, 1881-05-22
E PROGRESS OF. IWFIDELTY.

VTEE PROGRESS OF INFIDELITY.
1t is idle for the people of d religious habit
mud especially for THOSE who are charged will
nursing and promoting plety, to ignore th'
progress which infidelity has been making
during the past few years. The contrast be
tween tho crowded auditorium in which Col
Ingersoll delivered his lecture Friday even
ing with the sparsenttendance which await
ed similar appearances .feW years ago fur
nishes striking evidence of this progress
When Ingersell first came to Chicago
to preach irrelislon, tho propriety Of open
ing hall to him was. questioned; and
it was regarded variousIy as an act of cour
age or sign OF depravity to listen to his
lecture. TIE TRIBUNE was severely critt
cised in many quarters because it printed, in
its capacity as q newspaper, a full report OF
| what Ingersoll had to say. But the edge OF
protest against the apostle Of infdelity seems
to have been duiied, and the spirit Of the
Church has ceased to exercise the restraint it
formerly exerted.. When Ingersoll is an
nounced now there is a rush for places to
| hear him, and thousands ara kept away from
the largest halls from lack Of accommoda-
tion.. The public desire to hear him is sur
prise to Inscrsoll himself, for he says he
never expected to liye;:t see the day when
inddelity would pay. :. z:=< =
4 large part of Ingerso1rs personal success
Is undoubtedly due to his great eift of ora
| tory. It may be that, had he taken up any
! other theme of popular concern, he might
| have invested it with so much interest and
brilllancy as to ATTRACT large audiences.
| Nevertheless there is food for reflection in
the fact that startling propositions to which
he gives the bluntest expression do not oyer
Whe!m and stun his auditors, but are re-:
plause and unnistakable signs Of response
and approval. There is large drift of pub
lie sentiment with him. It is no longer the
investigators, the scientists, and the protest
ants against obstinate and unreasonable
dogma who alone apprehend and sympathtze
with the religion OF doubt which IngersoIl
breaches, but also the common wayfarlng
people who formerly either waTe content
witt. implicit faith OF went along quietly in
the usual forms without much thought as
to the spirit which these forms synbolize.
1ngersoll no longer territes or shocks them,
but attracts and delights them. T.:
+ The progresss of inidelity, as signaltzed
fby Ingersoll's success, likewise denotes t1e
growth and spread Of irrererence. Perhaps
this is the most deplorabla incident Of the new
order Of things. The danger Of irreYerence
is its invasive tendency. Beginning with
forms it soon extends to the essence; start
ing with dogma it is apt to proceed at q rapid
rate to principle, society, and the family.
The infidel must provide his own morality
land impose his own restraints No man or |
tsect is his guardian, and lis code of ethics
is of his own making. The modern spirit Of |
progress is creating sad havoc with the tra-
!uitions and precedents which might con-
;;inue their Influence even when the inspira- |
'tion of the scriptures is doubted. The re-
vision Of the Bible is to some extent nn aux
iliary to Ingcrsollism. The great mass of |
people. do not pause to remember, even when |
they how, that the Old Testament came to
us through the Hebrew and the New Testa-
nieht through the Greek. Their
familiarity with the Scriptures, be
It great or little, is associated
with the texts they learned in their own
language at the Sunday-school or in the
honle-circle. If a Committee Of wise men
can remodel these sacred verses, and not
merely adopt new words, but In some cases
change the sentiment as, for instance, when
love is substituted for charlty,-there is a l
natural tendency to doubt the inspiration, If
not the authenticity, OF what has been re-
ggarded as Sacred Word. The process i'm
terferes with the implicit, unquestioning faith
with which the Scriptures nave been re-
ceiyed. :. It brings :contcmporaneous and
human Judgment to bear upon work that
has been associated with Divine origin. The
religious Scholar can argue away this seem
ing interference, but the logic Of the aver
lge man stops short at the fact that some
hing which seems to him like Irrevefence
las been sanctioned by the high authorities
If the Church itself, :s.:.-:. :~. ~
There is naturally great diversity of opin-
On as to the effect Of the palpable growth
# infdelity that marks our age, The ag=
,ressiye infidel like IngersoN believes it to
,e all essential and valuable part Of the |
worlds progress. TO him it denotes the |
DOWNFALL Of superstition and the spread Of
eason and enlightenment. The conservative
[oubter is inclined to deprecata the con-
agion Of infidelity. He believes himself
nd most Of those who have exchanged their.
oubts with him to be capable of shaping
heir morals in the right direction, but fears
hat the removal Of restraints will lead the
masses to excess and riot Of free thought
nd irresponsible actions The churchman
ondemns without any: qualification the new
eparture as sacriiegous and wicked, leading
D all tue penalties in this life and the fut- j
re which tho strictest construction Of the
hnrcll tenets imposes upon the in6del and i
le y scotfer. These various sentiments can
nd Nlo No common n n ~ ground upon which to meet
nd inhdelitY must take its course, except as
may be restrained by moral and social in= .
uences;I for the day Of the rack and the
lumb!screw,, the terror Of the cross and the
AXE, are gone forever. -
One reflection seems to be obvious and in
fder as to the barriers which may be erected f.!
gainst the admitted progress OF in6delity. !
0 long as lnfidelity claims to proceed hand
| hand with reason. it will not suffice to | t