The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1895-11-17
- 20 gIe3gglg
Coz I g I! ! G RELIGION.
"a Fine sshlagS Sermon By the Pastor Of all
Ss0ls' Church. New York.
WELL 40 aIOW u DIVINE II REBER NEWTON.

q mo Sfys y eIigionss Chier DnnE or Lies
issst5:,S It'll the Religious md that 1t Is
ofcssio 8 u In Itclist ton which
DnlnnEe sa IT. I,eycre{.ces Toward
sod nna obediente OF His Laws.
Is IF eligion,s chief danger lies with tile,
8SsFelig ioIs. It is prof In re-
81 igien which most damages it. There
would be no fear about any loss of In
Hiierest lin religion were there no loss of
TRUE thought rs to the thing itself.
ssssY hat curious notions about It are
& fo0ndPnmo its representatives!
5ssN In the charming "Reminiscences of
"a ozley'. he tells us that in the begin
x ming Of the oxford movement there
GsSAyas plenty of religion in the land, but
s. it6had little opportunity of F showing
Itself. IA Fancy q religion which found
Il little opportunity of showing itself amid
II all IS the wrongs and smiseries of this
SS$$SS naughty world. because. forsootli,
sSA ilsre. was a lack of proper ecclesiastical
Of piety
&ss3ss2eel n IS Far From the NIadding Crowd"
I'VE have a. quaint picture OF the good
& Joseph Snodgrass. who was SO very
religious" the official who duly passeL
4 the plate Mt the Let-Your-Light-So-
Shine and who always bowed properly
Z to the rector on the road. A concep-
ton, this, which leaves little some
~ Iu1nG TO lie desired! .is. ts sNs
What O picture is that of the aged
47 Carlyle, reading u letter from one Of
the sunco' guild" urging him to turn
s his thoughts to religion. AS though
,9s that intensely earnest soul had ever
i, turned his thoughts to anything else
than religion! What Carlylenn laugh
ssf must have concluded the reading of
s this precious epistle!
rs Thus, all forms of religion unite in
carica.turing It, 1t Is
nj r,f no Si,,
IN plests and divlnest of human interests
* which produce the sense OF nausea In
Y the mind of the average man that he
mistakes ills for dislike OF religion, This
y 1t is which awakens the suspicion met
with on every hand that religion is los
5,5s me Its hold over men, while every
jFSS where real religion is showing That
At sways mankind as much as in the
sS55 ages or faith. True religion never
:S VIII lose It's hold over men while life
tSe beats high in man. for 1t Is but the
l na turalt expression OF life itself 1t is
asa the bond (religo) of life: the reverenl
strand of life and the faithful rem
AZ dering Of the dues or duties involved
81 therein. ~ +,
recognizing. power over us from
when we spring. an infinite and eter-
&E nal energy of which we are the high
3s est manifestations known to us, ii is
4 reverence toward this divine being and
d SSppedience to the laws of this divire
f Recognizing this divine life within tho
tsSsoNi, In .the abysmal depths of per
vi sonaltty. 1t is reverence toward the
inner self and loyalty to the ideals Of
\ the spirit
Recognizing this divine life in our
1t is reverence toward the
s dlNlhe . thought in every man and In
eEery woman and. helpfulness to our
'brother"$ In his needs.
is5 IL he presence of any one of those
three threads in the bond OF life makes
n man to that extent religious The
* ABSENCE or any one of them makes a
4 m man. n, SO far, irrellgious. The blend
ihs OF these three threads in the perfect
pond 9f!life presents us with true re-
siigion. The lack of all these strands
5#of III, lie constitutes the true atheism,
N Ven we may test our religion. then, by orr
\ being under these s.bonds OF man"
,S me man who, whatever his thoughts
a poutJ the universe, stands in awe be-
l5 , I2re It. reWerencing the power "in
q being. that man, despite all his doubts
Il ana difficulties. Notwithstanding all his
y Commissions of mind, is n religious man.
me man who, however, he falls to
w see That conscious law is king of
kings" does see that law is king in
n the heavens above and in the earth be-
s meath, and so strives to shape his
Il !ite after the beautiful order OF the
Is universe renders the alone true wor-
snip to the life infinite and eternal. He
Sts religious man, Thomas Huxley
was therefore, religious. and knew it
mot
S On the other hand, wherever a man
walks amid the wonders of this uni
slVersal life irreverently, with no feeling
of awe upon his soul, before the inf
mite mystery of power and wisdom and
order and beneficence which the heav-
q ems declare and which day unto day
x uttereth," there is an irre1gious man.
9ssss5NVherever a man lives as making no
q serious attempt to conform his life to
Y the order of nature, the system of the
i universe the laws of the infinite life,
u making of his impulses and desires
sShis greeds and passions the laws of his
being, there is an irreligious man.
hue many deacon, many a priest,
STaany a abishcp, many Pope, has been
more irreigious than many a so-called
II tnfdeI
III He who recognizes in the moral law
Il shrtned within the soul a something sa-
SSSscred "a power mystic, an authority i'm
Il pertal, the force by which the heavens
80 themselves are kept from wrong, the
b life: of the universe emerging in the
ssshpere OF spirit, the very voice OF the
infinite and eternal energy, and who
2loyally obeys this ruler by right divine,
;ssgor seeks, through his human weakness
IA hus to obey he. whatsoever his specu-
5alation about the origin and develop
~ inent of conscience and whatsoever his
= at titude toward the church, the organ
RI OF conscience us most genuinely md