St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-23
Rev. w. S. Vail Enlapges on
Mans Eagerness for a
Special He'll.
The Birthstone Story Is Rap
idly Being Consigned to
Oblivion,
Giving Place to a Theory
More Reasonable and
Righteous.
The Great Interest Which To-
Day Exists in the Spirit
ual World.

SIS hell needed to meet special cases?"
Rev. w. S. Vail yesterday morning, i'll
his sermon before the First UniversaliSt
society, addressed himself to this ques-
ton. He SAID a theory was finally test
ed by its ability to meet extreme cases,
and that people believe that physical
torment is necessary to meet certain
emergencies. He instanced a recent
book, in which the question comes
prominently forward, and said that
mankind certainly had little confidence
in the moral stability of the race; that
truth is stranger than felton," because
we demand that fiction come within the
boundaries of reason, while truth utterly
puzzles and nonpluSses us; that when
leader of men Is accused of moral weak
ness we tremble for fear the charge is
true; that there is no abyss of depravity
TO which human nature has not descend
ed. All this is true and need not be
denied.
But the speaker thought our first mis-
take was looking only at one side. and
so taking biased view; that the next
was our failure to look at men in
masses. for the mass seems to correct
the errors of the individual. The infiu-
ence by action and interaction of mind
in the multitude draws out our nObler
self and gives US higher views. w hen
religious convention gathers the OPP
timlstic feeling is sure to predominant;
Men Are Warmed;
humanity gets a hearing; progress is
nearly sure to win. The corporate ac-
ton of man is sure to be more pro-
gressive and reach a higher level than
that attained by the average individual
of the body.
An incident in the life of Christ shows
the problem as it appears when both
sides have a hearing, and when both
truths are given place. A woman
taken III the act of sin was brought be-
fore Him, and He was asked to say if
she should be punished according TO
the law. Religious accGsers stood there
with an example. He had been talking
of the dignity of human nature. Now
they would overwhelm Him. The one
word, Let him without sin among
them cast the first stone" Silenced he
whole body, and one by one they
crawled away. Each man had some
fault. and human nature was not strong
enough to face the ordeal. And when
they were gone the Master of
Men appealed to her wOmanhood.
What does this prove? 1t proves that
religion, when tempered with humanity,
always finds the possible goOdin human
nature. And this is a sufficient reason
why we should refrain from attempts to
introduce special form of punishment
to meet special cases. We know the
evil; we may not know
The Germs OF Good
/ think there is the same skepticism
regarding divine law that we find re-
garding civil law III cases of lynching.
Why do crowds gather in the dead
Of night, with unsghtly masks upon
their faces, and hang men by the
neck? Because they are afraid justice
will not be melted out. Because they
want to make it certain that the man is
punished. Why do men want special
hell? Because they somehow feel that
If the Lord will trust it to them they
will make it very certain. If they are
Christians they do not trust the AL
mighty; if they are agnoSticS, while
ever talking of natural laws, they will
feel a little more certain if they can
lend a helping hand. In both cases
they are skeptIcS.
Another fact that we may not appre-
ciate is our ignorance of the methods of
punishment. Along the line of history
theories rose and were taught, were
abandoned, died and passed away. All
these theories of punishment are monu-
ments that mark the march of thought.
The Fiery Lake
is rapidly disappearing IN the distance.
and will soon stand to show how man
once thought God would punish sin, and
be Supplanted by a theory more reason
l.ln RI -frrlaf Iln 0n1- md
thumbScrew, now rusty with age and
want of use. lying in the museums as a
curiosity, still tell us of the methods
men devised to do the will of God. The
graves where sleep the countless
dead, who fell beneath the flash
OF steel. when battle ragged and
crescent eflag was held aloft, and in
the name of Allah and his prophet
| swords were buried in the breasts of
men; these graves tell how the hand
| that did the deed was strengthened by
| the voice that said: You are God s
! instrument to do His will" Theories of
what Gods revealed will in regard to
! punishmentS are as plentiful as the
( broken walls of ancient castles that tell
| the Bar0Eial days OF England; aS the
| ruined abbeyS among the mountains
and'beside lOchs of Scotland; and in the
same way tell of theories once strong
| and active. now abandoned and dying
| or dead. The fact is our knowledge of
| the laws of punishment is about as
meager as our knowledge of the
| laws of electricity. We hear the
| hum and watch the silent wire
| giving power to hundred cars, we see
| the spark struck out by flying wheels
| and watch the onward progress of the
| train, amid the roar of traffic and the
cries and calls that fill the street; but
| there is mystery as yet unsolved that
seems to challenge men of greatest
minds. How much more shall we
know? What new applications? What
improvements? Who can tell? From
| the outlook before NE today see a
| hundredfOld more to be found in the
study of the spiritual laws that govern
man. L see a thousand possibilities
sEet Unlearned,
| and before trying to give definite the
| DRY. think men should be perfectly
willing to say that there are many things
| they do not know.
And in fitting close to this thought we
may remember anOther-the tendency
of scholarship. What is the watchword
of our time? Law is the method of
Gods work. What have we learned:
That there are natural laws so uniform