New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-06-08
WHAT is TRUTHa
THE BAocALAUREATE AT PRINCETON.
PRESIDENT PATRONS sERdoN-AN ATTEMPT
TO PRESENT THE ESSENCE OF
rcyrrA


TO PRESENT THE ESSENCE OF
CHRISTIAN FAITH.
pSncetop. n. j.. June (specaD, President Patton
,day delivered the baccaaureate sermon to the senior
80 About 10 80 O'Clock the faculty seniors and
rnderrraduates began 10 form at Old Chapel, and at
- o,cIock the line started Tor MarQuand Chapel where
the sermon was preached Tic faculty wore the full
university cap and gown, the seniors the cap only.
Mnrouand was crowded. Drawing his text rom John
viii as PLATE saith unto him: What is Truth q"
Dr. Patton spoke in part as follows:
l did not near Plate say these words and do not
know whether he was JeSJlng as Bacon says, OF not
Much depends as we a knowand THIS is Just ~ .rde
"a written Of spoken utcranoeS-aS emphasis ana &C
cent on ana qualifying PHRASES ana .nls IS solne
thing that both readers ana writer's would do well al
s MsSs he he IS Of in the way he asks it, IT,
What is Truths" Truth is the correspondence be-
might have been as fun Of material thought as IL
now is, but had no thinker come along there would
ions implies the great thinker whom call God.
That indeed is the great inference 70 which We are LED
in our attempt 10 impose meaning upon tniS "ord
Experience had developed somewhat cumorus
but on the whole very satisfactory way OF get
ting at the truth that is TO say Oh pro prov a
substitute for the evidence OF the senses ana we ieei
the adoption this method There Is no truth IN
where there Is thought. Your textbook VIII 40
Il Won have not rethought its statement for yourself
Now the trimming YOU have received here Will pre-
rhetorical statements about truth that are so com
mon az TO be misleading. For men write dTu'h ~
say that she is relative, and partial, that what
passes for truths in one age discarded in the next
IL yOu mean what the contents OF our knowl
edge chest, is one that cannot be answered OF
thing and another knows something else. ruin N
being the cOnsonance of my thought with ralty' IL
There is Of keeping young men u from {G0
coming in contact with the religious problems 81 on
coming in contact with them for the open questions
sGns9 and IN he that the old
false and the new is TO supersede IT, anu 5' eary
faiths of educated young men. am sorry for the
young man who feels that his faith Is unuers0,S S
between him and those who are most dear to him py
preventing him from sharing their reSlous dnite
n the funess OF the old and unhesitattng confidence
plty the man who feels as he leaves college that he
has philosophy and less Bible than when ne u
never enter college door than that his college learn
Ing should be gained at the cost of his Christian 1ath
ARa HeS of 4 rrpous faith that goes on the
of a great many young men, and an anxiety c G
are aIDpant men who ask What is TRUTH, as though
they did not care. But the men OF whom am speakd
sneak helpful word TO such to-day-the last time
may have chance TO answer the question ""haO Is
When I see young men can carry the Christian
name and really illustrate so many OF he ie dI1
Of essential truth or by their Indifference to It, or sac
sacrificing the dearest interests of ChrtSsan truth am
dshear1sned. / am not cOntending here for sec
tarian theology, am preaching TO you on the brOad
lines Catholic Christianity and am trying to preSen l
10 you the essence of Christian faith: ony WISH
that YOU will realize THAI Christianity. II IT Is anything
If it deserves any enduring place II mas any exp S
any voice Of authority rests upon the doctrine mat
Jesus Christ was delivered f1T our @ b anu s
s1ity is life and not doctrine. 1t Is NE because
It's d@ StT oAaT Te gs Rm eS Un the eon
that looks only upon ethical states ana peaches only
the moraties Of NE rel ,S world and IS satisfied
with the sweetness and tenderness OF Ch1suah leel-
hsi II i frying TO keep the fruits of Christianity lv
ing while It lays the axe at the root OF the tree woh
Now say. dare to say-would TO God that men
ronld heed me-that if must choose between life and
dogma. Its great supposton is that man is sinner
and that without the shedding Of the blood there Is no
nropaton OF our sins and not for only but for
The sins of the whole world. 1t comes 10 US SAVING
WORKS Of the law ut that being justified by faith
have peace with God ITS one s9nlng ahn SocPrn
of the incarnation separates 1t from all the religions
a Won are in earnest my friends, and you want
10 know what you shall do TO keep your Christian fath
on rational grounds vii tel you how 70 ge eev S '9 9
Cod Add 10 your theism the lncarnae CHRIST; ana
Won have found the Truth The pitched Patte OF
settle with Yourself whether You will let your ration
estic philosophy settle your history or whe W You you
have theory make fact, or fact make theory ms
is Tho crrc,a question of theological debate not the
Inspiration Of the Scripture the authorship OF the
Pentateuch.
In closing Dr. Patton addressed the senior class in
part follows
An event occurred yesterday which we cannot
Danish fully from our minds, even on the sabbath day
but ordinary events in life are Oiten parabes 10 Us
There are battles We have to fight and victories we
hone to win all through life. Yon know how you
did it. You know the patience you know the tram
Ing and Tie faith that entered into it, sefconhdence
is the beginning of great acts. You did II that you
NAV win an earthly crown but do not forget, my
friends that there Is crown Of righteousness that
fadeth not away Go forth to-day in strength OF char
acter. stand like true soldiers on the batucneid ana
fight your hardest.
At O'Clock the Philadephian Society held their
annual meeting in Marquand Chapel President Patton
opened the exercises with reading Of the Scriptures
and PRAYER, after which W. W. Cassebe1Ty, '01 read
the rpCrt of the years work. The discourse by the
Rev George D. Stewart '76, ended the regular exercises