The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-06-20

hence, in many cases, by consciou
or unconscious act of the will, tn
| teachings of scepticism or infdelity ar
embraced. In this way, a profession G
rbelief is often confession OF drunk
enness, dishonesty and licentiousness
Another far reaching cause OF sceptl
cism and urbelief is an erroneous esti
mate of the intellec. as an organ TO
arriving at truth. BY the intellect !:
meant the power to form conceptions
frame judgments, and deduce conclu
sions. It is not necessary to bring
trailing accusation" against this powe
of the mind, which in its high degree
of development is one of the distinctly
glories of man. Within its natura
Limitations, it is safe and indispensa
bic guide. The baleful effects Of its ab
sence are seen in our asylums. 1t il
this power of the mind that directs u!
in our ordinary labors, that organize:
and controls the various insti tutions o
Church and State, and thst blesses ou
age with it's mechanical and scientific
progress. 1t occupies, as we shall see
an important place ia- ascertaining re-
ligious truth. But the range of the
intellect is not unlimited. 1t can mol
fully grasp the infinite, nor image tc
itself the invisible ard eternal. 1t is
when it essays this hopeless task, that
its efforts become futile, and land US II
some form of unbelief. When it thus
oversteps its bounds, it is possible, as
Spencer has shown, to undermine al!
the ultimate ideas of religion and SCI
ence, and to show that God, creation,
time, space, cause and matter are in.
solvable problems. It is an undue re-
lance upon the operations Of the intel
lect in this higher region Of knowledge
that has given rise to the materialism
and pantheism so prevalent IN our
time. From q few great thinkers and
original investigators, sometimes men
of lrreproachable character, this unbe-
lief trickles down through a crowd OF
unreasoning or initiative followers who
welcome system of teaching that alb
solves them from the restraints OF
Christian truth. = .'... =.
In the presence of this scepticism and
unbelief, are we able to answer Pilates
question, "What is .truth?" Are we
able to reach a reasonable certainty in
regard to those spiritual problems.
which, if they were true, possess eterna!
significance for US! Can we be sure OF
the existence and character of God, OF
his moral government, and Of the du-
ties of human life? It is not enough.
in the face ofexisting unbeliefs and OF
q restless Investigating age, to appeal
only to the principle of authority, and
to say with tae-Roman Catholic, "Be-
lievc the pope" and with the Protes-
tant, "Beliere the Bible" We are
called upon, according to apostolic in
junction, to give reason for the faith
that isiu US, and to establish, apart
from the principle of authority. the
fundamental truths of religion. This.
it seems to me, may be done. It is
only necessary to bring to bear upon
the spiritual realm not one but all the
organs of knowledge which belong TO
the soul. While taken separately, any
one faculty may be deemed insufficient,
vet in their combined force they pre-
sent e weight of evidence that can
hardly be resisted, except by q !Wllful
determination to reject the truth.
/. The first organ Of truth to: be. men
toned as applicable to the spiritual
realm is an immediate intuitive power
of the soul. This power is above and
independent of argume ntation, and be-
longs to the emotional rather than to
the Intellectual side of our nature. 1t
is kind of immediate vision. While
it exists to greater or'less degree in
everv soul, its highest development is
found only in those whom we properly
call the seers Of our race. 70 these
elect spirits, so delicately sensitive to
truth, not only the divine existence;
but also the divine presence in the
world has been reality. Thus, under
the visible forms Of nature, Words
worth discerned a spiritual presence
that exalted his soul. In one of his
most beautiful and characteristic pass
ages, he tells us,
IT have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the JOY
Ofelevated thoughts; sense sublime =
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the liv,ag ar,
And the blue sky, and the mind OF man,
A motion and spirit that impels
Ali thinking things, all objects of all thought,
Aud rolls through all things"
David was gifted with similar over
wbelming sense of the divine presence.
God seemed 80 nigh unto him that the
Psalmist was filled with amazement.
This divine knowledge seemed too
wonderful for him, and be exclaimed,
"Whither shall I 90 from thy Spirit,
and whittier shall flee from thy pres
ence? If ascend up into heaven,
thou art there; if make my bed in
hell, behold, thou art there. If / take
the wings Of the morning and dwell in
the uttermost parts of the sea: even
there thy hand shall lead me, and thy
right hand shall guide me-" While it
is true that not all men have this intui-
tive power 81 highly developed, yet
most of US have it in such a degree as
to accept readily as true the fact of the
divine existence and divine presence
in the world about US, when 1t is once
announced to US. When the Scriptures
come to US with the sublime declara-
ton that "in the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth,S we readily
accept IL dS q SdLiSlS luS Ga APlohGSAoa Vi
the existence of ali things. When the
apostle declares that ''in God we live
and move and have our being" we
find the doctrine in perfect harmony
with the constitution of our minds,
and we cling to it as precious truth:
And so with. the whole circle of related
truth pertaining to the character and
moral government OF God. While they
are objects ofimmediate discernment to
only few of our race-its great seers
and teachers-yet when the truth is
once made known to US, we naturally,
readily, and intuitively accept it. 1t
is only by a process of false reasoning
or through the bias of an evil life that
it is rejected.
2. A second organ of spiritual truth
in the soul is certain deep tendencies
and longings. They are independent
of reflection, and inhere in the very
constitution of our nature. In lower
animals we call this innate tendency
and longing instinct. 1t is this power,
as we all know, that impels and guides
the bee in the construction Of its cell,
and the bird in its flight through the
air. 1t is remarkable fact that there
is always something in nature CORE
spending to these natural impulses