The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1895-11-07
TIE BASIS or RELIGION.
n the New York Herald

Canst thou by searching find out God
canst thou find out the Almigh y unto per-
fiction ?-Job XII, Z.
So Tar as any exact comprehension
of His mode of existence, or of the
qualities OF His character, or of His
omniscieuce or omnipresence is con-
cerned, io is possible for US to know
very little Infinite power il so far
beyond the reach of our minds that
its contemplation is productive of
very little benefit, and iU is as useless
to attack the mystery of iafipite
wisdom, with any hope of solving
| the puzzle, as it would he to leap
| from the earth expecting to land on
the nearest fixed star.
But perfect knowledge is not
necessary to the religious life. If it
were there could be no such thing as
| a religious Lille.
A great many fonest minds, how
ever, have been disturbed and driven
to the verge of doubt by their in
/ ability to form any conception of
God. He is tie uncreated Creator,
but the words convey no meaning
whatever to our minds Ii you look
through the Lick telescope at Arc
/, turus you see very little more t1an
with the naked eye, and if the pro
toundest philosopher looks at the
Almighty he sees very little more
than the unlettered peasant. Still
Artt urus is in the sky, whether you
can p' er into his secret or not. erl
God isin your life, though III NOS :
searching thought returns 20 N.u
empty handed. The very words,
omnipOtence and oInui,,res. ut, have
an unthinkable significa ion, AMI
when the man of science tells us Il ut
space is absolutely limi'l-ss. that il
consists of horizons i az. simply
endless Ia number, We actept The facr,
but have no more conception oil il
than the microbe in n watch has OF
| the delicate machinery whCS. ticks
are a continuous roll of thunder in
it's ears.
What then, you ask, is the basis of
a religion which demands such self
control and self sacrifice? If these
problems will always remain in
soluble, and if you can know SO little
of the Being who demands your
souls allegiance, why may not re-
ligion itself be d mistake? Many a
heart has been engloomed by these
thoughts and many mind befogged
by them.
The Church, fear, has done us an
injury by putting into a creed its
speculations and making that creed
a STANDARD of excellence. If the creed
were offered to hungry minds as
merely theological hypothesis, to
be accepted or rejected by the think
ing folk in the religious community.
| W In 10 in 10 liyl
helpful and satisfactory to the in
dividual, then we could see its i'm
portanee. But when you are told
that it is the absolute truth on the
subject, and that assent is the con
ditiOn of receiving the Christian
sympathy of your fellow pilgrims
through the darkness, you are
baked in your efforts to lead a holy
life, and perhaps fall from the high
level of your natural faith to the
fateful lowlands of doubt as tc
whether the whole scheme of saliva
ton is not mythical.
True religion is independent of any
purely intellectual theory of the
universe, and is founded on facts
proven true by the universal expert
ence Of mankind. This statement il
) easily illustrated by childhood. The
little one does not understand it,
mother, has no comprehension what
ever of mothers love or of the sig
nificance of a mothers discipline.
the baby were gifted with speech anC
could describe it's relations to that
, mother it would make as many mis-
statements as we do in describing
our relations TO God. The mothers
: providence is wholly misunderstood
even her watchful care looks like in
, reference with the child's rights, anC
} the child mig 1T say, as Calvin did o
the Almighty, that "of her own gOoC
, pleasure" she pets at one moment
, and Furnishes at another. Th,
: knowledge that punishment and love
, are entirely consistent with eacf
, other, or that mother is still mother
even when the child's prayer is stern
ly denied, is beyond the reach of thar
f narrow intellect, and will be for man,
7 a year to come. Mothers ant
, children sometimes get at odds fo
? this reason, and in like manner W,
r get at odds with the Almighty.
But when we come to he men ou
minds are large enough to settle Ger
| udIu ndtieIS vi ptdCttCdi ! III oOI tduCe
: 1t is needless to theoIiza, tor harsl
! experience tells US truths which can
: not be gainsaid. The microbe in tn
watch has Learned his lesson ant
{: knows that some jou neys ar
: dangerous, while Others are safe, ant
: from that moment he has n plan o
r lie. He constructs a decalogue fo
3 himself, and the Thou shalt mott il
the voice of imperial law, not forbid
3 ding him through caprice, but be
]. cause an infraction of the law i
followed by loss and remurse
Every man knows that there is
right and a wrong; has been laugh
7 this by many tears and failures; tina
, love brings sunshine, and hatred tn
) tempest; that filial relations with tn
} Infinite result in serenity of soul, 1
resignation to harsh events which
t changes them from a curse to {
I blessing by some necromancy who's
secret he cannot fathom, while hostil
: relations end in loneliness and des
peration; that integrity of charact
. er is worth all it costs to acquire ent
defend it. Add to all this the pro
phetic longing for another lie, which
no argument can suppress, d longing
, that, like the spring on the noun
: tain side, will have its way, and {
: curious conviction, which seems tC
! be a component part of his nature
| that in ways unexplained the deal
ones in heaven can find a path tc
earth, drawn by love which wal
] sacred and strong before the funera