Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-09-01

with what we do not know, is like tho oaohmpard
OF sand IN the hour-glass comparedo ,rmsanTdfj
great Sahara: If man, with his ver, with y ii
RnGw,edge or nnchangeablelaws, can b M nit
who shall limit in his achievements ~ mucl
understands all laws, and who. nv tb hun WI
act of His will. can adjust these m me ;simpl
laws to each other SO as t O satisfy ttSSaiass
every II of His creatures? 'ue Cry I
Moreover, those who have arro,,oa
and prayer against eacho other have s SM scieA@
complacently sneered at those WIZ nlletlm(
lieve that God answers prayer az heinz sinlb
enough, but pitiably u%nscientihc. Nagwn one
mem %R ( tSsv % de Complain a. i we demasnsS5aa
designed to account for any class Of Thaneol
ena is worth anything unless it takes }brnehoq
sideration all the known facts. ana ihto cg|
suitable provision for them. Those wb uns ss
natural laws it is folly to pray, have" nntnilty
their theory made full provision for th mever
contents of the fact of prayer. IF ono u ~ ehtt
reference to man has been establishes hn aa
every other, it is the fact that he has d IisHo1
he savage Or civilized, he is relirio,,ush
universally has his places of worshino H.
artistic; he has his shrines and a{ta,ruuo
offers to his god or gods sacrifices hlnoita q
nnbloody. Heathen. Mohammedan
themselves atheists will sometimes proS ue ~
they get into a pinch; and in their hisS,o,sw WI
best moods will utter words Of praise To
whom they declare not to exist. Now. . = !
SO universal us prayer must be in some NJ
in itself that there is an answer to it? Wa WI q
it to be a general law of our being that ~
faction is provided for every natmro, sa y
right desire. We hunger-without us y
% n3entT: Va na fbirsfsw aRd barns ms bursting y Vi
bling fountains and purling brooks: We i y
for the heautiful-without us in mvrisd ~
objects is beauty more subtle and deliisl
than was ever expressed by the brush of NJ (
heaving ocean, and the awful storm. ans y
the inward desire. As, in these cases. tho ~
ger, the thirst, the longing and the cravfI
are evidences within us of the s%atisfaci
craving d mans religious nature. cay
with it the decisive evidence that thera
without an answer which will meet and SAIL
1t. 1t this be not so, then for our phvsi1
and 1ntellectua cravings answers beauti1
cravings of II higher religious nats1
have been left uncared for and nnsa3
fed. This a school-boy could not fall
stamp as the rankest absurdity. PRAYER
impel man to come into communion with Il
are, of all the desires of his being, alond
mockery. Is any one credulous enough 10
lieve that? ANY sound theory of prayer Ind
also take into account another fact, na,nd
that of Testimony. Men affirm thatG odhashe
their aye From the number of witnesl
let us exclude all those who might reasonaI
be accused of fanaticism; yet we have fail
to see why the testimony of a fanatical C1
tan is not just as trustworthy as that of iii
atica skeptic. We willexclude, too, all witne]
who may be reasonably suspected of lavI
had collision with each other. Then we !
sift the testimony of the clear-headed. !
biased witnesses. striking out every statem)
be considered as anillusion of honest but h
taken men: Even then, the testimony %
cred from the witnesses of all time that vol
remain, all bearing on this n point, wod
II printed in books, makes vast library. d
fact of such magnitude? Would it be sci
tific to ignore all this testimony of the pl1
and best men that ever lived9 If their I'd
mony is declared fanatical, would that
prove too much, IT mere assertion everpro|
anything? Would it not show that the ian
cism of the ages has contained within It'd
the goodness, the purity, the virtue of
ages? No. there is no way in which we
scientifically thrust such testimony out
crystal, and he who would be scientific
handling. the fact of prayer must take h
into his theory and account for it.
If it should be said that prayer and its |
posed answer IS simply a happy coincide
cases it may be, n do no despite to scic7
But take fifty cases, or five hundred. or
thousand. and declare in every case that
have only a lucky coincidence, and sud
dulity far more than to admit that God in
atty answered thep prayers; SO large a n
Der of condolences would be q Thousand
more mysterious tina the fact that these 4
cried erie 1d unto b the Lord, and that He, in ma
wants. By no device can we, with a st
scientific spirit and method, brush aside
vast mass Of testimony that God has answe
prayer.
Our argument in brief, then, is this: Fl
any proper definition of science and pray
we can not discover anything within ii
that brings them into conflict. Those F,
rule out prayer for physical blessings on
must, If consistent, rule out prayer for sp
ual blessings also, since law is as fixed
the realm of spirit as in the realm of mat
CONFUSION often results from a lack Of pr
sion in the use of the term lava phys
law being, to our observation, only a pro
IN the material world; but as we see that
the process beneficent ends are reached,
fact suggests that the process may be sin
GODS method of acting. By these very
c ~ m.n 1ne err 600 may answer pra
tmmutable laws of the material world wi
they have laboriously learned, reach all
varied n marvellous results which we
produced by mechanical contrivances
God. who works in and through all the
Of His universe, by their adjustment, witt
IN the slightest degree infringing them,
answer every prayer of His people.
truly scientific theory of prayer must acco
for the fact of prayer and deal dispassiona
with the mass Of testimony given, d
through all the ages, that God has, in ain
1nnumerable instances, answered prayer.
After a calm, dispassionate examination
all that has been written by materialistic
entists about the impotence inc folly
prayer, we may, without the slightest dan
Of being unscientitic, still believe and Of
said: ASK, and it shall be given you"