Milford chronicle., 1893-04-21
KERE THEY Al pEcErvEp9

Nothing in religionl Why, then, all
those Christians were deceived, when in
their dying moment they thought they
saw the castles of the blessed, and your
child, that with unutterable agony you put
away into the grave, you will never see him
again nor hear his sweet voice nor feel the
throb of his young heart? There is moth
ing in religionl Sickness will come upon
you. Roll and turn on your pillow. No
relief. The medicine may be bitter, the
night may be dark, the pain may be sharp
No relief Christ never comes to the sick
room. Let the pain stab. Let the fever
burn. Curse it and die. There is nothing
in religion
After awhile death will come. You will
hear the paving Of the pale horse on the
threshold The spirit will be breaking
away from the body, and it will take flight
WHITTIER whitherg There is no God, no
ministering angels to conduct, no Christ,
no heaven, no home. Nothing in religionl
Oh, you are not willing to adopt such n
dismal theory. And yet the world is full
of skepties And let me say there is no
class of people for whom have a warmer
sympathy than for skeptics. We do not
know how to treat them. Wederide them,
we caricature them. We, instead Of taking
them by the soft hand of Christian love,
clutch them with the iron pinchers Of eccle-
siasticism.
Oh, if You knew how those men had fall
en- away from Christianity and become
skeptics you would not be so rough on
theml Some were brought up in homes
where religion was Overdone The most
wretched day in the week was Sunday. Re
ligion was driven into them with a trip
hammer They had n surfeit of prayer
meetings. They were stuffed and choked
with catechisms. They were told by their
parents that they were the worst children
that ever lived because they liked to ride
down hill better than to read Pilgrims
Progress" They never heard their parents
talk of religion but with the corners of
their mouths drawn down and the eyes
rolled up.
Others went into skepticism through
maltreatment on the part of some who
professed religion There is a man who
says, MY partner in business was voluble
h prayer meeting, and he was Ofiicious il
all religious circles, but he cheated me out
of s3,OOO and don't want any Of that re-
hgion."
THE PRIDE OF INTELLECT.
There are others who got into skepticism
by a natural persistence in asking ques-
tions-why or how? How can God be one
being in three persons2 They cannot un-
derstand it. Neither can l. How can God
be a complete sovereign, and yet man
free agent? They cannot understand It,
Neither can /. They cannot understand
why holy God lets sin come into the
world. Neither can ]. They say: Here is
A great mystery. Here is a disciple Of fash
ion, frivolous and goddess all her days-she
lives on to be an octogenarian. Here is q
Christian mother training her children for
God and for heaven, self sacrificing, Christ
like, indispensable, seemingly, to that
household-she takes the cancer and dies.
The skeptic says, Il can't explain that.
Neither can /.
Oh, can see how men reason themselves
into skepticism. With burning feet have
trod that blistering way. X ow what It
is to have 100 nights poured into one hour.
There ere men. in this audience who would