The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-10-29
An Excellent Discourse at Beth Ahaba
Friday Night
ON "THE SAVING CLAUSE"
Conscience Insistcnt in Its Demands
for Parity aud Honor the Thing
Nccdful to Avert the
Doom OF sin,

let not the Lord be angry, ah" W.
speak yet has this once tefaoF ei''"iD
there Will be found there ten ulbh,,ous
mem. And he said. Il will moi oeso o'
FOR the sake Of the tent. ' Dr. O"'''O''
said .,, .-,,,, tho
You are doubtless ell familiar with 'no
incident OF the destruction ol Sooo.h anu
Gonorrah. and Abraham plea IN ue""'A
OF the doomed cities. 70 Is ~ TINS cor
ncction that our text occurs. IN ,'1poHs.
TO Abraham's appeal GOD promises "'1
to destroy The city II there d. Iounu c'-.
ten righteous men therein Inc il''u1".
reveals. unc1nscl0usly. perhaps, the great
ia,sI a. sr,phasizei by Judaism, az GOD
Ynerrine Justice. set justice tempered oy
fhe Divlne Mercy and Infinite pity. Inc
v,tcked many were 20 he saved by me
righteous fcv. A. tho latter were found in
SUFFICIENT numsor. But they were no,
So only Lot and his family were s@''u'
the rest destroyed.
CYNICAL CRITIC.
4 cynical criic of Biblical teach'ns
might INQUIRE "Why did God mercy emo
with ten? Did he so need that number
that re could not save with less! AS 10
ouofe the Bible against itself. II. as Is
Taught in the same chapter verse I'D
nothing Is too wonderful for Coo. why
does His mercy set an arbitrary limit 70
itself? q divine quality should be inhnlie
as God himself.
Far be Il from me 20 attempt 70 ramon
the depths a. Gods bound'ess wisdom by
The short plummet Of finite understand
ing IL IS no more possible than that one
should pierce the planets with an arrow.
Yet doubt not for a moment that. IN the
unerring laws laid down for the guidance
of human development. this thing. IKE
az others. works impeccab'y for Che u''i-
mate best and the highest happiness OF the
human race.
II wer, utter folly 20 suppose that this
"ten" meant n definite specific number
less than which would not avail What 10
did mean was that I'm all human institu-
tons there was a swing clause that II
preseut IN sufficient strength, would save
il from the destruction which folly or
corruption or wickedness had made immi-
nent. A certain percentage OF leaNen
leaventh the whole lump Of lifeless
dough-and among men, certain amount
Of the leaven Of truth and probity, OF
spiritual strength and righteousness, will
save an indi, idual. a community, a State
or & nation from the utter annlhilatior
which otherwise would hove ineNoraby
been brought % pass
TRUTH EMPHASIZED.
We fnd this truth emphasized on every
maze of history When the tidal wave cf
Syrian oppression and an-agonlsm swept
over the land Of Palestine the people were
fain 10 yield 20 &c.. and submit 10 what
would have been their inevitable spiritual
destruction But the saving clause o.
Naccab-ar strength and righteousness
was present and # rescued the spiritual
empire when during the middle ages the
follv the hiqofrv and superstition OF The
church threatened 10 bury all science, al
learning. all secular knowledge I'm Thu
destruction Of fanatical ignorance, 30 We
the saving clause Of jewish and Arabian
scholars. who had learned from the Jews
the physicians. savants and students out
eide the pale OF the church, that saved
the world from centuries OF intellectual
darkness that threatened II. We have
Instances nearer % our time. Many peo-
ple predict the dccadence and inevitable
downfall of France because Of the corrup-
ton the infamy and the bigoted spirit
q, Injustice that have been recently
demonstrated. And SO say i. too, would
France fan by the weight OF her Owl
shame did she possess only Merciers ana
Durornre and ROchefOrts and BOlsd ffers
ana Haurvs and Rogets-but there IS the
saving clause I'm France-made up for her
picouarts her Zolas, her Scheurer-kest-
ners. her Lazares and LabOris and her
preyfuses-these have an shown sunerh
moral heroism self-sacrihcing public
spirit glories and faith and steadfast
courage-and these shall be her ten
righteous men to save her from tho
perdilon OF the others folly and wicked
ness.
Az INFLUENCE.
IF there be ten righteous men. for the
sake OF Of the ten 1 viii not destroy the
city" The ten stands not for a NUM-
ber but for factor a force an In
nuence. u means that whenever in the
seething SOdoms and COmorrahs of hu-
man Wlckedncss and sim when men are
blinded by passion or greed OF bigotry
there be present "a saving clause OF few,
or even one righteous man. man Of in
tegrliy OF sense. OF spiritual force and
moral strength, hen he can avail 20 save
Even without Wickedncss or wrong the
saving clause of human progress rests
with those mighty and heroic few, who
may be reckoned I'm comparison with the
others as the righteous men among the
rascals Of SOdOm and GomOrrah il is true
that the world prOgress-but 10 is rescued
from stagnation and decay by the saving
clause Of IT'S inspired personalities. What
is the vast mass Of humanity in itself?
u Is as a heap Of stubbie and dried
grass-but there touches Il the torch Of
genius, and II flames TO heaven and lights
the earth 70 horizons edge-it is a mass
Of cold and inert metal--but lei f. be
touched with the tongue Of Inspiration,
and II clar.ons forth the grandes truths
OF Gods universal glory. Il Is mob,
wid. mad. unreasonirg mob sw-yed b.
TIE guests OF passion. turned by the
temp-sts OF fer. subject TO every fony
and eye-y sc fish caprice but place at is
head d heroic ana be owed Commando
and II becomes q sef-con aired and
disciplined army marching through sun
shine and through shadow. over hii a~d
dale. through valley and forest. march
ing 10 the ultimate victory Of truth and
justice over fa'sehood and wrong.
SAVING CLAUSE.
The moral and intellectual giants are
the saw ng clause OF The human race For
the sake OF these are we not destroyed
by our own stup.sty and folly. An Abra-
han at.au. ne Moriah heights Of
spiritual grandeur and God-concepiion.
and laws the foundations for an empire
OF faith. mistaken 10 this day a Nose
sounds the wide tocsin Of liberty and Of
law. and It's echoes ring IN the ears OF
modern worlds. A David intones the
hearts liturgy OF the nations: an Isaiah,
A Micah and a Malachi strike the highest
notes OF ethical harmony. These and a
Socrates. and Plato and a Paul and
Luther, a Wellington and Washington
these an are he tongues In the bells Of
human AGES that hang In the befry OF
fine Without them there Is siienCe-as
n, the tombs-the nOthinPness OF death