Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1892-06-27
COLBY COLLEGE.
The Baccalaureate Sermon De-
livered June 26
Before the Students by President
Small--An Able Discourse,
Full Of Deep Thought and interest-An Ab-
siracs oi the Sermon.

WsrEEvstLE, June sc Special - The
hscealauTeate sermon was delivered today
bsfore,l iii, student. Of Colby University. by
/ President Small The speaker chose for
hi, subject hat Is Truth" John Is IS
(. Following j. an abstract The question is
abstract ard geAerai. The answer is con
/ crete aad -peciRe. Pilates manner i'm
piled thar the onls possible answer would
/ h, feiteTarion Ut one of the scholastic
Jewish theusogies, or possibly one of the
current PHILOSOPHERS or theOsophies each
of which contemporary scepticism had dis
counted in advance. The best this man tan
do, Thought rilste, will be TO quote the
{ phrases of 'barisss., of Salueee, OF Pytha-
gorean, or piatoni,t. Of Epicurean sensual
ist or Stolc nteiiaetuaist Mark the Ian
/ guid. dileUanish, 4nizhral Indifference of
this Roman ansTeur in philosophy as
/ hi, official hearing thus wan
{ ,lers upon what le might call the worn
threshing ;ioor of protiiless pedantries Had
( Pilates calculations proved correct, Jesus
would have added only one more to the
number Of the worlds metaphysicians He
& NtIti tiANF btNn 4fAt All the rest Il IT.
/ yealer of nothing dreamer with his back
! to the light, projecting his own shadow
towards the infinite.
If Jesus had answered Pilates skeptic-
ism directly, he would have been obliged 10
say There is no such thing for human
minds A. the truth that philosophy has
sought namely a key to the universe. that
will explain it, origin and destiny, force
4 a Il.
the min can have no unanswered inquiry
left"
You. members of the graduating class,
must live in an era of the most microscopic
criticism of truth, in which the sun of phe-
nomenl which the systems known to Plate
attempted to comprehend il multiplied by
the addition of tina; whole new world of re-
ligious experience within the range OF New
Testament history The task of constituting
the universe, which Was superhuman be-
fore, il now incalculably complicated
through the involutions introduced by this
very Interpretation of the universe which
the New Testament revelation is supposed
10 contain.
Some of you have already discovered
that the friends of religion are perplexed
and alarmed for tie authority of religion
repository of metaphysics and because
there is growing distrust of the systems
which men have superimposed upon reve-
iations. and which claim to have found
place for eycrN thing and to have put every
thing in it. place. Believe me therefore,
IS hen | tell you, on he one hand that az
Mysticism of an enlightened sort is not only
a rational necessity, 1ut Christian duty
and, on the other hand, that no authority is
ii danger that ought TO survive.
The Bible would be an even grander
force in the future than it has been in the
past. The Go-pel will be the power of
tod to "A richer salvation than humanity
ever conceived. Jesus will reign more
royally than the most clear visioned
prophecy predicted.
The cardinal argument of Christianity
is That truth in man which essentially
duplicates the personality OF Jesus
/ there is any flaw in this fundamental
Christian argWmpnt, it must be in the prom
Use. that the reality of ,Iesus Is ypical real.
its; or that the personality of Jesus is a
standard personality. In other words if
Christianity is vulnerable it must be in the
falsity of Jesus personal claim: II am
the way, the truth. and the life
The fact is. there is no controversity in
christendom worth serious attention about
the real Christ. Good men still wage word,
warfare about the conventional and coniec-
tural Christ There never was such np-
proaCh to unanimity about the self evident
authority about the concrete Christ.
Men do not see him with the same eve.
but there is new meaning in their use of
Pilates words Il find in him no fault
have thoroughly sketched the relation
which Christianity holds to the systems of
thought among which must lie justified.
Christianity is bv no means a rival system
of ah.tructon-. Christianity is primarily
the revelation of ii matchie>s personal ey-
cellence. The questions Of metaphysics
have alwav. been and always win bc
Whence arcwc ana whittier do we tend.
WHY are We. and is life worth its incidental
cost: What else does our existence imply?
What is there besides ourselves and the
universe that We see: What mysteries ac-