The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-11-04
FROM THE CITY'S PULPITS
REV. j. CUMMING SMITH TALKS OF
COMMON-sENsE RELIGION.
Easy to Soar 20 the Infinite. He Says
Other Topics Discussed by
Preachers

The Rev ]. Cumming Smith, pastor of the
Tabernacle Presbyterian Church. preached
yesterday morning from the text: And
there arose a king over Egypt that knew
not Joseph. Exodus /, S. He said: Joseph
had come to the position Of resplendence
and power as a natural result of his ex-
PLANTATION of the kings troubling dreams
and yet more of his splendid life and stain
less character. So great was ne that to the
king he stood as God. 1 can quite picture
the arrogant monarch listening to the Jews
in the arguments about their God and then
in a burst of impotence silencing the dis
cussions that led nowhere. Don't talk to
me about your creeds and your divine prov
! idence; your knowledge is too limited TO
give your debates any weight; the whole
supernatural is so dark that you can argue
either way because the facts are too few
to guide you; as for me, Joseph stands as
| deity; his blameless motive, his manly de-
pertinent his erect honor, his unfeigned
| humility, his power to finance and forecast
the future and satisfy the citizens and quell
| the mob-all these mark him as a man of
| God.
! And when you sink the plummet of rea-
| son down into the depths, is not the opinion
Of Pharaoh an echo of your own? Is it not
true that the very possibility of knowing
God depends first on knowing man? Can
we frame any idea of a deity who is not
! like US? child born on the plains can
| understand mountain If you said the little
rise of ground he plays on is like the noun
/ tain. But If you said to the boy that the
| mountain was something absolutely unlike
the hill Its eyes have seen, and without a
| single quality or color in common, then the
! boy cannot understand the mountain.
Hence the necessity of incarnation! AS a
! fact God has breathed His own divine
power into the world, above the world, into
the soul of man, above man, into the divine
| original soul of Jesus, and all these in order
| to His own manifestation
| THE mechanical theory of inspiration
must be set aside; holy prophets were not
! mere communications like a wire that car
ries a current OF electricity; holy prophets
| were first inspired in themselves: they
were in themselves great and faithful, and
then TO such natures as theirs, forever open
and obedient, God was able to give light
! that they might give to others. Beacons
are not self-lit; on the other hand, bea-
| cons are carefully cleaned and provided
with extraordinary mechanism and the
marvellous mingling of lamps with thick re-
| Electors behind. And they send their
glorious radiance far out, only the keeper
knows how intricate is their construction
and what constant cleaning they need.
| Now the doctrine of Pharaoh is not SC
| far wrong: 1t is very easy to talk nimbly
| and fiuently about God, but how much OF
can soar into the sky, far away beyond tine
| stars in our bold flight and talk familiarly
| about that vast Being to whom infnitude is
! as an acre to a landowner who can look
| over leagues of property How we talk as
| if we knew Him and knew what He would
| do and knew that some prayers He directly
| answered when by answering those prayers
| He gratified us but wounded our neighbor
| How curious is religion often timesi Their
| to listen to all the war and wrangle of meI
| over religious dogmas, as if those dogmaS
were exceedingly simple and alphabetical
! and all you needed to do was TO Gull text
| or two from the Bible anywhere between
| the covers and they settled everything-eX
| cept themselves
| cit is not surprising that amid all the
| bedlamism of our controversies the common
| sense of mankind should turn away anC
| say, L am lost when L soar so high L car
| argue anyway and anywhere on such mat
| tiers, but one thing wins me, it is mar
| whom L know to be right, and warm, anC
| helpful, and wise, and as l see him L car
| believe in God Let me remark that mer
| must reason more and more on religion:
| subjects as facts come trooping in. W.
! have every wish to see the things of faiti
brought down TO the rules of science.
for one. believe that religion will never
sweep the world until we. cease to treat i
as something sickly and sentimental anC
supersttious and begin to clothe it will
the dignity and glory of thing that comes
from the God of light, the Father o.
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