The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1884-04-03
lFor the ADVANCED
MY BELIEF.
No. III.

NJ / BELlEF.
No.III.
The following article should have
prefaced the two excellent articles
heretofore published on Fixed Belief
The printer made mistake in the or.
der in which they should have appear.
ed.-ED. ADVANCED
Belief is not an intuition. There is
nothing inherent about it. 1t is not a
factor OF the new being like the circu-
lation Of the blood. The wants OF the
babe are all physical, and whatever it
may attain to in after life is not the
Outgr0wth Of its own existence in and
of itself, but is the result Of its environ
mont, what it is taught, what it learns
frem experience. from contact, con-
trast and L. a.kMowledxe. of quality. There
is no privileged birthright. there is no
other progression than through the A
B Z of life. the same primitive begin.
ming and the same unsatisfactory end
ing, round and round in an unending
circle, all is transitory nothing abso-
Lutte but birth ;,i,d death. We see in
nature one unending variety, no two
things just alike, the whole vegetable
and physical world is under this law,
man being the apex of this divine pyra-
mid. We are under this same law in
our mental and moral composition, and
it is just as impossible for US to reason
and think alike as it would be to force
a line of absolute physical equality, the
one just as possible rs the other.
What then shall a man believe. what
shall be his basis Of action. there being
no infallible line to shape his progress.
Certainly he cannot rest OH the weak
ness of his fathers, nor can he accept
anything rs u fnality unless it is sus-
ceptible Of demonstration. There can
be but one answer: Every man must be
law unto himself and work out his
own salvation, having full liberty of
action, unrest trained by law, custom or
ecclesiastical authority. No dogmatic
dead lines should change the path of his
progress, no reverence tor the dead past
should hold his mind in bondage. Let
him put the wisdom of the world on
the witness stand, give his aspirations
fullest scope, then frame his passage
from earth to heaven to his own indi.
vidual satisfaction, unhindered by any
temporiZing intermediator, or titus
saith the Lord" through the mouths of
men. All tribes and nations have claimed
their infallihle lines Of faith, aud the
human mind has had no greater trial
than to free itself from the theological
hitching posts and superstitious scare
crows that Stain the pages of all relig
ious history. Indeed, the world has
never lacked for men who were so full
of doctrinal wisdom that they thought
themselves especially appointed to act
rs prompters to the Deity, SO that his
his plans need not fail of maturity, and
they were obliged to live to keep the
world, Deity and all. from chaotic de-
struction. Again, the world has never
lacked for men to act us sintermediatOrs
between God and man, but their com
and the world did not trem
take their testimony, we might
believe that the devil would have be-
come the leading power if it had not
been for their efforts.
There has not been so much effort to
control the lives of men as there has
been to control the minds, more con-
Germ to hold men to certain lines Of be-
lief than moral culture, always terri.
ble scare for fear men would not re-
main sound in doctrine. Hence the
constant round of persecution through
the civil law and ecclesiastical anthcr-
ity i'll the earlier days, combined with
intolerance and social OStracism
through our entire history to the pres
ent day. 1t is right and is the duty of
every man to have some form of relig-
ious belief. II he allows himself to
reason inductively from earth to he;l-
ven, or from fact to fuith, lie need lave
no concern as to his path or progesss -
Or if lie can strengthen his position by
reasoning deductively from heaven to
earth, or from faith to fact, let him do
so, if he can find base of action with
out an assumption OF divine authority.
An infallble fixed line Of belief is i'll
tellectual death. 1t is the stagnant
pond, where not even Il joyous ripple
greets the breath of heaven; it is the
snag in the river of life to which our
life boat becomes anchored, debarring
rs from further progress until it can
be tor from its muddy moorings. Fix
ed belief was the stumbling block of
the dark ages, consealing all the better
elements of the mans nature into non.
action, bringing into active play intol-
erance. superstition and all the basel
passions.
Catholic fixed belief caused the down.
fall of Spain, and Protestant fixed be-
lief held the Scotch intellect in bond
age for centuries, neither yielding their
position until forced to by the elnanci-
pated and onward march Ot civilized
thought. With these general remarks
I close this chapter. but lest it may he
said this is only individual opinion, l
in my next will quote authority that
will more clearly show the weakness OF
theological infallibility.
l. WEsTsIDE.
A correspondent Of the Sioux City
Journal, writing about Dakota editors
says:
Much can be said in praise of the av-
} erage Dakotx editor. He is Il creature
of genius, pluck, and lots of good COM
mon sense-a mortal who fills Il pecul-
lar sphere, and fills it well. Taking
the fraternity as an average, a brighter
set of men cannot be found in the ter
ritory; and will go farther and sa,
that nowhere in the union will they av-
erags better IN point Of snap, genera.
pushing qualities and intelligent effort
I T..