The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1894-09-29
THE BIBLE AND THE SCIENCES,
BY SAMUEL CHARLswoRTH.

Will the discoveries of science in
future ages ever make the Bible
effete? Yes, when the discoveries of
science extinguish the emotions of
the human heart. But not till then
Speaking broadly, the theme of the
Bible is Christianity; AMI Christian
ity is an embodiment of love, of Di-
vine as we'll as human love. To sup
pose that human knowledge will ever
extinguish mans impulse to love and
his desire to be loved, is to suppose
the impossible. Because this impulse
and this desire will never cease to
throb within his breast, therefore will
he never cease to cling to the Book
which tells him of the love of Christ,
of the love of God, and of the heaven
ly character of the fame Of love which
burns within his own soul. There
are minds of a scientific cast which
regard Christianity in the light of a
discovery or a development. The
instructive judgment of Christendom
for eighteen centuries has been
entirely against them. The religion
of the Son of God I hold to be neither
a discovery of the human intellect,
nor an evolutionary product of the
ages. It it were SO, then it would be
perfectly reasonable to anticipate
that it nights some day be superseded
by higher discoveries and still nobler
evolutions. Mine inmost soul tells
me that it is neither an invention nor
discovery of man, nor an evolutionary
outcome of human history. 1t is an
exceptional and authoritative Divine
disclosure. confidently affirm this
with no lack of respect for the differing
convictions Of others. But with me
it is matter of moral consciousness,
a sacred matter of faith; it is the rock
upon which my soul rests in peace
a rock unmoved and immovable by all
the utterance of all the doubters, all the
skeptics, all the critics who flood tie
world with their literature. God can
and does make exceptions to his laws
aud rules, for the purpose of assuring
and convincing his intelligent children
that neither henor they are in absolute
bondage to laws and rules. In Chris
tianity he made an execution to his
law of development. Once for all.
he then took religion out of the cate
CORY of the sciences; and, speaking
by the mouth of his we'll beloved Son
gave "glad tidings" to the common
people and to all people, which utter
ly belittled-so far as regards hun an
blessedness, peace, comfort, hope,
and joy-all the esoteric knowledge
of all the philosophers, all the
scholars, all the thinkers that ever
lived or ever will live upon the earth.
Alas for this race of ours if it's only
consolation and hope in the time of
sorrow. of trial, of affliction, of mis-
fortune, of bereavement, were such as
it could devise for itself. Thank God
it is not SO; we are in no such or
phaned condition. We have some
thing better than man made; we have
God given consolation and hope; we
have it in Christianity, and we get
our Christianity from the Bible.
Therefore it is, that whilst man is
man he will never cease to keep firm
hold upon the Bible. Not as result
of mere logical demonstration, but
by virtue of its moral consciousness,
Christendom holds Christianity to be
a Divine, not merely human, relig-
iona revelation from on high, not
merely superior system of human
philosophy OF ethics. This is not a
mere intellectual conviction, it is a