St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-03-31
Dr.. Walls ANSWER
To the Recent Pulpit Utter
ances Of Archbishop
Ireland.
Decaying Forms Are Not a
Sign of Decaying Re-
ligion.
Sixth Penitential Lecture at
st. Mary's by Father
O'Gorman.
An Eloquent Discourse to
Conclude the Lenten
Lectures.

=
Rev. Vail, of the Universalist church,
announced that he would preach SER
mon and answer to the recent utter
ances of Archbishop Ireland. The
church quarters were crowded yester-
day, and Rev. Vail took as his theme,
"Are Decaying Forms Sign of Decay
ing Religion?" His text was from
Isaiah, ''Come, let us reason together"
He said: The newspapers have been
unusually full of religious writing in
the past week. Archbishop Ireland has
made the crumbling creedS the subject
of discourse, which he alleges to be
perfectly logical. and uses the coll
clusion to point the fact that there are
changes, and, therefore. signs of death
in churches outside his own. Another
clergyman. whose church has one
of the oldest creeds, seems to
be championing cree dless church,
or at least to be using the creed in such
a way that it comes to have no special
significance. From these the war has
spread until many are anXiously wait
ing for Sunday to get their opportunity
to give tue subject an airing. Allow,
first of all, that the creedS are dying,
that changes are apparent on every
hand, that a new flood has come in, and
no ark is roomy enough to make place
for this lumber of past age; is that
sufficient reason to furnish hope or fear
that the good of any institution will
perish? When the building is able to
stand without the props: when the stone
and cement have become solid. is it not
better to remove the props! Much that
is threatened with death is no more a
part of the. Christian religion than
1t is of the Egyptian When l
can turn with Robertson Smith
to the religion of all Semitic
people and find there the story OF atone
ment by blood, the theory of eXpiation
by the sacrifice of life, and the whole
scheme of substitution which apostles
grated upon the teaching OF Christ, am
not warranted in saying that the
quicker all churches get rid of this
theory the quicker they will be Ill a
condition to teach the simple lessons of
Jesus?
The assumptions of church and
preacher have driven Germany into
practical Indifference; it is driving the
Intelligent man from the congregation
to-day, and unless we change our base
and method we shall find only the ig-
nOrant and credulOuS in the churches in
the near future. The churches Of Ber-
lin are only sufficient to accommodate 2
per cent OF the people, yet the room
seems ample, and Berlin is not appar-
emily any more of a SodOm than other
cities of the same size in any nation.
New bottles are being demanded for the
new wine, and men are asking us to be
more clear. plain, practical. Carlyle
told of Morrison who made a pill
which, once taken, was
Good for All Time;
if that is what we mean by religion.
then we may be sorry for the changes,
and feel sure that the death rattle IS in
the throat of Truth. But il we mean
that religion, to follow Max Muller's
definition, is to .'apprehend tho Infinite
in such way as to influence moral
character" then Tbalieve, there is an
evidence that is far more valuable than
any creed, statement or. outward prop
whatever.
What then. is the real authority of
the Christian religion? l answer it is
the consciousness of God, supper ted by
the conscience, by the perception of an
ideal, by the experience of mankind,
and all directed'by reason.
But what is the consciousness of God?
1t is the experience that comes to men
in very different ways. When Words
worth was alone in the forest and felt
the presence filling all the universe,
and the heart of man, he felt God. All
men cannot have the same experience.
Sometimes we feel it in the call to bat
tie for truth. Garrison heard the voice
of God in this way. Phillips. after the
night he stood for truth OH the platform
of Faneuil hall, never doubted his call.
Mrs. Stowe, at the communion table.
felt new life thrill her. and her call
came. 1t is remOrSe sometimes, some
times shame. Again it is Ikea great
voice speaking from the distance, and
saying, "Well DONE" So, knowing that
the philosophers of both the -utilitarfan
and orthodox schools will smile, | dare
say, with the German thinker, Con
| science is the consciousness of God"
| But even conscience without vgor
| The Indian widow mounts the funeral
| pyre without word of remonstranee;
| she gives her child to the waters of the
| Ganges in sorrow but in the light of
| conscience. What is the trouble? Lack
| of knowledge. 1t her reason had any
! play she would snatch up her baby, and
| kick the priest into the river, as she
| ought to do The spiritual sense is
| very delicate instrument, and it is so
nearly allied to the physical life of man
| that it has to be guarded above all other
gifts, and never before to-day did impe-
| rial reason seem so much needed. Hyp-
| notiSm is word of modern times, and
| a word of vital significance to the study
| of this phase of the religious question.
| When DR.. CharcOt finds hypnotic sub
| iect, that subject first falls into the
| state of eXpectant attention. Then his
eyes are fixed on an object, and he soon
| falls into the
Condition of Reverie.
| Now his mind receives suggestion;
| he sails the sea, he observes foreign
| lands, lie sees angels, he sings hymns.
| Moody opens meeting. Mr.. Sankey
| charms you with music. You fall into
the habit of eXpectant attention. You
| are told that you must give yourself up
to the power of the spirit, and then
will feel change. The whole expert
ence is powerfully suggested. You fall
into the hypnotic condition, and eXpe-
rience the change. But the infidel
| Charcot could produce the same change
in the same way. The dreams of st.
Theresa. the reveries of Nine. Guy0n.
| the ecstasies of Wesley, were all allied
TO the hypnotic condition; were UNI
healthy and unreal, and show the eX-
IRENE danger to which we are exposed
| even in the rareSt experiences. Yes,
even in conscience sturdy grip Oh
| common sense is very necessary.
The strongest evidence for the ethical
| authority of religion comes in the his
tory of human experience. The family
life, with its love, with the union
! of one man to one woman, with
| its sacrifices, its hopes and fears:
the value of personal purity: the
nobility of courage; the clear evidence
CT the strength of right and the weak
ness of wrong-all these are written in
| the book of history, which, as CARLYLE
| has said. is Gods word .splenarilY in