San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1881-03-31

qgsps MR. BEECMRR cnsi-av
On the SpraaA sf Dsuht ard the'Iinlt
which. II Cannot Pass. ,,,,,r
In the course Of cne Of his late ser
mons, Mr.. Beecher said: Weareliv
ing in an age in which mems mindi
are very much unsettled on the sub
iect of religion. o There ere large
classes Of thinkers, artists, literary
men, scholars, scientists, physicists Of
of every opinion Investigating the
subject. There is a vague impress.
sion, an unsettledness Of mind ssr re-
spects positive truth, and, this il one
Of those things in which doubt 10 a.
bad as unbelief; that is TO say, II q
man doubts whether q medicine ID
good enough to keep him from taking
it, the doubt is just as powerful as.i
he had the positive assurance that i
would not do him any good. That
feeling Of doubt is creeping through
the community. ''7''s a3sYps
The factis undeniable that religious
ideas are changing the ideas that
have been formulated in regard TO re-
ligious truths arc being doubted by
men set to teach them. Now, il is
certainly true that theology is going
through o process Of evolution. The
facts which underlie the philosophy
are valid and sound, but the theology
that has undertaken to explain the
facts has been subject to q process Of
unfolding, and will continue 10 an-
fold until perfect system il evolved.
This generation will not see it. ]
shall be where I shall know all things
before true system Of philosophy
shall be given to the human race.
But because we cannot have all 10 no
reason why we should not use the
best that we have, It does not fol-
low that because I can't wear panta
let's that / can't wear paptaloons. I
look only with combativeness upon
dogmas and systems when they are
crowded upon MS and undertake to
to dispense with and overbesr the lsrg-
or views Of truth, but looking upon
them historically, I am in profound
sympathy with them as being the best
that could be had for theagein which
they prevailed. But If they are to be
put in place of the clearer light that
we now have, I revolt, and will have
none Of them.
If I were not a Protestant I would
be a Roman Catholic. The idea that
the Bible is the sepulchre, and that
all truth is buried in it, I revolt from,
and where the Roman Catholic comes
and says God reveals the truth from
age to age, there is not only something
true in It but something very sublime.
II they had gone further and said
that all good men, and in every age
and every nation, are reprobably receiv-
ing inspiration, that idea is the true
one. The mistake Of the Roman Cath
olic Church isl say it humbly; mo,
don't feel humble about ii, ! state it
as q fact-that God does not make
his revelations, to men through the
Church, but makes them direct TO the
human race. In consequence Of this
spirit of investigation that is abroad
see that there is o great deal Of
disenchantment. The views Of men
held in childhood or early in life de-
part from them. / mourn over what
have had to give up in the way Of
belief almost as much as ! mourn the
loss Of my children, and If a man loses
all these early beliefs aud gets moth
ing in their place, woe il him. The
actual condition of the human race,
however, will show the correctueds OF
the statements of the New Testament
as to it's sinfulness, and as 10 the ne
cessity Of a change Of heart-a resurr
rection the need Of being born again
just above the criminal class, the
class, as they are called
though l don't think they are as dan
gerons as bad men in the upper class
Of society but just above these are
men that live not exactly in the line
Of their appetites, but without any sd-
equate conception Of their manhood.
Consider how many men there arc
that plod along with the idea thatt the
world owes them q living and they
are going to collect it. II the world
paid it's debts to this class haltsrs
would be dear and the ssxt0ns busi-l
ness good. The world owes them sl
burial more than anything else. Whist
have they ever donei They live on
heir fathers or on their mothers, and
rather like it; they live on their neigh |
bors, and the only Scripture they sv-
sr read to profit was, go to the ant
.hou sluggard. consider her ways and
be wise, and 80 they fall back on their
.unts. Naughter) These men die
md leave nothing behind them-thsy |
ire not even good for manure. Biz
nq higher than that, bow many mon !