Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1881-07-28
BLACK ON INGERSOLL
THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, At.
Tackled AND DEFENDED.
Judge Jeremiah s. Blacks EIOauent
Demolition Of the Great Arch-In-
idel of TO-Day-POints in His
Argument.
Cincinnati Commercial.) }

D.. = ,NSNoN cSAOAuAn1 Dlftck anu lJO1-
onef Robert G.. Ingersoll meet in the
pages Of the August North American
Review. The subject is the Christian
religion. Fhe pages OF Colonel Ingersou
are devoted to an exposition of the views
which he has already made familiar.
Colonel IngeIsolPs motto s:s-sIn the
presence Of eternity the mountains are
as transient as the clouds
Judge Black flies this quotation from
the Merchant Of Venice: @Gratiano
speaks an infinite deal of nothing. more
than any man in all Venice; his reasons
are as two grains Of wheat hid in two
bushels Of chaff; you shall seek all day
ere you find them; and when you have
them, they are not worth, the search"
The arguments Of the latter are partly
set forth in the following extracts:
The request to answer Colonel Inger-
soil comes to me, not in the form but
with the effect of challenge, which l
can not decline without seeming to ac-
knowledge that the religion of the civil
lied world is an absurd superstition.
propagated by impostofs, professed by
hypocrites, and believed only by credu-
lous dupes.~ .,.-|. -
Should l, an unlearned and unauthor-
lied layman, be placed in such prediea-
mentr The explanation is easy enough.
This is no business of the priests. Their
prescribed duty is to preach the Word,
In the full assurance that it will COM
mend itself to all gOOG and honest
hearts by its own manifest Yeracity and
the singular purity of its precepls. They
can not afford to turn away from their
proper work. and leave willing hearers
unlnstructed, while they wrangIe in
vain with predetermined opponent.
They were warned to expect slander, in
dignity and insult, and these are among
the evils which they must not resist.
It Will be seen that / am assuming no
clerical function. am not out ON the
fOrlorn hope of converting Mr.. Inger-
soil. am no preacher exhOrting a sim
ner to leave the seat of the scornfnl and
come up to the bench of the penitents.
My duty is more analogous to that Of
the policeman who would silence rude
disturber of the congregation by telling
him that his clamor is false and his con-
duct an offense against public decency.
THE CHURCH IN NO DANGER.
Nor is the Church in any danger
which calls for the special vigilance of
its servants. Mr.. 1ngersoll thinks that
the rock-fOunded faith of Christendom
is giving way before his assaults, but he
is grossly mistaken. The first sentence
of his essay is a preposterous blunder.
1t is not true that ~ profound change
has taken place in the world of thought"
unless more rapid spread of the Gospel
and more faithful observance of its
moral principles can be called So Its
truths are everywhere proclaimed with
the power of sincere conviction and ac-
cepted with deyout reverence by uE-
counted multitudes of all classes. Sol
emn temples rise to its horror in the
great cities; from every hilltop in the
country you see the church-spire point
ing toward heaven, and on Sunday all
the paths that lead to it are crowded
with worshipers. In nearly all families
parents teach their children that Christ
is God and His system of mortality absO-
lutely perfect. This belief lies so deep
in the popular heart that, if every writ
ten record of it were destroyed to-day,
the memory of millions could reproduce
it to-mOrrOw. Its earnestneSs is proved
by its works. Wherever it goes it man
ifests itself in deeds Of practical benevo-
tCuCC. IL lOt CnulCflCo dkOuCs Uuo
hospitals and asylums. 1t
shelters the poor, feeds the hungry, Wis
its the sick, consoles the afflicted, pro-
vides for the fatherless, comforts the
heart of the widow, instructs the ignOr-
ant, reforms the vicious, and saves to
the uttermost them that are ready to
perish. To the common observer it does
not look as if Christianity was making
Itself ready to be swallowed up by inf
1elity. Thus far, at least, the promise
has been kept that "the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it" -r-rf
There is, to be sure, a change in the
party hostile to religion-nOt "a pro-
found change" but change entirely SUI
consists not in thought,
out merely in modes of expression and
methods of attack. The bad classes of
society always hated the doctrine, and
discipline which reproached their wick
,dness ard frightened them by threats of
in another. world. Afore-
ime they showed their contempt of di-
Tine authority only by their actions but
low, under new leadership, their enmity
Igainst God breaks out into articulate
,lasphemy. They assemble the4selves
ogether, they hear with passionate ad-
niration the bold harangue which ridi-
ules and defies the Maker of the uni
-erse; fercely they rage against the
Highest, and loudly they laugh. alike at
he justice that condems and the mercy
hat offers to pardon them. The orator
Who relieves them by assurances of i'm
unity, and tells them that no supreme
has made any law to control
hem, is applauded to the echo and paid
high price for his congenial labor; he
ockets their money and flatters himself
hat he is great power, profoundly
loving "the world of thought"
There is another totally false notion
in the opening paragraph,
amely, that "they who know most or
ature believe the least about theology"
he truth is exactly the other way. The
lore clearly one sees ''the grand process
ion of causes and effects" the more aw-
u his reverence becomes for the author
{ the sublime and unbr0ken" law
rhich links them together. Not self
onceit and rebellious pride, but un-
humility. and deep sense OF
,e measureless distance between the
reator and the creature, fills the mind
him who looks with rational spirit
pom the works of the All-wise one. The
sart of Newton repeats the solemn
Of David: "When consider
by heavens, the work Of Thy fingers.
le moon and the stars which Thou
,st ordained; what is man that Thou
t mindful of him, or the son
man that Thou visitest him ?" Al
10 same time the lamentable fact must
admitted that - little learning is a
.ngerous thing" to some persons. The
iolist, with mere smattering Of ply
cal knowledge. is apt to mistake him
II for . philosopher, and, swelling
ith his own Importance, he gives c1fS
xe Simon Magas, that himself is some
eat ons." His vanity becomes inhameii