The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1895-11-21
BASIS OF RELIGION.
THE NEW YORK HERALD'S SPECIAL SIM
DAY SERMON,

THE NEW YORK HERALD'S SPECIAL SUM-
DAY SERMON.
Perfect Knowledge Not Necessary to
Religious Life, Says the Writer-If
1t Were There Could Be No Such
Thing as Religious Life, He Con-
tends.
30 tar as any exact comprehension
OF His mode of existence or of the
qualities of His character or of His om-
nlscience or omnipresence is concerned
it is possible for US to know very little.
Infinite power is so far beyond the
reach of our minds that its contempla-
ton is productive of very little benefit,
and it is useless to attack the mystery
OF Infinite wisdom with any hope of
solving the puzzle, as it would be to
leap from the earth expecting TO land
| on the nearest fixed star.
But perfect knowledge is not neces-
sary to the religious life. If it were
there could be no such thing as relig-
ious life.
A great many honest minds, how
ever, have been disturbed and driven
to the verge of doubt by their inability
to form any conception of God. He
is the uncreated Creator, but the words,
convey no meaning whatever to our
minds. 1fyou look through the Lick
| telescope at Arcturus you see very
little more than the unlettered peas
ant. Still Arcturus is in the sky
whether You can peer into his secret
or not, and God is in your life, though
your most searching thought returns to
you empty-handed. The very words,
omnipotence and omnipresent, have
an unthinkable Specification, and when
the man of science tells US that space
is absolutely limitless, that it consists
of horizons which are simply endless
in number, we accept the fact, but
have no more conception of it than
the microbe in a watch has Of the del
lCate machinery whose ticks are a con-
tinuOus roll Of thunder in its ears.
What, then, you ask, is the basis of
religion which demands such self
control and self sacra6ce? If these
problems will always remain insoluble,
and if you can know SO little Of the
Being who demands your SOULS allie
glance, why may not religion itself be
mistake? Many heart has been
engloomed by these thoughts and
many a mind befogged by them.
The church, fear, has done US an
injury by putting into creed its spec
ulations and making that creed a
standard of excellence. If the creed
were offered to hungry minds as mere
ly theological hypothesis, to be &C,
cepted or rejected hy the thinking
folk in the religious community, valu
able in so far as it is spiritually helpful
and satisfactory to the individual, then
we could see its importance. But
when you are told that is the absolute
truth on the subject, and that assent
is the condition of receiving the Chris.
tian sympathy Of your fellow pilgrims
through the darkness, you are baked
in your efforts to lead holy life, and
perhaps fall from the high level ofyour
natural faith to the fateful lowlands
of doubt as to whether the whole
scheme of salvation is not mythical.
True religion is independent of any
purely intellectual theory Of the uni.
verse, and is founded on facts proven
by the universal experience Of man
kind. This statement is easily illus
trated by childhood. The little one
does not understand its mother, has
no comprehension whatever of a moth
er's love or of the significance of
a mothers's discipline. If the baby
were gifted with speech and could de-
scribe its relations to that mother
it would make as many mis-statements
as we do in describing our relations
to God. The mothers providence is
wholly misunderstood; even her watch
full care looks like interference with
child's rights, and the child might
say as Calvin did of the Almighty,
that "of her own good pleasure" she
pets at one moment and Furnishes at
another. The knowledge that pun
ishment and love are entirely consist
with each other, or that mother is still
mother even when the chlld's prayer
is denied, is beyond the reach of that
narrow intellect, and will be for many
wear to come. Mothers and chill
dren sometimes get at odds for this
reason, and in like manner we get
at odds with the Almighty.
But when we come to he men our
minds are large enough to settle Ger
tain matters Of practical importance.
1t is needless to theorize, for harsh ex-
perience tells US truths which cannot
be gained. The microbe in the watch
has learned this lesson and knows that
some journeys are dangerous, while
Others are safe, and from that moment
he has plan of lite. He constructs
a decalogue for himself, and the "Ihou
shalt not is the voice Of imperial law
not forbidding him through caprice,
. but because an infraction of the law is
. followed by loss and remorse. Every
man knows that there is right and
wrong; has been taught this by many
tears and failures; that love brings sun
shine, hatred tempest; that hllal re-
lations with tne Infinite result IN
serenity of soul, a resignation to harsh
events which changes them from
curse to a blessing by some NEGRO
NANCY whose secret he cannot fathom
while hostile relations end in lonell'
ness and desperation; that integrity
Of characfef Is worth all IL costs to &C.