The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-08-31
MEANING OF THE BIBLE
ELOQUENT SERMON PREACHED BY
THE REV. }. CUNNING SMITH.
The Universe II Translated Into
Warm Human Vernacular by the
Book, He Declares.

The Rev. ]. Cumming Smith took for his
text yesterday morning at the Tabernacle
Presbyterian Church: Il saw new heaven
and new earth" Rev. xxi, l. 1.-The Bible
simply translates the universe into our own
warm vernacular" said he, in constituting
the text. He said in part:
| THE Bible is scarcely "A book of science
except In broad suggestive outlines. 1t is a
| book on spiritual development. There its
voice is Oracular Hence we must interpret
| such phrases as our text, not with tech
meal liberalism, but in a literary and Spir-
| itual way.
Heaven is the eternal symbol of mys-
| terry To the world in its youth the heaven
was an unfathomable depth of mystery. To
| us. for whom science has ventured out so
! far and classified the starry systems. there
| is still the sense of immensely and unmeas-
| urable cycles OF unSighted systems. 1t is
| still dark forest surrounding little sun
III clearing. Heaven is the emblem OF the
remote, the shadowy, the impenetraole TO
| the intelligent more than il can ever be to
the eye of ignorant superstition.
In abrupt contrast is our full familiar
| earth. We know the turf beneath our feet
| and the coming and going of the seasons
and the cries of streets silent yet speech
| ful wood, the tones of human voices and
the fields of green and part of deaths
solemn pang is adieu to scenes we
knew. There Is no room for skepticism or
| shadOwy surmise about this solid world at
| least. We love it. Even a history of sor-
row. however Iong-drawn-out, can scarcely
4
| conquer our wondrOus attachment to our
| present dwelling places
MYSTERY AND CERTAINTY.
so far for the simple contrast between
mystery and certainty. OF course, we all
know that when break through the
| thin crust of this statement we may find
as much mystery wrapping our plain every
| day world as the farthest star that shines
| on the brow of right. However. mere
| ly explain the tender mystery of the seer
| John. Let us press little wine out of this
| cluster Of grapes.
| las fact. the voice of science reports
| that other worlds studding our blue sky are
akin to our own that they all are formed
| out of the same original materials and that
therefore there are millions of material
| planets fit for occupancy by intelligent races
out OF the millions more that are in various
| stages OF their evolution. Therefore, in a
| tone sense, the heaven, though a mystery,
Is an extension of our own planet which
| Is Itself enveloped in sufficient mystery.
| Thls is certain in material way. Is it
| not equally certain in a spiritual way?
Ihe plain truth is that all our concep-
/ are borrowed from our worlds many-sided
experience. The Bible simply translates the
universe into our own warm vernacuiar
John looked and saw another Jerusalem. 1t
| was natural to grand Jew to picture a
Jewish heaven. We all project our clearest
| lmaginatlons into the remote dream of the
future. This point of theology is remark
| able. The only caution is that our SYM
/ pathies must be catholic in their range in
Grder 70 Prevent the eramP of provincial
| Heaven cannot be smaller than God VINO
| makes it what it is.
| THE deepest view of our Immortality is
| the truth of the continuation of earth's he
roic development. Here, are embryonic:
there, full-figured. adults. Here we
| know in part: there, we shall know
as we are known. All other theories
| of the hereafter mythical or ghostly or
| unreliable The continuity of our essential
| spiritual nature is the one clew to the prob
| lem of another life.
| TENDENCY TOWARD LIFE.
Everywhere there is an irrepressible ten
dency toward life. Dig up a spadeful of
| earth and the sun will in an hour make
it busy with new population. A specialist
| finds life in painted wood or an ancient
mahogany or even bar of iron with germs
| of sentiency no fire could quench. These
| facts reveal the exuberance of the earth,
| the undated fertility and frequency of
| even those objects that appear barren or
| exhausted. And SO far this prodigality of
| birth. Everywhere il enforces the simple
| Christian faith that life is a universal i'm
stinct and death though hitherto dark with
the imputation of destructive tendency,
| pingstone by which a higher form of life
| is realized.
when, therefore, we behold man of re-
| splendence Of intellectual power devoted
| to the highest objects; when look around
| and friends of enlarging mind or ripen-
ing character; when we behold, not i'm the
| far famed but in the lowly. the splendid ex-
| hibition of selfsacrifice and undimmed WIS.,
| ion-then we see the spiritual facts which,
| when carried out, further constitute the il
limitable future Just stretch out and
perpetuate these royal qualities univer-
| sally admired by men and you have a
philosophy of growth and expansion here
after proof against all the subtle arrows
| of skepticism. But go farther and indulge
in rapturous excursions into romantic
realm where birds MARBLE and silver foun-
| tains play and a motionless rest reigns and
! at once you create fantastic pictures 10
capture the thoughtless. Such crude creeds
always encourage doubt in ardent young
minds. We owe this philosophy to Jesus,
the incarnate God. He dwet in heaven
while He walked in earth. He reveled in
no Eighty ecstasies or vagaries but preached
that the path to the future lay through
the increase of the divine element within
us ALL
ON IMMORTALITY.
LET us indulge a plain imagery. / have
often thought that an admirable illustra-
ton Of Immortality might be traced in a
| mountain road. At the beginning 1t seems
but a mere thread of a trail winding in and
out of the trees skirting jagged rocks
1t is scarce broad enough for a wagon. II
is gashed and furrowed by storms and
| rugged powders bestrew its tortuous
| course However. this obscure road, SCARED
with tragedy, has power to continue. II
| goes on down into more frequented dis
tricts AS it progresses it becomes straight.
err more regulated and populous. After a
while it becomes macadamized and broad
| ened and it sweeps through city curves
| along the walls of a summer palace, oil
| carries the burden of commerce and as
sumes the historic function of a connecting
| link between tumutuous capitals. Stately
| bridges overarch it, Verdurous parks oil
| fowery buolevards embelish it. Triumpha
| professions march over il. One can scarce
| ly believe that a glorious roadway leading
| through the very center OF modern cuitur,
| and commerce can be the same as the
irregular zigZagging mountain path
wrinkled with the seasons or plowed int
| gulleys with fierce torrents. Yet the tive
| are the same in substance. Their purpos,
and direction are the same. The only diff
} ference is in their development at differen
periods.
1.-The strange irregular path of life, 81
/ sinuous so abrupt and precipitous, so wild
and shore-strewn, keeps on. 1t passes
through tn. stages and broadens as i
passes Ii assumes more beauty and powe
as a regal thoroughfare. 1t winds on int
, the vague future. Every element of dig