The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1897-06-12
.Obedience the Organ Of Spiritual
Truth"
JOHN VII. I.
BY CHARLES e. WILBUR, PHI. D., D.

BY CHARLES Il. WILBUR, PHI. D., d. d.
Every science has its peculiar instru-
ment for the attainment of truth in
its own particular sphere. Natural
science has as its instrument expert
ment; speculative philosophy has the
syllogism; and the science of spiritual
things has obedience.
| Here Jesus makes the distinct prop
osition that through harmony of will
with God, or obedience, spiritual
knowledge is to be attained.
obedience prepares the mind to
receive spiritual truth.
by removing hindrances to the
reception Of the truth.
The older psychology divided mans
mental power into bundles of facul-
ties, intellectual, emotional and NOR.
al; but the fact is that man is unit
and these divisions are a convenient
classification of the manifestations OF
this indiyisable soul for purposes OF
science The soul is the fountain
from which the streams of thought
and feeling and volition flow. Sin
reaches back of these streams to the
central fountain, and distilling its
poison there, sends it's poison cours-
ing through all the channels of life.
In short the whole man Is disordered
by it; the intellect does not see clear
! ly, the sensibilities do not respond to
right thought, nor the will TO proper
motives. In the spechlatiofs OF the
theologians the corrupting influences
of sin have largely been confined to
the will alone; but that system OF
morals or religion that strives to puri-
fy the soil BY working In upon ii
from without through anyone OF
these channels, is like the man that
tries to cleanse the fountain by put
ting his sweetness into the streams
that flow out: let them medicate the
water at the fountain head and then
all the streams that flow out will be
sweet. So the true religion reaches
buck of thought, of emotion Of Volt
tioh, and touches the essential soul in
its unity, where these have a COM
mon origin. Thus it corrects the
whole man.
At this point the great ethnic re-
| ligions fall. They have whole tones
Of doctrine for the mind to master,
they stir up religious feeling almost
to sublimity, they load the will with
specific commandments, but in the
very temples OF that religion that Ar
mold calls 1.-THE Light Of ASIA" are
tolerated immoralities the simple
recital of which would bring the blush
Of shame to the face Of the simplest
Christian. But the religion OF Christ
with sublime directness cries out:
eye must be born again. This is
the meaning of the "New Birth"
which is central In the Christian sys-
tenn. 1t is the touching of the soul
In its essential unity, SO that all the
streams of life that flow out are pure.
Men have the idea that right intel
lectual conceptions are all that are
necessary for right living and right
character. They think that knowl-
edge OF political economy will remove
social difficulties, that acquaintance
with civil government will give men
public virtue, that familiarity with
chemistry and anatomy will give men
private graces; but quite the contrary
Is true. A right life Is necessary in
order that man may have true In
tellectual conceptions. This may
bear hard upon tia rampant infidel,
and even upon the scientific skoptjc,
but II Is the view Of That Teacher
who has mora profoundly influenced