The Washington times., 1894-06-03
Lay Sermons for
Sunday Reading

things. The Presbyterian Assembly has
thrown out Of its ak Of true orthodoxy Pro-
.rssor Smith, good man, a wise man, God
fea:ing man. an honest and sincere man, a
Liave ard sclf-reliant man. He was professor
Of Hebrew; his study was the Hebrew Bible,
the "oid Testament" Being an ardent Amer
lean explorer, lie endeavored to navigate the
difficult stream OF translation and transcript
ton, with its shoals OF doubt and rocks of in
teri oiaiion. TO find the original spring or
fountain from which the stream took its rise,
and failed. He announced his failure. He
eia,.iy admitted the inspiration OF God in the
heart and mind OF the writer's Of the many
bo. X us That sririt he could feel and know,
but tue IL rrancy OF word and phrase, the un-
L,ioSen III er .nre that every translator from
one language to another could have been in
spiied with the s;Lme thought aud the same
nlc;ho OF expressing thought as the original
wriirr he unwilling to admit; also tEat
every transrriDiny o. any such translation
could lave been spired up to the point OF
frceCum rom ciei i'cai error, he claims the
ri.ht 10 doubt. DH believes. and manfuily
EXPRESSES the senti.1.nt OF Prof. Drummond,
tat The writers of the sacre6 books were men,
and that being such, they we're subject to all
the imperIec;ions OF men; that whlle they
micht leel TIE divine inspiration OF truth,
they wera subject to the limitations OF person.
atty: il short. that they were men, and not
pens.
Irof. Smith aud Or. Briggs are accused of
10 olianse against morals or religion; only
that they VIII : NJ out OF tune in this orches-
TIA where 10 variations are permitted on the
arrangement OF music written in Necia
rnoru than 100 years ago. The dress and
general ,.ebo:tnient Of the performers has
nj ryf
narrowed tu. the score is uivine. They
must hei, r.urta do as Paul directed them of
Philip:;i "NorR ont thine own salvation,
ia tGe i..a L,.iiei thai the power that makes
1ur ;:Etsoasnuss is onnipresent and eter-
na! AM. 1t il st..l true. il it were ever true
81; Is God which worceth il you both 70 will
Ill. to uu y HIS good pleasures" and thus
coiutolted. tAty might quote the succeeding
adu.oni..On 10 tie assembly" as they take
their departure: DO all things without mur-
murnss and disputings."
10 one Will presume to deny that religion
is IN Instinct 1t cp.y ana indelibly implanted
In man. - nar, and is. like music in the order
OF things; and as music is dependent on the
etrTlGi Lasic fact Of the seven variations OF
st;!nis so the religious instinct compels the
sec i-.: atrr something higher than self
tLrou;h the | gical sequence OF thought,
which LEADS ever and always to higher
IL, al. q more perfect imagining OF that
wEcu - higher thun /. We can only ap-
lIoach truth 5y"running lines OF parallels
In or minds. by comparing thought with
thou .i.i. concept with concert. SO W. Cau
see how very strange it would be to assart
that music became frozen finally chrystaized
jnto lor.l in orc grand Homerlc anthem. anc
that forever after the sons or men were COM
l,ciiei 10 ms on channe'. through which all
Their nius,cal aspirations should permeate;
that this alcne was riusic; tnGt all other
rhythmical arrangement OF sweet sound was
discord- Mozart would have died in such u
harness. H cou!d only live by giving form
10 the beauti,ui numbers that came to his
OWE soul. lhe ins liration from GOO came to
him Though i.Ia realm of music. SpinoZa.
the Jew, the "God-intoxjcated philosopher
had TO let tine inspiration come TO him
through tie diviLely appointed way OF philo-
sorhIcal thought and research. The ''as
sel.lly' OF Hebrews appreciated him and
feared to .oss him. ana when he ceased to go
10 lhe synagogue he was offered by said ''aS-
senlly' l.CU0 Horns OF income If we would
ouiwardly conform and occasionally appear
in their place OF worship: but he must rever-
encG the image OF GOO, the divine WORD as it
came to him. Later on his philosophical
works, published anonymously, were con-
denned by the Christian synod and inter-
dcIed by tho States General OF Holland; and
ye, Siinoza lives. while all his conforming con-
te.Gporares are forgotten. ''Ideas are i'm
that often obscures the sun OF truth.
The great NaZarene said to his disciples.
SIT is eXpedient for you that l 90 away; Tor if
! go not away the comforter will not come
unto you which seems to mean that they
would never recognize the image Of God
within their own hearts, the spirit of God. so
long as they continued to look upon his per-
soualIty as the embodiment of truth for
them.
May it not be possible that the time has
fully come when it is expedient that doctrine
nnd dogmatic teaching should ''go away" fo-
a like purpose? Doctrine and belief have
taken the place in The mind OF Christendom
that was occupied by the personality of Jesus
with his disciples. The truth he gave 10
them was in small seed grains. No church.
no creed. no confessional: "knock and it
shall be opened unto you'-individual knock
iEc at individuel unseen doors.
seek and We shall find;" not listen and We
shall be taught. He left no written directions
rs 20 how TO knock or how to seek" and
yet we may infer that he knew how to write.
for are told that on one occasion. when
the orthodox OF that day were deliberating
itOut the stoning woman unto death, He
sail: Yes but ist him who is without sin
AMONG you throw the first stone at her."
And then. STOPPING down, "wrote in the
sand" And strangely enough, when they,
her accusers had al! gone away, he neglected
to tell the woman that she was the greatest
sinner in that community, but Neither do
condsm thee; go and sin no more"
The soil is the mind OF man, of all varieties
No words can make the idea palmer than
does the parable of the sower. but the sower
scattered seed; he did not presume TO plant
trees. So the seed thoughts coming to the
mind, we know no. whence, unless from the |
hand OF the Great Husbandman, are contin- |
uousy falling into the soil and in some way,
We know not how. il would seem that from |
the dawn of mentality to the perfected man |
hood OF Jesus or Buddha there is a rota- |
tioa OF crops suited to the gradually improv-
ing condition Of this soil. Who will dare to |
say that the pursuance Of electrical discovery |
is not the divinely implanted crop
Necessary to the higher development of an |
Edison? 1t is God that worketh in you to |
Wi! aud TO do, "omnipresence, ,omniscience"- |
the sane yesterday to-day and forever No |
absence. no extra cosmic existence, but here, |
now creating. controlling, guiding the perverse |
viii o. man by the lessons of experience until |
he comes to the choosing Of the way of
righteousness and universal charity as the |
controlling impulse OF his life.
The evolution of conscience out OF that
etrcam of the universal consciousness flowing |
through the human organism is the blossom |
OF divinity that crowns the yet visible work of |
organic evolution. and is perhaps the real |
beginning of the deeper mysteries of being
1t will be admitted by all perhaps that the
education through the sense perceptions
would not. and could not, go beyond util-
tar.an. .sm-C -Confucianism-or the ''honesty Of
good poiicy''-the abstaining because of con-
SEQUENCES near or remote. Yet we know that
in u fully developed character, even as we
now know derelopment that conscience ia a |