The Washington times., 1894-05-20
Lay Sermons for
Sunday Reading

SOlA0aA ANO@A$AAAAS
Commerce requires under all conditions
buyer Commerce in thought 10 as simple.
the thought, the thinker, and the desire for
thought.
The preacher knows his congregation. the
politician knows his mental caliber and pre-
yailing prejudices OF the mass OF men that
make up the majority in his district, but the
man who would put his best thoughts in the
columns of a newspaper at this day, when
the world is full of them, begging for readers.
must do so much like the marketman who
exposes his wares and goes his way; they
may never attract the notice Of u single
buyer. but his hope always Is that at least q
few may find in his assortment what they are
looking for. but the thinker soon discovers
that thought is necessary to his continued
vitality, and further, that the arrangement OF
his thought is necessary to his personal equa-
ton, to the definite solution of his problem
of existence. So If any man writes seriously
for publication, he may find himself more IN
debted to an indulgelt public than any one
reader can be indebted to him.
The reassembling of the Presbyterian mag
mates at Saratoga, the revival Of the Briggs
controversy OF last year, inevitably leads to the
question OF this thinking" 1t is not Briggs
the offending brother, but the much more i'm
portant matter as to whether thought is God
given endowment and the great pioneering
power in the higher evolution OF man, or was
the thinking principle confiscated when the
church was organized? 1t would seem that
the highest thoughts that come to man were
the real ''angels' visits" and that the re-
counting of these, the arrangement OF these
high thoughts into an ever-enlarging number
of sacred books" would be crowning work
of such an assembly. rather than the united
effort to keep all though safely harnessed
to the chariot OF creed, and the solemn
farce OF swearing to the inerrancy OF book
that never was a book, but collection OF
writings" about God and religion. All the
religion. all the light, all the faith, all the
aspiration those books contain Is forever
sacred, but only so because the mind, the
soul, the consciousness OF man is sacred, and
that which helps most to lead man from his
lower or animal nature toward his higher
and divine nature is also sacred. The gift OF
divine reason was before the gift OF book
making, and would survive the destruction
Of all the books, printing presses, type, and
presses in the world.
The fundamental declaration in this book
they claim as ''inerrant" is. that "God made
man in His own image" and ''male and 10
male created He them" Now, whatever the
'heathen." the ''atheist, the "agnostic" may
choose to think he believes or disbelieves. it
is surely the duty and privilege Of all creeds,
based upon the Bible, to believe these two
statements as ''inerrant." Believing them
involves certain necessary conclusions.
First-There is this: that in man Is the only
authorized localization Of the image OF God,
and as we emerge from the idolatry OF form
into the concept of spiritual forces, which is
the only thinkable condition Of the omnipres-
ence, We must conclude that this image" lies
hidden for the most part in the yet undevel-
oped consciousness of man. To make this
idea more emphatic, later on In the same
book is the direct command to make to thy
self no other likeness or image of anything"
So it would seem that the duty OF all such be-
levers should be the effort to unyeil this au-
thorized 'image," to clear away all the rub
bish OF accumulation OF mans opinions-of
all thick wells OF organized conclusions, and
let in on this long-concealed image the clear
sunlight of thought
Secondly. II in this "making Of man" 1t
was found expedient to create them "mtle
and female,'' it will be at once evident that
these primal differentiations were sacred"
and that SO long as there is claim to priority
or immunity of responsibility, the one over
the other, SO long is there unbelief, conflict,
and all the terrible consequences pronounced
upon infldelity.
For nearly two thousand years the name Of
Jesus. the Christ. has been the watchword for
all the multi-colored professions OF religion
in what is called Chrlstendom, or that portion
of the globe that is supposed to be enlight-
ened-that which is not still 'heathendom'-
and in all that time man has been satisfied to
be engaged in controversial discussions about
what was said about Jesus. and has not
seemed to care for the little that Is recorded
of His direct teaching.
1t would seem strange that so much OF anx-
iety should center about the miracle Of his
birth, of the methods OF his looming" and
so little attention paid to the message he
came to bring! Ii the message was not i'm
portant, then why the messenger? This mes
sage can be summed up very briedy-the |
kingdom of heaven is within you. Not 'lo, |
here or 10 there" Only another way OF say
ing "God made man in His own image" and
"inasmuch as ye have done it unto one OF |
the least of these, We have done 1t unto me-"
Unless you can see the image OF God In the |
with which all men are en-
dowed. then look nowhere for it, for you will |
not find it.
It is evident to the most superficial reader |
Of history that the evolution of human liberty |
has been by the way of revolution, overturn- |
ing. II, then, one great hope filed the soul |
of the great Nazarene with peace under perse- |
cution, it was the hope of producing revolu- |
tion, OF new kingdom, that should be an
everlasting kingdom, that of 'speace on earth |
and good will toward men," His Sermon on |
the Mount was the outlining of the constitu-
ton Of that kingdom, the beginning of the |
end of the reign of force and personal author
ity of inherited or assumed superiority. For
this was He and is He still despised and |
rejected OF men. Christian civilization, so |
called, has sought to flourish on cross and |
book, without the adoption of any one article
in this constitution-the greatest |
and longest lived paradox the world has ever
seen.
II it be the purpose of the Church to adhere
to all its yesterdays of thought and form for
the purpose of governing and controlling the
masses, then it is not only opposed to the
idea of evolution, but it will be
rejected with scorn and contempt. Man is
asking for bread, and will no longer accept |
the stone of ecclesiastical dictum.
If it be that present responsibility lies in a
careless conformity, then II sinks into a de-
basing utiltarianism, into confusionism. We
add one word to the time-worn truism: Hon.
esty and conformity are the best policy.
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