The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1881-04-22
VOL. XII.-NEw SERIES.
THE ATHEIsTIC TIDE
SWEEPING OVER THE CONTINENT.

Chr,SttdRS must meet.
The dread sign of the times, as sec it. is
growing skepticism in thc leading circles OF
thought aud action throughout the country
"a swelling tide of atheism aud unhclicf
that has already swept over many of the out.
posts of religion.
| am not alarmed by the fact that Henry
Ward Becchcr shook hands with lngcrSoll
on public staud, and has since swung be-
Sond tho limit of orthodoxy, any more thau
[ am ressured by the fact that Stephen H.
Tying has, by indorsing the miracles at
Lourdrc, swung back into the strong hold
of superstition. These are mere pers nal
expressions that may lheal much or little
They may be classcd with the complaint of
DR. Talmagc that he found religion dead in
circuit of 5000 mills of travel last year,
which complaint is balanced by the asscr-
ton OF DR.. Hall that the growth of rcli.
yious sentiment was never SO decisive as at
present
| have noted in the first place, that the
iatter-day writcrs-uovcists, scientists, and
cssayists-arc arraying themselves in great
force either openly on the side of skepticism,
or are treating religious sentiment with Il
readiness of touch and lack of rcvcrancc
that is hardly less dangerous. | need not
run over the lists of scientists, beginning
with Tyndall Huxley and Stephens, that
have raised ncgation-nor recount the mum
Der of novcllsts who follow the lead of
sweet George Eliot, the sad and gentle wo-
man, who allied sentiment to positivism SO
subtly, and who died with the promise on
her lips that her life would ''bc gathered
like a scroll in the tomb, unread forever
oh, ii, ,t,l Al,
broke the ties of the past" and has gone
TO meet the God whose existence she denied
We all know that within the past twenty
years there has been an alarming increase
of atheism among the leading writers in all
branches. But It is the growth Of skcp-
,icism among the people tn It has astouishcd
me.
[ am not misled by the superb cloqucncc
of lngcr~ol nor the noisy BIAS a>phcmy OF his
imitators. | was with five journalists, and
found that every one of them were skcp-
tics. two OF them in the most emphatic sense.
In 4 sleeping car with eight passengers, av.
cragc people take it, | found that three
were confirmed atheists, three were doubt
ful about it, and two were old fashioned
Christians. \ young friend Of mine,
journalist and > lecturer, asked me q few
months ago what | thought of his prepar-
ing lecture that would outdo Ingcrsol-
his excuse being that he found Ingcrsoll SO
popular. | asked Henry Wattcrson once
what effect Ingcrsoll's lectures had on the
Louisville public. "No more than thea
trical representation" was the quick reply.
WmttcrSon was wrong. | haze never seen
u man who cau,c away from an lngcrSoll lee
turc as stout Of faith and as strong in heart
as he was wheu h : went there.
do not know that this spirit of rrcligion
and unbclcf has madc such iuroad on the
churches. 1t is rs yet simply eating away
the material upon which the churches must
Cccrut and pcrpctGlte themselves. There
is a large body Of men aud womcn-thc
bxlk probably Of our population that is
between the church and its cncmics-not
rncmbers of the church or open professors
or religion, they have yet had reverence of
religious bccts have respected the rule of
conscience, and believed in the existence Of
one Supreme Being. These men and wo-
men have been useful to the cause of rcli.
Son in that they held all the outposts about
the camp Of ts.c church militant, aud pro-
tce.ed it WIKI cnwrapping conservatism and
sympathy. 1t is this class Of people that
are now yiclding Go tt!e assaults Of the in
fdcl. Having none OF :hc inspiration Of
religion, and possessing neither the cnthu-
siasm of converts nor the faith of veterans,
they are easily bcwildcrcd and overcome
1t is careless anl unthuking multitude
on which the atheists are working, and the
vcry inertia Of mob will carry thousands
if the drift of the mass once sets to the
ocean. And the man or woman who rides
on the cbbing tide goes never to return
Religious beliefs once shattered are hardly
mcndcd The church may reclaim its sin
ncrs, but its skcptics, never
II is not surprising that this period of
critical Investigation into all crccds and be
licis has come. 1t is logical epoch, come
ir its appointed time. 1t is one of the pen
alics Of progress.
We have stripped all the earth Of mys.
terry, and brought all its phenomena under
the square and compasS-so that we might
have expected science to doubt the mystery
Of lir; itself aud to plant its thcodalito for
II mcasurcmcmcnt Of the eternal, and pit ch
It's cruciblc for an analysis of the soul. 1t
was natural that the Greek should be led to
the worship Of his physical gods, for the
earth itself was a mystery that he could not
divinc-a vastness and vagucncss that he
could not comprehend. But we have faith.
omcd its uttCrmuSt SccrCt--iclt its most Sc
crct pulse -girdlcd it with stc"l-harncsscd
it and trapped it to our liking. What was
mystery is now dcmonstratiOn-wha was
vague is now apparent Science has dis
PEELED illusion after illusion-struck down
error after crror-madc plain all that was
vague cn earth, anu reduced every mystery
to demonstration 1t is little wonder that al
last, having reduced all the illusions of mat.
ter to an equation, aud anchored every the
ory to fixed formula, it should asSail the
mystery 0f life itself and warn the world