Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-05-31

Isn't that what we want? Character and
consolation. duty and destiny, help for the
present and hope for the future, what great
tracts of human life these words cover!
The World Demands the Truth.
When we say Holy Spirit we mean God
in his world. Every day God helps us,
partly by His messengers, partly by the
experiences of life. God speaks to us in
books and by the lips Of our friends, and
SO uplifts us, if we will let Him. God
touches us in the trials and troubles of our
lives, teaching us helpfulness, patience,
tenderness: making us strong by laying
heavy burdens on our shoulders. God
brings to our minds, when sorrow comes,
the blessed messages of peace and conso-
lation. tells us that our dear ones shall live
AGAIN. and we with them, in His holy pres
e6ee. And all this is the loving ministra-
tion of God the Holy Spirit. The Bible
speaks of the "fruits of the spirit, and
sets down under that head all names of
pifts and praces of Christian character. Into
these the Holy Spirit guides us.
0Into all truth.W And so inte the truth
about God, into truth theological.
What we want, above all else, in theology,
is truth. Tell us the truth, show us the
truth. Pilates question heads the catechism
which everybody wants to learn to-day
what is truth? And men and women are
asking it, not in jest, not in half earnest,
but with all the emphasis, and all the aspira-
ton, and all the sincerest desire of the
whole heart. The supreme test of all things
old and new has come to the test Of truth.
Is it true? g.; s--
Not Caring for Consequences.
The ideal scholar comes to his task to-day
absolutely careless of consequences. What
he wants is the plain, straightforward, un-
adulterated truth. As for the consequences
of truth-telling, he is content to leave them
in the hands Of the God Of truth. Here, for
example, is what one OF these fearless
scholars says: "With the effect of any of
these statements or, re-statements upon cur
rent or popular theology, am no more con.
cerned than o special correspondent at the
seat Of war is concerned with the effect Of
his narration upon the opinions or policy Of
the Government at home. The reporter
simply goes out to look on and to write
down. He only wants to know the truth.
He is not concerned with bolstering up Q
policy. Nothing which God has permitted
to be true in history can possibly be out Of
harmony with any other kind of truth, re-
ligious or scientific"
They used to believe, a good while ago,
that there was fatal secret wrapped up in
the real name of a person or OF thing.
That name was revelation of the absolute
reality. To know it was to get perfect
>, IF fho nd
they kept the name hid The city of Rome,
for example, had two names, one for COM
mon use, the other secret, mysterious, un-
spoken, and, except to the initiated, un-
known. If an enemy could discover the
real name of a city or of god, fearful
things would follow. If he could discover
that real name and pronounce it, the walls
even of great Babylon would tumble like
the walls of Je:icho and the mightiest god
of all heaven would become the slave of the
discoveref.
Must Have Truth First.
The scholar to-day is a-search for the real
name of everything. He is content to stop
nowhere short of the foundations of reality.
And if you tell him that walls will fall, or
creeds will fall, or gods will fall as the re-
suit of his discovery Of truth, he will not
heed you. First, the truth; and then-any-
thing.
These truthseekers are leaving no institu-
tion unquestioned. Nothing is too old, too
great, too venerable, to escape their impair
tial investigation. What is the truth about
the Church, its origin, its claims, the posi-
tion and establishment of its ministry?
What is the truth about the creed; is there
anywhere any smallest flaw in it? And it
you say, "Why, If this test should turn out
thus and so, what will become of ns?" The
answer is, "See thou to that" Suppose it
should be found that the Church is not of
divine origin, and that there are errors in
the Bible, and mistakes in the creed, what
will become of our religion?
Want to Know IL It's Lie. g,
The answer of the clear-sighted scholar
is simply: "My dear friend, if your relig-
know it? You don't want to believe a lie,
do you? You don't want to count any paste
diamonds among the family jewels, do
you?"
Mol we want the absolute truth. Who
ever is honestly seeking after truth, and
trying to discover and teach the actual
truth, whether about Bible, Church or creed,
him we account on our side. The real 'de-
fender of the faith" is not the man who
would keep the faith from being questioned,
but he would bring it out with absolute
fearlessness in the face of all possible ques-
tioning, sure of the result.
All hail to all investigation! Welcome
all scholars, all questioners, all heretics,
with all their criticisms and all their testsl
What are they but the messengers of God
the Holy Spirit to guide us into TRUTH
GEORGE HODGES.