The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1896-02-02
ventional Christianity? It is this ter.

ventional Christianity? 1t Is this tor
por which, more perhaps than anything
else, is eating away the distinctive apoB-
! felicity Of to- days warfare. We ore
anchored In peaceful Ravens. and rocked
/. by the four-inch ebb and flow OF
severely regulated tidal waves. SO we
are not disturbed by the doubts Of the
famous eleven. neither are we animated
| by their faith And yet. the meaning
| of this word doubt is very suggestive.
/ 1t Is derived from two Greek words.
! which mean ITO stand twice, :" the ex-
preston Of genuine and honest agita-
ton and hating. Such defect roots
itself in the very constitution of man.
It is faith balancing itself after
strain and shock 1t is soul wrestling,
1t Is the distressing vibration OF the life
engine. as it tugs at It's load. It Is
apostolic not pagan; deep not super
ficial: human. not philosophical; natur-
al. not artificial.
You know there is popular infldelity
just as there Is q popular Christianity
There is n kind of doubling" which
hasn't any character. just as there Is q
believing which is barren as Sa-
hara. Neither one of these was ever
In contact with the real heart Of nature
or of God.
There Is Il mass of professional halt
ing which one turns away from with a
yawn. 1t lacks heart and brains, liver
and backbone. There Is quite as much
cant In the agnosticism of the drawing
room and the platform as there is OF
the aisle and the pulpit. Moreover.
there is u phase OF doubt which ends
In complete exhaustion and tacIturn de-
spair, II is restless, corrosive, fruitless
But this scene on the Gallean noun
tain encourages MO such kind The
apostles stood twice." but with faces
CHI -n,t.f1. ~
questioned, animated by the deepest
loves and integrities of the heart. Here
are men who know and feel the certain
ties OF faith, which is no more altered
because Of momentary eclipse, than llpht
is changed whether beamlng from a
million stars. or flashing from multitu-
dinouS seas
the case of two men, quite representa-
tive and unique. One was ready for all
preachinEs and mysteries. IIe ccmld
scent heresy like q sleuth hound The
light of distant worlds never blinded
him. He was hard on the weak and
hating. He stood once only, and that
was for the purpose OF putting down
the contingent Of doubters. He was
never disturbed about any Epiphany,
any resurrection. any dogma, ancient or
modern, but alas! 1t was n fatal peace
like the white calmness of Arctic lati-
tudes! The other man belonged to the
group OF the sore distressed. Once he
took me aside and said IN pathetic ac-
cents:
Really do you believe that the Chris
tan religion is true?"
He sat up nights tracing and defln-
ing his doubts. And yet no unpreju-
diced person could come in contact with
him and not feel that in this mans own
troubled heart were the beginnings Of
God. He questioned, and yet the eter-
nal was stirring in him. There was in
him the fire which only the tragedy Of
a cross and an empty grave could have
klndied. This In u word. was his inf
deity. THE world cannot get along
without Christianity; the world cannot
get along with Christianity as It Is"
NOW, let us look around and ask our
selves the question, If tho world can
do without this latter sort OF man. I
have been particular in trying to en-
plain the doubt to which I refer; now
consider the point that there Is good
side to 1t. To my mind, the hope of the
world at this moment Is III the hands
OF men who must stand twice They
are not perpleXed for naught. For the
faith was delivered, It is being delivered
amid mighty searcllings Of heart
Right before us are the great problems
There is the duty and dignity OF pro
Sress, there are the new conditions
there Is the social problem, there is the
universal cliquedom on the one hand
universal cynicism and unohristian
sadness on the other. There Is cant
social, cant political, and cant religious.
There is at every turn and angle u SUI
perlative complacency and deadly on
timtsm. Who cares? Why, the men
VINO believe 50 nightly in life that they
arrafgn everything that passes for il
or that can be substituted for it.
Thesc doubters on the inside keen
things alive. They drive their questions,
like wedge, through all self-satisfied
serenity. They work upon deep and
dark foundations, which the coming
superstructure. shall explain. Can't YOU
see that If we are to have progress, bet
terment, a new reformation, 1t must be
begun and carried forward by just such
men? The men who believe easily every
doctrine of Christianity. who are thor
oughly satisfied and intrenchcd, will
never strike the blow. That comes from
the troubled contingent.
o! while You are apostolic" do not
forget the black whirlwind of doubt
that swept through some of that heroic
band! Infinitely better" says one, ito
be launched amid seas of bewildernent
than to perish on the splendid plenty
of the richest creeds.''
And there are those on the outside
who seriously doubt. and they merit