The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1898-12-24
MANS RELATION TO GOD
Not Affected by His Position IN,
the Universe.

Not Affected by His Position In
the Universe.
There is q specious argument
which is sometimes advanced against
the idea of Gods creative fore
thought and His personal supervis-
ion in the affairs of men. 1t is urg-
ed that it is inconsistent to hold that
man is an especial object OF God s
care, while this earth upon which
we are-man dwelling place
shows no evidence at all of being of
especial Importance among the
myriad worlds of His creation. In
the early days of the church it was
supposed to have such Importance.
According to the Ptolemaic system
of astronomy, which was then
quite generally accepted, the earth
was at the very centre of all the
universe; the sun, the moon, and the
stars revolved about it, and their
sole function was to distribute heat
and light upon it. This conception
was vital in early theological
thought. That the earth should
have)b been placed thus at the very
centre of all created things was
thought to be apowerful a argu-
ment in support of the idea that
man is calculated to be supreme
over all things that are. 1t is not
strange that Calico and Bruno
should have been prosecuted bitterly,
for their doctrine struck at the very
foundation of that theology which
had been built upon these primitive
notions of the universe.
So there are men today who be-
lieve that the establishment of the
Copernican system of astronomy
has deeper significance than mere
ly to relegate earth to it's proper
position in the universe. They be-
lieve that while it has proved the
earth to be but a mere cosmical
speck among an in6nity of its kind
it has irretrievably destroyed the
presumptuous idea of man s person
al prestige with his Creator.
Here it might be well to pause and
examine upon what premises such II
conclusion rests. In the first place
it might be seriously questioned
whether size and position can be
taken as criterions of worth. The
sun, Notwithstanding its centra
position and great magnitude, is
really servant to the earth. Its
light and heat minister to earth S
needs. And when we consider that
the only ineligible end of either
earth or sun is the production and
maintenance of life, we are cou-
strained to believe that relation to
life is the only true criterion of their
relative worth. Life has not taken
up its abode in the gaseous turmoil
of the sun, but rather has Sought "a
quiet nook far from its burning rays.
True, if it were not for the sun there
could be no life on the earth, but
equally true is it that without tie
earth, or some planet as happily
situated, there could be no life in
the solar system. 1t is the old story
OF labor and capital; capital could dc
nothing without labor, labor could
do nothing without capital. Meas.
ured by the true standard of worth,
then, the earth loses nothing Oh
its prestige from the fact Of its
position and size.
Now is it not reasonable to sup.
pose that life is of more moment tC
an intelligent God than inanimat
clod or fiery element? If God b,
psychical in His nature (and we mus
admit this in order to conceive an
intelligent purpose in the universe,
then surely is it more reasonable tt
think that the psychical in man is o
far more consequence to Him than
the merely material in nature--even
man considers it so. The purely
physical in the cosmos, then, is but
a means to an end. Who can think
of God as apart in His Heaven
amused with the giratious of His
worlds? This were an unworthy
conception of the Supreme Being.
"There is an eternal Somewhat that
maketh for Righteousness" Life,
that higher psychical life, the intel.
ligent soul of God.like man, land
the perfection OF that life, is plaus.
IDLY the ultimate end of God s ma
terial mechanism, the physical uni
verse.
When we turn away from our own