, 1888-12-22

10 race the consequences which WOuId
follow an open acknowledgment of unbe-
lief in the Christian creed. Whether it. is
wise to do so or not is a question which
every man who is struggling with reli-
glouS doubt must settle with his own con
science. And here is a lesson which many
good people have yet to learn. They.
IKE ElSmere'S wife, have not only a hor-
Tor OF every torn OF ScepticiSm but they
deteSC the unbeliever. They look upon
nm as a bad man, with whom it is wrong
ana dangerous to associate. They don't
want to have anything to do with him
And, truth to say, Mrs. Wards infdnls
are not by any means an attractive lot.
But none of them are what the world calls
bad men" ElSemere himself after he
became an unbeliever was as pnre. az
I~arGe-hearted, as kind and as loveablp n
man as he was when a believer in the
Whoie Christian creed. Unbelief did not
MAKE nm wicked. This is true to nature.
ana Whell, TOR the purpose of effect. the
preacher represents the Sceptic as every
nuns That Is bad, he makes the very crave
mistake of telling his hearers what many
OF llen KNOW TO be untrue. and he thus
loses their confidence. They reason thar
If he, either through ignorance or DESIGN.
states what they know is not true in this
matter, Is he to be relied upon in other
and more important matters. U~nbeIipvers
may be bad men, but ihey are not necps-
Saflly so. The truth is that many who
say that they do not believe in the trnths
OF Christianity are, it may be unconscious
~, III almost every act of their lives in
huenced by the principles of the religion
they deny, 1t would be saying very little
for the influence Of centuries of Christian
teaching If the member of Il Christian com
mllnlty and the child of Christian parents
who bad, as he believed, argued himself
out OF his belief in the Christian dogma.
could, IN a day or a year, divest himself
OF the influence of the Christian religion.
AS a matter OF fact. he cannot, and those
VINO nave associated with prOfeSSed ag-
loStlcS are interested to see to what a very
great extent they regulate their lives in
acc0rdance with the teaching of Christian
lty. They must act as Christians in spite
Of their declared scepticism. Christinni.
tY has wound itself into every fibre of
their moral nature and they cannot get
rid OF It's influence if they would. This is
shown very clearly in "Robert Elsmere.u
The work that he engaged in after he had
renowned Christianity and left the Chris
tan ministry was in its essence Il Christian
work, and the Brotherhood which he pS.
tablIShed was III everything but it's name
essentially Christian. We do not think
that broadminded Christians need look
upon 'R0bert Elsemere" as a "dangerous'
b Ok. Its popularity. however, should
teach many earnest Ieligionists II lesson
which they have been slow to learn. 1t
should convince them that doubt is much
more common in the Christipn world than
II represented by many superficial obser-
Vers who are regarded as authorities in
the congregations, and that the men who
are slipping away from Christian infuen-
ceS are not by any means the worst or the
least intelligent in the community. When
they are convinced of this, they will do
well to look about chem for some effective
means to confirm Waverers in the faith,
and to prevent a~ctive-minded and intelli.
gent members Of the churches drifting in
TO the dark and dleary sea of dnbelief.
This is a work which must be done wise
and discreetly. Weak invective and
goOdy- goody EXPLORATION are Mndrances,
not helps. If the Robert Elsmeres are not
to be indefinitely and rapidly increased,
the strong men must get to work and they
must exert themselves intelligently and
with a Will.