The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-03-23
nWHAT cor WOULD po.n
Reaeetlons Of tho Nov York Trlbus

Reflections OF the new 4otk GE1pune
on Rev. sheldon's Venture.
New York Tribune editorial: A few
years ago when callow scribbler put
forth a work under the title "If I Were
God" there was instant and general
recognition OF the indecency OF the
thing. There was seen to be in the hyp-
othesis an intimation that God was
by no means doing as well as He
might, and that the author IL put into
His place. could do a great deal better.
1t is by no means certain that SINH
lar BIT Of irreverence-to dignity It
with a serious term-is not perpetrated
by those who are given to doing this.
that or the other thing 'as Christ would
do It," For. as a matter Of fact, 1t IL
not as He would do 1t, but as they
think He should do 1t, that they show
US. It would be monstrous assumption
for any one to pretend to know precise
~ how Christ would do a thing. All he
can know is how he thinks Christ
would do It. And so he shows us not
what Christ would do, but what he
himself would do II he were Christ,
Just that has been done by the man
who has been editing q western news
paper "as Christ would do It." We as
sumo that he Is sincere and honest. He
does not profess to have received any
special Divine revelation Of the jour
nalIstIc methods and principles Of Jesus
Of Nazareth. 1--WE do not mean to be
lrreverent.) So he must have been
merely showing US his own ideas OF
Christ's editorial policy, showing US
what he would do, as an editor, Il he
were Christ That may be reconcilable
with his notionE Of reverence. To 9
great many 1t must recall the words OF
the voice that was heard by the Tenn
ante, "Shall mortal man be more just
than God? Shall man be more pure
than his Maker?" For to edit a paper
CAS- Christ would edit it, or as would
edit It II were Christ" is to intimate
that IN this, Gods world. among all
the newspapers edited by God-fearing
men, God has never yet succeeded in
getting one edited quite as It should be,
wherefore this jealous mentor OF Divin-
ity assumes the task Of showing Him
how to do It.
Apart from that, It must be deemed
presumptuous for an inexpert man to
pretend to show forth omniscience. We
suppose Tin all reverence) that II Christ
were to edit newspaper He would
bring to the task the fullest possible
knowledge Of every detail Of the work.
He would be the ablest editor In the
profession, whether as leader writer or
newsgatherer. So would He excel in
whatever profession or trade He might
engage in. Surely, then, the man who
would show US Christ's way of running
a paper should be no mere novice. but
:, - ,sgy,,rk v,aoakav. Of tho NRnfk NpOt11H
be presumption for a man who had
never studied anatomy to undertake to
show how to perform delicate sur
gical operation, or for one who was ig-
nOrant OF mathematics TO show how to
perform an abstruse problem In the
calculus. How Is It less presumptuous
for a man who is unframed in news
paper work to pretend to show not only
how a newspaper should be run, but
how 1t should and would be run by the
Al-Wise God Himself?
The fact liz, there is a great deal too
much well meaning violation OF the
Third Commandment. Men are pro-
Tossing or assuming a familiarity with
God and with His viii that is in no.
wise to be indicated. They talk about
what He would do or would not do as
though they had daily direct revelations
4Aa ~ AlAGANsA Va AAshs NllEg
are merely exploiting their own concep-
lions OF Him. which may be correct or
may be altogether false. But in unre-
servedly labelling those conceptions
with His name they are taking His
name in vain no less surely and scarce-
" less extensively than the street ruff
fian whose profane swearing they so
sternly condemn. II any man wants to
do anything as he thinks God would
like to have II done, we'll and good. II
is in that spirit that every man should
do every task. But when man pre-
tends 10 do anything as God would do
it-as wisely as Omnisclence and as
strongly as omnlpotence and as per-
fectly as All Perfection could do 1.-THE
gets dangerously close to the line
which divides the honest, humble and
revertnt man from the charlatan and
the fanatic.