The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-07-21
IDEAS THE CONTROLLING
POWER OF THE WORLD.
Sermon on Concentration of Pur-
pose 10y the Reverend John
/. Brandt.

The Reverend John l. Brandt preached
yesterday morning at the First Christian
Church. of which he Is pastor. or the S,iS-
gestive theme. The Power Of a Controlling
Idea" As q basis ne took the statement
Of the apostle Paul in Philippians fiji. IS:
This one thing 1 do He said:
Ideas are the Impelling springs %
growth and progress. Men have ideas. ana
therefrom arise civilizations. governments.
institutions, systems, philosophers. litcrt-
lures. religions. confessions. reforms. dis
coveries and all the sublime events Of his
Aristotle had a few ideas. and therefore
We have his philosophy. Bacon had an
idea. and We have the BaCOnian philosophy.
Numerous have been the civilizations con-
struCted on the ideas of men.
James Watt had an idea that steam
could be condensed, and therefore we have
the steam engine. Stephenson had an idea
about an engine that could travel across
the land. and As the result We have the
locomotive engine. Fulton had an idea that
n vessel could be made To travel over the
water. impelied by steam. ana therefore We
have the steamboat that crosses three thou
sshd miles OF bllloWS without missing a
1hrob or beat Of its mighty iron heart from
shore TO shore. Roger Bacon had an idea,
and therefore we have the camera OhsCura.
A Chinaman had an idea. and therefore we
nave the mariners compass Sir Humphrey
'Davy got an idsa into his head about elec-
trlcity, and therefore we have the electric
light. SwartS evolved an idea that resulted
IN the invention of ~gunpOwder to blow up
natitesnips-, Walker evolved an idea that
Following an IDEA Of Edison's came the
ph9noEraph. William Lee had an idea.
and We have the stocking frame. Eli
Howe. and we have the sewing machine:
beaumont, and we have the railroad;
Morse. and We have the telegraph; Bell.
and We have the telephone. Therefore, out
of IDEAS have grown great inventions and
discoveries. Built upon the ideas Of men
Councils have come together. embodied
their ideas into creeds and. therefore, we
have the Nicene Greed. the Augsburg Con-
fession. the Westminster Confession. the
Thirty-nine Articles. etc. Men become re
Iigious enthusiasts because of being con-
trolled by ideas and. therefore, we have
different religious systems.
"Mohammeoanism, built upon the ideas
of Mohammed: Confucianism. upon the
Ideas of Ccnfucius; Buddhism. upon the
ideas of the great philosopher; Christian
lily. upon the idea Of the Christ. Ideas con-
nations and individuals. An idea is OF
great commercial value. Edison had an
Idea that brought him $4,000. He had an
other idea that brought him S290.c0- A
man at Paris. Ill. had an idea about a
clasp to a suspender, which brought him
day for new ideas. creating new epOchS in
m or science.
Truth is propagated through the world
by ideas. Before truth can become 2
working power. # must be vitalized and
Vivihed; il must become concrete. IL must
receive the warmth of enthusiasm and take
on the form OF personal purpose. An idea
Is q part Of the truth persoualized and
adjusted to certain relations and POSSIBLE
tiles by the human mind taking hold upon
it and putting il in position 10 work. In
other words. an idea is a truth made pos
sible of realization.
Idea into society. Ee backs it with per
sonal power. he has energy to make il ef-
fective. People receive the idea and are
impressed by It. Mckinley had an idea
about the tariff which he launched. and it
made him a hero. Bryan had an idea about
money matters. which be launched into :he
political world, ana he became famous
Columbus had an idea that the world was
round, and he followed that idea until his
discoveries TnNnlu11nmfZn1 Er1Tnlp Thomas
Jefferson had an idea on the subject Of lib
erty, and he drafted the Declaration of
independents one q the greatest oocu-
Nations Ave Ruled 10y Ideas-Ey-
cry nation is dominated by some articllar
idea Rome was ruled by the idea Of En-
pire: Sparta by that of physical manhood:
Athens by the expression of The beautiful
The old Assyrians. like the modern Span-
iards. were possessed and ruled by the idea
Of war. France has been dominated by
the idea Of fame and glory England by
commerce Germany nv learning. italy bv
art. and America by liberty.
individuals. like nations. are ruled by
Ideas. When an idea takes hold OF a per
son II becomes a fixed and controlling pur-
pose 1t ovcTtCDS and oVerShadows every
thing else. some men are possessed ny the
idea of fame They think that life is not
worth living unless they become possessed
of fame and hOnu-. and. therefore. they
bend their energies to attain the goal of
fame. Some have a commercial idea. They
give themselves 10 business. they measure
everything from = business standpoint
They would measure tho character OF their
eIlow-me by the size OF their nurse.
and. therefore. by day and by night. when
at home and when abroad. the business Dur
suit comes first
Some men wind their lives in the folds
of political ideas. p~oliticaI platforms and
policies Men become possessed OF p~articu-
lar ideas and follow them. sometimes to
ruin and sometimes to victory. ClinEing to
a bad idea will lead a man into deErsda-
ton. ClinginC TO Il noble idea Will lift 4
man into elysium fields Of joy.
Now Paul Was Possessed of the Christ
1Gea-And the idea Of Jesus Christ AID his
cross In which Paul glOried is come 10 be
more and more the dominating idea Of man.
In many fields Of human activity IL ia the
evoked the greatest number Of products
and the greatest number OF the greatest
artists ~ the world. To paint the infant
Jesus. 10 paint the ministsrinS Jesus. 10
paint the divine Man and to represent in
his co~untenance a perfect and harmonious
blending of the Craces Of Christianity has
been tn highest ambition of eaTtE's great
est master artists.
TN literature no man has moved 20
many pens and commanded go many
tongues Poetry never encountered 4 more
Resonant chord than when il struck the
Sympathies Of Jesus. the rock of ages. Be
hold what volumes OF literature have heeu
the outErowth OF the words and movements
Of Jesus. His teachings, his light. his love.
his life have been sung 10y the sweetest
Fingers. The great music composers have
Exhausted their resources 10 produce a So