The San Francisco call., 1901-10-18


roll away the darkness as a curtain and
he himself be manifested gloriously.
But the night is still round about u.s. and
We therefore pray you. brethren TO suffer
the word OF eXhortation. that We may tell
you the specially pressing dangers ii en-
folds and our thought Of the duties thence
specially arising for YOU and for us. that
the King shall have 10 damage"
Perhaps We may describe the chief hin
GRANGE in the way OF the Kingdoms ad-
Nancement in our time, as, indeed, it has
been in every period Of the church's his
tory, as the zeitgeist, the spirit Of the age,
the very atmosphere in which We must
have our life Because that spirit changes,
because that enfolding atmosphere is diff
ferent now from any that before did en-
compass Christian warriors therefore il is
that new dangers are apparent and new
The spirit OF our age is not one Of aggres-
siVe, angry denial but rather of one of lazy,
Indifferent consent. II is more than willing
tc build ana to decorate the sepulchres Of
the old ideals Of valorous righteousness.
for 10 1t those ideals are dead 1t will re-
cite with soul-stirr1ng emphasis Of choral
harmony the ancient symbol of all-conouer-
ing truth. but TO IL this is but form Of
sound words beautiful and venerable with
Out relation 10 the conquest Of self or of
Lne world without expected or desired re-
suit in the formal ton Of character. So IL
thinks, and speaks and yet cannot let go
the one hope that has cheered and illumined
the climbing path Of mans development;
end so in some sense the old creed must be
confessed, and with some sort Of devotion
the old sacraments received The insutu-
Uon OF the catholic church must be oe-
Tended and supported. that its voice OF mys-
terry may speak words of blessing, possible,
though uncertain pleasing though unWar-
rented, at the bridal and the burial. upon
the head OF the infant new come to earth
trials. and into the dull ear Of the pilgrim
ready 10 depart But such shadowy neces-
sity may not claim the supreme devotion
OF a mans life and IL shall be reasonably
given TO the pursuit Of ends which are
plainly visible and as plainly possible Of
attainment. Benefcence is true religion,
as the wise man James did write and all
the rest IS but mystery and vanity The
enc Of Christian faith is attained in the
glories OF Christian civilization The
founder Of the hospital and its skillful min
isters to disease; the founder Of the or
manage and its tender mothers of the
the aged and afflicted folk. and they who
therein touch gently the wounds and the
weakness which age hath brought, these
are the true servants and apostles Of
Jesus Christ
The large-hearted benefactor who endows
the college. the scientist who in its halls
UnfOlds the mysteries Of nature and
teaches the application Of hidden forces
these are the true teachers Of Christ. Yes,
in the misty atmosphere which surrounds
US the spirit Of the age can see linen but
as trees walking can see but the physical
and the material. and the intellectual as
part OF and as Influencing the bodily nature;
and to-day the ideal Of Christian manhood
as il shines through the, atmosphere Of
which this time-spirit has surrounded IL is
TO rise uo early and late and lie down to
rest, that much goods may be laid UP, that
50 great deeds Of brOtherly kindness may
be done The son Of man. ii is triumph
sntly asserted. came not to be ministered
ElnCO but 10 minister. and he best follows
in his train who is thus busy with the sup
ply OF human necessities and the soothing
OF human pain But the added words of
this same Scripture are forgotten in the
ideals set UP for admiration to-day con-
tain not the feature Of self-sacrifice, but
the deliversnce Of the many. The soldier
dying on a lonely battlefield, the sailor
hero going down with his ship that others
may be saved. the physician hero adventur-
ing himself fearlessly into the pestflence.
with the cousecrated sister by his side-this
figure is dWarfed into nOthingness by the
atmosphere Of our time il comparison with
the successful accumulator Of a mountain
is commercial, whereas the ideal set up by
Jesus Christ is spiritual, is essential self
Sacrnce, and the oifncultles which con-
front Us on every hand are due TO this
c.easing effort OF the evil one 70 unite the
two in that which shall satisfy the dis
ciple and yet leave him to pursue his own
ends while he still calls himself Christian
We mean not now TO consider the origin
OF this destructive philosophy which has
seized possession OF the minds OF age
Be il the great progress Of natural science,
as is claimed by many, or be it the too
reckless handling OF our sacred books as
others assert OF be II the effect of these
two influences the one perhaps producing
and 3ts effects are manifest in many diff
ferent directions, all alike hostile to the
faith which is in Jesus Christ and to the
upbuildfng Of manhood by the power of
that faith We would note some of these
effects. and would suggest some methods
Of meeting these exhibitions Of the spirit
Of evil
II nay not be arniss to premise that here
as elsewhere the overstrajned interpreta-
tion OF truth in any one direction is the
opportunity and the prOYOcation Of a con-
of q Tof oil
aEgerEton TO the other extreme. The
church did teach from the beginning that
the Holy Scripture is the word of God; that
holy men Of old spake as they were moved
by the Holy Ghost" But the Scripture it.
self furnished no theory Of inspiration and
the church declared none The prying in
teIligence Of man was dissatisfied with such
underlined assurance Of certainty, and one
theory followed another with cumulating
assertion Of the infallible accuracy Of every
statement, Of every description, concerning
every. subject in the sacred book. till at
ment in these writings was nothing and the
inspired writers were but as lifeless material
instruments through which the voice of the
Spirit made itself audible. Then came the
natural and almost inevitable denial of
statements scientific. numerical, geo
graphical, historical. upon the authority of
external witness almost incontrovertible
The contradictions of the sacred authors of
one another, though nanifestly concerning
apart from the one purpose which Holy
Scripture was given to serve, and them
selves the highest evidence Of the indiVid-
usI honesty Of the historians, and of the
resulting value OF their records, were ex-
plotted in the face Of the world as fragrant
disprOOf Of the asserted claim to infallible
accuracy, and so as proof Of the worth
lessness Of the pretended revelation. Even
the differently recorded title upon the
vvondrous cross was f1o1ted in our faces
as all-suffcient proof that the Gospel
story may not be received by well-tutored
reason, because forsooth the variation In
that record does show that every word
and every syllable Of the Scripture cannot
be taken the very utterance Of the spirit
Of truth. And the result is reached at last
when we are told that the Bible is but as
any other book, and to be treated by the
student in the same way: that the claim
for any supernatural guidance of its
writer's in any degree is vain; that even
the historians Of the New Testament in
making record Of the story which they
heard OF the doings Of their time used only
the intelligence and the diligence which
anv reporter Of great events would en-
plOv: that the Apostles Paul. Peter and
John made inferences from these reported
facts. as any Of US might DO and as every
one Of Us is equally entitled to DO. Because
The Bible must be no longer fetish, IL
may be no longer a guide. This we be-
ieve. dear brethren, TO be the worst feat
ure Of our present condition, this disposi-
tion TO overthrow the authority and to
n !. !; :