Sacramento daily record-union., 1882-04-24
THE LIBERAL UNION MEETING.

/
last evening, was well attended. The suffice
discussed y as "Divine Revelations, premise
| by the question What is Revelation, an
What are Divine Revelations?" TIE spsaks
said revelation is fact discovered or re
vealed to US of which we were ignorant
What is divine THAT which is everlasting
that which is universal, orDnipresent and ON
inactive. These are divine attributes of ma
ture. Matter is divine, because it is univer
sal and everlasting. Force is divine, becausl
inherent and coexistent with matter. Inteli
gence is divine, because universal and in every
thing. Natural law is divine, because eterna
and omnipresent. But nature is not governed
by natural law, as mankind is governed BY
human enactments. Nature il not controlled
by laws. Natural law is simply the uniform
action of matter and force, and is not the ar
bitrary fat of any power above or beyond
nature /; and, SO far as we may know, nature
is complete in herself to do all things
Tho reason why matter behaves itself as il
does, is not because an arbitrary law con-
trolls it, but because it is the nature of mat.
ter and force to do just what it does, and
could not do otherwise. All bodies tend to-
ward the center of the earth, water runs
down hill, light bodies float and heavy bodies
sink, fire burns ard water browns. Not be-
cause law says it must, but because it cannot
help it in the nature of things. And it is
because matter and force always under SINH
lar conditions produce similar phenomena or
results, that we call this uniform action law.
Natural law had no creator or law-giver. but
coexisted with matter and force, and is there
fore divine. So it is we live in the midst
of three eternities-Inind, matter and force.
We are told that this is sacred, and that is
divine; that this is natural, and that is super
natural and that somehow the supernatural
created the natural. Thus it happened
that men came to look upon nature
as inferior to some power which created
it. and have given. the study of it a
secondary place. This accounts for the slow
growth Of knowledge. or necessity the ex-
pansion of the intellect and moral culture
of the world is due in large part to the ideals
of the world, which, like the star of Bethle-
hem, has pointed the way to better thought
and higher life. So also to-day the world
has its ideals in every phase OF life. In intel.
lect Shakespeare stands forth in science, q
Humboldt and Tyndall; Ia patriotism, the
fathers of the revolution in the fine. arts a
Michael Angelo and Raphael; in philaii.
thropy, a Howard; in religion, Chrisna,
Zoroaster, BudChl, Confucius and Jesus still
llup6I Ill Iile ul1uuS VI IIo ptOpie, he iS'
ligions of the world did not come by chancs,
but take root in the ideals Of the mind, and
are divine SO far as they prove true. Every
religion has its central ideal or conception of
Diety-Jab, Jehovah, or God, the Supreme
around which it builds its self up. The God
idea is a human ideal, created by men, and
nothing is more true than that men IN all the
past have made their Gods in their own image,
and each man is limited to the God his own
character reflects, and is simply himself
expanded and idealizsd to in6nity.
The God of Abraham was simply great big
Abraham. The God of John Calvin huge
Calvin. So also of Penn, Edwards, Chan
ming and Ballou; each saw his own God re-
tected on the background OF his own mind.
The only way to have improved Calvin's God
was to go to the bedrock and improve Calvin,
for Calyin's morbid condition decided the
temper Of Calvin's God. Ballou's and Chan
ning's God expressed their health of body and
mind. Ours is the God Of the nineteenth
century, with its science, Justice, humanity,
and true democracy. We only respect a
growing people, and thus growing God. So
far as the Bible stands for truth, justice and
love, it is divine and SO far as it stands for
ignorance and cruelty, it is not a divine
revelation. Truth is a divine esserce, and
however discovered or revealed, is divine
revelation. All natural science is divine
revelator. To study natural science is to
stand face to face with tbs eternal God. We
call mathematics divine revelation, because
it carries with it its own proof, and is the
basis Of all research and learning, the alphabet
by which man spells out the great problems
of nature, opening up the Givine harmonies OF
universe full OF significance and matchless
beauty. While mathematics and astronomy
have opened up world of great things.
chemistry has revealed world of unseen
things, facts and forces, which underlie all
art and civilization, and have lifted the world
from the crudeness of the past into the sun
light of an age full of art, invention, and pro-
gressive life; and every law, truth or princi-
pie discovered by man is a divine revelation.