St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-21
REPLY TO INGERSOiL.
Rev. MIR. Wilcox Says Pagan
Bob Knows Nothing
Of God
NOR OF IMMORTALITY,
And Credits Him With Ig-
noranee Concerning
Future Life,
BUT PLEADS EL0QUENTLY
For What He Is Pleased to
Term the Religion Of
Humanity.
BUT PLEADS EL0QUENTLY


filled last evening. on the occasion IF
the second lecture by Rev. Charles b.
Wilcox in reply to Col. Ingersol. Con-
trastlng Ingersoll's religion of human
ity' with the Christian religion, Mir.
Wilcox said:
Col. Ingersoll constantly dwelIs upon
the cruelties of Bible history and the
bigotry and intolerance of the Christian
church. Turning from these as revolt
ing, he pleads eloquently for what he
calls the religion of humanity
Religion as it is commonly under
stood includes God and man, the nat
ural and the supernatural. Ingersoll
champions religion $50 called) which
divorces these. He knows nothing of
God, Immortality or future life. He
finds man on wide ocean, without
pole star Or compass. exposed to raging
seas. and in constant danger of ship
wreck, but brings him no lifeboat,
offers him no chart, directs him to no
heven. The best he can do is to say it
is human to be kind. 1t is for the hap
piness Of all to do justly, live peaceabIy
and be helpful to one another. Be
courageous! You will soon land some
where or go under.
"Before Col. Ingersoll christen ed his
new creed he consulted all other reiig-
ions. He noted the cruelty of the pagan
gods and the barbarous worship rem
dered them-the human sacrifices, the
killing of Infants and burning of wild
OWs. He looked into the Christian
church in the Middle ages, only to see
its corruption, its tyranny and intoler-
ance, its inquisition and instruments of
| torture, and turning from these with al
fected disgust, he called his new creed
the religion of humanity and when
| he speaks its name he means to brand
| all other religions as inhuman.
sit is true that nearly all forms of pa
gan religion have been cruel. it must
| be conceded that the Christian church
| has its record of cruel intolerance. But
| can we judge of the purity and value of
religion by the character OF its adher-
ents when their lives are striking
contrast to the life and teachings OF the
founder of their faith? The Christian
| church made use OF prisons and flaming
| fagots; within her pale were those who
invented instruments of torture to cor
| rect the lives of men better than them
| selves. And yet, at what act i'll the life
of Christ would they look TO conclude it
| would be Christian to make thumb
screw? 10 what savings of Christ
would they advert as authority for
kindling a slow fire about fellow man,
| Yorslring EsEln to Death
because lie could not think as they did?
Is the tree known by lis fruit? Does
he branch partake of the nature OF the
| vine?
| THEN where do multitudes of adher-
ents to the church through its history
| belong? Not to Christ, for they show
none of His spirit. TO be Christian is
to be Christlike. If any man have not
the spirit of Christ, he is none OF His.
If we would judge of the purity and
value Of Christianity, we should look not
at the corrupt lives and cruel conduct
of protested believers in dark age, but
at the doctrines and character of its au-
thor, and the lives of those who have
really exhibited His spirit. And no
matter how closely this field is exam
ined,it will reveal no inhumanity. The
life and teachings Of Christ are full of
kindness, love, sympathy and good
works.
(Which, after all, is the religion of
humanity?' this new, empty, indefina-
Bile doctrine of Col IngerSolI's or the
religion of Him who babe man do unto
others as he would that they should do
unto him. He who sees i'll man only
such possibilities as the present life
NAV develop is not likely to take his
life in his hand and carry his religion
to distant lands. He will rather say,
Let the heather alone; their mlSeries
are soon ended
1T is Christianity that enables man,as
he looks into the face of his fellow, to
recognize the workmanship of God. and
to feel that in human life are bound UP
infinite possibilities. He who is per-
| meated by its spirit sees even in the sad
victim of bpastly intoxication. clad in
! rags and lying in the gutter, one i'll
whom all heaven is interested, ana for
whom its Christ died. Actuated by its
spirit, men are ready to bid farewell to
! home and friends, cross oceans, face
danger and death to carry its glad It'd
ings to the lost While Christianity Is
! divine it is also human. Jesus Christ
| fathomed the lowest depths of human
nature, and touched every side OF
| human life. Let all lives be brought
| into harmony with His and we will shut
up our grog shops, free the air OF i'm.
pure language, take the locks from our
doors, disband our police forces and
standing. armies, close our jails and
prison houses. destroy the gallows
and gullotine, turn our weapons of
warfare into implements of husbandry
and make heaven of earth. The re
| ligion of Jesus Christ is the religion of