Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-05-23

gate, andeven In resorts of,ax-..S
er grade, isS<he very reverse ~ - h4A
serious, truthkseeking discuas;os
frivolous, capttONs, credulous. tho,.k
" unintellectusl TOUCHING ths al
est and most scored Things N y, ae.l
lays no tender, 1everent hand y
them, but strikes with the coarso Gpo
tai hand of materialism. Get H.. ~
hundred non-believers together. .n lay
them to give their reasons for re;aaa y
the truths of religion, and Won VIII
fortunate if you find five who can
you q reason which is even resnaa gl1
from an intellectual Standpoint.
vast majority will only bring out M ~.
clearly, as you press them for tho I y
sons Of their attitude, the fact that ~ y
have never thought the matter ont "
all, but that in rejecting the highest
lationship of life they are acting f,a
prejudice, passion, ignorance, or . hoo
less inability to understand sn;r;tp
things. Their reasons will impress
spiritually-minded person as do Tho !,
guments Of Mr.. Ingersoll-as the 81
of those to whom the whole subject ~
are discussing is as incomprehensiba
is a symphony of Beethoven to one wi
has had no musical education and ,
musical instinct in his soul. 1t can
said with absolute truth that even IL
honest, intelligent skeptic the pre
mass of skepticism is intellectual ii
reputable, go little candor and intel
gence Ire in it.
8. A large body of absentees frc
church services give as . reason i
their desertion the faults, failures y
sins of churches and church membe1
That there is ground for this critics
no one knows so we'll as the true low
of the church; but as a reason for
naming. outside church worship Al
service it is of all reasons the ma
frivolous and untrue. II the church
not what it ought to be, SO much /
more reason why your strength Al
virtue should be added to it; if it hol
the truth in materialistic and unspjr
ual forms, so much the more reas]
why your finer spiritual perceptiu
should be at its service. The church
not, and never assumed to be, an d
ganization of sinless men and wome
IS not, and never assumed to be, in
Protestant form, an infallible expo
ton and revealer of the spiritual life;
is a fellowship of those who believe
the Lord Jesus Christ and are endeavd
ing to walk in His footsteps. To ass
it for it's infirmities is to emphasize
human side; to stand apart from it
cause of those infirmities is to igno
the Divine element which, even in
worst days, if has never lost. The 81
less Christ did not withdraw fro
Peter, the liar and traitor; He turn
upon him a look so full of tendernd
and sorrow that the Apostle went fol
to a noble life and heroic death.
there are money-changers in the Tenn
your duty is not to desert the House
God, but to purify it.
4. The great majority Of those v
do not go to church simply disguise
der sneers and gibes their own spirit
incidence and deafness. They do
60 because the truths that cenfrd
them within the church doors ma
them uncomfortable, disturb their e
of mind, and arraign their whole III
at the Judgment bar Of conscien
The mind finds ready arguments to
fend the course of life which is east
and pleasantest: the man who dies
wish to go to church readily discoV
the short comings of those who p
form the duty which he leaves. undo
Those who leave God u%nrecognil
in their lives, and who separate. the
selves from the strain of spirit
power and influence which has fer
lied the noblest lives in all ages, \
infinitely more than they realize;
they miss not only the great inspl
tions and consultations Of life, but
grandest opportunities The chu1
can i'll afford to lose any from its col
munion; but there is none.so rich II
he can afford to miss, the abidl
presence of that invisible God who
as truly with the worshiper to-day
in the day when the cloud and
shining pillar were visible and ind
putable.- - Christian Union