Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1895-12-20
SUNDAY MORNING SERMON.

Extracts from Sermon by Rev. n. Newton.
Religions chief danger lies with
the religious. It is professional
ism in religion which most dam
ages it. There would be no fear
about any loss Of interest in re-
ligion were there no loss of true
thought as to the thing itself.
What curious notions about it are
found among its representatives !!
In Far from Maddings Crowd"
we have a quaint picture Of the
good Joseph Snodgrass, who was
SO VERY religious" the official
who duly passed the plate at the
"Let- Your Light-So-shine, and
always bowed properly to the
rector on the road. A conception,
this, which leaves little some
thing to be desired
In the most wonderful church
in Christendom, the woman who
leaves the home for the convent is
called "a religious" Are, then,
the home duties unspiritual, and
are the beautiful domesticities not
divine?
When one hears Of a man that
''he has got religion the question
arises, Is there a microbe in the
air of the revival tent, which
taken into the system, develops
state Of religiosity'
Thus, all forms Of religion unite
in unconsciously caricaturing it.
1t is such queer misconception Of
the simplest and divinest Of hu-
man interests which produce the
sense Of nausea in the mind Of
the average man that he mistakes
for dislike of religion. This it is
which awakens the suspicion met
with on every hand that religion
is losing its hold over men, while
everywhere real religion is show
ing that it sways mankind as much
as in the ages of faith True re-
ligion never will lose its hold over
men while life beats high in man,
for it is but the natural expression
Of life itself. Il is the bond ire
ligo) of life; the reYersnt recogni-
ton of the mystic threefold strand
of life, and the faithful rendering
of the dues or duties involved
therein.
Recognizing a power over US
from which we spring, an infinite
and eternal energy Of which we
are the highest manifestations
known to us, it is reverence toward
this divine being and obedience to
the laws of this divine life.
Recognizing this divine life
within the soul, in s'the abysmal
depths Of personality" it is reyer-
ence toward the inner self and
loyalty to the ideals Of the spirit.
Recognizing this divine life in
our fellow-men it is reverence to-
ward the divine thought in every
man and in every woman. and
helpfulness to our brother" in his
needs.
The presence of any one ofthese
three threads in the bond Of life
| makes man to that extent re-
ligious. The absence of any one
of them makes a man, in SO far,
irreligious. The blending of these
three threads in the perfect bond
oflife presents US with true re-
ligion. The lack of all these
strands Of life constitutes the true
atheism.
We may test our religion, then,
by our being under these 'sbonds
ola man"
The man who, however he fails
to see that conscious law is king
of kings does see that law is
king in athe heavens above and
in the earth beneath, " and SO
strives to shape his life after the
beautiful order Of the universe,
renders the alone true worship to
the life infinite and eternal. He
is a religious man. Thomas Hux-
ley was, therefore, religious, and
knew it not.
Wbenpvnr q man lives as nak-