The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-11-22

give testimony it would be the testi-
mony of that New England son coming
ashore from the split timbers of the
whaling ship, MY mother PRAYED me
homer
The "IT'' of IncreduIity.
Another bible 'ff' is the 'if" of in
credulity. Satan used it when Christ s
vitality was depressed by forty days
abstinence from food. and the tempter
pointed to some stones, in color and
shape like lOaves of bread. and said:
IF Thou be the Son of God command
that these stones be made bread That
was appropriate, for Satan is the father
Of that eff of incredulity. Peter used
the same IF when. standing the
wet and slippery deck of fishing
smack off Lake Galilee he saw Christ
walking ON the sea as though it were
as solid as a pavement Of basalt from
the adjoining volcanic hills. and Peter
cried. IF it be Thou. let me come TO
Thee on the water"
What a preposterous ''ifr What hui
man foot was ever so constructed as to
walk on water? In what part of the
earth did law Of gravitation make eX-
ceptiOn TO the rule that a man will sink
to the elbows when he touches the
wave of river or lake and will sink fur
ther unless he can SWIM But here
Peter looks out upon the form i'm the
shape of a man defying the mightiest
law of the universe, the law Of gravita-
ton, and standing erect on the top of
the liquid. Yet the incredulous Peter
cries out TO the Lord, If it be Thou -
Alas. for that incredulous 'ift' Ii is
working as powerfully in the latter part
OF this nineteenth Christian century as
II did IN the early part of the first
Christian century.
Though a small conjunction. it is the
Ia lfsa1r y,
gospel chariot. If 'Ifr' We have
theological seminaries which spend most
of their time and employ their learning
and their genius in the manufacturing
of ifs With that weaponry are as
sailed the Pentateuch, and the miracles.
and the divinity Of Jesus Christ. Almost
everybody is chewing on an 'if" When
many man bows for prayer he puts
his knee on an eff" The door through
which people pass into infdelity and
atheism and all immoraliues has two
doorpOsts, and the one is made Of the
letter ~ and the other of the letter II"
Four Momentous steps.
There are only four steps between
strong faith and complete unbelef %
Surrender the idea Of the verbal in
SEPARATION Of the scriptures and adopt the
idea that they were all generally super
vised by the Lord. (2) Surrender the
idea that they We're all generally super
vised by the Lord and adopt the theory
that they were not at all, but ps,tly.
supervised by the Lord CD Believe
that they are the gradual evolution of
the ages, and men wrote according to
the wisdom Of the times i'm which they
lived. fD Believe that the bible is "A
bad book and not only unworthy of
credence. but penieious and debasing
and cruel.
Only four steps from the stout faith
in which the martyrs died 20 the blatant
caricature Of Christianity as the great
est sham Of the centuries. But the door
20 all that precipitation and horror is
made out of an If" The mother of I'M
rests in the minds of Christian people
and I'm those who regard sacred things
Is the IF of incrcdulity. In 1879. i'm
Scotland, ! saw letter which had been
written many years ago by Thomas
Carlyle 10 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 Car
lyle. His death having taken place the
letter ought TO be published
1t was letter in which Thomas Car
lyle expresses the fortunes of his own
mind While relaxing his faith i'm Chris
tianity, while at the same time he ex-
presses his admiration for DR. Chalmers.
and in which Carlyle wishes that ne
had the same faith that the great
Scotch minister evidently exercised.
Nothing that Thomas Carlyle ever wrote
IN 'Sartor Resartus.' or the French
Revolution or his Life Of Cromwell, +"
or his immortal ESSAYS" had I'm il more
wondrous power than that letter which
bewailed his own doubts and extolled
the strong faith of another.
/ made an exact copy of that letter.
with the understanding that il should
not be published until after the death
of Thomas Carlyle. but returning to my
hotel in Edinburgh / felt uneasy lest
somehow that letter should get out of
my possession and be published before
its time. So / took it back to the per
son by whose permission / had copied
IL. All reasons for its privacy having
vanished, / wish it might be published.
The Hoy aud His Bible.
Perhaps this sermon. finding it's way
into 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 Il know Of Job. and
the II know of Thomas Chalmers. and
the II know of all those who hold with
a firm grip the gospel on the one hand
and the unmOOring, bestOrming and
tOrturing IF" of incredulny on the
other. / like the positive faith Of that
sailor boy that Capt. Judkins OF the
steamship Scotia picked up in a hurri-
cane. Go aloft," said Capt. Judkins
to his mate, and look out for wrecks. -
Before the mate had gone far up the
ratlines he shouted; a wreck A
wreck Where away?" said Capt.
Judkins. "On the port bow" was the
answer. Lifeboats We're lowered and
forty men volunteered to put out across
the angry sea for the wreck. They
came back with dozen shipwrecked.
and among them boy of twelve years.
Who are you?" said Capt. Judkins.
The answer was: Il am "a Scotch boy.
My father and mother are dead, and /
am on my way to America What
have YOU here?" said Capt. Judkins
as he opened the boys jacket and took
hold OF rope around the boys body.
It's a rope" said the boy. But what
Is that tied by this rope under your
arm?' That, sir, is my mothers bible.
She told me never TO lose that" Gould
you not have saved something else %
Not and save that" Did YOU expect
To go down?" Yes, sir, but / meant to
take my mothers bible down with me- -
Bravo" said Capt. Judlxins. II will
take care Of you"
That boy demonstrated a certainty
and a confidence that / like. Just in
proportion as you have few ifs of in
credulity in your religion will you find
IL a comforting religion. My full and
unquestioning faith I'm IL is founded on
the fact that IL soothes and sustains in
time of trouble. / do not believe that
any man who ever lived had more bless
ings and prosperity than L have re-