Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-10-29
VOLUME XXXVII.-NUMBER so.
THE CHURCHES
AS EDUCATORS.
LORD BACON'S BEAUTIFUL CON-
CEPTlON OF MORAL ETHICS.

Church CrecIs Are TOO NarrOw-Ail
Truth Divine; All Intelligence
Spiritual illumination b ba Ii.
Day Religion Exclusive In Its
Nature - Religious Obscrvauces
Should Pariake of SecuIarisy
Enough TO Command General
Respect and support.
BY LADY COOK, nee TENNIE C. CLAFLIN.
1t was beautifully said by Lord Ba-
con in one OF his essays: "Thc first
creature of God in the works of the
days was the light of the sense; the
last was the light of reason; and his
sabbath-work ever since is the illumi-
nation of his spirit. Certainly
it is heaven upon earth to have a
mans mind move in charity, rest in
providence, and turn upon the poles of
truth"
The churches have done much to
inculcate the precepts of charity, even
when they have themselves violated
its spirit. They have also been the
authorized teachers of belief in Prov
idence and of the wisdom of submit
ting cheerfully to its DEGREES. But as
regards the poles of truth" so much
cannot be said. Yet this is the illum-
ination TO which the great philosopher
refers: the full enlightenment of the
whole man. Systems OF theology may
be true or false, but no one can be
sure which are right and which wrong,
or whether there are any that are abso-
lutely the one or the other, because all
these rest upon the uncertain basis of
metaphysics. Except in few essen
tials even morality differs from age to
age. But truth is everlasting and in
variable, whether it be taught or not
To know it is to be illuminated by the
Eternal Spirit. To "turn upon the
poles of truth" would be the attain
ment of the highest intelligence.
1t is the reproach of the churches
and their crccds that they are too mar
row, that they have instituted too
broad a line of demarcation between
what is religious and what secular, re-
xolving upon the poles Of Theology
and morality instead of those of truth.
The consequences of this policy has
been fatal TO themselves, causing in
Vulnerable divisions, variant beliefs,
and a restricted influence. In their
eyes one kind of truth only is divine
one species of knowledge only is to be
sought after, or at least must precede
all other, and this the least amenable
to demonstration or proof. But we
humbly think that all truth is divine,
that all intelligence is a spiritual il
Elimination, and that the divisions be-
tween secular" and "sacred" knowl-
edge, and the supposed superiority of
the latter are purely artificial and mis-
leading. Indeed, it is questionable if
priority should be given to either,
whether secular knowledge should not
stand first. A man, without being
fool, may not be able to believe in the
Trinity, but he would be distinctly
foolish who should deny that the earth
goes round the sun. And the value of
every sort of knowledge must be judged
by its usefulness. The great writer
already quoted remarked: GAS it is
caution given in religion, that faith be
shown by works, the same is excellent
ly transferred likewise to philosophy:
that it be judged by its fruits, and the
sterile be counted vain; and the more
so if, in place of fruits of the grape
and olive, it produces but thistles and
thorns of disputations and strife"
We have been led to these ref1ecta-
tions by considering the great oppor-
tunities Of disseminating useful knowl-
edge and of promoting truth and NOR
ality which are possessed by our relig-
ious teachers, and which unfortunately
are systematically neglected. The
thousands of stately piles that have
been erected in this country at i'm
mense cost by the liberality of pious
benefactors are, as a rule, closed to the
public, except on Sundays. Any day
in the week we may pass hundred
Protestant churches and find them
empty, with locked doors. The devout
cannot even, as in Roman Catholic
edifices, walk in to pass few minutes
in private devotion.
On the other hand, on every evening
in the week hundreds of thousands of
young people Of both sexes, after their
work is over, do not know where to 60
or what to do with themselves. Their
homes, perhaps, offer no inducements
for them to pass their leisure time
there. So they get out into the streets,
the lanes, and parks, and are subject
to great temptations. If the churches
are closed to recreation, there are other
places which specially provide it. The
theaters, music halls, and dancing and
concert rooms, have always an ample
bill of fare, too often coarse and sem
sual, and the tlashy glitter of their
surroundings is calculated to captivate