The times., 1899-11-06
TRUTH HIS SUBJECT.
Rev. DIR. Kent of the Peoples Church
Says It Causes Skepticism.


DR.. Kent preached an interesting sermon
on truth. He took for his text "PIlate
saith unto him which is truth
This question" said Dr. Kent. raised
the skepticism of the Roman procuratOr.
and the skepticism Of the multitudes today
Though Christianity has been in the world
nearly two thousand years and religion in
other forms many thousand more. the
great problem of life which comforted men
in the earliest time comforts them still
And this. not because there is no solution
nor yet because no one has found this sou-
tion. but because in each question every
| individual must work those problems out
for himself
1T is here, the doctor said, "as in math-
ematiCs. We cannot come to any genuine
understanding of these problems By leav-
ing the answers which our fathers have
gotten. Even il these answers are right
or wrong, they will avail us but little if
we take them on trust. We must, at least
prove them ourselves if we would know
them TO be right I cannot solve the prob
lem or prove the answers for you. You
cannot for me We may help each other
4 greatly, but each must do the work for
/ himself TO have any genuine knowledge as
a result. This is why these old questions
are constantly recurring and pressing
1 themselves upon us as if they had never
! been answered. No question is of greater
moment to any of us than this of PLATE
| What is truth?
The doctor said this question did not
| come to all Of us as it came 10 PLATE.
! Many Of us, he said had been spared the
/ pain and perpleXity of such guilt as en-
/ bittered the soul of Plate. We have all.
/ he said. had our doubt in regard to the
/ truth OF certain dogmas and the genuine
1 ness and authority Of alleged revelations.
/ But this, perhaps has not shaken our
| faith in the integrity of the universe,
nor in mans ability as an intellectual and
moral being to discover the truth needed
I for the ratification of his deeper wants,
and the Upbuilding in his soul of the noble
manhood. But Pilates skepticism, he said,
/ touched the very foundation of all faith.
! The mental attitude of PLATE is the atti-
I tude Of d host Of men in our own day
and they are largely men of Pilates stamp,
men who tritie with their convictions who
! fail 10 do duty as they see it. The doctor
went on to define skepticism and the power
! Of knowledge, and drew a vivid picture Of
/ matter and spirit and their relation TO
/ the exact sciences.
Physical science he said deals only with
. secondary Causes-wiJh the forces resident
in matter or manifestng through matter
but whenever the real scientist is brought
/ face to face With the problem OF the uni
verse in its pre-human aspects he cannot
/ free himself from the God idea Herbert
Spencer. he said, criticising the POsitiyis-s'
1 claim that all generation and gratitude
are due the great being humanity. says:
/ IF they are due at all they are due TO that
ultimate cause from which humanity in
| dividually and as Il whole, in common with
all other things has proceeded. II we take
lfys
human society. and ask TO wha. agency ali
its marvels must be credited the inevitable
/ answer is: To that unknown cause of
which the entire cosmos is q manifesto
ton"
After quoting Herbert Spencer at length,
IBr Kent asked, What then, is truth?
do not ask what is true. I do not propose
to announce any dCgmes compromising
1 even the essentials of religious truth. My
question concerns the nature of truth rath-
er than any particular teachings which the
term may cover. And / answer. truth is
reality, il is that which is distinguished
from that which seems Not the absolute
. reality, perhaps. Fortunately, if knOwl-
edge Of this is not possible to US IL is not
necessary for us. The relative WI 4 is
possible is all that is needed. 1t is as good
TO live by in our higher relations as in our
lower. The health and happiness of the
soul are as well provided for in the econ
omy of the universe as the health and
comfort of the body. The conditions of
the former are as diseoverable and as OBJ
servable as those of the latter.
J "Ali statements of truth" said the doe
tor, that express the law of this higher
life; all truth formulated in pTiciples or
requirements that embody law is abiding
and eternal. IT, then, said he, truth in
this higher realm is so real. so accessible.
so we'll known to many, why is skepjcism
so prevalent? Why are most people so un-
certain as to whether such truth exists
and whether anybody knows if it does?"
The doctor said comparatively few peo-
pie sought truth in the moral and spiritual
| realm with any real earnestness Of parsis-
tence. And when they did seek it they did
not trust their own powers. They put
on" he said. the glasses of their father
.or grandfather. or a minister ana try to
recognize IL in their bebalfs. Truth is too
coy maiden TO be won by that kind Of
courtHg. Most seekers he said lacked
the courage to openly espouse the truth
when they find it. It is uncomfortable,
he said Ito have II bride that is scorned
and derided and spoken evil of whenever
you take her out for an airing. But those
who marry truth get that kind of bride.
DT. Heron" said he, has just been
obliged to move out of an Iowa College
professorship on that account. Men who
went ospOuse truth can't have her as a
companion. She cant be hirted with or
take second place. Those who are not
ready TO give up all else for her he cannot
have her at all. Not many are willing 10
pay this price and so few there be who
ind her. The life OF truth Is the way TO