Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-05-21
VAN DYKES SPEECH
Famed Ecclesiastic DiscOurSex
Sound Reason to Gath
cred Hosts.
TO WHAT END DO WE lIvE7

| LGS AN1EIEo, Idlii, @Ahy g..
In Emmanuel church at II O'Clock this
morning the 10th general ASSEMBLY
| of the Presbyterian church was called
to order by the retiring moderator,
Rev. DR.. Henry c. Van Dyke of
Princeton, NJ J. Al O'Clock En-.
manuel chapel was opened to receive
the credentials of the 700 commits
sioners and alternates. and from
that hour until the assembly con
vened the Rev. DR.. William II. Rob
erts, the stated clerk, was kept busy
distributing badges and assigning the
delegates to their places. The CALLER
les OF the editice were crowded when
the opening hymn was sung. the
spectators joining with the commits
soiners and the alternates in the re-
dition OF the anthem.
The sermon OF the retiring moderat-
or, Dr. Van Dyke. occupied the en-
tire morning session and at It's con
clusion the assembly adjourned until
= O'Clock 70 prepare for the election Of
the new moderator, the most import
ant practical business Of the day
The subject Of the sermon by the
moderator. the Rev. Henry Van Dyke.
was Knowing and Doing: Joy and
Power The text was from st. John,
the thirteenth chapter and the seven.
teenth verse: IF ye know these
things, happy are ye If ye do them. =
Mr. Van Dyke said, in part:
i want to speak to you today
about the religion Of Christ in its re.
lation 70 happiness.
In the wish for happiness, all men
are strongly alike. In their views OF
IT, and in their ways of seeking Il.
they are singularly different. II we
acknowledge Christ as our Master and
Lord. there are but two questions that
we must ask OF Him: First. is It
right to wish to be happy? Second /
What are chief conditions on which
the fulhlment Of that wish depends?
!. The desire Of happiness is nat.
ural.
Now what does Christ say in re-.
gard u this natural human wish?
Does II say that It is an Illusion ;
Does He condemn and deny It? Would
tie have accepted Goethe's definition
Religion Is renunciation'?
Surely such a notion is far from
the spirit of Jesus. There Is nothing
OF the hardness OF stoIcism. the cold.
ness OF Buddhism in Christ's gospel
II is humane, sympathetic, consoling
Unrest and WEAKNESS, the fever Of
passion and the chill Of despair. soul.
solitude and heart-trouble, are the
very things He comes 10 cure. IL 10.
gins HIS great discourse with series
OF bealitudes, Blessed Is the word
Happy is the meaning. Nine times
lie rings the changes on that word
like silver bell sounding from the
campanile of His fair temple ON the
mountain side. calling on all who long
ior happiness to come TO Him and
find rest for their souls.
What shall we say Of the proposal
TO adapt Christianity to the needs Of
the world today by eliminating or IL.
noring It's characteristic doctrinesy ?
You might as well propose to ft n
snip for service by taking out its com.
pass aud Its charts and cutting of its
rudder. Make Christianity silent in
regard to these great questions of
spiritual existence, and you destroy
It's power to satisfy the heart.
Try the experiment, II It NAV bs
done without irreverence. Read
christ'a familiar discourses in the |
shadow Of asnosticism:
Blessed are the poor in spirit. |
Tor theirs IL . hopeless poverty, |
Blessed are tho pure in heart, for |