The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1894-12-06
WHIT TRUE CHRISTIANITY
TEACEEc.
The Agrost:o and the Christian.
PART III.
sen ] ORR Heruld.


There is one subject on which the
Christian and the agnOstic are as far
apart - Alcturu7 and Tie eaIth-name-
". that Of the day after death.
t. tie a-no-tic ieath Is the devourer
~ heI 2..IeH-. inexorable, re-
.e5# e-- go tifye -e.ro Years or more
v...r... lid ruis. - .Gds. and our lives
are grand and impressive as the music
Of cathedral organ Then we are
dissolved by the cruel chemistry of dis
ease. or d-integrated 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
rashlv call the soul is nothing more
than curious concOurse OF particles
whose accidental juxtapositiOn makes
this man a philosopher, that man a
poet and another man clown When
the heart ceases to beat there is moth
ing left OF clown or philosopher Or poet
except a handful of ashes, whose high
est service is to fructify patch of corn
or enrich a bed of asparagus.
For little while this wondrous piece
of mechanism which we call a king or
peasant throbs with aspirations that
soar to the stars with lonGings that can
neither be limited nor repressed, and
then Death smites him with apOpleXy
of unconsciousness and he never recOv-
ers from tne blow.
Viewed from such standpoint man
Is the product of the most cruel crea-
tive processes. He is rocked in the
cradle of despair in his infancy and i'll
his old age is huled into the abyss Of
humiliation. If chance had happened
T. make him dog or a yulture, with
out the ability to dream a glorious
dream Of Immortality, he might have
been happy. But chance was malig
nantlv intelligent enough to endoW
him with an irresistible faith in a ftl-
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 falsity of either theory
1t may be that the agnOstc is correct
and the Christian incorrect in his state
nents-that is a matter with which we
have nothing to do for the moment.
We simply declare that for all the prac-
teal PURPOSES of a cOntented life, Tor
the production Of that calm endurance
under aflicilon which ennnbles its pos
SCISSOR and Of that serene resignation
which enables us to part with loved
ones IN the hope Of reunion some
whore in The realms Ct space and at
ie~t = face lie ccnqueror OF conquer
or not like he quarry slave. but like
o4e who wraps the drapery Of his couch
about him and lies down to pleasant
sleep, Christianity is as much better
than agnOSticlsm. faith Is as much bet
ter than doubt. as healthy food is better
than deadly poison.
Let Us Illustrate Two people love
each other-husband and wife. mother
and child, or it may be lovers who are
itpAiHS iOiN;tIt 10 a nome. True lt Is
that love Is sometimes caprlcious and
evancScellt but true it also is that life
Is sometimes irradiated by kind of
l)ye which will last forever unless Om-
impotence extinguishes it. Souls unit
ei BY such bonds are as necessary to
each other Is two halves are necessary
to Il whole. Each gives everything to
the other and finds everything in tie
other. They Journey side by side
through summer and winter wealth
or, and SO far from losing its lustre this
love becomes brighter, purer, truer aud
more enrolling as the years wax and
Wane. 1t is not too much to say that
such love is frequently seen. and that
it Is to the heart which is enriched bv
it what sunshine ana dew and Intermit-
ting darkness and day are to the wheat
field.
But iii some fell hour the lightning
strikes. and the child, the father, the