The Press., 1889-09-19


 Proof of personal God is greatly in de- mand, proof that young, unscientific, unphilosophical mind can take in and be satisfied with. Such proof we think can be presented in a few simple propositions, as follows
 l. Man has no power over himself to continue himself on and on forever in be- ing. Every human death bears testimony to the truthfulness of this proposition, and child can be made to understand it. 2. Since man has no power over him. self to prolong indefinitely his life, he also has no power to bring himself into being. But man is here, and once he was not. We have been recently told that the "con- sensus of scientific opinion places man at the beginning of the present period, the post t-glaoial epoch ;;' and, since he began to be, it does not affect our present po- sition when, or how far back he began to be. Hence, since he began to be and could not cause himself to be, he had 8 creator. There is no other conclusion. 3. But mans creator must be equal to, or greater than himself. No created thing can be greater than that which created it. If this is accepted, we turn to look at man himself as he is manifested or self revealed to us.
 Man reveals marvellous mind, great in- tellectuality. His thought is deep and | comprehensive. We see this in literature, the arts, the sciences and philosophies. Now if mans creator is equal to or greater | than himself he must have a mind. | Man shows great sensibility. His in stinctive and rational emotions are very great; and so are his benevolent and malevolent affections. His desires are great, also. These all show him to be en- dowed with marvellous sensibility. Now if mans creator is equal to or greater than himself then he must have sensibility. Man has the power to decide what he will or will not do, and of putting forth vo- 1 litions accordingly. Will, in man, is as mighty as thought; but unless mans ere ator has this power he is inferior. This cannot be. The creator must be as great, or greater, than that which he creates : hence he must have will.
 Now, then, the fact that man has crea- tor proves that this creator is possessed of intellect-the power of thought, of sensi- the power of action and these are attri- butes of personality. Man has other dis tinguishing characteristics, one of which is the consciousness of his own existence. He knows himself to be the same thinking creature in different times and places, and is conscious that he can control his own existence. He can take his life now or he can defer tho matter. He can hang, or shoot, or drown himself. He believes he has the spower to do this This, again, shows him to be person.
 Inanimate things, such as books, chairs, stones, and iron have individuality, but no personality. Animate things, such as trees, fishes, birds, etc., have individuality, but no personality.
 l Man is person because he has reason emotion, and action he has the conscious ness of his being, and knows himself to be the same thinking creature in different times and places, and that he can control his existence within the limits of his finite- ness.
 But we have before proven that man s creator must be equal to or greater than himself hence, mans creator is a person al being. We are driven to this conclus- ion by the irresistible force of logic, We add, the personality of the creator is as far above and beyond that of man as infnity exceeds influences.
 1 Rushford Minn.