The San Francisco call., 1896-02-10
YORK VS.. YORKE.
Synopsis Of Lecture on "Revela-
ton or Inspiration, Which?

Synopsis of a Lecture on "Revela-
ton or Inspiration, Which 2"
The following lecture was delivered al
Scottish Hall last evening by DR.. J. L.
York, replying to Father Yorke in relation
to the infallibility of the Pope:
Ladies and Gentlemen: We had the pleasure
of listening to Father Yorke on last Monday
evening in his mastery defense of the CathoIic
faith, and must say in truth that we were fay-
orably impressed with his evident sincerity
and able defense OF Christianity; and while it
is well known that we have no love for priests
| or reverence for their Office or calling, yet we
do respect them for their sincere belief and
earnest endeavor 10 maintain their honest
convictions OF truth in the light of what Ro-
manism considers divine revelation.
And have no fault to find with the logic of
Father Yorke, which from his premise or
standpoint is to my mind irrefutable, and his
deductions irrefragable. But we must not for
get that standpoint is everything in the con-
ception and deductions of truth. And IL mat
ters little how much honesty. sincerity and
scholarship there may be involved in the dis
cussion OF any subject, If the premise assumed
be false.
And just here we take issue with Father
Yorke on his definition of revelation and in
spiration, and the claims OF his church based
upon a so-called divine revelation. And as
Father Yorke stated, and many people hold,
that revelation and inspiration mean about
the same thing in a religious sense, the reasons
must be obvious TO all thinking minds why it
is that such extreme claims are made on the
part of Christianity and all systems of super-
natural religion.
A true conception of what divine reyela-
ton is, and what human inspirations are and
their true source, would rid the world of much
contention, bad blood, religious monopoly
and despotism in the name of God and in the
garb OF religion.
From the standpoint of naturalist divine
revelations and human inspirations are widely
different things and are not Interchangeable
terms, and should not be confused with each
other lest fantastic and absurd tricks be played
with the truth. And the infallibility of the
Bible, church and Pope has grown out of
want of discrimination as to the true nature of
the divine and what is simply human. And
confusion OF these terms has led to no end of
books, dreams, visions and false conceptions of
nature, God, heaven, hell, life, duty and .des-
tiny, entitled the word of God, which, for the
most part, do not bear the stamp of divinity in
any true sense, but rather the seal and ear
marks of human inspiration, full of the limita-
tions of frailty, passions, ignorance and super
stltions common to all mankind.
With this key placed in Father Yorke's hand
we shall hope some bright day to lead him
away from his idols out into the sunlight of
reason, to stand face to face with the true
revelations of the Divine in every natural
science, and in all truth, however discovered
by man, to recognize the stamp of divinity.
For ages past the world has been greatly con-
cerned about the revelations of God, and from
the ancient Hindoo religion to the Mormonism
OF Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, and on
down to Koresh Teed and his hollow globe all
claim to rest on inspired revelation for their
divinity, and the claim for divinity in one is
quite as consistent as the other, for If we must
have a nightmare, the mental malady of
Joseph Smith is quite as good nightmare as
that OF any other supernatural religion.
Now, then, what is a revelation? We say
TACT or facts discovered or revealed to US of
which we were before ignorant.
Now what is a divine revelation, and how
shall know 1t to be divine?
To my mind, that which is everlasting is di-
vine. That which is omnipresent and omniac-
tive Is divine. These are and must be attri-
butes of divinity, and with this definition of
the infinite look out upon the universe in
search of the divine And the first thing with
which we come in contact is matter, which is
divine substance, because it is universal and
everlasting-not an atom can be destroyed.
Next is force, another divine thing, because
Next, intelligence is divine, because 1t is uni
versal and in every thing in proportion to
capacity to be intelligent; from radiate to
rock, from oyster to man, fgom man to angels,