The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1881-08-13
REPLY TO THOUGHTS FOR
THINKERS,

the frequent nervous twitchings
shown by Mr.. N. in one or two Of his
previous articles we were not sur
priscd at his abruptly backing
down." to use his own favorite ex-
preston. Henceforth the the fam
ious papers entitled "Thodghts for
Thinkers" will be produced; presid-
cd over, transmitted to posterity and
finally to oblivion, by J. @. Williams,
successor to c. G.. Namruf. Good
bye, Mr. Namruff.
Now, Mr.. Williams, l hope we will
have a pleasant and profitable ac-
quaintance. Allow me, however, TO
make one observation. So long as
you restrict yourself to the truth we
will ''hold sweet communion" but by
"o'erleaping" its precincts you will
interrupt our harmony, for "what
concord hath Christ with Belial? or
what part hath he that believeth with
an infdelY
We proceed to careful examina-
tion of the statements set forth In
Mr. WIS article, and shall willingly
leave it to the intelligent reader
whether or not our reply is merely
"a pleading on bold assumption as
Mr. w. presumptiously states, there
by exalting himself as the oracle of
public opinion. Mr.. w. calls Socra-
ties foolish and defilish. In reply,
Socrates was the first martyr to
Theism-and lived up to his light
all that is required Of any man:
The object Of the first colttmn of
Mr.. WIS article is to prove that ] am
q sinner. / might have saved him of
his laborious task if | had known
that he did not know all men are sin
ners.
Speaking of the soul, Mr.. w. says
that an acknowledgment Of the souls
immaterality assumes the whole is
sue" He furthermore challenges me
to produce from the scriptures the
doctrine that the soul is immaterial.
We quote the words of Christ, Him
self, Luke xxiv-39, ga spirit hath hot
flesh and bones as ye see me have"
Will Mr.. w. please tell me of What
matter other than flesh and bones a
spirit could be compoee "The
whole ISSUE rests upon it, Mr.. w.
Next follows, at some length,
(about half column a setting forth,
with as much clearncss and force of
logic as is expected, that both sinful
and sinless souls have an eternal ex-
istence. This is all useless, for we
always believed it. But his conelu-
sion, viz that because the soul has
an eternal existence it is therefore
necessarily immortal (deathless) is
as irrelevant and false as to say, be
cause we exist (in this world) there
fore we must be happy and good.
Such is Mr.. WIS logic, Mr.. Voltair's
logic, Mr.. Paihe's logic, and Mr.. In
gersoll's logic, and 'no wonder the
clergy are the sport of such men
under such logic.
AS to the creation of man Mr.. w.
bubbles much and finally ends with
IL.
to say that when man has reached
that state Which claims that "origi-
nal matter contains in itself the po-
tency of all created FORMS" that there
is no evidence of design in the uni
verse and therefore no designer, it is
very easy and consistent to deny the
immortality of the soul. After God
had formed man of the dust of the
ground man was still lifeless form,
nor could he have been anything else
to this day if God had not "breathed
life" into him, therefore life, the spir-
it, did not come from any relative
condition of the atoms composing the
form but was "breathed in" from
God to whom it must finally return;
for it does not belong to the dust hut
the dust belongs rather to it and is
its house which it must desert at
death. Now, if Mr.. W. will allow
the scales of materialism to fall from
his eyes he will be enabled to see the
plain truth as it is.
The .'doctrine of congenital or in
herent Immortality" is not my doc
trine as Mr.. w. falsely asserts. 1t
may be Mr.. WIS own offspring, but
being ashamed of it's deformity, he
disclaims it. And l am not sur
prised at his being ashamed of it for
it seems to have had an origin SINH
lar to the tabled origin of the Huns,
from witches and internal
spirits. This is not the only deform-
ity which Mr.. w. has brought forth;
but l spare the kind readers of their
In his conclusion Mr.. w. wott1d
point me the way to life eternal, the
existence of which he denies and
tries to disprove.
Now, Mr.. W., / bcsecch you to
stand up like man and be consist
ent. Let your next article show
manly tone. If you have embraced
the doctrines oft Russian Nihilists,
which "denies the existence of God,
and fright" proclaim yourself as
such and with the "libertines, rob-
bers and assassins," in the words of
Michael Bockunier, the father of Nj
hilism, the arch conspirator, "when
you once begin your work of
destruction, and when the floods of
masses of the people rise
and engulf temples and palaces, then
take heed that no ark be allowed to