Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-08-24

bling fountains and puriing brooks: We long
for the beautiful-without us I'm myriads OF
objects Is beauty more subtle and delicate
than was ever expressed by the brush Of he
sublime-and cataract. and mountain. and
heaving ocean, and the awful storm, answer
the inward desire. AS. in these cases, the hum
ger, the thirst, the longing and the craving
are evidences within us of the satisfaction
without US. SO prayer, the deep longing or
with 1t the decisive evidence that there Il
without an answer which will meet and satisfy
tt. II this be not so. then for our physical
and intellectual drawings answers beautiful
and complete have been provided, while the
cravings of our higher religious nature
fed. This a schoolboy could not fail to
stamp as the rankest absurdify. Prayer Il
either answered, or else those desires which
are, of all the desires of his being. alone Q
mockery. is any one credulous enough to be-
lteve thstf Any sound theory of prayer must
that of testimony. Men affirm thatG cd has heard
their prayers From the number OF witnesses
let us exclude al those who might reasonably
be accused of fanaticism. yet we have failed
to see why the testimony of a fanaticai Chris
tian Is not Just as trustworthy as that Of fan.
as ha skep.ic exclude. too, al wisnessss
had coliusion with each other. Then we viii
sift the testimony of the clear-headed. un-
which may, with the slightest show of reason,
be considered rs an Illusion of honest but mis-
taken men, Even then, the testimony gatn,
remain, all bearing on this one point, would.
IL printed In books, make vast library. Can
any lust theory in reference 10 prayer omit
fact of such magnittsiey Would IL be scjen-
tifc to ignore all this testimony OF the purest
and best men that ever hvedY III their testi
mony is declared fanatfcal would that not
prove too much. II mere assertion ever proves
anything? Would IL not show that tho fanati.
cism of the ages has, contained within itself
agess No. there Ell is no way in which we can
scientifically thrust such testimony out of
sight. 1t stands solid as granite, as clear as
crystal and he who would be scientific I'm
handling the fact of prayer must take it up
into his theory and account for IL.
If 1t should be said that prayer and It's sup
we might grant that In one. or two, or three
cases IL may be, and do no despite TO science.
But take fifty cases or five hunored or ten
have only lucky coincidence, and such Q
number of condolences would tax our Gre
dmlig FAR more tnan TO admit that God In re-
ality answered the prayers; so large mum.
Der of condolences would be thousand-fold
more mysterious than the fact that these men
cried unto the Lord. and that He, In mercy
wants. by no device can we, with strict
scientific spirit and method. brush aside the
vast mass OF testimony that God has answered
prayer.
Our argument in brief, then, is this: From
any proper definition of science and prayer,
we can not discover anything within them
that brings them into conflict. Those who
rule out prayer for physical blessings on the
ground of the immutability of natural laws
must, IL consistent, rule out prayer for spirit.
ual blessings also, since law Is as hxed In
the realm of spirit as in the realm of matt .r
Confusion often results from a lack of prect
sion in the use of the term lava physical
law being, to our observation, only process
in the material world; but as we see that In
the process benefcent ends are reached, that
fact suggests that the process may be simply
Gods method of acting. BY these very pro
cesscs, therefore, GOO may answer prayer.
AS men. by adjusting to each other the few
immutabe laws of the material world which
they have laboriously learned reach all the
varied and marvellous results which we see
produced by mechanical contrivanccs, so
God, who works I'm and through all the laws
of His universe by their adjustment, without
in the slightest degree infringing them, may
answer every prayer of His people. Any
truly scientific theory of prayer must account
for the fact of prayer and deal dispassionately
with the mass of testimony given. down
through all the ages, that God has, in almost
innumerable instances, answered prayer
After calm, dispassionate examination Of
all that has been written by materialstic sci.
entists about the impotence and folly of
prayer, we may, without the slightest danger
of being unscientific still believe and obey
Him who, speaking with unerring wisdom,
said: ASK, and 1t shall be given you"