The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-23

them, saying. / am the Light of the
world: he that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life" lie said:
This declaration Of our Lord challenges
attention in a day which boasts of en-
lightenment and progress beyond those of
other days, and it is worth while to
study and understand it,
When our Lord proclaimed Himself the
Light Of the world" Ills teachings
might have been directed, had lie 50
chosen, in increasing human knowledge.
Ills parallels and miracles indicate the
possession of an understanding of ma
turc and natural laws ana forces SuCh
| as no philosopher of His day, or our own
ever pretended to. Aside from our con-
viction that He formed all things by the
word of His power" and therefore I'M
derstoOd tho constitution ana capabilities
! of all things, the writer's of the New TCs-
| lament habtually represent Him in an
attitude which shows their unqueStion-
| ing faith i'm His infinite knowledge. As
! the Light Of the world lie might have
! disclosed all the secrets Of nature which
. men are so daringly and so successfully
| investigating in our own day. All that
| science is now doing, and more than sell
! ence may hope to do in the ages to come
| might have been revealed by Him.
ONLY HUMAN WISDOM
| But ! beg you to observe that this is
| only human wisdom. 1t belongs to the
| three-scoro years and ten of this world;
! ana God has abundantly endowed man
! for the acquisition of such knowledge. In
| it's pursuit he is to realize that dominion
! over the earth which is his proper inher-
| itauCe its chief value is in its SubServ-
! ionCe to the higher end of training and
! dcVelOpilE our constitutional activities
| and which shall survive our present hfe
| ana find their true sphere of action i'll the
! life beyond.
| knowledge which is variable and con-
| tingent our Lord impaired that Divine
! wisdom which mes from the rather OF
| Lights who is "the same yesterday and
| today and forever" He calls attention to
| Himself 10y sCme mighty work and then
uses the occasion for the Importation of
| what in ontradistirctiOn to knowledge is
| called wisdom" He appeared before His
! contemporaries even in miracles and par-
| ahleS not as teacher of the sciences, but
as Il teacher of wisdom
| 1t is mistake to suppose that because
| man has lately succeeded in making mar
| vcllOuS progress in some directions he has
| equally advanced himself in all directions.
| In sculpture, t, g., there has certainly
! been no great advance i'm all the years
| that lie between PraXtlcs time and
| ours. In architecture, perhaps, a little.
! We have the advantage over the men Of
| those days as respects tools and mo
| CnaniCal cOntrivauCcs of all sorts, but ,he
product is, if anything, inferior.
| After all. character building has much
| in common with the arts and should be
| Classed with them rather than with the
| sciences.
In science the formulas can be handed
on, and whore the first man leaves off
| the man who succeeds him can begin, and
so by steady rate of increase the whole
| thing grows from more to more. Not o
| with art. Here each man starts fresh,
| as we say, and must begin at the begin
ming. Skill cannot he put into a printed
book and passed along as knowledge can.
! Skill has to be acquired by long appren-
! tiCoShip, and even when acquired is not n
| bcQucathahle possession. 1t dies with the
| owner Of it. That is why art as COM
pared with progress in science is so slow;
| and that is Why it is so much more i'm
portant in the spiritual life that we
should get the true light than that we
should have what are called the latest
adviCes."
GROWING IMPORTANCE.
The matter is one of growing impor-
tance i'm our day. Men are rurning to and
fro and know ledge is increased, but is
there no corresponding growth i'm that
wisdom which makcth wise unto saliva
ton? 1t is well known that much of tie
work of education which used to en-
brace both instruction and discipline, or
the development of character in gOdly
living, has been abandoned in many of
our colleges and universities for the
smaller work Of the mere acquisition of
knowledge. The experiment in the past
did not result satisfactorily, and it is
more than doubtful whether it will prove
satisfactory in the future.
The loss of all our scientific knowledge
l.
of living rGhtcOusly. The loss Of the lat
ter would soon render the former useless
or injurious. Scientific knowledge could
be quickly recovered, as it has been r,-
covered again and again but the art of
right living is Of slow growth as all his
tory witnesses. And it is Il significant
thing that Gods providence has roserVa ID
the greatest progress in the sciences for
those generations which have first cstab-
lished and maintained moral order and
that moral corruption is fatal to scientific
progress. 1t is also significant tnat as
God has distributed most widely His most
important gifts so lie has provided that
all may live soberly righteously aud
Eudly in this present world, while COM
parativcly few are endowed with superior
intellectual power.
PROGRESS OF EDUCATION.
Sixty years ago our church gave great
attention 10 the establishment of school,
and colleges and a quarter Of a century
later under the leadership of their grad,
yates emerged from the condition of an
obscure and despised Sect, in the larger
part of the country, and secured COnsld'
Grafton through the character of her mel
as much as by her historic claims. Hel
growth has been phenomenal since that
time; but her very expansion has caused
her to neglect her colleges, which now
seem small and feeble. The art of godly
living is TO be cultivated under churchlS
influences. These beget a spirit of order
propriety and reverence They are m
tended to graduate scholars who shall
also be Christian gentlemen. They ain
to present a well-rounded man of gooC
quality.
There is a serious question before Chris
tian people, What part shall that whicl
was the all i'm all of the Great Teachers
educational work have in our educatiOna
, work? If We, as church, have privilege!
, and blessings which we value should they
not be extended to our children as they
Erow up? Twenty odd thousand youn!
men enter the colleges and uniVersitie'
I of this country every year. Ten years
/ hence they will be in our families as ply
siCians, have charge Of our business al
lawyers and legislators. They are likell
to be religious men or not, according L
the characterof the colleges i'm which the,
have been EDUCATED and trained whil
| their characters were forming. You SCI