The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1891-02-19
SUPERNATURAL.
An Eloquent Lecture by Rev.
Father Stafford.
There Must Be Supernatural Re-
ligioi or No Religion.
The Able Massillon Divine Delights a
Large Audience at st. Peters Church =
A Brief Synopsis.

YUO persons gathered at 81. Beter $ ththO-
lie church last evening to listen to the
first of series of lectures by Rev. d. j.
Stafford, ID. d., OF Massiion. The emf.
nent divine has a powerful, well modulat.
ed voice, perfect manner and delivery and
is profoundly impressive. AT $3.50 o'clock
the eloquent preacher assembled 10 the |
pulpitand spoke i'm substance as follows:
"There are times, my dear friends,
when we are peculiarly susceptible TO
influence; when our minds seem to en-
large and our hearts to widen. Our
minds enlarge for the reception OF the
truth and our hearts widen for the appre-
citation of beauty. There must be will
ingncs5 to accept new truths ana to COM
prehend old ones, a desire TO appreciate
new beauties and TO understand the old
ones. Thus, for example, we live days,
weeks and perhaps years without consid-
ering the beauty of the universe; we spend
weeks, days and years without giving the
beauties Of nature a thought, and then
sometime we go out into the beauty Of
Gods glad sunshine and we are struck
with the beauty of the material universe
as never before. The beauty was always
there but il required some particular con.
ditiOn of things to START mans mind
towards it. SO 1t is with religion. In
order 70 see and appreciate the fulncss
and beauty OF tive must enter Gods house
and not take mere superficial and shall
low view of IL. There must hc willing
ness to see and appreciate the beauty Of
Gods religion. 1t is with such DISPOSE
tions that we would inspire you at the be.
ginning of this holy time.
We will treat tonight of the supernat.
ural, and we will eudeavor to show what
great things God has done i'm endravoring
10 lift man unto himself. No matter what
may be our end, we shall see that God
called us to great things, and has given
as the means TO attain unto Him. Before
taking up the subject which am TO dis.
cuss during my lecture, II will be ncces.
Sary to 60 step back and lay fouuda
tious, broad and deep, so that the super.
structure, when erected will stand. We
must first have the principle. Man is a
religious animal, and there is something
IN his nature, in his position in the uni
verse, and his relation to other beings,
which necessttates religion. Religion is
an expression of mans relation to God
Wherever we flud man we find him with
~ religion, There is no exception,
Whether in "a civilized or savage state;
whether cultured or in degradation;
wheth STUDY 'yiug the heavens with the
magnificent comprehension of his mind,
or grovclliug in the dirt, man is relig.
ious animal Everywhere you find him
with a religion of some kind. He has lost
art, knowledge, science, government,
letters and culture; he has descended in
stead of ascending, and has gone TO a
depth of d graduation horrible to consider;
he has reached point where any trace of
nature seems to be blOitcd out, and the
Hight of reason becomes a faint and htful
glimmer, yet has he looked up and cried
unto his Col.
All argument show that man hagnowhcrc
lost his reason and that man has nowhere
been found without religion. No matter
what humble practices adopted, there has
never been found "A man who has not
some instincts Of religion in him. You
can never find a race OF men who have
not some idea of the supernatural. Ex-
plain it as you VIII say that il comes from
ignorance, say that IL comes from limos.
ture, or from the very nature OF the man.
We will not take time to explain that this
evening, we are only convinced with the
incOntestibe fact that man has religion
While ulbelef appears here and there il
is always in the individual form; the vast
majority and overwhelming mass of man
kind have behind. They have not only
had religion but have had a supernat-
sIral religion. As a matter of fact man
has not appealed to reason as authority
for his religion, but always to a mower
above reason, and a force greater than
nature. Religion is from the authority of
a revealed word and has been given into
the custody of priesthood to hand it
down and interpret it. Man has always
appealed to a prophet and "A revealed
word. Just as men refer to great civil
Headers, every religion ChersbGs the man
who brought 1t to them. There is no re-
Iigion which appeals to reason alone
While scientists speculate, the priest
stands in the presence of God and pro-
claims his word, Philosophy surrounds
itself with the law of reason, while the
priest surrounds himself with the M jesty
of God. What reason is there for this
doctrine? We answer, "thus saith the
Lord" Why do we believethis and why
do we adhere 10 that? The answer is al
ways, thus saith the LOrd.n We rely on
God alone. Every religion either true or
false appeals to a prophet. There has
iTin .
sages have constructed great systems of
philosophy and have endeavored to build
on fundamc ntal principles, but never was
there sage who attempted to construct a
religion of reason. II we have heard of a
religion of reason, IL is in the sense that
we have no religion. When we read of
the religion of humanity, the religion of
nature or the religion of science we mean
no religion. There must be a supernat-
ural religion or no religion. All things
are supposed to have something above the
force of nature. The Romans blessed
their armies with water before going into
war, to insure victory. They sprinkled
4heir fields to insure a harvest. The sac
riticial rights are to touch and purify the
soul of man. On the side of doctrine as
well as on the side of practice and mora
ity, religion has always been supernatural.
Why is not reason sufficient? Man must
find light to guide his footsteps TO God.
1t could not come from reason as ii is
ABOVE reason. ' hulPar reaSOnerS say that
fear created the Gods. Others say il is
the result OF imposture, imposition and
ignorance. Why would man accept the
religion of false prophet if
he had no idea of true prophet ?
Why could false prophet impose
on men except they already had an idea
of the supernatural? 1t cannot be ex-
planned on that hypothesis. 1t is logical
and necessary result of mans relation to
God. What matters il if in the past man
made false applications to the principle? ? |
The principle is always right. Every |
religion has for foundation, sacrament |
and prophecy. We must have a real |
order simultaneous with reason and |
nature and like reason and nature indie |
structble. Weshould reason religion and |
nature ordered and established, one as |
indestructible as the other. Does il prove |
reason false because in past times men |
accepted great absurdity? 1t is not false |
because man put the wrong construction |
on ii. Under the completely and super
hcial outgrowth, truth has remained un-
impaired.
The lecture Was for the most part an
outline of the lectures which follow, was
clear, logical and eloquent, and the audi
ence was greatly pleased with the effort.
The next lecture occurs Sunday evening