Arizona republican., 1890-07-14
MODERN INFIDELITY.
THIRD LECTURE ON THE SUBJECT
 BY REV. RICkERSON.
..Atheism" and "Pantheism" Commented Upon From Christian's Standpoint An Able Argument-OtherS Services.

Ipon From a Christian's Standpoint
 An Able Argument-OtherS Services.
 Customary services were held yester- day at the Southern Methodist, Baptist and Catholic churches and at the Adventist Tabernacle. Sunday School only was had at the Christian church.
 At the Baptist church, Rev. Rickerson delivered his third sermon on Modern lnfdelity," upon the two topics, "Athe- ism" and "Pantheism." From the argument upon the first named subject we excerpt the following:
 Third lecture on modern infidelity- atheism" Text, Psalm 80; l., ?. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world; even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
 Atheism is the ripened harvest of doubt. It denies the existence of God. Hence, there is no authoritative Bible, no personal responsibility to a higher intelligence, no future Man is a brute, with cultivated instincts; nature is eternal, for matter is indestructible i; man dies, and perishes. It has been said that practical atheism is a mental and moral impossibihty. Perhaps this can be shown. The atheist may exam inc a leaf, flower, grain of sand, q drop of water, and find no evidence of Ciod. He may go on until he has exhausted all familiar objects and still find no testimony to change his belief that God is not but can God be fairly reasoned out of existence on the basis of his limited knowledge, when all the objects within its broadest range, compared with the wonders of creation, are as an atom to a universe? The atheist cannot de- clare there is no God" until he knows all leaves, flowers, mountains, oceans i; all the buried secrets of the ages; all the powers and possibilities of the human mind and body; and when he has com passed all Knowledge, hidden or dis closed, in this little planet, must know all the secrets of the numberless worlds whirling through space. Eternity is too short for developing practical atheism. The only organized effort to establish atheism as a national faith was during the French RevolutiOn-the Reign of Terror" when it was declared that "the King of Heaven must be dethroned, just as the Kings of the earth;" when God was publicly and solemnly deposed, Christianity abrogated, and the worship ol Reason substituted. The licentious- ness and blood that followed set the world aghast. One is not sur prised that the same convention that declared death an eternal sleep and abrOgated all restraints but human passions publicly declared its faith in the immortality of the soul, and, by an impious festival, restored GOl to his throne, and to rulerShip over the French Nation. It has long been thought that this experiment was sui tO be the case. Not long ago, at an i'm pOrtant students congress, it was de- clared tO be the aim ito do away with all religions, to destroy all churches and to eradicate every thought of God from the consciousness of their fellow men, and that atheism was the ultimate aim oi all human science" The leader of the Red Republican party in Paris, Gustava Florens, published in his jour nal these words "Our enemy is God. Hatred of God is the beginning of wis dom. If mankind would make true l''-i''' " uliSl pt OIi tllt p''SiS VI atheism. Every trace of religion must be banished from the education of our children" But to discover this tendency otmodern iniidelity we need not confine our attention to Catholic France, or rationaistic Germany; very clear echoes are heard in Christian America. These utterances are only shade more radical than our own 'Ingersollism." |" Atheism, but little diluted, may be found in the declarations of American Anarchists, many of our labor organiza
 tons and many of our sO-called philo- sophlcal, scientific and religious soci- rtle', and may be read in the editorials Ol not few of our leading newspapers. What IS gained, from utandpoint of pure reason, if it is proved that there is no personal God? Then matter is eter- nal. Is 1t more reasonable to believe that matter is eternal than that God is eternal? Does it take any more credu- Ity or faith to believe that matter has been reproducing itself from all eternity nan to believe the words, "Lord, thou mast been our dwelling place in all gen Trau"ns: before the mountains ever brought forth, or ever thou hadst iorm"d the earth and the world, even rom everlasting to. everlasting thou art 'Iod Can any reasoning mind ask a stronger argument than practical test M Atheism? Wherever the existence of ''"" has been denied and the moral re- SlraInts of his law ignored what has resulted or what can rt'HIt-except riotous license, brutality ana blood? Some men call this "pro- Ees'' It Is progress towards barbar-
 Big Special Appropriation.
 "A"IIINGToN, D. C., July l2.-The rouse Committee on Appropriations to- Iay reported to the House the urgent saao ania making gross appropriation of SP"o.2OO to deiray the expense of em- Ploying 463 additional clerks in the pension bureau, l66 in the record and n enslon departments and ten in the 'ecohd Auditors office. The object is dG provide the speedy adjudication of .'aliIis to be filed under the dependent pension act.