The state chronicle., 1891-06-21

The Development of the vast mate71
rial IeR4ees of pqr country yis thq1
sdesfn which d~ert6pS all othersE
- Lah8 and Improvement compa-
nies are springing up in every di-
rection, and are getting ahead Of the
moral improvement companies.
@ ,f3. sAnother danger lies in the di-
reetions of afa}se liberalism. In re-
cent yearsst there has been afvio1ents
reaction against fcteels' and systenax
of theology The e'cry'ig .sMore iiifb:'
erfy' iii matters sosf religion and.
mefe,seharity." We hate bigoery
aAdy narrowness. But many lead
ing men. are going SO far. as to
ehanpidn liberalism which toler-
ates and condones. all sorts of er-
rors.H Under the, cover, " liberty
aand charity SOUL aestfoying errors
are creeping in theschurrsc:th.: :21 ssf's ,
n. Still another source II danger
lis found in the papers, pamphlets.
and magazines-of askeptfcal char
acter which food the country.
There is an under current Of inf
deity quietly sweeping through our
land. In view Of these disturbing
forces surely the exhortation con-
Ftained ia our text needs to be en-
forced.
The encouragements we have to
hold fast to the profession Of our
faith are numerous.
l. Those who attack Christian
ity and reject its teachings offer
nothing in its place. Their WORK
is destructive rather than construc-
tive. They would leave ts q night
without a star, grave without a
resurrection and a rayless eternity.
Ask the mariner to surrender bis
ship which has breasted hundred
storms and borne him safely over
the dangers of the deep for an old
leaky hulk. Ask us to exchange
hope for despair, light for darkness,
Joy for sorrow.
2. Christianity triumphs over all
its foes. There are some who ina.
CINE that modern science and criti-
cism have undermined the founda-
tion of our faith, bnt all the assaults
have failed to break or remove one
stone from the granite foundation
upon which it rests. The Bible has
passed through the fiery furnace Of
persecution, literary criticism and
philosophic doubt. But nothing has
been lost except some human inter
pretations which cling to it as alloy
to precious ore. A century and q
half ago many thought that Chris
tianity was in great danger.
The English deists and skeptics
endeavored to storm the citadel O.
our faith. They met with defeot
and within fifty years their manner
were forgotten. Who now read
the works of Bolingbrooke or Col
lins? Fifty years ag'
the discoveries Of geology were sup
posed to be fatal to the inspiration
of Moses. The friends of the Bibl
were alarmed. But their fears from
that source have passed away. Gen
esis, when properly interpreted
does not necessarily conflict wit
any fully ascertained Geological
truth.
The fright caused by Geolog
: was scarcely over before Darwinisr
came upon the field, with it's doc
trines concerning the origin {
species and the antiquity of man.
, New excitement was created
But no fears from that quarter ar
now felt.
. There are theories of Evolutio
: which do not necessarily confie
2 with either providence or redeml
2 tion.
During the last fifty years tn
"higher critics" have been attackin
traditional opinions concerning tf
e authorship and date of some of tl
: books of the Bible. The fight
t going on now.
t But do not be alarmed by thes
/ contro -ersies. God is in christian
g ty and its progress cannot be checl