The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1895-07-13

wished Il had written down, when
came from that conference, his talk to
me Of the inner light and life of God in
! the soul of man, which I vainly endeav
/ O,'ed to get him to write for me and for
| the larger public. want this morning
/ simply to repeat the confession of faith
/ Of this poet, prophet, refOrmer and
! s;.1Et, interpreting it little to you in
my poorer words.
In the first place, then, with all tho
! saints in all ZINES, we believe not mere
! ly III God, we believe in Emmanuel
! God with us. That is tho difference be
tween Christianity and theism. Thcism
is belief in God; Christianity is faith III
| Innanuel-GOd with us. This is the
very heart CT Christianity-GOdw with
Us. You might imagine men living on
the dark side of the world wondering
whether there is q sun and debating the
question: and if the world never re-
vOIved on its pole, sitting III the dark
ness all the time they debated the ques-
ton To sit i'll the darkness and debate
with ourselves whether there is Il God
that dwells somewhere else, but never
shines on the world with his love and
never iIlumines the heart Of man, that
is idle. Christianity is not merely faith
in the sun, but in sun shining Oh the
world.
In tho second place, and as a result Of
this, the doctrine of the Trinity is not a
mere bit of medieval schOlasticism,
though it is sometimes SO thought to be-
A great deal that has been said to be the
doctrine of the Trinity is medieval scho-
1asticism. A great deal of church debate
on the question of the relation Of the
three persons to one another Is debate
about the unknown. But when the poet
and the prophet and the refOr1ner and
the saint of the nineteenth century secs
vital truth in the doctrine of the Trim
ity, let US not shut our eyes and think
he also has fallen into moro schO1asti
cisLn. There is a profound spiritual truth
in this doctrine held fast by the church
of God. We believe that God came into
human life, not merely sending Il mes
senger, angel or archanSCl, human or
suDcrhuman, God himself came into hu-
man life III order that lie may 5e seen,
known. ;:f;.rchended, loved. This is the
vital thtal%l.t, and whether che believes
III this - a.! cECvCS i'll 1t makes; IL great
difference iii the spiritual experience.
can see no middle ground between the
doctrine Of Norbert Spencer, that God
is the unknown and unlcnOWab1e, and
the doctrine CT evangelical Christianity,
that God has revealed himself III ID hui
man Efe.
Because all that wo know or can
know VIC know through the interpreted
ton of human experience. If God de-
sired to make himself known to his chill
dren, there is only one conceivable way
in which he could do it-Ey entering
into 1. human life and enabling us to see
the Deity SO interpreted All idolatry,
all idol building, whether Of stone or
wood or brain creation, is the e1ldeavor
Of men to interpret God i'll some form
which they can comprehend. The doc
trine of the incarnation, the doctrine
that God is one and that Christ is that
same one God come into human life, is
this-that all this cropping Of men after
God is not a vain, futile, idle, useless
thing; that God has como to men i'll an
swer to their CRY, first inspiring and
stimulating the desire and then coming
and responding to it. Christ is God
manifest in the flesh, the divine lll-
manned. When you kneel down burden
ed with sorrow Or with sin, try to phrase
your prayer as if there We're no such
revelation; think Of the universe, think
of the infinite one that pervades all
space, shines i'll all stars, floats in all
clouds, blooms in all flowers, moves in
all life. Can you carry to such IL one
such an all pervading, universal pres
ence? Can you carry to Him your sor-
rows, your troubles? You must frame
or take some image Of the infinite and
eternal one But kneel down and think
Of Christ as he walked by the shore Of
the sea of Gahlee, picture him to your
self in your imagination, look up into
his eyes, talk to him as one man talks
to another. Prayer blossoms instantly
and becomes the natural utterance of
the soul to the divine.
Knocking at the Heart.
But God has entered into human LIE
in this one human life that he may en-
ter into all our lives. And so God with
US is not merely God with the twelve,
10 centuries ago; it is God with
you and God with me, God here, GCd
now, God in every true heart, God III
every sanity soul, God in every expert
ence, God inspiring all that is divine
and elevated and noble, God knocking
at every heart, God entering into every
experience that is open to receive him