The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1883-06-20
So the old systems OF theology, on which
,onest men. roOd men. expended their lives,

So the old Systems OF theology, on which
honest men, good men, expended their lives,
arc, bound TO dissolution.
The sacred Scriptures, ! was saying. are
very modest ns compared Win ,1heoinRy.
Something OF God Is made known; out every.
where with distinct and repeated declarations
TINT the whole divine nature Is unknown anu
u%nkh6sable; o. In that wonderful
parable, tue conversation OF God Win Moses
where God rays: n man shall zee th ,,;s lu ~.
telligcncb. The mind could not endure Il.
Therefore only such parts as IRE G9gnizsoie
by men shall yc see. My face ! will hide. !!
the Hn rock okv and only when I have bbnssed by in
the effulgence Of my glory and you look INTO
the SHADOW Of my being, shall, you see"
From that fur remote declaration down 10 the
ing Tint our knowledge Of God can be ubso-
lutte, In the whole wide circuit of human
Thought. 80 thai we tnn bound him, infinite
on the one side and in6nite on the other; In,
finite north. Infinite south. Infinite east, ana
Infinite west. No such knowledge as that Is
possible to inch, never was, nor will be III this
sphere.
the scope and grandeur Of God are too great
for our limited faculties. The Limitation. OF
human faculties Is the first great reason why
we cannot perfectly understand God. II VII
question OF limitation, and LIS relation TO
such a subject az the present. When we look
into the animal kingdom VIC find that the law
Of development IL first physical and then cere-
ter. body. physical function. the lower forms
OF mental existence, the social Development,
the higher mornl and then intultiOnal. This
i the line towards the perfect; WHICH Co. sre a.
looking along the line OF successive develop
ments we see that the physical organs are Of
ten finer In the lower animals than they are
in the higher animals. The eye OF an eagle Is
N r hnyfrIt lEn nun nf q Nn The mimi nj mn
eagle Is far lower. The vulture with IN un-
aided eye surpasses the astronomer. For
strength. who can equal the lion? The bone
and the muscle Of mankind are not compare
bic to the bone and muscle OF inferior ami.
mails. And SD In civilization with the under
part Of man that deals with stone. and metals:
and structures, and makes up the volume OF
physical industry in II one age or nation;
man as an animal, or as u mechanical force, Is
developed in that direction more when he Is
yet. rs 1t were. in the early stnge OF evolution
MS O thinlse r and as an emotional being. Then
In the line Of development the brain, or the
intelligence, and the social feeling come into
play and all the way up we observe That
there is an Inferior or rudImentary condition,
md that that inferior and rudimentary con
dition is incapable OF understanding, the su-
perlor, the relatively perfect condition.
Now. in 80 far as physical force is concerned,
rior. nm inferior to the lion. bit 1 uhder:
want to. In regard to flight / kno what
speed Is, and what my speed Is, and; when
sense Of their velocity. I understand them
perfectly; although they excel me In those re-
spects, for work with my Intelligence from
a higher TO q lower sphere.
But now turn around and compare Inferior
and superior mental powers. There are In the
higher forms OF the rudImentary nniinals-in
the dog. the horse, the elephant, In many OF
the fowls Of the air. In the tooth. sawing 6eav-
er, the elements OF intelligence and construe-
tiveness. There are too the elements OF nfec-
tion and OF love. but in their rudimentary
condition. But they cannot understand any.
thing that Is higher than themselves. Y.u
go, crouch. bound or stand, and do a great
many things: but the limit In which you can
educate him 10 hardly from his ear to his ear.
II is very slender, and when you go IN that
dcrstand anything. Tell n dog to construct a
gun. what could he dot Ask him about the
quality OF powder, what could he know ?
the bird just shot down Belongs. What could
he know Nobody could teach him anything
about these things. The horse Is sagacious.
but ask him what no would do In times OF
or Into the wilderness. Every one OF the in
ferior animals stops after a certain stage.
The lowest animals have no great love for
their offspring. They 10y their eggs and de.
part. and the sun Is the nursing mother. But
ing of creation, you begin 10 find animals at
tached to their offspring. They have the germ
Of love. II is narrow, selfish. though intense,
The lioness cares for her cubs. the dog cares
for the wheIps, the hen for her chickens. Bu,
not one single step above That insLict do they
60. They cannot reason upon love as we can,
neither can they understand the mlnistra.
lions OF owe as we do. The inferior cannot
understand the higher rs you come up the
scale Of creation; though It understands IT.
self. perhaps Is not conscious of 1t, but IT reels
itself. When you reach the human family. all
down below 1t are separated from IL by an I'm
passable gull. They cannot understand the
simplest processes OF human reason.
Not only Is that true as to animals, hut in
the human family the uncivilized and bar
barrie nations can have no conception OF those
processes Of mind which lrradiate the world
are separate because they are so undeveloped
and so uninstructed thut though there is The
potential element OF wisdom In them, the
which civilized nations circuit the world will,
thought. Not only SO, but when you come In
to the civilized and most highly refined ma
lions, their young cannot understand Inc OLD
My child knows whether / am angry OF
whether 1 nm pleased, but he does not know
the reason until he begins to get some knowl-
All the way through the animal Kingdom
and through the human family. from the low
est to the highest. there stands. then. this un-
qualified and universal fact, that the inferior,
when you come to consider mental power. can
only get n %glimmering idea OF that which Hes
just above, whether IT he In faculty, In the
quality Of It's nature. or In function. Do W.
stand apart then, have we a power that does
not belong to the rest? When we come TO the
border land VIC can understand something OF
Gods nature. We know what Justice. IS nl.
though very impcrfectly. and therefore W
have some Knowledge OF God as a being OF
Justice. We know what love Is, to some ex.
tent. but who can take n conception or TIM
which Is described as the height: the depth;
the length and The breadth OF the love Of God
In Christ Jesus? Our patterns and our con.
ccptions are minimIzed rs It were, and when
we conceive Of n being whose love transcerldS
all research, :s the Father OF the universe. as
the Creator here and In the infinite realms,
where; doubtless the wisdom OF God Ia unfold
cd In differing ways-when you come to think
Of u being Of such magnitude and diversity,
whether you look Mt the scope or the terrible
power, or mt that which is more exquisite In
lts delicacy, more magnnninous. more grand
than anything we ever sec among men,-who
can understand these things in him" When
Columbus drew near to the eastern eoast OF
were mountains but do ynu be'ieve he knew
what minerals were in ihem?,. Do You sup.
pose he knew all the trees, all the shrubs. all
the vines. al, the herbs thereI he EmeT
nent. but he did not understand the details
that went 10 make It up. I can understand
that there should be such q being as God, hut
when IL iS said that he, Is infinite, am so
finite that ! break right down thefe. cannot
understand infnitencss. Inhnitude IL n rclai
tive term; 1t means Il thing without boundn!
ry. Now. nll our knowledge Is relative 10
some "fne." but God Is declared to be inf1n-
lite. He lifts himself right out OF the sphere
OF my comprehension IN that way. can un.
derstand that God thinks. and that thinking
IL In him tra%nsccndently higher than ordlna-
ry thinking. The limitations Of men are such
that they think as they walk, step by step,
and step by step. and step by step But now
and then we have n Goethe, q Shakespeare, or
n Bacon, o n then q man among men
lifted very much higher, who sees what the
un folding Of thought Is. These men see, they
do not stop TO think. In certain states OF
mind men are subject to eXaltations. In other
words. the faculty has given TO 1t the power
to overleap processes; and q mar sthndlng
down as n thing certain. Then he goes BACK
and investigates the steps of logic or OF truth
BY which It can be made known TO others as
well as himself, but he knew It lust as well
before as he does after; he has the intuition,
the certainty Of things.
Applying this 10 the divine nature, we are
not to suppose that God reads n book to hnd
out anything, except, In a poetic ngure: the
book OF life. There Is q measure or intelii-
gence OF which we have hints, sufficient hints
to give us some slight Intuition OF what must
be the radiancy Of all knowledge and the
eternal knowing of a being llke God: we are
limited In that regard. We nave O remote
SoASS VA ~ ooO w s~'S
BILE knowledge as that we can prove 1t. SO IN
regard to all those elements which we see In
man. I take 1t for granted TINT there Is not
one single element that constitutes the hui
man mind that does not previously exist In
God in n higher and moro exquisite form as
the sense Of duty. Men have but one single
tint Of the rainbow In them; God, who crca-
ted the beautiful and put the sense Of the
beautiful In the human mind, what an Artist
Creator must he be! How we praise artists
who can Hume the dead surface of the canvas
with glowing color, In imitation OF sunrise
and sunset. They. picture trees. they group
men but what is he who made these things
which they strive In vain and afar-off TO imi-
tate! What must he be who dyed The clouds
and made the sun to pour abroad Its glory OF
lightand shade everywhere? We know what
hnmor Is, we know what mirth Is among
men. and when benevolently used how 1t adds
to society, how 1t iIlumines the individual,
and how like springs 1t carries men without
jolt or jar over heavy roads: but what must
he the divine fountain ont OF which thai
sprang! How shallow II Is In man. how I'M
perfectly distributed, when We think of the
great spring Of 1t in the eternal soul! Now
putting together O divine being ~withrsnch
wonderful radiancy Of undoITG.a>5dIn with
such wonderful tastes. wi1t1such humor, with
sncn grace, VIII sucna%eetness. all OF IT In an