The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1903-07-23


doubts easily possible concerning the mat
tiers OF Christian belief. 1t is not the pur-
pose OF this discourse, however, to discuss
the grounds of skepticism except in SO far
as they would impeach the breadth of
Christianity. Several forms of unbelief,
or OF indifference, which is in a sense the
same thing logically, present sorry spec
tacle IN the presence of the inclusiveness
OF the Gospel. What are the truths for
truths? They talk perhaps of their intel
!, .uallty, but they should remember that
the men who are responsible for the Nj
Gene Greed were pastmasters as meta
physicians. They refer to the liberty
OF which they are the champions, but the
liberty which they advocate is r essence
the very doctrine of nihlists aud anarch-
lists Is in society and politics. With blare
OF trumpet they herald their own broad
mlndedness, but if they had their way, and
II tLey could sweep religion from the face
OF the earth, burn uD the Bibles, dynamite
the churches, it requires no prophet to
foretell what dreadful situation woqld
ensue as the result of their havoc. The
man who puts agnosticsm against the
creed has nothing to give this world except
what would make men more narrow than
they are, and would speedily plunge them
into conditions first of civilized paganism
a-d little later of rank barbarism. The
sKeptlc is no more an apostle of libera!ity
than is the anarchist an apostle of liberty.
!, With great regret it must be confessed
that there are and have been mutitudes
OF .narrowminded Christians. Inasmuch
as human nature finds it difficult to attain
unto liberalty, It is not to be wondered at
that so many fall short of the breadth of
our holy religion. Christians have not
only, been prosecuted, but they have ac-
tually prosecuted one another, because of
differences of opinion. Only TOO frequently
have they failed to recognize the com
prehensiveness of the Gospel. and they
prefer their confessions to the catholic
church. 1t is simply impossible to apollo
glze for them or to offer any argument in
eXtenuation of their grievous offenses along
tins line. They have restricted their God
and their Bible and their creed, and
have stood up stoutly to resist the large
mlndedness of their Lord But this does
not really affect the issue which we have
IN hand. 1t does not at all impair our
contention that the gospel of Christ itself
NOT Professionalism or Puritanism or
Medievalism, but the gospel-contains the
broadest doctrines, the broadest ideas OF
God and of man and of destiny, and The
broadest working principle of thought and
of life.
Gods commandment is exceeding
broad in its practical application to man 5
conditions. It breaches Gods Fatherhood.
tellectual life, and mans brotherhood,
which makes the scope of moral obligation
GODS relation to us is most assuring, and
our relation to Him and to all our broth
ers makes the theatre of action and sets
forth the sphere of conscience, sympathy
and endeavor. One Of the miseries of ir-
religion Is that it despoils humanity of all
this. Inc heart which cares not for the
doctrines of Christian belief is sadly i'm
poverished and reduces this present exist
ence to a small affair, for it has nothing
to say of the higher things or of an eternity
OF blessedness, and nothing that avails for
the enlargement of aspiration and the re-
enforcement of energy. Christ truly dis
covered the individual He argued that a
mans soul was more important than the
gain of the whole world; He came ex-
pressly to lift human nature out of its
smallness and to place it in an environment
where the sons of God rightly belong; He
revealed the model which is nothing less
than the character of the King of kings.
and called all the sons of men to a royal
life; He disclosed large meaning for du-
ties and griefs, pleasures and possibilities;
He would have His people stand on the
Mount OF the Ascension whence they can
see the present in its perspective, and have
selves and their lives. The broadminded
Lord has given broadminded religion for
men when they pray and work and suffer,
and He would inspire them to rise up
to the obligations and opportunities which
wait upon them every hour in the day.
How narrow is the average man! Mod
ern conditions are not an unmixed boon
to- the masses. There have been many
gains, but there have been many losses
also. Among. the losses in the world as we
know it to-day is the almost inevitable
tendency of our way of living and our
methods of business to clrtail the individ-
ual in the living of his life and the doing
of his work. More and more are the peo-
pie of the workaday world hampered and
restricted by the demand for specialization.
The individual is being called upon to do
again three hundred days in the year, all
of which is equivalent to shutting him
within confines where he can scarcely hope
to develop into his best self. This effect
is one of the deplorable ills of the times.
The rules of Offices and factories and shops
which encourage experts is ruinous to the
individual who indeed learns to do one
thing perfectly, but who is thus hindered
from knowing anything else outside of his
daily task. Then, too. the spirit of the
business man that makes him ambitious
and satisfied to become a man of business
and thus reduce his life to the level of
mere money-maker, is likely to produce
the same direful result. No one should
willingly become a machine In spite of
the advancement which is one of the won
ders of the age, the people of the United
States are now face to face with situation
which sorely requires crusade in favor of
roadmindedness-a crusade that will ex-
hort the people, in spite of discourage
ments to the contrary, to find leisure for
considering topics and resorting to occu-
pations in addition to those which belong
to their daily engagements. We must sim
ply make time for thought and reading and
recreation; we must rise to the glorious
liberty of the children of God; we must
insist for ourselves that the most import
ant things are not meat and drink, but the
kingdom of God and His righteousness.
We need the broadmindedness of Jesus.
We need His outlook, His doctrine, His
model of thought and life, His symmetry
OF character, His proportions of manhood.
The Saviour of mankind would save us
from pettiness and illiberality. He would
have us accept Gods largest estimate of
ourselves. He would call us to life which
will issue at last in the heavenly land. He
would fill us in mind and heart and soul
with Gods commandment which is so ex-