The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-10-26
POPULAR UNBELIEF.
DISCUSSION OF ITS CAUSE AND
SUGGESTION OF ITS CURE.

MAN II DOt DOlu u"hc''s' "~ 49,
man heart is originally faithless
heart.
Says the oldest Protestant confessions:
After Adams fall, all men begotten
after the common course OF nature are
born with sin; that is, without the fear
of God. without fear in him, and with
fl eshy appetite, and that this disease or
original fault is truly sim"
1t may afford us some comfort, how
ever. that this original sin rs not
necessary constituent of man. IL doe
not belong to the substance OF man. III
is an accident, something that came 10
him from without; not made a part OF
him by creation. but implanted after
wards by the devil. 1t was he that in.
situated into the mind OF Eve that God
was not good, tnat his word was not
true. that he was not doing the right
thing. that his word was in the way OF
mans progress and illumination, and
the only hiDdrance to prevent man 8
own dedication.
Unbelief is nothing new. Ii If as old
az the race, The first man ever born oil
woman rejected the doctrine OF sin and
atonement. The great body OF the race
in Noah's time were sceptics. After
the flood unbelief endeavored to en-
throne itself and its independence and
defiance in the Tower of Babel. When
i'm the fulness of time God was mani
fest i'm the flesh, -" He came unto his
own and his own received him not.
The religious leaders Of his own people
opposed, rejected, and crucified him.
Aud when his blessed Gospel neverthe-
less went forth conquering and to con-
auer. it was violently and cruelty OPP
posed. During the long night of the
Dark Ages unbelief again seemed 10
triumph.
Then came the Reformation, givin
again to a restless. cropping and hungry
world liberty of conscience, an open
Bible, the precious doctrine OF Justlfica.
ton by faith and the kindred sound
doctrines that cannot be separated from
it without impairing its vitality. But
again the deceitful and desperately
wicked human heart asserted itself.
Deism blighted England; Rationalism,
in its varied and contradictory phases
poisoned the life-bloOd of the Church
on the Church ON the soil of the Ger.
man Reformation. and Atheism filled
France with anarchy, violence and
| blood.
In our own beloved land, that part
of it which was to shape its Institutions
mould the character of its people. and
give direction towards its destiny, was
providentially preserved from perma
nent occupation by the Romish zealot'
of Southern Europe. Its most influen
tal colonies were those of the Puritan;
in New England and the Lutherans on
the Delaware.
But has this nation lived up to it
privileges The first serious inroadi
Of unbelief were made after the Revo
! lutiOnary war. That waT. like every
other, was a prolific. breeder Of unbe
lief, and made the soil ready for the
Age of Reason That book had q
wonderful run. and much to do with
the sad apostasy to Unitarianism. The
! Mexican war caused a new activity o.
unbellef, and the soil was ready for {
new apostle. Such an one appeared IL
! the person of Theodore Parker. Their
came the cruel war Of the rebellion
1t brought with it and left behind it it,
| full tide of ma.erialistic unbelief. LII
exponent and missionary is Robert In
gersoll. He is assisted in his unholy
crusade by venal and irreverent pub
lie press. as represented in the average
daily and weekly secular paper-espe
cially the Sunday editions-and som,
of the wouldbe high toned great maya
zines of the day.
This blatant lngersOlism is especially
bold and reckless in the West. Inger
soil is himself Westesn man. West
ern unbelief shows itself in the larg,
proportion of irreligious and anti-re
ligious works in the book stores and il
the hands of the news agents on thu
trains. 1t shows itself in the aggres
siveness and activity of Unitarianisn
and other so-called liberal and fire,
churches, which are only an inclined
plane on which those who have a it'll
faith and conscience left can COmfOrta
bly, unload them and see them slip on
of sight. We can see the manifesto
tions of Western unbelief at our gram
mar and high-school commandments
They are not always opened will
prayer. And it is nothing new to hea
a hopeful graduate defend Darwinism
How shall we meet this bold an'
blatant unbelIef? Shall we make con
cessions, compromise our faith, and en-
deaNO or to preach a palatable Gospel?
Alas. alas There are those professe,
preachers Of Christ, set for the defenc
Of his Gospel. who elect to pursue sucl
a method. And, saddest Of all, out il
the new West, where, above all places
The trumpet should give no uncertain
sound, find the worst OF them.
Let ministers preach the old Gospel
the whole Gospel. the unadulterate(
Gospel. Let them preach it fearlessl Y
tenderly, lovingly, as dying men Il
dying men. Let them show men theil
sin, their need, their danger. Let then
/ preach publicly and from house t
house. Let them watch for souls a
{ they that must give account. Thus
and thus only can they stem the tide o
unbelief The world needs only the oil,
Gospel to-day. 1t is still the power o
God unto salvatioD.-Rev G.. Ii. Ger
berdipg in Lutheran Quarterly.