The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1883-01-11
RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

place in that city last Sunday. The
of the religious order known |
rs the Union Bethel church OF God |
believe In a strictly literal lnterpreta- |
ton of the commandments of the |
Savior. -Four times year in purSu- |
ance of law laid down 10y the church |
for the observance OF members, the |
brethren before partaking of the holy |
devOutly engage in the
of feet, in humble imitation
OF their Lord and Master.
The Catholic Review thus states the
religious question of the day: The
question is between authority in re-
system of the Catholic church, and
the authority OF the individual EN-
bodied in his infallible ipSe diXit. As
leading modern scientists have taken
grounds against Christianity, it has
become fashionable to call their
method, which assumes the lnfalliDil-
ity OF the individual-the scientific
method-as complete piece OF inl-
pertinent assumption, We must be
allowed to say, DIS it would be pos
sible to lind IN the whole range OF
literature, sacred and protane."
a clergyman of Louisville, the Rev.
Z. j. Is. Jones, preached on the queS-
ton: shall women preach?" The
following passage will explain his at
titude on the question A.: The woman
who has something to say and can say
it acceptably has as much right TO
speech and attention on the platform
OF in the pulpit aS though she wrote
1t IN prose aud poetry. 1 cannot I'M
derStdnd why Mrs. Livermore or Miss
Willard should not speak from pulpits
us well as George Eliot may speak
through prose OF Mrs. Browning or
Adelaide Proctor speak IN poetry.
The woman who has something to
SAY and can say 1t acceptaDly Is OF
more concern to the world than the
man who has nothing to say and
makes a success thereof. Mo men
have been preachers for generations
us mothers, as writer's, as companions.
1t seems a tribe egOtlSlcal Tor any
man to say that he belongs to the only
specially chosen class. Another Oh
lection Is often raised: TO preach is
outside of woman's sphere How do
we know? The test OF singular
bird is its capacity to sing; the test OF
Il Wonlan's call to preach Is her ability
to do 1t.
The absence of men from our
churches is a notable and lanentable
fact. In most OF the churches large
proportion of the WOrShlpperS ana
AUDITORS are women. This Is not Il
popularity of any denomination. IL
is true alike of Roman Catholic anu
Protestant, of liberal and orthodox.
This is often said to he due to the sup
posed fact that woman has Il more It.
uglouS nature than man. Is this true
Is religion Tor women and not Tor
menu Or more for women than Tor
men? Did God make one and not the
other? Or, making both, did he pro-
| vide Tor one anu not the OtnerI Is
the Bible biography of religious
women rather than VI religious men
| Is the lite of the church the lie
of wOmanly devotion rather than
of manly actiUnl Have women
furnished most of the prophets
and the apostles and the
noble army of martyrs? 1t is not re-
| ngion, but our religion that is at fault.
| " omen come to our churches because
in prayer and song and sermon they
find what they need, and men stay
away because they do not find what
they need. The fault Is in a plety too
exclusively womanly, too rarely manly
and muscular and Virile.-The Chris
tian Union.
b. +. Underwood, one of the editors
| of the Index, in a recent lecture IL
Milwaukee, spoke us follows of Chris
tIanity: when the masses think OF
I -
| the pity, the sacrifice he made; and II
is these ideas that have given the doc.
| trine persistence, not the idea of SUB
stitutlonary sacrifice. The mistake OF
the Christian Is that he monopoliZeS
for one being traits that belong to the
race. So the doctrine OF the fall OF
imam has a truth at the bottom OF it
This view of comparative religion l.
scientific and satisfactory. The genuine
radical is the one that goes to the root
OF things, not to one that Is most vlo-
lent in his denunciatiOns. Eighteenth
century criticism was destructive
We cannot censure the freethinkerS
of the age of Voltaire. They haC
to fight to live. But our OWL
time Is more discriminating and con-
structive. 1t does not try to break
with the past, but recognizes that al
human history is a growth. Reyolu'
tions are indeed sometimes inevitable
but it is through continuous evOlu.
ton that the most desirable results
are secured, and it is the primary prin
ciple of evolution that progress move;
along the lines OF existing institu
tionS. They are not destined to sud
den extinction, but to gradual moditi
cation according to the changing ant
advancing needs of humanity.
| RaiIroad Session.