Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-10-22
The Faith Cure.

;
well established and rs readily admit
ted hy leading mctaphysicians as any
law arpcrtaining to our corporal
nature. Now the terms will power
/ and faith are somewhat relative, but
they are not wholly interchangeable.
A man must have faith before he can
exercise will power. Faith, in fact, is
storage battery, n kind of motive
power held in reserve and subject to
the call OF the WILL This is certainly
taking Il philosophical view of the
matter and we believe, u correct one.
Saint Paul, in his letter to the He
brews, formulated definition of faith
which has never been improved upon
by any OF his successors, and these are
his words, Now faith is the substance
OF things hoped for, the evidence of
things not SEEM"
Mark the words substance" and
evidence" The first Il concrete, the
second an abstract noun; and both
taken conformity they are the gist Of
the whole matter. 1t is certainty,
however, that very few people possess
faith OF this intensity, and hence their
so-called faith is devoid of fruit. Now
the popular doctrine of faith cures, as
believed in and exercised by those who
take strictly theological view of the
matter, simply resolves itself into a
miracle and nothing else. While we
believe that all things are possible with
the Divine Being, we believe also that
he works through such means as are
best suited to the ends in view.
Ii God, rs God, is all powerful, it
is but just to believe that He could
have spoken the world into existence
had He been pleased so to do; but the
book of nature, and nature is but His
written page, does not so inform us.
On the contrary, science, the hand
maid of religion, teaches that creation
was progressive work carried along
by the Great Architect upon a plan
prescribed by Himself ain the begin
ming" So it is logical to assume that
He still works through the same pre-
scribed means to-day.
Just as the potter has power over
the clay to form it into a vessel of
honor or humble utility, so has God
the power to do as best pleases Him
with cold, lifeless and inanimate mat
ter. God can make or He can unmake.
Possessing all knowledge and all power
to apply that knowledge, we see at
once that He is unlimited in His oper-
atoms. He is without doubt able to
raise man from death to life, or to
heal the sick instantly, by His word
but it seems not to be his policy so to
work in these latter days. In other
words, He works through certain
means, and those means are the laws
which He has enacted.
To any reflective mind the healing
of wound through what we call ma
tural processes is as much a miracle
as if it were healed instantly, through
processes to us unknown. So the cur
ing of any sickness through the
agency of medicinal appliances, or
surgical operation, is to all intents
something miraculous to our own
shortened sight and limited knowl-
edge. We take food into the body
and it is transformed, by occult pro-
cesses of which we know absolutely
nothing, into healthful tissues for the
upbuilding and maintenance of our
earthly tabernacles. Is not all this
something just as miraculous?
Now when a man puts himself into
frame of mind to be cured by faith,
he simply gives full rein to that SUBJ
tile will-power, which we all possess to
a greater or less degree. "And do
you not believe in the efficacy of pray
err" we were also asked. Yes, we be-
lieve God is being to be approached
through the requests of those who
have unwavering faith in His power
and willingness to render aid in time
of need torall His creatures.
Now the conclusion of the whole
matter, as it appears to us, is simply
this: God performs just as great
miracles in curing diseases to-day as
He ever did, but He works through hui
man agency. Suppose a mother de-
voutly prays to'God for the healing of
her sick babe and the child is instantly
made whole before her eyes, was not
the mothers prayer poured out in all
the faith of her chastened soul, hui
man agency to all intents and pur-
poses? There is not promise in tho
Bible that is not in some way hinged
upon human agency, for faith itself,
after all, is but the adaptation of a hu-
man possibility. *
ANOTHER WOLF UNFLEECED. - It
seems that Rev." w. T. Ford is not
the only "wolf in sleeps clothing"
occupying a prominent place in the
moral and secular instruction of our
commonwealth. If the sworn state
ment of Maggie Shields, of Pc Ell,
published in the Examiner of last
Friday, is to be believed, Prof. Barlow,
Principal of the Emerson school, at
Tacoma, should bear the reverend"
malefactor company behind prison
bars. The girl says that child born
~, tho oOtJ, ,,lt :. <1o ro,,lk sc ,oJ,,r,