St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1903-07-22

means Immediately the loss of the higher
good and the weakening of that demand
for the higher good, which is the essence
of true manliness. 1t means injury to
the lower good, left without the needed
restraint Of the higher; it means the dete-
rioration. the degradation of the lower
good, and its ultimate extinction, if sin
is persistent and obstinate. What is still |
more impressive to the modern man, this |
choice Of lower good means a loss OF self |
respect; he cannot honor himself in doing |
what he knows to be wrong. Norca he |
think Of God as honoring him; if he con-
dennis himself God must condemn him, |
too, and for that reason,-a strikipgly |
different attitude from that of the man |
who knows that God condemns him, and |
therefore feels that he must condemn
himself. And what is perhaps most i'm
pressive to the modern man is the con-
victiop that in hurting himself he is injur-
ing society; he knows that nothing is
settled till it is settled right, and every
tion to the unsettlement of society, to its
weakness and disease.
As to the evil of sin hereafter, we deal
not with a revolution but an evolution;
it is of the same sort as the evil now.
only it moves on to a complete express
sion of the sinfulness of sin. Retribution
is in the nature of things: Whatsoever
a man soweth that shall he reap" IF
God should do nothing about it, person
ally, nature would attend to the work
with unerring Justice and severity. "Pre-
pare to meet myself" the self thou hast
degraded and defled; this is the most
terrible summons OF the unseen world.
To be consistent, this theory ought to 60
further than it usually does, and recog
nizing God as the God of nature it should
emphasize the fact that the frown of
nature is the frown OF God. The laws
and forces, in accordance with which
| retribution comes, are all supported by
God, and were originally ordained by
him with an eye to just such results.
The sinner who says II have brought all
these things upon myself" must also see
that the righteous Creator has brought
all these things upon him, that it is no
more possible to escape from the living
God than from the living world.
| The strength of this theory is obvious.
1t makes the right always the good, not
only that but the highest, the most pre-
cious good; and it makesreligion wonder
| fully reasonable and attractive. We hear
much OF the better life. of the best life.
| Cogent appeals are made to the desire
for welfare in its truest sense; the life
that abjures everything low and unwor-
thy and seeks everything noble and
uplifting is the only life which can justify
| Ill The &c CT IN 9
appreciation of all human interests, and
it has done much to bring man to man.
Many a young fellow, who has no sense
of sin at all, end never thinks about a
fiery hell as possibility, is deeply anx-
ious to do some good in the world, to
have his life amount to something as a
genuine contribution to the progress OF
humanity. And it has done much to
reconcile man to God, to present God as
good, to disclose the universe as lovable,
and to give confidence that they who are
working for the worlds good will find
the nature of things on their side.
But it has also manifest weaknesses
The old emphasis on mere righteousness
is dangerously hard, but the new empha
sis upon goodness is in danger of soft
ness of temper still more injurious. L
good is what am seeking, what is to
hold me steady when l. do not see the
higher good at all, or do not care for it
!, In times of moral stress, what is to take
the place of the old battle cry. "For right
. is right, since God is Cod? What is
there in this current theory to arouse thu
man with the low standard, who hon
estly meets that standard, meets it bet
/ ter perhaps than the average church mem
Der meets the biblical standard? Ifther,
is no external authority to which on
. may make decisive appeal, if man is lef
! simply to his own conscience, and tina
J conscience is satisfied, how is such mai
to be reached
Again, in our dealing with outbreak
: ing and criminal sinners, the quality o
7 the spiritual soldier is largely lost. Their
J is little sense of vital danger or imminen
+! crisis men are thought OF as making
mistakes, or as shining against them
! selves rather than SHINING against God
: Fiery indignation, even for such crimes
t as murder, gives place to sympathy will
: criminal, and amiable coddling too
? often deprives the penalty of the law O
e it's moral force. Again, to mention onl,
: one of many relations to the future life
s this theory largely diminishes the attrac
tive DO wer of heaven. Some of our bes
! men and women are wholly absorbed il
). trying to make this world better, AM
t their chief desire is to be allowed to kee
, on with the work. The point of viey
J., that magnificent worker had who sal
il that ito depart and be with Christ is ia
: better" is one wholly outside of thei
If beat. The relation of their labor to ma
S has so occupied them that. a suprem
g personal fellowship with Christ, and
0 love for him greater than the love the
o bear for any or all men has not been d.
l. veloped.
e In the light OF these things, is it nc
Il evident that half truths are dangerous
|. 1t is not for us, as we consider the need
e of the modern man, to ask the question
If What part of the gospel is to be preach
IS ed to him. He needs the whole gospe
d Only a complete gospel can make con
plete man. Most certainly he does nc
IF need to have said to him every possib
!. thing that can be said about the gospe
r, but he needs to have each truth that
t. preached supplemented and made who
y for him by the presentation of the con
l. Elementary truth. Certainly he does nc
]. need TO have preached to him what tt
d preacher does not know by experienc
2. but he needs to have preachers who 81
o to it that they know by experience bot
ID sides of the truth.
o tn recur RI these two theories SImDl