The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1894-04-27
INFIDELITY.

what Sildii we 90 10 De saved,
was the text upon which Robert In.
gersoll, the most eloquent infdel of
our day, recently entertained a large
and fashionable Philadelphia audience
of all creeds and no creeds.
After the storm of applause that
greeted his appearance had subsidized,
he said among other things: "All
churches teach that it is dangerous to
think, Now, my doctrine is that it is
dangerous not tc think. Everyone is
endowed with the torch of reason,
more or less, and / don't believe in
blowing it out. If there is a Creator
this torch of reason is the only reve' a.
tion of Himself that He has given us.
In the realm of thought every man
is monarch and no one has the pow
er or right to put limit on what he
shall think and what he shall not"
So long as the Christians faith is
based upon feeling, which is permanent
rather than upon thought, which is
evanescent, his feeling rather than his
skepticism is apt to control him. We
take it for granted that even the
thoughts of Ingersoll are not strictly
infalllble or Interchangeable. 1t is barely
possible that he sometimes doubts his
doubts. So long as the Christians
faith is based upon feeling and his
skepticism is based upon thought such
brilliant inldels as Ingersoll and
every age of the world has had them
will continue to be lonely and yet be
honized because of their religious &C.
centricity. If in consequence of thought
there is much skepticism in the world
even among professed Christians, then
in consequence of feeling there is quite
enough Christian fidelity and faith in
Gods promises for this life and the
next to put men on their knees.
Abiding Christian feeling rather than
evanesCent philosophic reflection is
what makes outspoken infidels scarce
in the world as compared with professed
Christians. In the face of the fact
that Christians do think, and
could not help thinking if they would,
he says call churches teach that 1t is
dangerous 10 think" All churches he
should rather have said, as he might in
truth, teach that it is dangerous to
think away from Christ instead of to-
wards Him. If by philosophic reason
ing unalterable conviction may be
reached, then outspoken skepticism
would long since have consigned
Christianity to oblivion. Among our
philosophic lights, even brighter and
deeper than Ingersoll, we might men,
tion Franklin as skeptcal thinker
who sorely repented and cried for
Christ before he died. We do not
say that Ingersoll will follow the illus
trious example of his superior proto-
type, Benjamin Franklin, who called
for the picture Of Christ, that it might
be hung on the wall before his dying
eyes, but we do say that if depth of
thought away from Christ would satisfy
the inner conscience Ben jamin Frank
lin and myriads of others who have
been finally saved through repentance
would never have deemed it essential
either in life or death to bow to such
an insignificant, forlorn, and neglec-
ted character as reason based upon
historical fact shows Christ to have
been when in the flesh. While all
philosophic human reason is more or
less confounded, human feeling is
rather the leverage that has elavated
humanity from serfdom and barbarity
to our present state of civilization and
Christian refinement. We would
therefore say in answer to the query
"What shall we do to be saved"
think towards, instead of away from
Christ, and think hard if need be in a
radical case of inhdelity, and if the
proper feeling don't overtake you be-
fore death, the devil has got you, de-
pend upon it.