Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1903-09-19
IMPRESSIONS OF GOD.
The Bible Skaters Many Childish No
tiOns and Substitutes II GlOri-
Ous Knowledge.

of what religion ought to be, than is
afforded by brief story in the hui
morous department of a widely-read
magazine. According to one of it's con-
tributors the "godmother' of a little
eight-year-old girl had given to her as
birthday present a Bible. And not
long after the donor found the child
reading some passages in the Old
Testament which were full of hell
fire and the wrath of God" We are
next told how the little girl gravely
closed the book and said she believed
she would not read it any more, be-
cause heretofore she had had very
favorable impression of God" The
writer does not attempt to add moral.
He seems to think the lesson is quite
evident; in which opinion, says the
Chicago Interior, we agree with him,
but to us the story tells something Of
which neither the writer nor the editor
had an inkling. Contributor and edi-
tor implicitly agree that religion ought
to be rather pleasant impression"
than such ascertainable knowledge as
might embrace painful fact.
This joke-concocter-we will go no
further than that appellative in init
mating our subjective" doubt of the
veracity of his story-might be
brought to book very forcibly on his
ignorance of Scripture. Had he known
the Bible thoroughly well himself, he
would not have attributed the doctrine
of "hell-fire" to the Old Testament; in
truth, the sane, solemn warning to
which this coarse phrase is applied,
belongs distinctively to the New Tes-
tament-to the teachings of Jesus.
But for the present we care only to
Sdiscuss his apt hint at the popular
preference in religion. The reason why
SO many people shut up the Bible and
stop going to church is because they
would rather cherish dreamy "im-
preston" of God than to have the
spiritual nature so far walked to truth
that it will cry out for Ruler and
Father who shall correspond to their
needs. The Bible has a disagreeable
way of forcing upon it's readers clear
cut convictions of right and wrong, Of
duty and sin, of the nature of freedom
and the attributes of deity; while most
people prefer an impression" which
shall leave them free to believe any,
thing that will not disturb their peace
If religion comes to them, it must
come as voiceless and impersonal as
the perfume of rose, not as prophet
with his intolerable THUS saith the
Lord" Religion is welcome if it be
represented by a jeweled window and
''Te Deum" of some great composer,
but not il it mean decalogue craven
on stone and "Miserere' of contri-
ton and supplication. So tens Of thou.
sands Of immigrants crowd to our
shores who have "a very favorable
impression" that liberty means doing
as you please under the protection Of
star-spangled banner, but who rebel
when it is found to mean civil order
backed up by policeman's club and
militiaman's bayonet. If in both
church and state we had more fact and
less of vague impressions, it would
mean much for patriotism and piety,.
too.
A man to be of much value to his
| age must not be afraid of shattering
the impressions of his fellows if they
do not agree with the truth. John
Knox made himself hated at the court
! of Scotland, but he saved his country
from foreign dominat- on. If John, the
Baptist had bowed before the blast
like a bulrush, he would have saved
his head. And if Jesus Christ had
been just a little more anxious to
make favorable impression upon
ruler and priest and rabble, there
would have been no cross on Calvary
Men who expected to find Him plant
found Him rigid Men who thought
to see Him complaisant discovered
Him infexible; and those who fiat
tered themselves that they were the
pillars upon which both state and
church rested, were told that they
were "vipers,'' and "whited sepul-
chres full of dead mems bones" He
cared little for impressions but He
cared much for truth.
1t may as well be confessed that il
the impenitent transgressor of Gods
law wishes simply to retain a pleas
ant impression" of God he had better
shut his Bible. But if he wishes to
know the truth about God and to learn
how, having sinned, to find full and
free and divine forgiveness, there is
no other book which can take it's
place; and if he lose childish i'm
preston Of God, he will have OBJ
tanned a glorious knowledge of God
for which all dreams and fancies form
but poor substitute.
The Man with One Talent r--rr
There are always men who wrap
their talent for service in the napkin
OF not-worth-while... They feel that
their ability is SO small, and therefore
they do not try to do anything They
suppose that they are practicing the
much praised virtue of humility, while
no1 1Er& h.