The record-union., 1893-06-30
SIMPLICITY OF RELIGION"
The Shepherds Understood the Ser
mon of the Angels.
Whatever is Essential In Religion Can
be Understood Even by
Little Children.

7
There are dIversities of gifts, but the same
! spirit.-l Cor, xii, /.
1t is as clear and simple as the univer-
| sal sunlight. In spite OF all the creedS
and all the catechisms, in spite OF all the
metaphysical theology, in spite of all the
CRITICISMS and controversy, whatever is
essential III religion is open to the under
standing OF little child. There are di-
Versities OF gifts, but the same spirit" "
and there are differences of adminstra-
tions, but the same Lord. And there
are diversities of operations, but it
/ is the same God which worketh
all in all" That is what it all comes
back to. Differences enough, diVersities
enough, but one and tile same Holy
/ Spirit. Divine Savior, heavenly Father,
behind them all.
The subject to-day is the simplicity of
! Religion.'
Religion. above all things, ought to be
simple, because it is meant tor 50 many
simple people. IL is a message for every
body and must needs be capable of trans
latiOn into everybody's language. And
| every body" is wide word. II cannot
/ possibly be made to mean only the profess
/ sors in the theological seminaries. Relig-
! ion is a universal need of man. 1t means
instruction IN perpleXity, strength in
temptation, comfort in grief; it IS an an
SWer to the universal questions, What am
am | going? We all want to know that
all Of us-not the philosophers alone. The
/ great fact OF sin and the great fact OF pain
get into every life. People who cannot
read nor write walk along the ways of
/ temptation. and look into the black
| depths OF open graves, and so have need
of the guidance and consultations of re-
| ligion.
/ 1t would be hard to have to think that
the good tidings of the Christian gospel
! should have been put into such large
words and such long sentences that only
/ the educated could make them out, and
get the blessing of them. Somehow,
when the angels taught religion out Of the
/ bethlehem sky, the simple shepherds
understood them. The Christmas sermon
needed no Interpretation at the hands Of
! PhariSeeS and ScribeS.
! When the great spiritual master taught
religion He did not teach it in Solomon :
! porch to select company of Jerusalem's $
wisest philosophers. He taught wherever
| de could get a hearing-Out under the
! open sky, in the streets of cities, and in
the common houses of common people.
And the common people heard Him
gladly. He taught religion SO that peas
ants and fishermen could understand it.
And yet, there seem to be many hard
things in religion. There are knots in it
that cannot be united except by scholars
III III lNlHIly anu IlOI dlN dyS very SucCCSS-
fully by them. Sometimes it seems to be
a hopelessly inextricable tangle. Some
! times it seems like a confusion of con-
Trajectory voices, some crying this and
| some that. There are so many " differ
| ences OF administration" so many 'di-
Versities of operations" 50 many sects
and parties, 50 many arguments and
doctrines, that plain people fall into per-
pleXity. To one who reads the titles of
| books in theological libraries religion
/ seems very complicated matter. Part
OF this difficulty and difference in re-
| ligion is due TO theology: part of it is due
| to temperament. Theology is the scien-
tItic statement of religion. 1t is an en-
| deavor to get together all ascertainable
religious truth, to classify it, to give it
accurate definition, to draw out OF it
all available interences. And that makes
difficulty always. All science is
difficult, and runs speedily into hard
names and higher mathematics, and rises
into the regions of unanswerable ques-
tions.
And yet, we manage to get good deal
of satisfaction out Of life though we may
be utterly ignorant of quadratic equa-
| tlOnS. We can appreciate the pleasant
! flower without knowing much about
| botany. The sun will warm us and give
us light to see by though we cannot tell
how far distant it is from the surface of this
be solid or gas. We can enjoy our din
ners without an acquaintance with the
| intricate processes of digestion. We can
see out of our eyes without knowing the
first law of optics. Gas serves a great
| many people who could not write out its
chemical formula. Somebody has said
! that the most important fact in human
life is that the geometTical symbol opp
equals 3.l4l592. 1 confess that l have not
more than the vaguest notion at the pres
ent moment about the significance of that
fact. y Yet we live and move and have our
| being. Nothing is palmer to every body's
! sight and touch than matter. But matter
| is one OF the great mysteries. No man
! Of science has yet been able to
say conclusively what matter is. Some
/ say that matter IS made of Infinitely small
and hard atoms; others say that matter is
made OF little, perpetualIy-w whirling rings:
/ still others hold that matter does not exist
at all, that the only thing that we can be
absolutely sure OF is a sensation in our
eyes and ears and at the tips of our i'm
gers. There IS no doctrine in all the sci
ence of theology that is more disputed
/ than the doctrine Of matter in the science
| OF physics. These perpleXities are in
soparable from the endeavor after accur-
ate definition. They belong to scientific
! thought. Difficulty is not found only in
! theology. The fact is that we can 90 ONLY
:
can think only SO far into things physical.
mental or spiritual. After that we pet
! beyond our depth. We fall into all man
ner of confusion. And what the confi1-
sion means Is not that we have come TO
the end of truth, but that we have come
/ to the end of the strength of the human
mind. Nevertheless, common life is not
affected by these scientific perplexities.
! The discussions of the scientific doctors
as to the nature of matter do not
deter us from building houses. We
/ do not hesitate to walk because there is
a scientific uncertainty about the nature
OF space. These high matters make no
/ difference with daily life. The discus
! slOnS OF theology ought not to perpleN
any but the theologians. They have 10
| more to DO with religion than an acquaint-
ance with chemistry has to do with eat
/ ing, or a knowledge of geology has to
| do with the appreciation OF landscape.
/ We can love God though we may not be
| able to recite the Athanasian creed. We
can read our Bibles and get help out of
them without needing to know anything
I about theories of inspiration. The
! nature Of the sacrament OF the Lords
/ supper is not dependent upon the result
/ of the controversies about it. Christ died
I for our sins; no matter about the doc
trines of the atouement. The difficulties
| OF religion, then, belong to the scientific
side of it. They are difficulties Of
definition. They are the same sort OF
( difficulties which men meet in every di-
rection of scientific thought. They have
no more bearing upon common life than
any other metaphysics. As for the differ
! ences of religion, they arise. for the most
part, out OF the natural differences OF
/ human nature. They are due to temper
ament.
Religion is meant for all kinds Of peo-
! Dle; and there are a great many kinds OF
people. People are different: and uni
versal religion must have room in it for
/ innumerable differences.
That is what Chrlst taught. That is