St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-01-05
Rev. w. S. Vail breaches Of
the Wonders of the Reve-
Iation.
Some Thoughts Suggested by
Two Very Recent Pub
locations.
Revelations Which Come in
Many Ways From the
Creator.
Third Anniversary sof the
Peoples Church and Rev.
Smiths Sermon.

|
| arms" was the quotation from script
ure by which Rev. w. S. Vail intro
duced his sermon yesterday at the
Grand opera house. He spoke of the
two books recently issued from the
press. one by Mr.. Gladstone, now in the
hands of the people, the other by Gail
Hamilton, the chief ideas of which have
been gwen to the public through lit
erary syndicate. He continued:
There are two possible ways to ham
! die discussion like this. The one is to
| pursue the method of the author
through chapter after chapter, an end
| less task; the other is to take the most
| fundamental of the questions involved,
| and consider these fundamental ideas.
| This will be done in the present ser
mon, and Ill any that may folloW-it.
| Both books inquire as to the claim that
| Genesis is revelation from God. 1t is
a fundamental question. 1t requires,
| first of all, an answer to the inquiry
| What is revelation? 1t must
Reveal Something
| to man that he does not know. 1t must
! be addressed to some one of the human
| faculties, no matter from what source it
| >.
between the ways and kinds of revela-
ton. One way is through the eye. as
when you pierce the forest. follow the
roaring river to the mountains. catch
| the seyen-hued arc OF the rainbow rlS-
| ing from spray, cling to the wall of
rock at the top of which the eagle cir
Giles III wild play, or rest beside its noise
| less basin in some vale of peace. As when
| we get that actual contact with other
| nations and places by seeing them, and
have seen and testified to what our eye
| has seen.
I All this has been revelation to the
| eye. This comes when an Archimides
has studied long over mathematical
! problem and at last rises with the eX-
clamation "Eurekar' 1t comes when
an Edison, after years of study, makes
hard and crafty nature yield up the
| secret she has treasured. 1t comes when
| the philosopher,
Standing in Awe
| of the throbbing heavens, declares: 81
| think Gods thoughts after Him." 1t
comes to workers of genius: to every
| scholar forcing knowledge from the
archives Of the past; to every scientist
| forcing from the mountains the story of
| their history; to all the noble army of
! tOilers who make the worlds expert
ence of use to those who come after
! them in the course of life.
And there is still another revelation.
which pertains to the inner life of man..
| TO his moral advancement. This may
be the possession OF man who is
nearly devoid of education.
In Frederick Douglass it became OIL
his lips the power of eloquence, and
educated men listened to every word
the poor slave had to Say-that prer0ga-
tive with which God endowed all men,
the pre1ogative of personal liberty.
| All this being granted, the next
proper question is: s'Was the author
of Genesis a man or machine? Was
| the revelation he received panoramic,
giving a picture of
The Past Earth
and the future heaven? Was it adj
dressed to the mind and did he write
| out complete history of the case with
out mistake? Or was it moral, adj
dressed to an uneducated conscience,
| the beginning of series of knowledges
that eliminated in the mind of Christ.
On this point Mr.. Gladstone acts with
his usual diplomacy, but leaves you to
infer that Genesis does in some way an
| ticipate the conclusions OF modern sci
ence. He claims a special revelation,
but IS indefinite as to its character.
Gail Hamilton is clear in her testimony
| that the whole scene is a fable. She
says conversation of beast and bird is
found only in fable. But as matter of
fact the record bears the clear impress
of an honest man irving to write his
tory. 1t has singular resemblance ITO
the history of other nations. 1t en-
braces the same points of interest that
are embraced in the mythology of
Greece-the golden age, the
Times When Gods
and demi-gods lived on the earth. 1t
told of a garden where peace and hap
piness reigned, and looked backward
for that which was best in the history
of man. In looking at this condition we
ask three questions:
Was there revelation to sight, was
there revelation that enabled complete
history to be written. OF was it possible
to have revelation of moral truth that
would allow for many mistakes, and yet
be real revelation of divine truth?
| have no doubt but that we shall find
that the garden story is an attempt to
account for the entrance of sin in the
life of the primitive world, and for the
low condition Of man. But at the same
time | have no doubt but that We shall
| find that this story contains q reYela-
! ton of truth from God to man, and that
| it may have been written by man with
passions like ourselves, with imperfec-
tons like ourselves, with
Limited knowledge
| like ourselves, but endowed with faculty
that gave him direct knowledge of the
divine mind, which in that early age
| was a real inspiration, and made a
| revelation of truth possible to man..
And this man, sitting in the twilight of
an Oriental morning. studying the deep
| problems of life. from the beginnings
! of a revelation, in that first hour of the
| worlds day, laid the foundations of a.
creed that found its fulfilment in the
| Christ. y
Ii we try to picture this primitive
man we will find him limited by the
ideas of his time. Why did he then
write this account of origins? K
Because he was moved by an inner
| impulse that ended in three conclusions.
| He felt that he was under obligation
| to some power outside of himself, mys9
FERROUS and unseen. The poem of John
Hay, taking up the ancient legend, and
relating that Jacob in the night at Penl
| from
| An Unseen Land. IL
and in the bout that lasted until day.
| light, fought hard for blessing, and
| begged that the name of his antagon-
ist might be revealed. And the writer
says that out of our human experience
| we have been asking ever since the
| name OF this mysterious, mighty one.
who is hidden and yet in every fiber of
| the worlds life and experience is felt.
| Genesis is an attempt to solve this mys-
terry, and an attempt that was in certain
ways failure. The writer drew wrong
conclusions from his. true knowledge.
He lacked the breadth that would have
| made the revelation perfect, but GER
| tainly gave the germs and the first
promise of finding God in the uni
[ verse.
Then came the problem of sin. and he
| tried to account for it.
He proceeded on the theor of a
| golden age in mans past history. 1t