The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-08-01
THE CONFESSION or An AaNosx1C
Tho AEnostic Described ms tho Most Ear
neat of the seekers for Relleions Truth.

| Is now man OF middle-aRe. OF Orthodox
| Christian parentaGe and training. When a lad
OF about 10 years he severed his connection
; with church and Sunday school. and the con-
victIons which led him to take that step then
have but deepened and intensified In after life.
His reason was this: His belief and conviction
that the continued acceptance OF the Biblical
representation OF the personal God was impos-
slhle to him. because It would necessarily In
| volve the lowering md debasinR OF his ideal
and conception Of the infinite and perfect God.
| He is not IN atheist. but rather an agnostic.
| II you will. inclined to rcverent belief In the
| true and to him, as yet. unknown and unre-
! vcnled God. the Supreme Being. which per-
meates and pervades the whole OF the spiritual
and material universe: tho primary cause. In
finite almighty. all wise. of exact justice and.
therefore. the God OF Love. which cannot err
| and. therefore. does not repent whose mani
! fcstatiOns are perfect and. therefore. not un-
! done: Of which II is impossible for the normal
| human Intelligence to conceive n rival In Satan.
| for instance. whom the Bible God suffers to
thwart Him and to inflict misery on His in
! ronccivahly insignificant subjects. resulting In
! Inevitable alleged sins against Him. which He
Furnishes with horrible severity. unto the
third and fourth generation" There may be
| lessor gods in the universe, but this God OF
his conccption Is the one true God. Lord OF All.
Does the Bible God fulfil the reuurem ents OF
this standard ? A perusal of the Old Tesla
| ment seems to return singularly complete
negative
At the very outset 1t shows this God in His
normal manifestation. hamper with mechan-
ichl and material impedimcuts incased In a ma
chine or the sem bance of machine. with legs
| and feet for walking. with arms and hands for
grnspng and feeling. with eyes for seeing. ears
for hearing. and all the other appurtenances
nj tbp 4, al ~ rin hpdv pf for the Ribe
ratlve says that He created man after His like
ness and in His own image. in the image OF
God. male and female. So while the Book also
speaks Of God the Spirit and OF God the Holy
Ghost. yet His normal ~ the word may be here
permitted manifestation is in the image Of
man. clothed in and hampered by the SEM
blance OF the human body. peculiarly and won
derfully fitted for earthly purposes.
But perhaps it will be said: "Oh. bnt this Is
one Of the mistakes OF Moses. u" The trouble
is. these mistakes extend all the way through
to the Apocalypse.
And as to the other requirements. how la
mentally does this Biblical representation OF
the nfluite God fail.
The writer was never more deeply impressed
with this conviction than when recently he
happened casually upon q book written for
Christian children. entitled THE Bible Story.
in Easy Words for Children" There the va
carries. vacllation and cruelty Of this Biblical
representation OF God were set forth with
startling abruptness and detail. boiled down
and in rapid. panoramic succession. The child
was made acquainted with the betrayal OF the
mother OF mankind. the triflng with Cain. the
encouragement Of iniquty until all humanity
was affected like a rotten apple. and then
the flood: the Senewed SHINING OF Noah's
descendants and the absurd punishment of
the builders OF the impossible tower: the sui
fering, of, iniGuity in Sodom and Gomorrah.
inhabitants the fate Of Lots wife the hypoc-
risy and deceit OF Jacob. which secured the
BLESSINGS Of God: the abandonpent Of the
the. Egyptians; the humoring OF Pharaoh's
whims and the cruelties Inflicted on his sub
and vaciation Of this pictured God revealed
in the narrative Of the journey through the
multiply these instances !? The books Of tie
Oh a tba g Of tnsm ,s ~
e writer pernsed The Starry
ha 1ek the aHd \. 6s
tcription Of th;s wonderful universe. The aues-
than ever before: Is this primary infinite,
qII,wise and perfect Being the Creator and
swinging eternally In their appointed orbits.
and Of all OF the spiritual and material life
OF vacillation. irresolution. repentance cruelty
and trivial detail who is presented TO us in the
soul and mind returned a thankful. hearty and
'Rnth"r is he tho God conceived and created
ton; and Of the vanity Of those chile rem of the
earlier and cruder times which produced these
We're based and compiled long afterward: the
best convention OF a God which they. in their
conception OF their own comparative insigni1-
canoe and of the Unreasonable distance be-
tween them and the INFINITE God, cop:d pro
instructive, innate yearning after the true God.
and. perhaps. also, the stern political necessity
which then existed tor the very kind Of God
The production is, essentially what might
an exaggerated man, q limitiess power and
absolute despotism, displaying the ifslnGs
OF to-day is seriously commanded TO continue
to accept these crude ideals OF 5000 or more
years ago The proposition bears on its face
The writer would submit the following as
feet to him. and at least up to the level Of his
highest conception of God The representa-
h. be the God Of Israel, the Christian or the
Mosem the God Of the Brahmin or the mani
God so represented. or otherwise allows the in
to 9r ed Sam Ea Goa r essfr Sy
such representation. destroys to the individual
the God so represented,
Tested in this crucible how must the Bible
God appear to the critical man OF to-day?
And II this God Of the Bible fails so neces-
sarily does the man. Christ. as His Son. Much
Is said OF the sunerines, both mental and phys-
ical, oi Christ to effect the redemption o. man:
kind from the wrath Of His Father But will
these aronies compare for a moment. in nura-
ton. intensity or degree. with those afterward
suffered and endured by thousands. yes tens
Of thousands 81 His followers. and for His saka
and faith? And also hv the martyrs OF other
faiths. different and antagonstc to His
Is not the whole theory Of the Redemption
essentially human and not divine? Does il not
involve as n necessary corolary some degree OF
infrImitv and weakness on the Part o. God
the Father? And how can any theory of such
redemption and sacrifice be reconciled with
faith and belief In an infinite and perfect God
Our late eminent alleged inNdel in a recent
lecture. pr3rounded this question 70, the or
day; Ii you had the power to create the
world would YOU mako it exactly such world
ms thisI" The writer would PROFOUND this
same question 70 them touching this Biblical
representation ~ n personal God.
And now n final word in defence Of the ag-
noStic He Is not the wanton DESTROYER that
the orthodox ministers delight to make him
appear. Tn" true agnostic ia the most earnest