The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-11-19
COMPARATIVE
RELIGION
MI. Vail Thinks There Is
Room for a New Branch
of Science.
ESTABLISHING CHRISTIANITY
The Way Is Not to Prove 1t But
to Show 1t True-Mr. Biddle
Talks Back.
ESTABLISHING CHRISTIANIT.

The Rev. Charles H. Vail at the First
Universalist Church last night preached
on THE Lessons Taught Us By Com
parative Theology"
The same tendency in this century,
said he, (which produced the sciences of
comparative anatomy, comparative geog-
raphy n comparative philology. is now
creating the science of comparative
theology. 1t will be to any special
theology as comparative philology is to
the study of any particular language.
Fifty years ago it would have been i'm
possible to compare the religions of the
world; at that time but little interest
had been taken in this subject. The
way was opened for this in the linguistic
discoveries of the last century. The
whole world of Sanskrit literature was
unknown to Western scholars until Sir
William Jones revealed it. The vast
realm of Htndoo, Chinese and Persian
genius was as much unknown before
his time as America before the time OF
Columbus. Even twenty-five years g
it was hardly possible to gain any ade-
| quate information concerning Brahmin-
ism, Buddhism, or. the religions of Con-
fucius Zoroaster or Mohammed and out OF
I all the linguistic study that has brought
these to light there has arisen the sci
| ence of comparative philology, which
has thrown so much light on the rela-
| tionship of nations. In the face of igno-
| rance is it any wonder that Christian
Apologists in the last century fell into
such error concerning the ancient relig-
| IONS? Is it any wonder that they should
have insisted that while the Jewish and
Christian religions were inspired, all
the others were invented; that while these
were from God, all others were from man
and while in the true religion there was
nothing false, in the false religion there
was nothing true? Milton taught that
| the religion of all so called g people
was devil worship, and all Christian
writer's taught that they were the work
of fraud, in their essence corrupt, and
wholly false, the work of imposters and
priestcraft. But let us be charitable in
cur Judgment, remember their point oil
view. In the absence of knowledge how
could they do better? AS we stand IN
the light of the modern knowledge we
see by comparison of this vast phenom-
ena of religion, that to ascribe 1t to man,
or to suppose the whole of the work
| fraud, is not a satisfactory solution of
the facts. Though ignorance and error
| Diay their DART III jill IQStlLuIlOIlS, they
cannot be based en- them, for no insti-
tuition can live unless ii contains more
truth than falsehood.
A COMMON FOUNDATION.
"All religion rests Upon the same foun-
dalton, the feeling of dependence, the
sense of accountability, the recognition
Of spiritual realities. God has not left
| himself without witnesses in the world.
The Father of the human race must not
be represented as selecting a few of his
children, while the great mass are left
in ignorance and fear. MOI has he. We
find all ancient religions feeling after
God and often finding him. We see that
in their origin they are not the work of
priestcraft but of human nature, and in
iigions. Within the last few years the
| -eItravagant inflammation of heather
religions has led to a reaction in their
favor, for it has been seen to be dis
| paraging to human nature to suppose
that the larger part of mankind should
J consent to be fed on error. Such is a de-
| NAL of Gods providence and an examin-
| alton of the teachings of Christ and
the Apostles would show that they held
no such doctrine. The essential truths
of Christianity, are not peculiar to it
| self, but can be found in the various
other religions. It has been truly said
that Jesus brought no new truth into
the world. This is s~ubstantiated by a
comparative study of the various Bibles
the central moral and spiritual teach
ings of all sacred literature, but also of
their legends, their NEUROLOGICAL notions,
their accounts of miraculous events,
their rites and ceremonies. The various
Bibles of the world have generally arisen
anonymously n out of a background Of
| legend. With reference to all the great
Bibles of the world, in whatever way
they may have originated, We may say
that they acquire peculiar s~acrednesS by
age and that the thought of putting
them into a separate class by themselves
as sacred books came only after some
time and by slow degrees. For nearly
two centuries the new Testament was
sacred and authoritative with the Old.
BLINDNESS TO FAULTS.
"Another thing has been shown us by
just in the proportion as people have
come to regard their books as sacred,
just in that proportion they have be-
come blind to its faults. Religion ad-
vances while it is producing its sacred
book, but as soon as it is completed it
ceased to advance. All eyes are now
/ judged as right or wrong according to
its agreement with the teachings of the
Book.
Another thing peculiar to all religions
Is that just as soon as these books be-
come set up as sacred. or as a bible,
from henceforth it is declared to be the
only bible, and all the other books are
regarded as false. So the various re-
Iigions, Christianity included. have been
the bitterest enemies of each other. II
is a pity that the other religions should
be blinded TO the SOOu OIL OHTlStldnlLy,
but it is of equal pity that we should
also be blinded to the good in religions
not Christian. Again, as time goes on
and people attain larger knowledge, the
adherents of each religion develop a re-
markable faculty for explaining away
contradictions and reading into the books
all sorts of meanings, made necessary to
make the books harmonic with the adj
vancing knowledge. There is a similar
ity in the method of Interpretation
adopted by the adherents of all the
ancient religions. They all, in common
with Christians, explain away whatever
is troublesome, and read in new mean
ings where the occasion demands.
1--WE are led by comparative religion
to decide that our Sacred Book is bul
one of the six or eight Bibles of the
world. We see that religion is d broader
and deeper thing than we have been ap
to think. Each nation has claimed t.
have a monopoly of religion, but we Sc,
in the light of modern knowledge thal
all such ideas are narrow. Religion /:
universal. This does not mean, as | shall
presently show. that all religions are O.
equal value.
I'VE have caught a glimpse in on
hasty review of the fact that religion
is something that is possessed by al
men, for 1t has it's basis in human ma.
ture. And you may have asked yourself
the question, How many religions arr