Milford chronicle., 1893-11-24

a pavement OF baSalt from the adiOinin
volcanic hills, and Peter cried, III it |
thou, let me come TO thee ON the water"
1g What prepOsterous "ifr What huma
In foot was ever so constructed as to walk o
:. water? In wlat part Of the earth did la-
Of gravitation make exception to the rul
that a man will sink to the elbows when b
le touches the wave Of river or lake and wi
4 sink still farther unless he can swim? Blu
Il here Peter looks out upon the form in tn
n shape Of a man defying the mightiest lay
It of the universe, the law of gravitation, an
N standing erect on the top of the liquid Ye
e the incredulOus Peter cries out to the Lord
IF it be thou" Alas, for that incredulou
Il "fF' It Is working as powerfully in tn
q latter part Of this nineteenth Christian cen
v tury as it did in the early part of the frs
! Christian century
4 Though a small conjunction, it is the big
a gest block today in the way Of the gospe
n chariot "Ifr' "If" We have theological
A seminaries which spend most of their tim,
J. and employ their learning and their genius
e in the manufacturing Of ifs" With that
. weapOnry are assailed the Pentateuch, and
Z the miracles, and the divinity of Jesus
Christ. Almost everybody is chewing on an
D If" When many a man bows for prayer
he puts his knee on an IF" The dOoI
AAAbAaA MAAAln HNARAH pass AuAQ AuuQEllLN
T and atheism and all immoralities has two
doorposts, and the one is made Of the letter
T 81" and the other of the letter #"
. FOUR MOMENTOUs STEPS.
There are only four steps between strong
faith and complete unbelief: First, surren-
der the idea of the verbal inspiration Of the
Scriptures and adopt the idea that they were
all generally supervised by the Lord. Sec
ond, surrender the idea that they were all
generally supervised by the Lord and adopt
the theory that they were not all, but part
ly, supervised by the Lord. Third, believe
that they are the gradual evolution Of the
ages, and men wrote according to the wis
dom of the times in which they lived.
Fourth, believe that the Bible is a bad book
and not only unworthy of credence, but
pernicious and debasing and cruel.
Only four steps from the stout faith in
which the martyrs died to the blatant car
feature of Christianity as the greatest sham
of the centuries. But the door to all that
| precipitation and horror is made out Of an
'if." The mother Of unrests in the minds
/ of Christian people and in those who regard
sacred things is the ''if' OF incredulity. In
/ 1879, in Scotland, saw letter which had
been written many years ago by Thomas
Carlyle to Thomas Chalmers CARLYLE at
the time Of writing the letter was a young
man. The letter was not to be published
until after the death of Carlyle His death
having taken place, the letter ought to be
published
1t was letter in which Thomas Carlyle !
expresses the tortures of his own mind i
while relaxing his faith In Christianity. |
while at the same time he expresses his ad- |
miration for Dr. Chalmers, and in which |
Carlyle wishes that he had the same faith 1
that the great Scotch minister evidently ex.
ercised. Nothing that Thomas CARLYLE eever 4
wrote in 'Sartor Resartus, " or the French /
Revolution" or his Life of Cromwell" :" or /
his immortal Essays" had in it more won
drous power than that letter which bewail-
ed his own doubts and extolled the strong
faith of another.
made an exact copy of that letter, with |
the understanding that it should not be
published until after the death Of Thomas
Carlyle, but returning to my hotel in Edin.
burgh l felt uneasy lest somehow that let
ter should get out of my possession and be
published before its time. So l took il
back to the person by whose permission /
had copied it. All reasons for its privacy
having vanished, wish it might be pub
lished.
THE BOY AND HIS BIBLE.
Perhaps this sermon, findingits way into
a Scottish home, may suggest its printing.
for that letter shows more nightly than
anything have ever read the difference
between the Il know'' Of Paul, and the II
know" Of Job, and the Il know of Thorn
as Chalmers, and the II know" of all those !
who hold with firm grip the gospel, on
the one hand and the unmoOring, bestorm- |
ing and torturing ''if'' of incredulity on the
other. / like the positive faith of that j
Of horr hot ]
steamship Scotia PICKED up in hurricane. '
"Go aloft," said Captain Judkins to his |
mate, 'and look out for wrecks" {
Before the mate had gone far up the rat {
lines he shouted: "A wreck A wreckw e
where awayp said Captain Judkins. "Of z
The port bow" was the answer. Lifeboats i
we're lowered, and 40 men volunteered to /
put out across the angry sea for the wreck e
They came back with a dozen shipwrecked.
and among them boy of IL years.
who are youW said Captain Judkins o
The answer was: 81 am a Scotch boy. NV n
ather and mother are dead, and am on b
ny way to America" what have You o
lereF said Captain Judkins as he opened j
he boys jacket and took hold of a rope O.
.round the boys body. 1T is a rope" said "
he boy. But what is that tied by this n
ope under your arm;" THAT, sir, is my Sc
nother's Bible. She told me never to lose ci
hat" Gould You not have saved some N
hing elsep Not and saved that" Ibid ! It
ou expect to 90 down?" "Yes, sir, but ]
neant to take my mothers Bible down with in
ne" "Bravol" said Captain Judkins. Il X
7ill take care of you" sy
That boy demonstrated a certainty and a nS
that like just in proportion vi
s you have few ifs" of incredulity in your sv
eligiOn will you find it a comfortable re- de
giOn. Ny full and unquestioning faith in an
is founded on the fact that il soOthes and Isl
lstains in time Of trouble ] do not be- th
eve that any man who ever lived had more Ou
lessings and prosperity than have re- fo
eived from God and the world. But ] BiI
ave had trouble enough to allow me op- tel
for finding out whether our re- III
giOn is Of any use in such exigency. ]
ave had Is great bereavements, to say 70
Othing of lesser bereayements for I was pr
le youngest Of a large family. have had riC
much persecution as comes to most peo- an
e. have had all kinds of trial, except ce,
we're and prolonged sickness, and would it
I'VE been dead long ago but for the cOnsOl- &,
Ory power Of our religion. pr
Any religion will do in time Of prosper frC
:. Buddhism will do. Confucianism will wi
/ Theosanhv will do. No religion at all hil
A&hb hA4SAA VIC WI w Sss' t-ANNA pA'
d defames your best deeds, when bank aft
ptcy takes the place Of large dividends, fax
hen you fold f.. the last sleep the still sla
nds over the still heart of your old father,
lo has been planning for your welfare all fro
ese years, or you close the eyes of your to
other, who has lived in your life ever pit
ice before you were born, removing her rel
ectacles because she will have clear vi all
m in the home to which she has gone, or far
u give the last kiss to the child reclining wi
lid the flowers that pile the casket and ant
)king as natural and lifelike as she ever ins
l reclining in the cradle, then the only re to
ion worth anything is the old fashioned
igion of the gospel Of Jesus Christ.
would give more in such crisis for one wa
the promises expressed in half a verse Of the