The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-01-30

which. for this day and age. and coming
from the head OF a great institution al
learning is 4 masterpiece OF hediat'ht
ism. That Such thoughts IN any a2e
could enter the mind Of 4 true disciple
Of Christ. is evidence Of the little effect
His teachings nave had upon the world.
Ii the Master tried 10 teach anything "a
was, the duty of loving n ano:te-. lie
told US even 10 love cur enemies. lie
never called anybody 4 Monster" a'd
ne never slandcred q mother. II : true
that on one occasion be called ais hypp-
critical disciple q devil, but afterw irds
forgave him.
For the president of a co.l,ge. where
science is taught in he week tn pro-
claim from the pulpit on Sunday his
hatred OF natural law, looks as If he h"t
taken counsel rather from Peter than
Paul. Ii may be when tn. time comes
that he will swear with a mighty "a:h
he didn't say it. AS q tcst Of his hon
esty, and his desire TO instruct ythers III
the straight and narrow way, l would
ask him 10 explain what he means by
the ~'.personality Of God" l am very ig-
norant on this point, and 50, | presume,
are many Of his flock. He began his
discourse by saying, The personality OF
God is he supreme fact OF u f2itn.
Now without some idea Of the object OF
faith, il is impossible to have faith; and
unless ii can be shown that God has 3
personality. and the idea Of that per-
s~onality can be presented clearly TO
our mental conception. it IS impossible
for any man to AVE faith in that per
sonality. Evidence must come from
some source. Is DIR. klgo's bare asser-
ton sufficient? How many readers Of
49, - -. -:
that Thomas jefferson was a monster:
The Bible says, "God la not a man; God
IS a spirit; God is light; God is love-"
Man is the only creature that the world
recognizes as q person, and as God Is
not q man, mans personality cannot
be a type Of Gods: and farther, Webster
says. personality as We can conceive II,
IS essentially a limitation and a reia-
ton" Does DR.. kilgo limit God and
make him a relative being? Will DR..
kilgo explain the personality Of light.
and the personality Of love: Perhaps
he can explain the personality Of spirit
and tell us What q spirit IS. Will DIR.
kilgo please take a retrospective view
OF his inner consciousness, and ask him.
self. Have /, John c. kilgo, any idea
at adj Of hat being we call Cod If he
finds that he has such idea he will be
aDIt 10 put II GOWN III pldlu ldIEldSc,
and we will all be thankful. But l am
willing to wager a cigar Or a cigarette
even, that DR.. Kilgo's idea of God is
authroqomorphic. and tina it is not one
whit better. nor above that Of the South
Sea Islander. Let lis hear from you
brother.
The church and the world today is
athe;stic TO its very core. The very bost
men are unconsciously without God The
pulpit today has less Of God in it's ut
terances and less Of his power about il
than il ever had, and unconsciously SO.
The whole thing is so insidious that the
ordinary man is not likely to discover it.
| doubt if he would be able to 90 SO If
he knew of it and tried"
In this quotation there is, perhaps, ali
unconscious truth. The ordinary man
has not discovered it, but the thinker
has discovered it long ago. l boldly as
sert that the thinking man who regularly
attends church (any Of them for twenty
years, listens to and diges1s what he
hears in the pulpit will become an IN
fidel, If not IN atheist. l assert fur
ther that the thinking man who reads
and digests the most scientific books or
atheism and infdelity will become a.
much Disguised with their sophistry as
he is with the p~ropagandism Of the
church. The thinking man, then, after
these experiences. erects Al altar IN his
own soul to God, and there he worships
his Maker in peace.
Now who is responsible for this State
of things? After the preaching Of the
gospel for two thousand years and DR..
Kilgo can sum u" that work in the quo
tation above. there is but one conclusion
for the thinking man; and that is, that
the doctrine is false, or it's apostles are
not the right men.
That monster. Thomas jefferson" -,
Brann ought to be alive. No other man
; can tune his Tyre to the utterance of
English suited to this occasion. I will
not attempt it: | will only relate what
| heard from the pulIit when | was a
boy. The text was from Revelations
and was PITCHED upon the monster with
seven heads and ten horns. When |
20 to church it is. and ever has been,
to get information. The singing, the
/ praying, the genufiections and the all
mems are merely sideshows in which
am not interested. The sermon is ai l
! 30 for. Forty years ago there was
preaching. What they missed in breadth
they made up in length. To n boy ten
or twelve years old. a three-hours SER
Ai-OiA "&S a SoIt lIIdl, Dtt NStL IL "a
on q hard bench, l was respectful, and
endeavored to get the gist Of the sermon.
At that age / looked upon the preacher
as being truly a man Of God. / believed
every word he uttered. l swallowed it
al. even when it had no taste. | am
wiser now. / refuse to swallow the in
sipid and all that which has a mixture
of gall. But to my story: The preach
err finally got all the way from firstly up
to siXthly. and when half the congrega-
ton had begun to more he came to last
Is. | knew what that meant, and as
| had so far learned nothing Of the
Monster" l pricked up my ears hoping
to get a n1orsel l could taste. II came.
ard | have never forgotten the SAVIOR.
| The preacher said: Friends and broth
ers. u am now going to tell you what thai,
monster is," and bending over the high
TOT pulpit. with c~ountenance furrowed
and wrinkled with emotion. he Kissed
between his teeth. at is the young man
who goes UP to Wake Forest College
to learn TO be Il preacher"
Now. is il pOSsibIe that Trinity has