The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-21

appear TO have been any low. learning;
Tor knowledge. To these istians OF
tne dark ages are we indu Ior .he
III knowledge of Greece and 70 duu al ra,5
image. But for them per- we r1 moa,u
scarcely know the namesin, % I.OI ll,
virgil, Cicero, Horace, az; Sna az moso
OF splendid fame now al lilar 10 US as
l. Shakespeare or Milton. -,
n 1he church may have i! !eu sc "a
d or many great INVENTOR ulsoO'eieIo'
n ike Calico, but howl ny hds IL as
u sisted, and how manyhe schemes mas
IL adYanced2 The aut9I the nv ulry,
member ALI tbis 1rT1IiVil, real or imagi-
> nary. is harmed land exaggerated,
}. while the gop6 l. IL; belittled or lost
< sight of altogether,
f The Christian cl,h was no factor in
o the rise of civilizatCnot AT all; ouI the
| Arabs and SoraoaRere, as were also a
: number of other licences such as-don't
Z lau0h-tbataIes oDccaccio wherein the
< vices of the mon md priests were freely
= exposed \ tended to increase
r contemDt for ~, Iurch and her unholy
pretensions.,, ithe words of the in
. Christianitv large is charged with
= all the guiIt the atrocities of the In
ouisition and ! author of the Inquiry
quotes admi,ry a passage from Inger-
soil. hoastiJ of infidelity and con
Guiding @weIithe intidels) have de
nounced tvYny and superstition and
kent ON. 4 is unstained with human
blood y Vat mendacity! In the
earliest da of Christianity, 1--WE" that
is the in us and opponents of Chris
tianitv i+uded the Neros and a host of
such 6log tyrants. And so on all down
the naqof history. Just a century ago,
the ceSf of civilization was the scene of
perhaI the bloodiest page in modern
bistoT We were the authors of the
Frenl revolution. "We' included the
Rokpierres, Marats, De Sades. ''We''
An even changed the chronology,
crmencing with the ''year u of
+ revolution. And during all this
rlod of hideOus nightmare memory, the
lAlr form of France was drenched in the
blood of her best children. Coming down
to our own times, 1--WE" include the fiend-
ish anarchists of Europe and America. 1t
IS not meant to imply that the author of
the Inquiry or even Ingersoll are at all
in sympathy with anarchy, but while all
lnt1dels are not necessarily anarchists, all
anarchists are infidels. 1t is certainly
not conceivable that Christian should
be an anarchist-the two are incompati-
BILE. And very likely most anarchists
commenced with infdelity. Be this as it
may, the legitimate tendency of infidelity
unrestrained is toward anarchy, for once
imbued with contempt for divine law, a
man has taken long step towards re-
pudiatiOn of all other law save that of his
own will and desires. 1t would surely
seem that thoughtful man, with other
things atheart besides. personal vanity
and ambition, when taking up his pen to
write an attack upon Christianity, would
reflect upon such considerations as these;
and when having reflected and realized
the possible harm he might work, would
throw aside his pen and leave the article
or book unwritten!
The author disavows a general attack
upon Christianity, saying he attacks it
only Gin some of its phases" Let us
quote his own words on page q.
1T (the church) has changed for the
better, through the civilizing effects of
free thought, or else civilization has
pulled its teeth, cut its claws and made
it seem respecta ble." Here he likens
the Christian church to a ferocious wild
beast; fine comparison truly, for one who
is attacking Christianity "only in some
of it's phases" But we must pass on.
The author attacks faith" his defini-
ton and account of which show a woful
of mental science. He
says, Faith l conceive to be blind re-
lance on the views and assertions of
others, and the utter suppression of rea-
SON" And again, "Belief is not DEEPEN
dent upon Volition is the
result of evidence and reason and is in
voluntary" Great stress is laid on this
definition, which is frequently alluded to
in such words as NOW faith Tor belief
being involuntary as l have already
and various conclusions are
drawn. The bishop got in palpable hit
in this connection: he writes your def
milton of faith is ludicrous;" and the
bishop is right, as win Immediately APP
pear, although / do not employ his ar
gument. If we are confronted with
such as "the three angles of
triangle are together equal to two right
angles our assent is involuntary even
forced; we have to accept the truth of
the demonstration whether we wish to or
not, and we do not believe it, we know it,
But suppose the question be one of phi
losophy or theology; the very nature of it
precludes the possibility of equally con-
elusive evidence. Then in that case, we
receive the various reasons for and
against, and then choose or will whether
we accept or reject the doctrine, that is
whether we believe or not and the func-
ton of the will or volition increases in
Importance in direct measure with the
presence of an element of doubt, render
ing the conclusion belief This is so clear
that it cannot for moment be disputed,
but let US adapt a familiar illustration.
Suppose the author had q little child in
whom he had duly instilled BETTING
idea of his (the parent's) suf1ciency and
Suppose he sets the child
upon an elevation, and holding out his
arms, says Jump" The child hesitates
timorously-upon further urging decides
to have confidence and jumps. The father
can then, and justly so, feel a satisfied
pride at this exhibition of voluntary faith
on the part of his offspring.
With all his insistence about the neces-
sity for the most thorough and exhaus-
tive study, and for doing your own
before accepting such a thing as
a religious doctrine or opinion, and his
own statement concerning the character
Of necessity of belief on evidence, one
would certainly not expect to see the
author accept any kind of religious belief
without the most solid grounds and irres-
istible reasons. However, on page SO he
says he believes that there is a God, and
gives his reasons for his faith in these
words,-'I believe, because 1
can see no reason to the contrary, but
much in its favor, that there is a God"
And that is all People believe in a relig-
ious or secular doctrine by one of three
ways: first, by comprehensive study of
the subject; second, by reliance on the
of others in whose wisdom and
honesty they place implicit confidence; or
lastly, like the author of the "Inquir ""
because they see no reason to the contrary,
T. IL