The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-05-04
REV. POOLS SERMON
lie Addresses Large Audience in the
Christian Church, Butte.
ON THE SUBJECT OF OMAN "
His Discourse Takes the Nature of
Reply to a Recent Noted
Atheists Lecture An
Able, Logical TALK.

Rev. c. w. Poole of the Christian
church of Butte delivered an interest
ing sermon last evening on the subject
of Man." the discourse taking the ma
ture of reply to a recent noted atheist
lecture. Mr.. Pool spoke as follows:
The spirit of inquiry has never asked
a more important question than this,
What is MANI" Philosophy has no
study of transcendent Importance as
the answer to this inquiry. The nature
of man, allied as it is to God and relat-
ed to other natures above and beneath
1T, presents to the student a field of re-
search coextensive with time and eter-
nifty. These relations have always ex-
cited in every earnest student the deep
est solicitude. Seeking an answer to
the question, philosophers have sought
to measure and define the constitution
OF man unaided by revelation, but the
attempt has always been a failure, for
no equation leaving out the origin and
destiny of man can solve the problem
and give the true result Measured by
his achievements, to man must be
given high rank in the order of Gre
ated intelligences, and we may consider
some Of the things he has done and
gain very high conception of the mar
nature.
AS geologist he has entered the Sc
cret recesses of the EARTH uncovered
the great stone book and read upon it's
pages the story of creation. He has
classified and set in order the success
i've formations between Azoic ages and
the era of man, filling the intervening
time with a history of the structure
and constitution of the earth. As an as
tronomer, he pursues his Investigations
into the field of other worlds and.
drawing his diagram on the floor of
the heavens, assigns within its lines
places to suns and stars, mapping the
vast expanse above with equal or
greater accuracy than the surfaoas of
the earth on which he lives. WitlI an
wearied eye he follows suns and &tars
in their orbits. concentric and Eccentric,
follows comets in their erratic courses,
and notes the time of swinging shad-
ows falling on other worlds. With his
spectroscope he examines the spectra
produced by flaming planets and de-
termines the composition of their sub
stance. He measures depths unfath-
ENABLE, distance inconceivable TAX
ing the diameter of the earth's orbit for
a mighty base line. he erects on either
end the side of an astronomical TRAN
gle, the apex of which reaches the fixed
stars; then, taking a ray of light that
travels with the velocity of $4,000, 900
miles per minute for a measuring line,
listen while he tells you that the light
now falling on the eye from the North
star left Polaris As years ago and other
stars are so remote that the message
of the cross started on the wings of
light 1900 years ago, would not yet have
reached them! Roaming at will
through the fields of heaven, he takes
his place on one of the pleiades, and
from this central point looks out on the
innumerable worlds circling around
him, like notes floating in a sunbeam.
With the greatness of an archangel. he
places the worlds in his balances, COM
putes their specific gravity and fear
lessly measures the flaming shafts of
fire projected from the surface of the
sun, quarter million miles into space.
In the exercise of his royal power,
man grapples with the forces of ma
ture. The forked lightning that plays
above his head, he strips of it's terror
and makes the slave of his will. Grid
ling the earth with a tiny iron cord,
he thrills his thoughts around the globe
and counts in seconds the time consum-
ed. With the hand of b. master he has
seized the devil of the teapot" and
bound II In letters of iron and brass;
then, laying down an iron road from
ocean to ocean, across rivers. over
plains and mountains, suspended in
mid air over chasms, along the edge
of mighty abysses, he harnesses this
volatile force to his chariot and drives
furiously across the continent, out
stripping the winds in his flight. With
this same agent he bids defiance to
wind and wave and sends his palatial
vessels across the billowy Atlantic, in
sheer despite of Neptune's power. He
is not content, though master of sea
ard land; he contemplates a flight
through viewless air and its soft en-
brace will some time be carried across
the continent, across the ocean from
shore to shore.
But not in these achievements are his
mightiest powers fully displayed AS
a philosopher, he delights in the most
intricate questions, and in their solu-
ton manifests the mighty energy of his
mind. AS a poet, he sings an Iliad of
woes. of a paradise lost or regained,
and his song is a song or a demi-god.
enhancing a world. AS an orator. he
moves vast multitudes, now to laugh
ter, then to tears The geologist read
ing the great stone book; the astrono-
mer walking the paths of the universe;
the philosopher, poet and orator, by
their achievements manifest the great
ness of man and give him high place
on the mighty scale OF being. of which
God is head. In dignity he is God-like;
in capacity limited only by the infinite.
From the consideration of his achieve
ments. let US now turn to a higher
standard Dy winch 10 determine the
nature of a man and 10 answer the in
quiry of the text. The highest con-
ception man has ever entertained of
the dignity of his own nature has never
reached the height OF the divine idea.
Unaided by revelation. the question is
forever unanswered; in the light of d.
vine teaching. we may read the answer
here and now. in larger part as We
grasp Gods idea Of man. There are
two statements Of fact in the Bible, be
longing TO the Old and New Testament
respectively, by which we can gain
some idea Of man as he is regarded by