Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-04-26
Observation-Disclosures !
tFor Sunday Reading. /
All Sorts Of Opinions. +

rs HELL PREACHED ENOUGH?
rChristian Endeayor World.1

i
The love of God is preached. The
glories of heaven are preached. The
comforts of our religion In sorrow anc
pain and failure are preached. Some
times even to the exclusion of these
the social bearings of Christianity are
preached-the gospel of generosity, OF
honesty, of helpfulness. Sometimes
quite to the exclusion OF any gospel
politics are preached. and current his
tory, and science at fourth hand. But
there is no doubt that hell is very little
preached. And yet it should be
preached. Because, in the first place,
hell exists. We see many men growing
worse and worse up to their dying day.
We see their characters becoming alb
solutely fixed in evil and impenitenee.
Often they are unconscious of it, but
we can see their punishment gathering
slowly but surely around them, even in
this life. We have no grounds in reason
or revelation for expecting any change
to be forced upon them in another life.
1t is not our reason, but our pity and
our horror, that objects to the doctrine
of hell.
In the second place, hell should be
preached because millions are going
there. The world is growing better all
the time but 1t is still fearfully wicked,
and no one can look abroad over it
with the thought of eternity in his
heart, and not tremble to view the
enormous mass of misery speeding
recklessly to it's infinite doom.
In the third place. hell should be
preached because "the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom" The love
of God is the end of wisdom; fear must
come first. The reason why the
church's love of God is often so weak
is because 1t is not firmly founded up
on respect for His authority and awe at
His majestic power. Sinners must be
made to feel the terrors of the law, be-
fore they will appreciate the graces of
the gospel.
In the fourth place, even Christians
need to be reminded of the peril of hell.
We need to see the pit whence we were
dug. We need to put more spirit into
our daily prayer. Deliver US from
evil.'' Again, men will honor preacher
that deals with such a strong theme.
Men long for virile preaching, preach
ing that has to do frankly and forceful-
ly with the eternal truths, and not with
the surface reflections OF them on our
current history. We are not advocat-
ing return to the preaching of Jona-
than Edwards, tho there were much
salt in that. We do not care to have
men fall swooning in our churches, and
women half frantic with fear But we
do urge preaching of hell in the same
measure In which Christ preached 1t,
and in the same manner He used.
WHAT COMES OF GIVING UP THE
BIBLE. !,
New York SUM-
The Rev. Theodore d. Bacon, Con-
gregational minister of Detroit, tells
very cheerfully in the last number of
the Outlook of the destructive effect on
all religious beliefs brought about by
the higher criticism of the Bible.
So far from disturbing this minister
Of the church of the Puritans. the "rea-
of this criticism rather
commends itself to him as a happy
proof of progress in enlightenment, for
the soundness of its methods and it's
general conclusions are attested by the
universal acceptance which they meet
OF scholars" AS a clincher," he goes
en-, I'VE find that this criticism is but
the application to the Bible of that
method of study which is universal in
the investigation of other historical
documents and has reconstructed the
history of Greece and Rome"
That Is. he Is glad that the Bible at
last is treated scientifically as a purely
human document" tho "by taking
from 1t it's absolute authority we not
only modify our belief In the historical
character of certain occurrences. but
we overthrow the foundation for every
one of our religious beliefs" II this
method is applied to the Bible 1t must
be applied, Of course. to every form of
experimentation lying ut the basis Of
theology and Of religious belief; the
whole must go by the board and natu-
raj science only must prevail.
The Rev. Mr.. Bacon does not go SO
far as to conclude fatty that because
The Bible does not square with science
1t is all untrue, but says that its teach
ings have a Strong presumption in
their favor, and should be held as a
working hypothesis, to be used until
modified" All the same, the assump-
ton of the personality of God, which is
The basis of all religion he sets aside |
by saying that the scien-
life method of criticism so freely ac-
,epted by him takes away vastly from
he personality and intimacy of our ac-
luaintance with God" Try as the |
higher criticism" may to escape from I
he acknowledgment the logical con-
slusion from the scientific method Is |
he disappearance of personal God;
'r as Mr. Bacon puts it more guarded
y, God is made to seem farther off
rom US, less personal and less directly /
Interested in u.s." But even this Mr..
Sacon esteems an advantage, because
there is relief morally in not being I
allied on to believe Hin guilty of aw-
ul cruelty, as we'll as Intellectually In I
being no longer under any obligation
o hold to grotesque conceptions"
In the same spirit he counts it a gain
hat scientific investigation has made
he divinity of Jesus Christ "a divinity
# which we may all in some measure
,e partakers;" in other words, makes
I no divinity at all. The atonement,
90, is made more reasonable for him
because it lis seen not to be an iso-
ated, artificial arrangement by which
Tod agrees to bargain fundamentally
but zone of the universal
ruths of life, which finds in the life
md death of Jesus its most perfect ex-