The sun., 1897-01-18
RELIGIOUS UNCERTAINTY.
THE REV. MISOT j. SAVAGE PREACH.
Es UPOH IT'S o. USES. -s-,i

10 OfON tfo CH OoES. ~A-ff
Refers to the CouGict OF the old and New
Religion BrouEht About by the Revein-
tion- OF Science - Religion Not Pass
Ing Away but About 10 he Reborn.
The Rev. Minot J. Savage preached to his con-
eregation at the Church Of the Messiah yester-
day morning on the causes Of present religious
uncertainty Tho sermon 10 the second of q
course OF twelve to be known as the Messiah
Pulpit sermons. The text yesterday morning
was. And ye shall know tho truth and the
truth shall make you free" John Will. 80.
"our fathers" he said, knew but little
about this world but they assumed that they
knew all about the next. To look into present
condition intelligently We must take into con-
sideration the conditions OF thought existing
two or three hundred years ago. Millions epics
have the advantage that they present to US his
conception OF this life as veil as Of the next-and
by tho next I mean Gods eternal plan and pur-
pose. We may see in them how our fathers
thought that thev knew Gods eternal plan and
purpose; they thought they knew how the three
mem bers Of tho Trinity consulted together. and
what measures they took.
IL want to recount In this sermon few OF the
things that have happened and have acted
toward the breaking up OF this once universal
conception. As a preliminary caution beg you
to note that there are two distinct divisions of
religion. One is the spirit, the life, the identity
OF God. The other is the body; the theory. tho
intellectual view, the dogmatlc theory; The
body may grow, change. and be discarded. bus
the spirit remains forever unchanged.
Again. there is a set Of people who say that
science into the pulpit. They say IT should be
kept in the lecture room. The body of any re-
% notRInS Sn but Sus eH Science ~ Our Bible Seeiss WITH
science. 1t lis crude, feebls. II Is not even from
The Hebrew originally sa, is borrowed from n,
Milton-who had heard Of the Copernican
| theory but dh not dare adopt 1.-THE moon was
verse a. we know IL now A feet Of little yachts
In the middle OF the Atlantic, with never q ship
| nearer than either shore is not more isolated
| than Ia our system about our sun among the
systems Of other suns. IL taxes eight and half
minutes for ray Of light 70 % come from opr sun
takes three years for the lg at from the nearest
oeores % tee nf ,ba sTsd 70 .sr. /, bat SI
of starlt pathways that leai on and on and on
| TO infnity. Thi' Is the universe that h,
un verse OF Milton.
| The o.u theology lifted the Piolemaic uni
| verse as a frame hts a picture. Newton was at
! tackled on the ground that he was taking thu
world from the msnagementot God and puttins
! another name for an eternal thought Of an all;
knowing and treless God! By our knowledge ~
| they were written by MS own immediae
hnger snail we then s, sGespi our pFs,se,t
asd psat,ps WIG, 70 .oneoay S gsee esSa.aDd ,sa
ago thought about IT. Creation, We know. Wa!
| not the work ~ six days ana six nights, but OF
! millions Of years II Is still going on. Ihs
word Is being told the truth 1y the rock. what
! ever may become of certain old traditions. Ar
| chRoloRy has established that man ha. been on
! earth not for thousand years or ten thousand.
but for az least two hundr.d thousand. Evolu:
I tiOn. as developed by Herbert spencer. and
| biology the province worked out ny Darwin arc
| no longer the subjects for debate by educated
and intelligent people. though prominent thee
! lOgans. who show that they don't know what
they are taking about by the nrst words that
| they utter still discuss H.. Man was not created
. ia the Garden OF Eden or anywhere else, but
I began in the oDZe o: fRr-Oh prifneyal seas.
What we Know, then. means that there has
! never been any fall of man but a continuous
ascent. This one fact compels a complete re.
| cnu,truclion o! all the theological theories OF
Neds was the fret Of 4 series OF discoverie. of
| the great bibles OF the world. We saw bibles
| In the process OF growth. We learned
that bibles do not make religions, but
! taught that there were two kinds OF religion
In the frst class was Christianity. which was
/ true. In the second were all others. Inventions
OF the devil and perverted and evil men. We
tempts OF an ignorant and foolish people TO Try
to nnd the God who l. not far from every one oi
US The oldest name IN the world 10 God.
Father We fad II Ia the R!g-VsdA. 'Zeus oi
the Greeks and Jupiter OF the Romans 10 bu,
a Translation of IL. And 80 We no longer regard
other religions a. idle and wicked. We benev,
that God hears China and India and the south
sea Islands as he hears Us. .
Finally men and women are becoming civil
!zed. Tenderness and p!ety are forcing us te
discard many Of the cornerstones OF the OLD re
ligiors. ! do not believe thai a.! his means tina,
religion Is ia danger. II means that religion II
trying free itself and to struggle into the fret
air aud light. Instead Of religion passing away
] believe that We are in the time OF its reoirth
We are getting ready 10 build new temple
God shall manifest Himself in light love, and
peace for all mankind"