The Topeka state journal., 1900-03-26

doxy is. the orthodoxy not Of belief, but
OF life: that is of right conduct. Yet
it is almost impossible TO find a Chris
tlan church, either past or present, that
has not put stress on right conduct,
even when It has taught most siren
uousIy that right doing would not save
a man from the wrath Of God or from
the particular kind OF hell in which it
happened to believe The mistake of the
churches, to my mind. has often been
that they have not made conduct OF
enough relative Importance compared
with faith; and that they have regarded
right conduct outside of the church as
somehow different from right conduct
inside the church But, whatever may
have been the case IN the past, I feel
sure that in the great majority of the
churches attended by what may with
fairness be called Intelligent people,
much more is said about conduct than
belief about life than about doctrine.
1 know the denomination to which this
church has the honor to belong has
always placed the stress upon conduct.
Right living is what II has preached
most perSiStently, in season and out
of season. The ethical has been to the
front and the Theoretical and the theo-
logical in the background l do not be-
Heve that in this respect this small
denomination is entirely unlike the other
churches
agree that the doctrine of the atone
meut as sometimes presented is i'm
moral This is not stated as Mr. HoWe's
opinion but quoted evidently with ap-
prevail Not long ago two little girls
We're playing together, when one told
a faISelOod The other demonstrated
with her To which the first replied,
Never mind. III tell it to Jesus to-
night when go to be1 and it will be all
right That belief. as it existed in the
mind Of that child was immoral. 1t led
her to believe that wrong doing could be
wiped out by telling it to Jesus This
is not unlike the form that the doctrine
of the atonement has sometimes taken
1t is, that no matter what you do, if
you believe on Christ, you will escape
the penalty of wrong doing. Any one or
any church which teaches that by any
belief whatsoever about any one what
Soever, a man can without the right
eousuess be as worthy as the one who
is righteous-that he is SO regarded by
God or manor ought to be so regarded
is guilty. it seems to me, of teaching
immortality. The doctrine that Christ
or any one else atones for your wrong
dOingS, and not you yourself, I regard
as immoral in it's tendencies. But even
when teaching some such a doctrine as
this. the church has usually been better
than its teachings and insisted on good
conduct. In what have said do not
wish to be understood to have given a
complete or even fair exposition of the
doctrine of the atOnement- I have
merely mentioned one of the aspects
that 1t has sometimes taken; and have
form it is essentially immoral. It does
not by any means always lead to i'm
morality for men are frequently better
than their theories and beliefs. But I
fear that the matter OF conduct. in con-
nectfon with the doctrine, has been too
often looked upon in much the same
manner that the little girl did
A thought suggests itself in regard to
miracles. The alleged miracles of Chris
t1anlry, however much they may have
at first served as q support Of Chris
tianity, are becoming more and more a
stumbling block to faith Whereas they
once supported Christ and Christianity,
now Christ and Christianity support
them. The old view believed in Christ
because of the miracles; the new be-
HeveS in miracles because of Christ
They once supported Him; He now sup
ports them. People once believed in
Him because of His works; they now
believe His works because of Him.
Those who believe the miracles hap
pened, reason this way rs il not rea-
souable that a being like Christ should
work miracles2 Here is a man, Jesus,
who is the first moral and religious
teacher of the world, is it not reasonable
that if God were to manifest His con-
nection with the world and human af-
fairs anywhere it would be in connec-
tion with this man? To those who have
adopted the theory of evolution, the be-
lief that things happen in accord with
fixed and unchaug1ng laws, many peO-
PIE nave COIuE TO see II ana their
Der Is constantly IncreaS1ng-an ind1ca-
ton of the presence of the divine, or of
God, in the orderIiness of nature and its
processes That the same causes al
ways produce the same effects IS to
them the miraculous thing. That is
why the evolutionist believes in a. mind
behind and through the universe.
Miracles, to attest the work of such a
man as Jesus, or any other good man
for that matter seem to them auOual-
They reject the mira Ca1ezS of .THeS119
not because they believe less in the
worth Of Jesus, or less in God, but be-
cause they believe more in God. They
say these wonders that He is said to
have done are Of the nature of legends,
having in most cases probably a little
basis in fact, which by the ideaIization
of his followers, and the lapse of time,
grew up around this wonderful man.
Personally, do not believe that Jesus
performed any Of His alleged miracles,
except, perhaps, the instances Of heal
ing-and if He did them, it was in ac-
cord with law, and not contrary to law.
Yet I do not for that reason reject the
leadership of Jesus, nor the name Chris
tian. For l think that Christianity is
not a system of belief, involving the fall
of man and his redemption by the Son
of Coda. redemption which comes only
to those who have some sort Of belief
about Christ: rather believe that
Christianity is in essence not a. system
of thought. a collection Of dogrnas, but
a way of life, it is the spirit of Jesus,
the spirit of love to God and love to
man.
The doctrine of evolution which has
seemed to so many to have destroyed
Christianity and religion, seems to me
to have put both on a frmer basis than
ever. It is only the dOgmas of both that
have been destroyed In their essence
both remain The new theory of the
origin of the universe makes belief in
the existence Of God, which had been
before largely a matter of faith, or an
assumption of the moral nature and of
the intellect-and none the less worthy
of being considered for that, makes the
existence Of Supreme Being become a
matter Of probability that approaches
Drunkenness Cured