News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-06-26
How Far is a Man ReSpOn-
Sible for His Belief?


Sible for His Belief?
Paper Read by Rev. E. C. Crane, Before the
Quincy Association, at La HArpe, Ill.
A talmudic legend runs, that during
the siege OF Jerusalem In the civil war
between Hyrcanus IL and Aristobulus,
box was daily lowered from the wall by
the adherents of Aristobulus filed with
money, in return for which the besieg-
ers sent back the victims necessary for
the daily sacrifice. But at last, an an
clent, who knew Greek wisdom, made
the besiegers understand that the Tenn
pie would never be yielded so long as
they supplied the means of continuing
the daily sacrifice. The next day the
beslegers profting by the hint, placed a
pig IN the box, which when halfway up
the wall clung to it with its feet, and an
earthquake ensUed.
This story, although having no real
ground of historic verify upon which to
rest Its feet, does yet express the Jewish
convection that real strength and Sc
curlty come through untrammeled and
unobstructed communication with the
Almighty God. Give them the Temple
service and uninterrupted connection
with the Divine source of supplies and
all was well No foe could overthrow:
no hardship dismay, and In this convic-
ton lies the secret of all true strength.
Destroy 1t, and the nerve of action is
severed and the arm paralyzed. To
those, living in the light shed abroad by
Christ concerning the nature of worship.
the Temple as dwelling-place of God is
no longer a necessity. The elaborate
services, the sacrifices, the priestly
offices, are all counted as nothing in the
approach of the soul to its Maker: and
the conceptions of the soul concerning
things invisible and the hands OF faith
by which it lays hold of God, are made
the channel OF divine strength and the
ground of assurance. Through BELIEF
we commune with God, and not through
sacrifice. That this belief should be
correct is to us as important as that the
sacrifice OF the jew be in accordance
with Levitical law. An erroneous con-
ceptiOn of the things pertaining to God
is worse than swine sacrificed on Jewish
affairs. Nor is this because of any ban
pronounced by the Almighty on errone-
Gus belief as a sin, but b. cause in our |
conception OF God are our motives of |
duty and the springs of all our moral |
acton. Man will either make his God /
Ike aanself, or will make himself like
his GOA In some measure he does
both. Let his vision of God be imper- |
feet, and his likeness will be correspond |
ingly imperfect Let it be clear and |
comprehensive vision, and it will reveal |
itself In his own character.
/ consider then the question which |
heads this paper to be of the utmost i'm
pOrtance, for from a mans belief springs
his life 1t is the fountain from which
flow out streams, bitter or sweet. foul or
pure, and the question IS, as I appre-
hend it, How far is a man responsible for
the fountain head? That be is Tespon-
sible for his acts, no man denies. Is he
responsible for that which lies back of
the act as its motive force? If so, how
much? You will see that / have as
sumed that the question has reference to
religions belief, and not belief in gen.
eral. We are not concerned in this body
as to the measure of responsibility rest
ing upon the head of the sable John
Jasper, who asserts his faith concerning
natural phenomena by saying "the sun
he do move.
The principle of responsibility for
belief IN natural as well as spiritual
things is undoubtedly the same, but to-
day we dwell on that belief which has
to do with God in His relations to men;
on the ground of moral obligation; on
the duty of man to his brother and in
fact, with all that ministers to the needs
of the higher faculties of mankind.
Belief, I define as-the souls concep-
ton of the reality of things which lie
outside the horizon of its knowledge.
Responsibility has no better definition
than its synonym-GccOleltd 1t
involves a possibility of having some
time to render an account for oppor-
tunities improved or the reverse, and for
talents placed in our care for use. Moral
responsibility intimates that this account
must conform to the eternal laws of
right and wrong and that judgment
depends thereon. The question then
comes to us in this form. How far can
a man be required to give an account for
his convictions concerning religious
truth By religious truth, / mean
those truths that minister, or claim to
minister, to religious needs.
The whole difficulty lies in our con-
ception of the belief If we hold it to
be an involuntary instructive and con-
stitutional act of the mind, an image
printed ON the sensitive plate of the
heart by natural and imnutable laws
unmodifed by the will of the believer,
we must at once deny all responsibility.
Those things which pertain to the IN
herited and constitutional nature OF
man, be they good or bad, merit neither
praise or blame. There can be no re-
sponsibility As well might man be
called to account for the fact that he is
Diped. His only answer could be to
refer you back to the source of being,
and say "He alone is responsible for my
physical characteristics. "Can man
help what he believes p is a common
question, asked evidently with a good
measure of sincerity, and if this ques-
ton has negative answer, there can
certainly be no such thing as RESPONSE.
bility for belief. There must be power
to change-modify- -enlighten-belief,
as part of the minds original furnish
ing in order to hold it accountable. If
the eye be faulty from the Makers hand
and its testimony is therefore inaccurate,
let Him who made it, bear the blame,
and not him to whom it is given.
IF, however, the testimony of mental
vision can be modified by will, by sur
roundiDgs, by disposition and desire,
the answer to the questi on before us is
an altogether different matter. If be-
lief instead of being the product of
machinery, built of God, propelled by
God, controlled by God, without hu-
man Intervention, is rather the product
of machinery, tools, opportunity, fur
nished an agent, who by himself de-
cides as to their uses, improves or mis-
improves them; then common sense at
once says that in just the measure his
personality and volition enter into the
product in just that degree and no
977ore is he rasnonsihIe for the nrO-
duct. there is then imperfection in
the duct, he is blameworthy. II
there is excellence, he is worthy of
praise.
The various faculties Of the mind,