Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1889-07-19
INFIDEL DENIALS.


age. MultltuueS revive the demand OF their
kind in Davids day, who will show us
any good 2" Naughty disbelief and scorn-
full interrogation are not confined TO the few
daring and impious scientists who assault
the citadel Of truth, and mock at the evil
dences of religion. These latter need ex-
: cite no serious concern, because their vague
theories unsatisfactory even to their authors,
have scarcely longer life than that which
the grave closes. Hume, the student of
Pyrrho, adopting and enforcing the ideas of
that apostle of agnostic doubt; the acad-
envy, with slightly if at all varying senti-
ments; Strauss, Renan, Tyndal, all have
been repeatedly refuted and temporarily
slenced, only to reappear fresh brood to
revamp their long ago exploded fallaces,
Christian logic meeting and dissolving each
new resurrection of dead falsehoods S.
Though, in the first instance, before faith
had tested its resources and proves, solicit
tude for the result of the contest might nat
urally arise, repeated victories, with an ever
charging area Of gracious consequences,
as naturally supplies strength to conviction
and confidence to effort. One needs not to
have lived half II century to mark how futile
in past ages, how vain in the present, has
been and continues every attempt to over
throw q system or break the hold upon in
dividual hearts of Christ's religion. But as
great questions of ones own age more pow
erfully act upon his reason and influence
his conduct, the lover of truth naturally re-
joices at the failure materially to detract
from its force in the present generation, sue
ceeding in only minority of cases, which,
like lscariot, are in the line of Gods mys-
terious permissive DEGREES. While atheists
say there is no God, countless millions wor-
ship God. Though infidels prove beyond
doubt that Jesus was not divine, millions
bend now the knee before Him, and hasten
the day to crown him Lord of all. Super
stition and weak -mindedness are alleged as
the causes OF worship, yet the meeting
houses are open and thronged. Even the
feeblest proclamation of the gospel draws
u it multtudes OF the careless, the goddess,
the curious, even the skeptical. Meanwhile,
salvation is hourly doing its final work upon
the elect of God. We reason, hence, and,
also, from faiths first principle, that all this
infidel thunder is in the hand of a painted
Jupiter" But a far more dangerous sort of
skepticism taints the unsanctified MASSES
The question is, "Where are the purifying
effects of this boosted Christianity? Where
its reformatory influence upon the world
ut larger" Not altogether without reason.
With respect 10 our day, the question arises
out of the terrible corruption of the times.
Goldsmith would now say of us with more
| intense realization than he did of England,
|
| Where wealth accumulates and men decay.
Mems idols are broken every day. Sab
bath school superintendent wreck banks,
and pous deacons, or elders, or class lead
ers run away with other mems wives. Mis-
trust of leaders every where prevails Faith
in men and parties fails. The successful
business man, held up as Il model of piety,
is proved to have spent thousands in brides
to secure his own and his partys election
The Good Templar is known to have drunk
rum behind the door, and the strong TEN
perance man had II barrel of whiskey near
the polls. Men quote with intense bitter
ness, put not your faith IL princes The
corruption ut the national capital is 80 great
that it is said that the man in the moon
holds his nose while passing over the Amer
lean Sodom.
Everywhere there is heart-hunger, which
cannot procure fish but u scorpion, not an
egg, but stone. Whence come these thren
odies, which, like the wall of Shelley, count
religion, as protested and practiced, the foe
not the friend, of mankind; and the despair
ing final shrek of Byron ending in one
word, "dsgust?" 1t were not even good
policy to deny the existing evil Better far
to ask candid reflection to refer the respon.
sibiity of prevalent immortality To the a6'
seace of religion. Experience has taught
| every man that he had LESS to dread from
the audaciOus front of vice, than the in
sidious form Of virtue-lelicacy shrinking
from one, Immediately announced the dan
ger but innocence inspired confidence in
the other; and creduity, instead OF suspic-
ion, occupied the mind" The evil will
never be removed by the MULTIPLICATION of
works on "the evidences of Christianity"
Not another book OF the kind will ever be
needed 1t is much to be doubted whether
any was ever needed Unhappily, religion
| is thing talked about rather than Is. Me-
chanical rather than vital. Suppose, in
stead Of laboriously teaching how preach
ing should be done, we should actually
preach Instead of arguing that religion is
possible and probable, flash before The eyes
of men and keep burning there the verify
Metaphysics we do not want. The argu
ment from design cannot be improved upon.
| w hen read the copies, there they are in
Paley, page Tor page, objects for illustration
changed a little. OF religion, natural and
revealed, Butler has left nothing to be said
| concerning the analogy. In the scriptures
no attempt is made to deal with metaphys
cal distractions The plainest Of gospels
preacl.ed, not preached about, 50 full Of prac
tical, manifest spirituality that infdelity
could not live in such an atmosphere.
Friedrich Schlegels Dresden Lectures, what
could his speculative philosophy do for him
in Christ to touch his life, that last word,
"Aber"-" But"--writtcn near midnight, two
| hours before he searched not doubt, but
| reality IN eternity, might have had another
spelIing-night have been written, trust!
| Ii lost in forest at midnight, | do not want
a voice itself covered by darkness TO dissert
upon the theories Of light, corpuscular or
wave, but plead, pray, pant for tght, tghtj
| hold UP the light! Nor do | wish TO be
| n. To tl,
| in water which recedes with every attempt
to drink and starving while fruits over
head are waited away by cruel winds. If
men say there is no good, shoao them the
good no happiness, show them how TO be
happy; no faith, no fruits, show both faith
| and fruits The complaint is as old as hu-
manly. Made just, in part, by delinquents,
Like some ungracious pastors,
Who show the steep and thorny path TO
heaven,
But take the primrose one themselves.
But often it expresses base desire rather
than deplores lack. Allowing for preced-
ing admissions, whose correctness is patent
it is unreasonable because false; and because
what is good should be loved for itself, and
instituted where it does not exist The dis
satisfaction results from the wrong direction
taken by the desires. The good sought after
by the carnally minded is in the sensible
objects the world can offer. This Is unreal
unsatisiying, and reacts adversely to happi
ness Emmerson never said a truer thing
than that Though we travel the world over
to find the beautiful, we must carry it with
US, or we find it not The English are said
tn visit Paris :or>the purpose chiefly of dis
paraging everything they see there, as com
pared TO what they left at home. In some
such way many treat religion. Prepared
always Tor fault finding, and boated with
pitilul conceit, cynical complaint Of what
they have not tested, rather than fair bal
ancing Of actual goodness, deprives them OF
the faculty for an unbiased judgment. Their
disappointment increases u the ratio of de-
yoton to misdirected endeavor. Their pleas
ures are pleasing poisons.
The deadliest snakes are those which,
twined 'mongst flowers,
Blend their bright colorinp with the varied