The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-08
so SAYS THE ARCHBISHOP
IN A POWERFUL SERMON DEiEIV-
Erred YESTERDAY MORNING
At THE CATHEDRAL.
SCIENCE CANNOT SUPPLY 1T
The Spark That AniHlareS the Small
est Cell of Living PrOt0pIasTn
Is Beyond 1t.

cathedral yesterday. lie said:
There is a tendency to leave out Of
thought the supernatural world. Ma
ture, it is said, is all sufficient. For
getfulneSs of the supernatural, wish
even to set it aside, is at the foot Of
all objections made against revealed
religion; against a religion which comes
directly from God Himself, which IS
founded upon miracles; and against
church which represents supernatural
revelation, and which consequently as
sertS that she throbs in all her life
with supernatural power. The natural
comprises the visible, tangible universe,
earth and Sky, sun and stars. Natural
ism is the inclination or the determina-
ton to see the beginning and end OF
all things in this visible, tangible uni
verse. According to naturalism all
things are to be explained by the laws
OF this universe. The supernatural Is
the region beyond this visible. tangible
universe; the laws, the energies OF the
supernatural are beyond outside Of this
universe. If there were no SuD6rnaJ-
ural, TO world beyond the visible UNI
verse, there would be, Of course, no
room for a revealed religion, 10 cause
for miracles. no reason to speak OF
truths beyond the reach Of our native
ken, or OF gr2ces which act in an extra
ordinary and supernatural manner
upon souls If there We're 10 super
natural we should logically blot out
Christ and His teachings, the Scrip
lures and their record Of miracles, the
church and its SacramentS and Sraces.
In the attacks which are made against
the Christian religion, the church. the
Scriptures, men assume that there is
no supernatural. Unbelief implies a
radical opposition to the supernatural
What is the use OF examining, unbe-
lief says, into the history of Christ?
he M WI A 6qc
can return to life. Why accept the
Scriptures? Does not every page Of the
Bible bristle with q SO-called miracle,
the record of something above human
power, above natural energy? mir
acle is impossible; therefore the Bible
must be rejected or explained awaz.
Well, we disciples of Christ we chill
dren of the church, we believers in the
Holy Bible proclaim that there is a ST.
pernatural universe, that there is a Su-
pernatural power that nothing is more
rational than to believe that the super
natural power can and does interfere
in the things of this world reveal SD
pernatural truths and work miracles.
Nature itself prociaims the supern2t-
ural. This visible universe exists We
are a part of it. But does not this
universe in its existence, in it's whole
life demand the supernatural? Does
not the natural suppose and prove the
Whence does it exist? Is there any
thing in it which demonstrates it to be
self-eXistent? Let us so beyond the
limits of sense and appeal to our rea-
son. Reason tells us not to arrest our
Investigations at results, but to seek
out the causes of these results. Reason
tells us that there is a necessary being.
a being having Of itself existence. #
there were no necessary being nothing
would exist, as we proceed from being
to being. from cause to cause, no mat
ter how far distant the first cause, we
must finally reach it. We cannot go
from existence to existence, from yet
another existence to still another, and
at last come to nothing. There is nee
essarily a self-eXisting being and this
being because it is self-eXisting and
necessary, must be immutable, and
must enjoy the plenituGe of all being. A
necessary being having existence of it
self is necessarily Interchangeable ana
infinite. Now surely, this universe IS
neither Interchangeable nor infinite. 1t is
in all it's parts contingent, a something
that may be or may not be. It is con-
stantly changing, each change in it de-
handing previous cause. The chill
dren of men are the fafrest and best Of
its parts, and even they are constant
ly changing; death is constantly pursu-
ing their life. Surely they are not the
authors or the masters of their being.
Let naturalists, the wGTShipers Of ma
ture, seek, as much as they will, by
sense, by miscroscope, by telescope, no.
where shall they find in nature the in
dicatiOnS of a necessary being. the in
dications of self-existence Through
out nature exclaims: l am not my
self; l have no power to live of myself:
death is master of me: change reignS
over me. Yes, worship, as you will,
nature, travel SO far throughout its
distant regions as you may, you will
come to its ultimate frontier without
having discovered the necessary being.
You must look beyond and say: Beyond
is the great cause, beyond is the being
above this whole nature, who rules il,
who created it, who dominates it,
There is the supernatural. You must
accept it.
This univeT5'. IN every part manifeStS
the power of intelligence. Wherever
there is order, or adaptation of means
to an end, wherever there is plan, de-
sign, there intelligence has wrought
Wherever you find a house built ac-
cording to all the rules of architecture
whether you have seen or not the arch
itect or the builder. you know that IN
telligence has passed there. The house
is not the intelligence, it is the result
This universe, from the invisible ami
malcule to man, from the tiniest blade
of grass to the highest tree in the for
est, from a grain of sand to the burn
ing suns in the armament, indicates or
der, harmony, wisdom, intelligence; in
dicates intelligence so great that our
own intelligence can only admire and
wonder. The intelligence which has
ordered all things in the universe is not
q part Of the universe. The planet is
not intelligent. The ground that gives
forth our harvests is not intelligent
The seed that develops into the great
oak tree is not intelligent The MAN.
cts and stars Of the armament have
not of their own wisdom ranged into
those magnificent batta1ions that move
ceaselessly in perfect order. Whence
the intelligence? Man is intelligence
but surely man has not regulated earth
and sky. Man cannot regulate one sin
gle sense Of his own body If an eye
were lost to him, man with all his pow
er cannot replace it, Whence then the
great intelligence? All, you must look
for it beyond all this visible universe
and you find the supernatural.
The laws :. nature, it is said, pro-
duce these wondrous results. Yes, the
laws of nature produce these results
once the laws are established; but did
nature produce the laws. Give me
once a perfect piece of machinery, let
me set 1t in motion. 1t will move ac-
cording to a preconceived plan, but
does it move because of the wisdom
innate in the iron or wood Of which it
is composed? No, it moves because of
the intelligence Of the man that planned
it and constructed it. Admire as much
as you viii the laws Of nature; the
more you admire them the more you
must admire and confess the legislator?
The legislator Is above the universe;
behold the supernatural. There is life
upon the earth. There is that some
thing which immediately distinguishes