Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-11-28
The AgnostIc and the Christian.


He subsequently ascertained-
To trim her hat with humming birds.
The AgnOstIc and the Christian.
PART III.
When this mortal shall have put on immor
tality.-1 Cor, XIV 81.
There is one subject on which the
Christian and the agnostic are as far
apart as Arcturus and the earth
namely, that of the day after death.
To the agnostic death is the devour
er of the race-rapacious, inexorable,
relentless. For three score years or
more we play the role of gods. and our
lives are grand and impressive as the
music of cathedral organ. Then we
are dissolved by the cruel chemistry OF
disease, or disintegrated by the wear
and tear of time, and that is the end.
Thought, and Imagination, and hope,
and morality, and religion are other
names for phosphorus, and what we
rashly call the soul is nothing more
than a curious concourse OF particles
whose accidental juxtaposition makes
this man philosopher, that man a
poet and another MAN a clown. When
the heart ceases to beat there is moth
except handful of ashes, whose high
est service is to fructify a patch of corn
or enrich bed of asparagus.
For little while this wOndrous piece
of mechanism which we call king or
a peasant throbs with aspirations that
soar to the stars, with lOngings that
can neither be limited nor repressed,
and then Death smites him with the
apoplexy of Inconsistencies and he
never RECEIVERS from the blow.
Viewed from such a standpoint man
is the product of the most cruel crea
tive processes. He is rocked in the
cradle of despair in his infancy and in
his old age is hurled into the abyss of
annihilation. If chance had happen
ed to make him dog or a yulture.
without the ability to dream glorious
dream of Immortality, he might have
been happy But chance was malig
nantly Intelligent enough to endow
him with an irresistible faith in a fu
ture only to disappoint him when the
time comes to realize it.
In making our comparison of this
view with that of the Christian it is
not our purpose to deal in argument
as to the truth or falsty of either the
ory. II may be that the agnostlc is
correct and the Christian incorrect in
his statements-that is a matter with
which we have nothing to do for the
moment. We simply declare that for
all the practical purposes OF content
ed life, for the production of that calm
endurance under affection which en-
mobiles it's possessOr and of that serene
resignation which enables us to pari
with loved ones in the hope of a re
union somewhere in the realms Of
space and at last to face the conquerol
Of conuuero1s, not like the quarry
slave, but like one who wraps the
drapeTy of his couch about him anc
lies down to pleasant sleep. Christian
ity is as much better than agnosticism
faith is as much better than doubt, a
healthy food is better than deadly
poison.
Let us illustrate Two people love
each other-husband and wife, mOthe
and child, or it may be lovers who are
looking forward to a home. True it il
that love is sometimes capricious ant
eyanescent, but true it also is that life
is sometimes irradiated by Il kind o
love. which will last forever unless
Omnipotence extinguishes it. Souls
united by such bonds are as necessary
to each other as two halves are neces
sary to whole. Each gives every
thing to the other and finds every
thing in the other. They journey side
by side through summer and winter
weather, and so far from losing it,
lustre this love becomes brighter, pur
er, truer and more ennobling as the
wears wax and wane. 1t is not too
much to say that such love is frequent
ly seen, and that it is to the hear
which is enriched by it what sunshine
and dew and intermitting darkness
and day are to the wheat field.
But in some fell hour the lightning
strikes, and the child, the father, the
lover is heavy eyed witch the sleep Of
death. The silver cord is being loosen
ed. the golden bowl will soon be brok
en-. and neither signs nor prayers can
stay the dread event.
Call the agnostic; his tears almost
scald his cheeks as he resolutely tells
you of his honest doubts. He cannot
bid you hope, for hope is Elusive. At
other times he may serve you well; but
now he can only add to your agony by
pointing to eternal separation.
Call the Master and listen to His
words :--"As to you, my dear one, who
are falling asleep, you have begun the
Journey to the home above. You will
meet there the loved who have gone
before, and you and they will patient
ly wait until the good God calls upon
those who remain to come up higher.
LAS to you who weep, your farewells
on earth will soon give way to greet
ings in heaven. The mother will not
cease to love because she is there and
YOU are here; the father will not for
get his child amid the glories of an
other life; the lover will be lover still,
in spite of death, and that love shall
bind you closer in the other world than
has been possible in this. My Fathers
mansions! There is room for all. The
tolling bells of time are answered by
the welcoming chimes of the celestial
CITY,"
That is what a true Christianity
teaches, and we aver that for the
development of a we'll poised charac
tel, of that heroism which defes adver-
sity and bears affection without
tremor, 1t is unapproachable by any
theory of man and his destiny which is
contained in the volumes of science or
philosophy.
If we plant seed and it produces good
food, we plant the same kind of seed
year by year. assured of the result, and
teach our children to plant it in their
fields also.
If we accept the simple and unadul
terated gospel of a Fathers love, and
it makes us fit to live and ready to die,
we do we'll to leave that gospel to our
heirs as a sacred and valuable inheri-
tance.--N Y. Herald.
f1,A OF n