Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-02-27
WHAT IT ALL MEANS.
DR.. Thomas Says Socialism in America
Will Eventually Give Men Equa


viii Eventually Give Men Equa
Rights
The subject of DR.. Thomas sermon at
the Peoples church was Teaching by
History" His text was from the l.
Corinthians: ''Now, these, things hap
pened unto them by way of example. and
they were written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the ages are
come.
1.-The universe, said DIR. Thomas, SIS
rational and progressive order. The be-
ginnings are typical of the endings and
the endings the fulfllment of the begin
nings. Such an order makes possible a
philosophy of history and teachings by ex-
ample. Man learns by experience, and
having the power to register that expert
ence and pass it down to others, the past
becomes the teacher of the present, Paul
felt that his age constituted one epoch in
world history. Civilization had been car
ried by Alexander the Great from Asia to
Europe, the Roman empire ruled the
world. Greek philosophy had ended in
skepticism, the voice of prophecy had
ceased, Juda was captive province, and
the old sacrifcial worship had ended in a
cold Journalism. The 'fulIness of time
had come, the Christ was born, and a
religion of life of the spirit of love was
to take place of the old. One great era
had closed, another had opened.
Paul saw also the beginnings of the
corruptions of Christianity by the incom-
ing of the Jewish and pagan rites. He
said the mystery of iniquity doth already
work. These beginnings went on; the
church became portion of the state in
despotic power, an accomplice in cruelty,
and a refuge for superstition; it projected
a system of doctrines that degraded rea-
son and outraged justice. Then came the
revolt of individualism and the protests of
reason and conscience, and such a move
ment could not be confined to religion At
such time it was hardly strange that Crom-
well could cut off the head of Charles l.
and that the American colonies should a
little later protest against the injustice of
George III. and should issue the declar-
alton of independence, resting their cause
upon the laws of nature and of God and
appealing to the considerable judgment of
mankind.
Last week our country celebrated the
anniversary of Lincoln and this week will
celebrate that of Washington. In doing
this we stand in the line of the historic
continuity of the eighteenth century. The
war for liberty and the rights of man
could not at last stop short of justice to
the dark race. To the country that Wash
ington gave independence Lincoln gave
liberty, so that henceforth the flag of the
free can never again between the great
oceans wave over the auction-block and
the chains of the slave These things
were written for our admonition, and the
pages written in blood and tears tell us
that external authority can never rule the
world, but that the white throne of mercy,
of justice, and love- and brotherhood must
be lifted up in each brain and heart. That
is Christianity, an appeal to the divinity
In man, coming of the divine to man,
man filled with the spirit of God as
that spirit filed the human soul of Jesus
Christ.
1.-The cause of truth and liberty and
righteousness can not fail, but the nations
and the churches that refuse to follow the
light and teachings of God in history, the
progress of truth and moral principles,
must be left behind in the onward march
of the race. The meaning of nihilism in
Russia, communism in France, socialism
In Germany, England and America, though
poorly stated, is that perfect justice must
come to all in their equal rights. If this
great age finds no higher use for all its
amazing powers and wealth than personal
ACKNOWLEDGMENT and pleasure, sitting
down to eat and rising up to play, it will
fail of its providential mission, and must
give place, as have the buried nations of
the past, to civilization that, like the
Christ In the manager, will reach down so
low that none can be beneath its power to
elevate. Salvation is harmony with the
great moral order of God, the universe ex-
lists for righteousness, hence man must
conform to the divine plan