The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-05-25
A BIT OF THEOLOGY.
views Drawn Ont by the Recent Loss
Of Life mt Martinique.

Of Life mt Martinique.
To the Editor OF the indianapolis Journal:
1t is impossible to harmonic authorized
theological views of a personal God, who,
after His own glory is satiated. loves and
guards and glorifes His creature. man,
with such events as the late awful catas-
trophe at Martinique. The story told to
plain the destruction of SodOm and Co
morrah will not help here. Judged by any
standard OF right and wrong known TO US,
very many places are measurelessly worse
than was poor st. Pierre, not one of which
will be in the least bettered, morally, by
the warning given by its awful fate. So il
may be said Of the numberless like occur
rences OF the past. If they were meant TO
warn they were dismal failures. And what
can be said OF the impotence OF a judge
and ruler who continues line OF such pitt
fully inconsequent experiments?
A single fearless glance at it must show
that theory to be untenable. But immeas-
urably more absurd is any attempt at an
explanation which shows God out of His
universe. Probably there never was a fool
who said in his heart there is no God. when
once the proposition was fairly grasped.
But the name. God. must be permitted TO
signify the competent force tina: stands be-
hind all existence. 1t is then straight and
logical course TO a perfectly rational atti-
tude concerning all that we need TO be dis
turbed about here in this life upon our
earth.
Then Cod that is to say, an intelligent
and entirely competent force is behind all
existence. Nothing has come about by
chance, but all events, all things that, as
rt-rf
this is so every rational creature must be-
lieve. Otherwise nothing is worth the flip
of finger. and we might all better get
drunk with Omar Khayyam and drown
thought and life in one wild, widespread
orgy.
And this intelligent. competent. purpose
full force is actually their very God, the
ecclesiastics tell us. Only. they handicap
Him with by means admirable human
traits such as jealousy, a disposition to
anger, a love of the trumperies of royalty:
with worse than these a vindictive and
unrelenting cruelty impossible to anything
not a devil The qualification involved in
thus portraying their God as God. man and
devil. has in all ages made against the
tending of their religion amongst peoples
OF other faiths, and is now rapidly making
necessary the setting out by its authorities
of more rational creed.
We come head on against an lmpenetra-
bic. unsurmountable wall. then, when we
attempt TO fathom the significance or devise
an explanation Of such events as the de-
struction of Martinique upon accepted no.
tions of Gods relations to His creature.
man. But we need not, therefore. start
back Mortified and hopeless, for a much
more rational and comfortable and con-
sistent line of speculation lies open before
US. if only we can get out of the stupor in
which the old theories so long have held us.
God is. He is God Of all, and all is one
That is the fundamental idea that must be
maintained, that the universe is one, and
God the intelligent force, is it's Master, the
Master of all of it, and has a consistent
purpose in view regarding it. When one
gets good hold on that fact. realizes fully
what it means, the rest for him is easy
Two three great facts which are
known to all men nut place this greatest
of all facts beyond question. One of these
is that all life here on our earth is depend
ent upon the light and heat which come to
from the Other factors there are
that are Indispensable, TO be sure, but,
take away the light and heat which come
to us from the sun and all life on the earth,
SO-called animal and vegetable alike, must
depart from it. We have no command of
this law upon which we are so dependent,
but the fact that it is law establishes con-
clusvely that we and the earth and the
sun are parts of one scheme.
In further proof of this is the fact that
analyses of the light that comes to us from
the show the existence there of eIe-
ments which are known to us as existing in
the substance of our earth.
And once again, as establishing our larg-
er, our universal relationship, is the fact
that meteors, which come to our earth in
enormous numbers out of space, from
whence no one knows, bring to it elements
which are known to us as parts OF it's sub
stance.
These facts. which cannot be further
limited at here, can have but one interpreta-
ton: The universe is one. And we are part
Of it. 1t is subject TO change, but it is in
destructible. We change, too. we know,
but we. too. are indestructible. Can any
one believe otherwise?
But it does not follow from this that each
individual of us shall preserve his individu-
atty of this earth's life throughout eter-
nifty IL seems quite probable that each one
Of us who develops to state of RESPONSE
bility may determine for himself whether
he will go on himself or be tossed back
into Gods crucible for a remixing, re-
combining. a repuddling. For, as in our
creations, the higher organisms are the
more complex, so the unidentified life prin-
ciple. which is the most potent identity
known TO US, is doubtless the most COM
pick. compounded of many elements. sus-
ceptible of resolution into it's constituent
parts Now 1t appears from the Martinique
disaster and similar events here on the
earth. from the vagrant course of number
less tramp meteors through space. from
the burning OF a star here or there from