The Irish standard., 1896-01-18
1'HE SOULS IMM0R RTAIITT
REASON is IN HAR1oaY WITH GOD
We Arc Positive OF Future life Because
80 God Mas Told ~
r. H'-r Us Sp.

'How DO We Know There Is 2 Future
Life?" was Father Cleary's topic at st.
Charles church last Sunday evening. lie
said IN part: The definite conviction ex-
pressed by the apostles in this declaration
to the Corinthians is the consoling hope
that lightens the weary burden OF hu-
man existence and satisfies the universal
longing OF the heart Of humanity Tor re-
pose and enduring life.
The Christian believes in q future life.
and in the immortal nature OF his soul,
the spiritual presence within hlm Inc
man who calls himself a nationalist, who
claims TO believe in nothing that he can
not see or feel admits, as right reason
must force him to do, that the human
heart is filled with aspirations and cra-
Wings that this world cannot satisfy; but
he contends that they are simply mani
festaIions of the trend Of humanity Tor
higher and more progressive develop.
meht, AS science, N which religious un-
believers generally confide with superstl-
f.oug edlLIty, has not analyzed the sub
stance ct a human soul, and as no testi-
naony has ever been able to prove that an
ira,nlortal soul has been seen: by Tile eye OF
man, the nationalist prstends he Is J11stl-
fed at least in doubling the existence, II
not in denying the same outright, Oh
spiritual, immortal soul. ., ..,,, -
The medical student has never yet
found a.soul with his probe or disseoting
knife, among the nerves and fibres- OF
corpse on the d:ssecting table; hence, the
rreserce Of an immortal soul in a human
body. at any tifne, it is claimed, is a mat
ter of uncertainty and doubt. The pres
euce of an immortal soul In a dead body is
no matter of doubt and uncertainty. 1t
the soul had remained, death would not
have come How absurd, therefore, the
objection, that because no soul mas ever
ueen found, where no sane man ever pre-
tended one was, the existence of the soul
isamatter of doubt The soul IS that i'm
material, spiritual substance that gives
life to the body that thinks, reasons, Wills,
hopes and fears. loves and hates, MARKS
the distinction between the human and
the brute, places man little lower than
the angels and crowns him with honor
and glory" We are certain Of the exls-
tence of this immaterial substance which
we call soul, not because we have seen 1t,
and not alone because we have been as
s,,red of it's presence by irrefutable testl-
nlony. but also because we experience its
effects and we realize its power. .. i,
From the creation OF the first man to
our own time, no nation of men, whether
civilized or savage, has even been found
among whom did not prevail an OVerrui-
ing conviction that man was destined
for Immortality, and that all was not
over with him when the grave was en-
tered This universal, unvarying COM
mon sense of mankind is presumption
in favor of Christian teachings, which
cannot be ignored, unless we repudlate
the capacity Of human reason to discern
important truths. Vague, crude, lncor-
rect in many ways, this widely dlftused
and universal conviction Of the human
mind may have been-as nations lapsed
into idolatry and superstition-but the
undeniable fact of the settled idea OF
Immortality among the human race, no
matter how ignorant or depraved, is a
convincing proof that the Intelligent Au-
thor OF human reason did not leave man
in total darkness as to the end and object
of his existence.
Right reason, in all ages and at all
times. is in perfect harmony with Gods
revelation to man. Every revelation which
God has madeahas been a declaration to
human reason God is the author Of
reason. as WELL of course, as of his own
revelation to man. Right reason tells
us that the soul of man cannot die, be-
cause death can touch only material sub
stances, dissolution has no power over
what cannot be dissolved, and the i'm
material, that is not made up Of COM
ponent parts, is beyond the reach Of dis
solution OF decay. Whatever is not sub
iect TO the law of decay and death, must,
Of course be immortal, cannot die.
The soul In man, the principal OF life,
is essentially different from the prin-
ciple of life in the plants, OF in the brute.
The latter, no matter how sagaciOus.
are impelled by instinct, are not free
to choose, cannot be held to any respon-
sibility form no metal perceptions, can
not think. originate no ideas and indulge
in no hope of a better life than this. Man
is never satisfied with even the best this
life can give him. His discomfort and
dissatisfaction find always ample reason
for their existence, in the thought. that
no matter how pleasing this life may be,
it cannot last, we cannot control it's dura-
ton, all our plans must come to an end,
and the sad uncertainty OF being able
to cling to the idols of our hearts cher
ished affections leaves an 'unsatisiied
void in the human heart. g.
Reason tells us, what true religion more
clearly explains. that our souls cannot die,
and therefore that another life awaits US,
after the soul has left its house Of clay.
Pagan philosophers, before the light OF
Christian truth had dawned upon the
world. guided solely by the light Of Tea-
son, had expressed the hope and the opin-
ion that gave it birth, that another life
awaited the children Of men; but their
opinion was after all. but guesswork, and
could not fill the craving of the heart of
man, as can the Christian conviction, ex-
pressed by the profession of faith in what
God has made known, II believe in the
resurrection of the body and life ever
rasting.'' "4 .'F
Either the reason of man is incapable
ef4grasping the plain meaning OF absolute
Ind positive truth. or we know that there
s future life. Either all the generations
pf men have lost the proper use of their
season or there is an endless life beyond
he grave. The most sublime conceptions
that have revealed towondering man the
possibilities Of human genius have arisen
rom the conviction of a life to come
H., J1T, fS with