New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-08-05
RT.SHTNS RELIGION.


fffiESp b1riae The ,yenfs s'o-is45. BY John
Nrskn. Pr Kill. 2o Macmillan co.
AT. science and theology receive about equal
attention In these leitcrs Of Mr. RusNn's youth.
Tho correspondence casts Hight AZ intervals on
the period = il-henl,h with which The author be-
gan his career The time was one in which Mr.
Rusk,n was uncertain = Ne. not - speak 4
purposes. IL was A. work with inten,rc.s on two
or three different lines taking lessons with IA
nous teachers II drawing. establishing his cul,
. Turner beginning tho study u geology and
chemistry. writing his work on Modern Paint
crs." and making journeys ~ Italy. As the lot
iers were written 10 4 young clergyman. theology
came In naturally and one can here sec the
slight angle ~ divergence IN thought which in
later years emhlftcrci Mr. Ruskns relations
with his father ana mother lie started from a
very literal Interpretation - Scripture but his
fcicnrnc studies soon awakened his mind % the
,act that the faith he had rested On was not
settled In his own thinking. * soon as h. began
e. mediate upon the matter from his now points
II view. he saw thai his difficulty lay In the
question u authority. He condemned private
Judgment Tn an extreme FORM and l.kewisr the
other extreme 4 letting somebody else take the
responsibility for his beliefs He could not ne
wrote. attach any practical meaning to the word
chufcn lie r1nN not tel whether ne was 10
pin his faith To his prayer book or his pastor or
10 ST Augustine or generally 10 believe all three.
and yet dispute particular assertions" Then
there peeps ont somcwha = that humorous pref
udicc 50 characteristic of the man. zone thing
only know" said he that had rather be a
Papsi than a dlsscnter-or a member of the
Church Of scotland" He referred to err IN the
side II blind credencc but still this was error.
and the question In MS mind when why or
how 10 stop I'm the acceptance ~ tea hing or in
terprctatlon. As with others. with Ruskin.
There is always one point which becomes the
pivot 81 the whole controversy for each doubtcr
In Ruskns case. Judging by these letters. the
crux was the origin II death The proposition
that II mankind had not sInned all living Great
urcs would have been immortal seemed to him not
merely above evidence, but contrary T. evidence.
In one II his letters he alluded to a sermon which
began with the sentence. AS by sin came death.
there could be- no death before SIN" and added
that his own thought at the moment was: IT'S
a pity you don't know something II natural his
tory. It's not much use my listening to any
more Of that. because haven't common prem
hes to start from. and | shan't believe a word
you say"
Occasionally his friend sent his sermons for
pcrusal. and Ruskin found them rather better
man those Wncn ne ncdrl or sunday. lie did
not object II the preachers taking the popular
conception ~ the Fall as the starting point Of a
discourse But. supposng that his friend had
private opinions on the subject. h asked him to
consider what he meant by the word tree" II
II was something that bore leaves, then 1t was
an instrument for storing up carbon In its own
structure. and II It had flowers II was intended
TO produce other things Ike itself. 1t neces-
sary "A growing thing, but It could not keep on
growing forever and whenever II stopped grow
ing II must do 80 because It's powers were less
ened and this just the same To say that
death had begun In II. only by supposng that
the trees I'm Eden had neither leaves nor flowers
can the death OF vegetation be excluded from its
confines The little controversy with his friend
on these points led him 10 write considerable
essay which is printed In this volume on the
question. Was There Death before Adam Fell
In Other Parts Of Creation?' He discussed very
seriously the meaning Of various passages In tho
Greek New Testament. ana the chemical and
physiological facts Of nutrition. with CLEAN OF |
humor the matter OF overcrowding. Long |
before the food" he thought, 1.-THE would have
been one mass Of ported fish. the air OF wedged
birds and the earth OF impenetrable foliage" The
reasoning is familiar enough; but the value OF the
essay consists not In what 1t proves but In what
It indicates OF the temper and tendency OF Its au-