The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1901-07-24

board" Do YOU believe that the Bible
account of the origin of life will be over.
thrown by infdel scientists who have
fifty different theories about the origin OF
life? If they should all come up in solid
phaianx, all agreeing on one sentiment
and one theory, perhaps Christianity
might be damaged, but there are not so
many differences OF opinion inside tne
church as outside the church. -,
Oh, it makes me sick to see these liter.
ary fops going along with copy of Oar,
win under one arm and case of transhxed
grasshoppers, and butterflies under the
other arm, telling about the Survival OF
the ittest" and Huxley's protoplasm and
the nebular hypothesis. The fact, is that
some naturalists, just as soon as they ind
out the difference between the feelers OF
wasp and the horns, of beetle, begin
to patronize the Almighty, while Agassiz,
Glorious Agassiz, who never made any pre-
tension to being a Christian, put both his
feet on the doctrine of evolution and says:
"I see that many of the naturalists of our
day are adopting facts which do not bear
observation or have not passed under OBJ
servation." These men warning with each
other-Darwin warning against Lamarch,
Wallace warning against Cope, even Her.
schel denouncing Ferguson. They do not
agree about anything.
paneled themselves as a. jury to decide
this trial between Infdelity, the plaintiff.
and Christianity, the defendant, and after
being out for centuries they come in to
render their verdict. Gentlemen OF the
jury, have you agreed on verdict! No,
no. Then 20 back for another 500 years
and deliberate and agree on something.
There is not a poor, miserable wretch IN
the city prison tomorrow that could be
condemned by jury that did not agree
on the verdict, and yet you eSpeet .a n1s.so Us to
these men who cannot agree on anything.
All, my friends, the church of Jesus
Christ, instead of falling back, Is on the
And then find another most encourag-
ing thought in the fact that the secular
printing press and the pulpit seem har-
messed in the same team for the procla-
nation of the gospel. Every banker in
this capital tomorrow, every wall street
banker tomorrow in New York, every
State street banker to-morrbw In Boston,
every Third street banker TOMORROW N
Philadelphia, every banker IN the United
States and every merchant, will have In
his pocket a treatise on Christianity, ten,
twenty or thirty passages of Scripture IN
the reports of sermons preached through.
out the land to-day 1t will be 80 in Chi
cago, so in New Orleans, go in Charleston,
so in Boston, 80 in Philadelphia, 80 in
Cincinnati, so everywhere. i know the
tract societies are doing grand and glo'
rious work, but tell you. there Is no
power on earth to-day equal to the TACT
that the American printing press Is tax;
! ing up the sermons which are preached
| to few hundred or few thousand peo-
| ple, and on Monday morning and Monday
evening scattering that truth to the null
ions. What an encouragement fqr every
| Christian man!
Then YOU have noticed more significant
| fact if you have talked with people on the
subject-that they are getting dissatisfied
with worldly philosophy as matter OF
comfort. They say it does not amount TO
anything when you have dead child IN
the house. They tell YOU when they were
sick and the door Of the future seemed
| opening the only comfort they could hnd
was the gospel. People are having DEM
onstrated all over the land that science
and philosophy cannot solace the troubles
and woes Of the world, and they want
some other religion, and they are taking
| Christianity. the only sympathetic Teh'
zion that ever came into the world. You
| Just take scientific consolation into that
room where a mother has lost her child;
Try in> that case your splendid ! doctrine OF Oh
|
| that child died because it was not worth
! as much as the other children. That Ii
your "survival of the fttest." just try
your transcendentalism YOUR philosophy,
your science, on that widowed soul, and
| tell her it was a geological necessity that
her companion should be takeniaway from
her. lust as in the course of the worlds
| history the megatherium and the ichthyo-
saurus had to pass out Of existence, and
then you 60 on in your scientihc consoia.
| ton until you get to the sublime tact that
| 5O,O00,000 years from now we ourselves
may be scientific specimens on the geo
logic shelf, petri6ed specimens OF an at ex.
| tinct human race, and after you have got
| all through with your consolation, II the
poor afflicted soul is not crazed by 1t, we
| will send forth from any of our churches
the plainest Christian we have, and WITH
one half hour of prayer and reading OF
| Scripture promises the tears will be Wlped
away, and the house from floor to cupola
will be flooded with the calmness OF an
Indian summer sunset; There Is Where l
see the triumph OF Christianity; fsSTp9
are dissatisfied with everything else. Ihey
want Cod. thew want Jesus Christ.
The fact is that infdelity and agnosti-
cism are founded on ignorance geological, I,
ignorance chemical, ignorance 'estronoml-
cal, ignorance geographical. We have
| heard what the enemies of Christianity
have had to testify. Now put before
You the testimony of the church On earth
and the church in heaven. Not fifty, not
| a thousand, not a million, but all OF the
| church on earth and all OF the redeemed
| in heaven. -, ~, nm
Is not the testimony of the 10000 who
were present worth more tna3 tne testl,
mony of one who was absent! NOW, there
are some men who say they have never
seen Christ crowned in the heart, and
| they do not believe it is ever done. There
is group of men who say they have never
heard the voice Of Christ, that they have
never heard the voice of God. They do
not believe that anything like it ever, oc;
Cured. I point to twenty, hundred
thousand or million people who say:
"Christ was crowned in our hearts affec-
tions. We have seen Him and felt Him
in our soul. and we have heard His voice.
We have heard it in the storm and dark:
ness. We have heard it again and again.
You say morphia puts one to sleep.
You say in time of sickness 1T Is very use
full. I deny it. Morphia never puts any
BODY to sleep. It never alleviates pain.
You ask why I say that I have never
tried it. I never took it. | deny that
morphia is any soothing to the nerves OF
any quiet in times of sickness. 1 deny
that morphia ever put anybody to sleep.
But here are twenty persons who say they
have all felt the soothing effects of ply
sician's prescribing morphine.
Whose testimony will you take! Those
who took the me dicine or my testimony,
1 never having taken the medicine. Here
is the gospel Of Jesus Christ, d;s;no an anodye Se
for all trouble, the mightlest medicine I on
earth. Here is man who says: -! DON'T
believe in it. There is no power in 1t"
Here are other people who say: 1--WE have
found out its power and know its soothing
influence. It has cured u.s." Whose testi
mony will you take in regard to this heal
| ing medicine?
Young man, do not be ashamed to be .
friend Of the Bible. Do not put your