The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1902-11-24
The sermon was as follows.


The sermon was as follows:
Ia is the difficult and ofttimes melan-
choly task OF the historian TO wander In
the temples. forums and market places OF
the past. TO lay hold upon the facts con.
cealed and TO weave them into form and
fashion. He must also some line OF
degeneration or development therein.
The facts alone are not sufficient. They
must be explained. The historian must
be philosopher. Gibbon describing the
decline and fall OF the Roman empire
must tell us why IL came to an end.
Macauley must relate the period OF VIII
liam the Conqueror. 10 that which went
before and that which followed. Without
this. facts and periods OF history have no
meaning.
IL Is the difficult and sometimes melan-
choly task for the preacher to call forth
from the past statement OF scripture
and give meaning 10 IL by endeavoring TO
shed upon IL some side light OF our gen
eral knowledge.
This task is ofttimes melancholy. not
because of the nature of the subject, but
because its truth has been forgotten.
Many Of the things we learn I'm their eS-
act literalness and that spring with ease
10 our lips. cease TO have meaning The
frequent repetition dulls their truth un-
I'll having ears we hear not their prom
ise or their prophecy.
AN INTERESTING EXPERIENCE.
II would be an interesting experience
this morning for all of us TO give express
sion 10 our belief or disbelief In the
words of our text. IL would probably re-
ceive as many interpretations as their
are individuals.
Ii has had many and remarkably con-
Trajectory results in the lives OF men.
Some have accepted IL and believed In
IT'S promise. while love has been
interpreted only I'm the form OF
slckly sentimentality which has express
cl itself In religious cant. To others II
has been a kind OF promise that has
meant go ahead and do as YOU please.
God is good. and at the end all will end
well To more retrospective souls. who
have been bruised and beaten with many
rods OF sorrow and temptation II has not
brought encouragement but has inculca-
ted despair.
To one man in history II meant some
thing. This man was not one who was
carried TO Heaven or fowery beds of ease
but who suffered shipwreck and prison
and stripes and the most bitter persecu-
tion Who lost his life upon the Roman
highway because OF his allegiance TO the
will OF God, yet who despite the bunet-
ings OF nature and his fellow men could
say: We know, to them that love God,
all things work together for good
M THEORY WITH HIM
It was no theory with him. Il was won
out OF the strong and ofttmes bitter ex-
periences OF life.
We shall not know whether II be true
or false unless we learn IL In the rough
exercise of daily experience. IL may help
us, however, TO interpret our past expe-
rience and face the future with more
hope IL we endeavor to understand 1t.
Here as elsewhere II Is as important 10
Sss IN
note what he does say The battle that
earnest honest biblical scholarship has
had TO fight in every age and especially
in our own has been against the false
opinions OF men. We read into certain
statements made In one age the thoughts
OF an after age and no amount Of logic
or reason will convince us that the an
cient writer did not mean just what we
think he did.
who tempted Eve in the Garden of
Eden? Satan. The account doesn't say
So IL SAYS the serpent. We say IL was
Satan because after writers, and espe-
ciaIly Dante connected the thought OF
Satan and the serpent.
This Is but an Illustration of how
easily we are led 10 read into state
ment that which has no place and to
doubt the truth OF the statement be-
cause we can no longer believe. not what
is said. but what We think Is said. This
after all Is not a doubt of scripture, but
doubt as To what we think, based on
what some one else thinks, that scrip
ture means.
IL is our task therefore TO note first
lust what is said I'm our text and To pass
judgment after
BEGINS WITH A CONDITION.
IL isn't said that all things work to-
gether for good for everybody. IL begins
with a condition. The promise Is 10 a
class IL can never. therefore. be univer-
sally popular. The Jingoism of our time
would prevent it The unconditional
good for the masses Is what u sought. Ia
noiitical life today class legislation
springs from the rogues and dema-
gogues Of the party TO which we do not
belong
The legislation that is intended TO bene-
at only a few at the expense of the
The legislation that Ia intended TO benc-
nj only few at the expense OF the many
is bad, and IL Is Just as bad when as