St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-05-26
WAYS OF MAKING ATHEISTS.
An Interesting Lecture at the
EiiOu Theater.


Rev. William Wilkinson addressed
large audience at the Bijou tbeater yes
terday afternoon. Said he: 1.-The way
to induce men to accept the doctrines OF
the Christian religion is for those who
profess to know its power and enjoy its
blessings to translate lis precepts into
holy and noble life, So that The jewellers
round about have not to depend upon
abstract statements of its superior
worth. in comparison with other sys-
TENS of philosophy or science or world
illness they behold, but in living men
may see the ideals it in vital truth pre-
Sents. The man understood human
nature, and Gods revelation also, Who
in answer to the question. How can we
ChristianiZe the heathen?' said 1t
would be we'll to catch, if possible, a
few true Christians and turn them out
amongst the savages.' Whatever is
Christian. and shown to be such, will
win its own way. Whatever is done by
Christian men contrary to the pure
truth of Christ. and is by His followers
put forth in His name, is damage to
the church and truth of God. When. in
the name of faithfulness to revealed
religion, men become, under the guise
of zeal for God, the prosecutors of their
fellow men, nothing but disaster can
be the result. 1t is possible to love lib
erty so well that we take our own share
of it and other peoples as we'll, and in
the very act Of pr0claiming freedom be-
come tyrants. The past is strewn with
memories of this sad policy. The Protest
ant has grown eloquent on the oppres-
sl0ns of the church of Rome, yet at his
mouth we do not hear much of the way
men in Puritan times who could, and
did, face the dangers of sea and land,
who left the happy home of childhood
and the affairs of their fathers to seek in
new world liberty of religious opin-
ion. put to death or condemned
to Punishment men just as honest as
themselves who looked at religion in
different manner. And it is truth of
history that Calvin did consent to the
death of Servetus because he did
not see revelation with Calvin'S
eyes. We are told tina it is the
glory of Professionalism that its ultimate
principle leads to tue inalienable right
of every man to judge for himself of
what is truth in matters religious. Ira
ditiOn is of no value and the church no
authority in such matters. we are told.
An infallible creed. church or pope. is
not admitted by the men who accept its
dictates. The Bible alone, they say, is
our guide, philosopher and friend. Be
it so. But the man who, III an OrthO-
dOX church. takes that in its literal
meaning, and follows 1t, II his thinking
leads to different conclusion from the
explanations of his fellows, will soon
find that both tradition and public
opinion have to be taken into account.
a Methodist who should come to think
that Calvinism was the truth, and uni
versal salvation impossible for all.
thing liberty is, but oh, how costly.
In Baptist community. in pur-
suit of the ultimate principle
of Professionalism, if man should
stand up and say, i have come to the
conclusion that Infant baptism is right
and desirable he would soon see what
would become of his ultimate pricIple
theory. Men are told to eschew inTalli-
bIlity in all human concerns, and TO
give free play to reason, but the instant
that reason applies itself to any part of
creed OF practice accepted, its bench
men come to the rescue 10 steady what
they think the ark of God, and the dis
SenterS are cast out, kicked, cutfed and
prosecuted, or made uncomfortable.
Then new sect is formed. In the whole
range of theology there is not one great
doctrine, or theory of 1t, which has not
led to the results | have indicated. The
Trinity. original sin, grace, salvation
Ivy atOnement, the person OF Christ, the
kenosis. future life, paradise, purga-
tory, heaven, hell, the priesthood, the
sacraments, prayer, faith. love, all
have been the fierce battle ground of
warning factions. No view of thee sub
jects has been held for which men have
had been ready to give their blood. and
yet more ready to take the blood of
some of their fellows as proof of their
own great love of God, with the result
that in the house of it's friends truth has
got such dishonor that the scars will re-
main as long as history lasts. Genera
tions of men now with the dead have
suffered loss irreparable; unbelief has
had new recruits. into its armOry have
been put weapons strong and sharp.
Persecution for opinions sake has been
| the devils powerful servant. No swifter
way to make atheists has yet been
| found. Truth is multiform, and though
varied in many manifestations it yet
| is one, even where little outward SEM
| blance appears there is often a deep
and mystic oneness. And as true love
| for God and truth may prompt to lines
| to lines of action which have nothing in
common-as an anvil which resists and
hammer which strikes, both help the
smith to fashion the iron he holds-so
it is in the world of mind. Often men
from different points of view are
led to different lines of action. Yet the
result is gain. 1t is thought which
does credit to the best mind of the
church of Rome, that it says all who,
however mistaken, seek the truth. even
though they never in this world find it,
are in the soul of the true church. When
men claim for the Bible a place it does
not claim for itself, they impose condi-
lions which may lead the ignorant into
atheism. No man is saved because he
believes or does not believe John was
swallowed by fish, or that Moses took
a serpent by the tail, or that Samson
pulled down temple. These things l
believe, but they are not conditions of
salvation. No man is saved because he
| dnoc not intprnrnt no fret 10 of