain the
breath of life. the higher instincts OF
the age, whether gathered from sci
ence or religion, were in favor of whit
was yesterday, is to-day, and has the
power to 1.-Two forever He did not see
that amy forms of doubt were more
than the temporary struggles Of men to
reach ont 10 the permanent truths
always Endorsed hv right reason
DIR, TAFT spoke ns the representative
Of the English church in this matter
but DR.. Robert Flint, whose "Philoso-
ply of History entities every
thing he may say on the subject To the
highest. Reconsideration, 1T the recent Pan
Presbyterian council, spoke with the
same mrge-mindcd confidence in the
power 81 Christianity to adapt its truths
in the hands of living teachers, To the
demands of present thought, blaming
the church for the prevailing ignorance
OF the proper reasons for religious be-
lief, and holding that religion III every
age must clothe itself in the language
and breathe in the atmosphere Of the
hour Hardly have the echoes of
Presbyterian halleluiahs died away up
on the air, when the voice of Canon
Barry is lifted high above the pipings
of the Leicester church congress to the
fact that, while there is great restless.
ness MS to the religious belief, there is II
corresponding intensity of religious
conviction ON the nart of those who be-
ieyr, lie detects grasp Of truth, Il
vigor Of work, the upspringing of en-
| thusiastic life III the believing circles in
England which was unEnown Il cen
tury ago, and has grown up side by
side with state of things wherein
| Christianity seems nj times tO have lost
its Roadway amid shipwrccks ma
storms, Hardly less significant is a
series Of remarkable lectures ON "1ho
Proposed Read ustmcnt Of Christianity
to the Social and Moral Condition Of
Our Time" delivered by the Rev DIR.
Morgan Dix last Lent, whose publica-
ton il completed in the October Church
Eclectic, in which, while stating with
characteristic force and elearncss what
he terms the Catholic position, liz mr.
rnigns the yagares Of present religious
belief Mt the bar offaith ofall ages, and
wins an easy victory. These lectures,
however, good ms they are, il may he
said in passing do not meet the case
with the broad insight and catholic
temper which X manifested in the ut
tcranccs previously named There
are men who believe 50 intensely
that they do not believe enough
their position may be impregnablc
but they are 50 intent upon making
the fortress bomb-proof that they
fail to put out the encouragement by
which men venture within the inclos-
ure where safety lics. DR. Dix seems
to belong to this intense class; he
shares the fault Of the school to which
he confessedly belongs. The JOY ofbc-
ing right is one thing; the sympathy
which communicates that joy by
manifold interpretations to the world is
quite another.
Taken rs whole, it il notable that
the recent ntterances Of the religious
leaders manifest the largest charity
and the most intense sympathy for
the different forms Of modern doubt.
The attitude j. significant, and shows
the Christian church, in the person "
il foremost men, to be thoroughly
alive to the questions which in these
DAYS concern men more decly, and are,
perhaps, more thought about than any
other, The present religious drift has
seemed 10 be all one way, out 10 sea,
and yet, looked al from the point "
view Of recent utterances, it seems as
if vessels ofrescue, lronclad equipped
with steam, wanting nothing in k a.
ers Or crew had gone ont IN quest 81
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