Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1903-02-11
WHY NOT AN AGNosTIC.

BY Or Jndson kemptoH.
l am not an agnostic because | be-
lieve that God can be known by the
human mind ! do not believe in the
unknown God; believe that God is
such a being that the pure in heart
may see him. and the seeking soul may
find him and play afterwards say, Il
know him in whom | have believed.
The agnostic would not agree VITA this.
He would say t!ieit may be God,
but we do rot know him and cannot
know him. and it is not reasonable to
suppose that we can know anything
about him. | believe that it is rea SON
able to suppose that we can know him
and that as matter of fact men have
known God, and held communion with
him and talked with him as friend
talks with friend.
Let lis look first at the reasonable
ness of this, and then at the matter of
fact. We have admitted that there is
God And that God is an orderly he
ing, law giver. an artist : :ua thema
tieian. a mind, because he made a
snowflake. and sent it down on my
oAbChtt iA AbL lllt w SDON Vi bll+ 4 LIZ tA~
feet must have had cause. made
wooden snow shovel; l am the cause,
the shovel is the effect. But what is
my cause Who made me? That
great mind Either Immediately. at
my birth, or mediately ages ago. back
there in the sea slime of evolution
God made me, or started going the evo-
lutionarH machinery which caused me
Gt makes little difference which so fan
as this argument goes. God is the
great first cause. Tic effect cannot be
greater than the cause A man, how
ever, is something more than sn5,T-
flake, work of art Il beautiful con
struction. That is. some men are. But
all the attributes that are found in man
at his best must be found i'll his maker.
Therefore Cod must be something
more than Il mathematician and an ar
chiteCt and draughtsman in white
lines. love, God must be lover;
hate God must be hater; know the
difference between good and evil, God
must be a moral being; am at liberty
to choose between right and wrong,
God must be a free mind bound up in
no chains OF pantheism; | have will
OF my own. God must have q will
which he wishes me to do in earth as
IT is in heaven; have personality, God
must be personality; | have the pow
er OF communicating my will and my
thought and my love to those whom l
wish around about me, God must have
the power of communicating his will
and his thought and his love to those
whom he wishes. In other words, it is
reasonable to think that God is know
able 1t is rea sonable TO think that
God can make himself known to me if
he wishes to do so.
The only question that remains
then. is 1t reasonable to suppose that
God would wish to do this? Is this not
the key to the situation? Can we not
say this: God If he is the infinite be-
ing, the creator of the universe must
be- will have a care over all his works :?
And if he is a God of love (as he must
be if there is love in the universel he
will wish TO communicate his thought
and his will and his love to all his
creatures who are capable of compre-
hending and doing and loving the good
the true. the beautiful
Now man is capable of this: He is
so far superior to al other creatUes
that lie lives as in a different world
He has n mind capable of meditation
ON the things that are true. the things
that are pure, the things that are hon
est. the things that are lovely. the
things that are of good report He has
the thoughts that wander through eter-
nifty He thrills with noble purpose
and glows with high resolve. He
grieves for sin and signs for holiness.
He lifts his forehead to the sun. Like
a God he Is capable of self sacrifice
and deeds of heroism. Man is capa-
bic of loving God. L., en- to this:
"As the heart panteth after the water
brooks.
So pantcth my soul after thee, o
God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the liv-
ing God:
When shall come and appear be-
fore God:"
Did ever lover write more passion
ate letter than that love song to God ?
IT, therefore. this satisfies us that man
is capable of loving God, of :ninkil..
his thoughts. of doing his will. and if
our former argument is sound, it fol
lows that it is reasonable to think that
God wishes to make himself known to
men. and we cannot be agnostics be-
cause agnosticism is unreasonable 10
us.
In this our reasoning is supported by
such ma ses of evidence and matters
of fact that we could not begin to so
much as look into them. For, all
through the ages, from the dav of
Enoch who walked with God by faith,
TO the days of Abraham, who was call.
ed the friend of God from the days
of Abraham to the days of David, who
said Il love the Lord because he hath
heard my voice and my suppication, ="
from the days of David TO the year
that King UZziah died. when isaiah
saw the Lord high and lifted up and
his train filed the temple, and the
voices cried. sayin Holy, Holy,
Holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole
earth is full of his glory" from the
day Of Isaiah to the last days Of the
Apostle John, who said. Truly our
r.