Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1895-10-10
CHRIS TIANITY.
What 1t Is, and Reasons for Believing !
In II.

young man who asks us to answer the
following questions as briefly and as
clear as possible:
l. What is the Christian reli gion?
Q. What reasons are there for believ-
Ing in it?
He says he has listened to many SER
mons, but has not been able to obtain
from them satisfactory answers to
these questions.
Then we fear we can not.satisfy him,
for the demand is a pretty serious one.
1t is to teach young men how to an
swer these questions that our theolog-
ical seminaries give them three years
instruction, and then often fail of the
object. How can they be answered in
q paragraph or two?
And yet simple and ignorant people
can know and tell what Christianity
is and why they believe it. We will
try, praying that the Divine Spirit will
help us, and will help this young man
and others like him to profit by our
answer.
If you want to know what the Chris
tian religion is, read carefully the
| Four Gospels. Even one of them will
be enough. AS you read it and care
fully attend to the teachings of Jesus
Christ, see how you like them. Do
they seem to you good, worthy? What
do you think of His character? 1t is
pity to ask us what Christianity is
when you have a Testament in your
satchel, or can get one easier than you
can the Independent. Next Sunday
| naa1 70 oh % ;eto -
a sermon; but stay at home, and at a
single sitting read Matthew. If you
then do not quite understand what
Christianity is, read John through at
another sitting. 1t Is no larger than
a dime novel. Do not fail to do this
And, as you read, pass judgment on
the teachings of Jesus. Do they please
you? Do youlike that character? Do
you love the man who has thus lived
| for others and died for others?
Perhaps you will find OUTPUT do not
take our word for it-that Christianity
is something like this: 1t is a religion
which teaches that God sent His pc
culiar and special Son, Jesus Christ,
into the world to teach men how to be
good, and sweet, and loving, and help
full, and brave; that Jesus Christ taught
the best teaching that man ever heard;
that He performed miracles of love;
that He died a cruel death and rose
again on the third day; that through
Him pardon and forgiveness and
Heaven are offered to all that are sorry
for their sins, and love Him, and try
to initiate Him in living lives devoted
not to their own selfish aims, but to
the honor of God and the good of men,
You will find, perhaps, that the life
required by the Christian religion is a
life in which you will have to resolve
and labor, not in form and pretense,
but really, to make everybody as happy
and good as you can, and to keep your
self as true and pure as was the Son of
God.
But you want to know what rea-
sons there are for believing it." Very
good. That is proper. But, first, how
do you like it? w hat do you think of
its requirements on you? Are they
proper and sensible? Is it not well
that you should crush your own sell
fishness in the determination that you
will henceforth live for the world,
which is many, and not for yourself,
who is but one? If this does seem to
you something noble, beautiful, begin
with this first; no matter whether the
Christianity that teaches it to you is
true or not. Begin with this, which
carries its own reason and does not
need to be argued to you. An infdel
could tell you to do that
Now, have you done it? Have you
made that fateful resolve? Then we
thank God, and proceed to the next
STEP
Is 1T not something of an evidence for
the truth of Christianity that it has
such noble teaching of self devotion
and duty? Not another religion on the
face of the earth has such beautiful
doctrine of duty, and not one has be-
gun to have such an influence to
promote goodness as the Christian re-
ligion. Its ministers are preaching it
all the time, even when they do not
practice it. The life of Christ is being
held up to the world as the model of
human life, and it's influence is advanc-
ing, and seems likely to advance until
it shall put an end to wars and wrong.
Is it not a presumption in favor of q
religion that it is the chief influence
which is promoting this unselfishness
which you are adopting?
Another reason for your believing in
the Christian religion is that it is gen.
orally believed in by intelligent men.
If you do not believe in it, you must
give reason why. You must satisfy
yourself positively that it is not true.
One part of it you can not help believ-
ing to be true. If you have a right
moral nature, you have already ac-
cepted as noble, and we hope have
adopted as your own, its precepts for
the conduct of your life. All you can
doubt is the less important part, the
history about Christ. But you have
got good reason for disbelieving
that? Try to think what your reason
is, whether it is enough to make you
reject the general agreement of intel
ligent and excellent men all over the