The Chickasaw messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1880-1900, 1881-08-18


ttoEoiks ofcres'ion and Providence
ANA tlis is an exercise in which ho
cannot long continue without learn
ing to disbe.ieve IN any Being greater
than himself L was To- such person,
and not TO the unpretended simple
ton, That Solomon applied this often
quoted aphorism ~Thc fool has
said 10 bis heart, there is no God p
These are what Paul refers Go rs
"van babblings and the opposition
Z OF science, falsely so called = bur
I they are perfectly powerIass 70 stop
or turn aside the great current Of
human thought on the subject Of
( Christian theology That majestic
stream, supplied from thousand
unioiling fountains, rolls on and viii
roll forever
Labitur etlabetur in omue ol1b'lis
aeyum.
Mr Ingersoll is not, as some have
estiIiated him, the most formidable
enemy that Christianity had encoun
tered since the time OF Julian the
Apostate But he stands a. theheoi
OF living inddels, "by merit raised TO
that bad cminence" His mental
organization has the peculiar defects
which it him for such a place He
is all imagination and no discretion.
He rises sometimes into a region Of
wild poetry, where he can color
everything TO suithimself IismOtto
vel expresses the character Of his
argumeutatiou-"mountains are MS
unstable as clouds. fancy is as good
as a feet, and high sounding period
is rather better than logical demon
stration" His inordinate self con
idence makes him al once ferocious
and fearless He was a practical
/ politician before he took the stump
against Christianity, and at all times
DO has proved his capacity TO "split
the ears Of the groundlings,H and
make the unskillful laugh The arti-
Gle before US is the least Objectionable
OF all his productions. It's style Is
| higher, aud better suited to the
weight of the theme Here the vic
lence Of his fierce inyective is mod
Grated his sourrilty gives place 70
an attempt at sophistry less shocking
If not more true; and bis coarse
jokes are either excluded altogether,
/ OF else yeilcd in the decent obscurtJ
Of general terms such a paper fsam
such man, at a UmehSa theprcscnt.
is not wholly unworthy OF @ grave
contradiction
lie makes certain charges which
we answer by an explicit denial, and
thus an issue is made, upon which,
as q pleader would say, we "pnt
ourselves upon the country lie
AYERS that a certain something cal.
ed Christianity" is @ false faith inn
posed on the world without eyijeu-
cos that tne fact it preteHds to rest
on are mere inventions t.tat its doc
trinos arc pernicious; that its re-
/ quirements are unreasonable, and
that its sanctions are cruel. I deny
all this, and assert, on the contrary
that IFS doctrines are divncly reveal
ed It's Fundamental facts iucoatesta-
bly, proved It's morality perfectly
free from all ,aints of error, and its
individuals who accept it and make
it their rule of action.
How shall this be determined :
Net bg what we call divine revc.a-
ton, for that would be begging The
question; not by sentiment taste or
temper, for these are as likely to be
false as true but by inducuye rca-
soning from evidence, Of which the
value is to be measured according to
/ those rules OF logic which enlightened
and just men everywhere have adopt
ed to guide them in the search for
truth We can appeal only to that
rational love Of justice, and that
detesiation of falsehood, which fair
minded persons Of good intelligence
bring to Tie consideration of other
important subjects when it becomes
their duty to decide upon them In
short, / want a decision upon sound
judicial principles
Gibson, the great Chief Justice ef
Pennsylvania, once said 90 certain
skcptical friends ofhis "Give Chris
tianity a common law trial; submit
the evidence pro and con % an impair
tial Jury under the direction ot com
petent court, aud the verdict will
assuredly be in its favor" This de-
liveraucc, coming from The most Illus
I trious Judge orhis time, not 40 all
given to sentimental piety, aud quite
incapable OF speaking on any subject
for effect, staggered the unbeliei Of
those who heard it. / did not know
him then, except by his great rcputa
ton for ability and integrity but my
thoughts Ecre strongly influenced by
his authority, and learned to set a
still higher value upon his opinions
when, in after life, / was honored
with bis close intimate friendship.
Let Christianity have q atrial on Mr..
Ingersolrs indictment, end give rs a
decision secundum alleaata ct pro-
bata will cohine myseIlstrictly TO
the record that is TO say, I will meet
the accusations contained in this
paper, and not those made elsewhere
by him or others
Ills FIRST specification agaIust Chris
tianily is the belief Of lts disciplg
"that there is a personal Cod, thC
creator of the material universe.
II God made the world i. was a stu
pendous miracle ami an miracles
according TO Mr. Ingersolrs idea, on,
"the children of mendacity = 10 al
init the one great miracle of creation
would be an admission that othermir
ecles are at least probable, aud lha
would ruin his whole case But yol
cannot catch the leviathan of atheism
with q hook The universe, he says
Is nataral-it came into being of il
b own accord il made is own laws q
The start, and afterwards improvel
!, itself considerably by evolution
j would be a mere waste o( timc am
Y space TO cnumeraie the proof
: which show that the universe wa
= created by q pre- existent end eel
s conscious Being, Of pow an
: wisdom to us inccivable Conyic
u tfon az t.o fq.f fmiraeulcus ihoug