The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-01-06

OF the universe, the law OF graNltatlOn, ana |
standing erect ON the top Of the liquid. Yet |
the iucrcdulous Peter cries out to the Lord |
"If it be thou" Alas, for that incredulous |
"ifv' II is working as powerfully in the
latter part o! this nineteenth Christian cen
tury as it did in the early part of the first
Christian century.
Though small conjunction, it is the big
gest block today in the way of the gospel
chariot "IfW "If!" 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 assailed 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 'if" The door
through which people pass into infidelity
and atheism and all immoralities has two
doorposts, and the one is made of the letter
''i' and the other of the letter "f.
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 ull, but part
/ lv, 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
ST" 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 "A letter which had
been written many years ago by Thomas
Carlyle to Thomas Chalmers. Carlyle at
the time of writing the letter was n 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 The letter was not to be published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 fortunes of his own mind
while relaxing his faith in Christianity,
while at the same time he expresses his ad-
miration for DIR. Chalmers, and in which
Carlyle wishes that he had the same faith
that the great Scotch minister evidently ex.
ercised. Nothing that Thomas Carlyle ever
wrote in ''Sartor Resartus," or the French
Revolution" or his Life of Cromwell" OF
his immortal Essays" had in it more won.
drous power than that letter which bewail.
ed his own doubts aud 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 felt uneasy lest somehow that let
ter should get out of my possession and be
published before its time. So | took il
back to the person by whose permission
had copied it, All reasons for its privacy
having vanished wish il might be pub
lished.
THE BOY AND HIS BIBLE
Perhaps this sermon, finding its way into
a Scottish home, may suggest its printing,
for that letter shows more nightly than
anything have ever read the difference
between the II know" of Paul, and the 81
know" of job, and the ~ know of Thorn
as Chalmers and the II know" of all those
who hold with a 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
sailor boy that Captain Judkins of the
steamship Scotia picked up in hurricane
go aloft," said Captain Judkins to his
mate, land look out for wrecks
Before the mate had gone far up the rat.
lines he shouted: "A wreck A wreckr
? Where away" said Captain Judkins. "Of
! the port bow, was the answer. Lifeboats
were lowered, and 40 men volunteered tC
put out across the angry sea for the wreck
They came back with dozen shipwrecked
and among them boy of IL years.
who are your" said Captain Judkins
| The nm syvar WAS. 81 am a Scotch boV NJ,
father and mother are dead, and am OIL
my way to America" what have yol
, hereS" said Captain Judkins as he opened
the boys jacket and took hold of n rop
around the boys body. ut is rope" sal,
the boy. But what is that tied by thi
! rope under your ARM" THAT, sir, is m,
mothers Bible. She told me never to los
:, that" Gould you not have saved some
!, thing elseg" Not and saved that" "Di,
q you expect to 20 down" Yes, sir, but
n meant to take my mothers Bible down wit
me-" "Bravo" said Captain Judkins. -
4 will take care of you"
- That boy demonstrated "a certainty and
! confidence that like. Just in proporto
- as you have few ifs" of incredulity in you
: religion will you find it a comfortable re
!, ligion. My full and unquestioning faith il
:, it is founded on the fact that it soothes an
n sustains in time of trouble do not be
:, lieve that any man who ever lived had NOR
: blessings and prosperity than | have rt
:, ceived from God and the world. But
. have had trouble enough to allow me or
- portunity for finding out whether our It
Il ligion is of any use in such eXigency.
= have had IA great bereavements, TO sa
nothing of lesser bereavements, for wa
10 the youngest of large family. | have ha
;, AS much persecution rs comes to most pee
~ pie. have had all kinds of trial, eXcep
n severe and prolonged sickness, and woul
y have been dead long ago but for the conso
:, atory power Of our religion.
- Any religion will do in time of prosper
:, ity Buddhism will do. Confucianism wi
- do. Theosophy will do. No religion at a
N will do But whenthe world gets after yo
-e and defamcs your best deeds, when bank
,r ruptcy takes the place of large dividends
when you fold for the last sleep the still
d hands over the still heart of your old father
IS who has been planning for your welfare al
d these years, or you close the eyes of you
e mother, who has lived in your life eve
n since before you were born, removing he
n spectacles because she will have clear VI
V sion in the home to which she has gone, O
u you give the last kiss to the child reclining
|. amid the flowers that pile the casket AM
+ looking as natural and lifelike as she eve
n did reclining in the cradle, then the only re
t ligion worth anything is the old Fashioned
z, religion of the gospel of Jesus Christ
| would give more in such crisis for on
e of the promises expressed in half verse o
d the old book than for whole library con
e tanning all the productions of all the othe
d religions of all the ages. The other religion
3, are sort of cocaine to benumb and deadeI
d the soul while bereavement and misfortun
/ Il haf hut ,.a1f Il,
If tion, illumination, imparadisation. 1t is
Il mixture of sunlight and hallelujah. d,
4 not adulterate it with one drop of the tine
u ture of incredulity.
n Another Bible "if" is the 'if'' of eterna
N significance. Solomon gives us that ''if
n twice in one sentence when he says, Il
Il thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thy