The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-12-12
the Acts of the Apostles, which are as


hill, and said: Ye men of Athens, per.
ceive that in all things We are too supersti,
tious. For as l passed by. and beheld
your deyotiOns, l found an altar with
this inscription: TO the Unknown God
Whom, therefore, We ignOrantly worship
Him declare l unto you"
Devotion and superstition were two
such striking characteristics of the
Athenians that they at once arrested the
attention of the Apostle Paul. They
were devoted to what they believed to be
right, but the lack of a knowledge of the
teachings of Jesus made them supersti-
tious. True worship and superstition are
Numerically opposed to each other, the
latter always vanishing before knewl-
edge. Indeed, it is impossible to have
an intelligent understanding of the Script
ureS and at the same time be SuperSti-
tious. One can not worship without first
reading and understanding the Bible. The
man who talks about the unknown is
superstitious. Christ said: And this is
life eternal, that they might know Thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
Whom Thou hast sent" I'm the face of
this no one should be so superstitious as
to speak of the unknown. Uncertainty
characterized the Athenians, but not so
of Paul. He preached a definite and well
defined doctrine at all times and in all
places. He emphasized the fact that
Jesus must be preached whenever an
opportunity presented itself.
There is decided tendency to draw
differences and distinctions between an
cient and modern people. This is not as
it should be in light of the fact that hui
man nature never changes. The greatest
force ON earth. in ancient as well as in
modern times, is an idea enheshed in a
human soul. Let a principle become i'm
bedded in mans heart until it filters
from his heart through his muscles and
sinews, and from his muscles and sinews
back to his heart again, and there is no
power on earth that can resist its force.
The teachings of Jesus took possession
of Paul; be was no longer Paul-he be
came the incarnation of those teachings,
and a world blesses his memory.
The religion of Paul is the religion that
human nature wants and needs today.
There will never come time when this
religion will be other than the best and
grandest incentive to inspire the soul in
it's upward seeking after a higher and
purer life. Six thousand years before
Christ Athens was the center of the
worlds civilization. 1t reflected all that
was best in the arts and philosophy. The
weakness of its government was that the
lon, the great law-giver, taught that every
man should study law, and he advocated
the distribution of wealth. He changed
the system of Athens from an aristocra-
cy of birth to an aristOcracy of wealth,
or timocracy. Draco, Solon's predeqes-
sOr, wrote his laws in the blood of his
people; he centralized all beliefs, but
despite this unifcation of the church it
fell, because not based upon the known
God. This condition of affairs created by
Draco and Scion lasted for 600 years,
but these people finally persisted. In the
decay of nations man reads the lesson of
his Importance, and more and more real
ICES the high destiny for which he was
created. In its progress through the
ages the longings of the human soul have
been to know more" The history of
the world can be written on one page.
Wealth once accumulated, degeneracy
begins.
The history of 1900 years teaches that
there is but one thing that can check dis
sipation in individuals and decay in ma
lions, and that is Christ. Such admoni-
tons as DO unto others us you would
have others do unto you," are the hope of
the world. These form the connecting
link between the soul of man and the
haven of the hereafter. Paul did not hes
itate to attack this belief in an unknown
God because he knew that belief in
Christ was the only corrective principle
How inconsistent it is to say that we
can not know the future, yet at the same
time say it is our duty to worship.
All nations have their religions, but
Pauls preaching at Athens demonstrates
that this should be no bar to presenting
and urging the acceptance of the religion
of Christ. In all but Christian nations
there are affairs today erected to unknown
Gods. The Epicurean philosophy was
egoistic rather than altruisti and Paul did
not hesitate to declare that its followers
them the scheme of salvation and eXem.
plified the fact that Christianity must
force itself into the darkness of unchris
tian nations.
We have notices in our day that close
ly resembles the one of the Athenians tC
the unknown God. AS, for example, ex.
Guiding the Bible from the public schools
Such an action is more fatal to the SOU
than the reading of bad literature to the
morals. Neither the Epicurean nor the
Stole systems of philosophy harmonizes
with the doctrine of the Christian relig
ion. The guiding principle of the one was
live while you live" and the other en-
tirely excluded God.
The above statements are but bare sug
gestions of what was said, and the mighty
| lessons of the sermon must have beer
heard to be fully appreciated.
THE UNITARIAN SERVICES.
| A large crowd was present at the Uni
tartan church yesterday morning to heal
sermon on "The Religious Sentiment
by the Rev f. NJ Wheelock The