The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-07-15

the very doctrine OF nihirsts and anarch.
lists in society and politics. With blars
of trumpet they herald their own broad.
mindedness, but il they had their way, and
If tLey could sweep religion from the face
Of the, earth, burn up the Bibles. dynamite
the churches, it requires no prophet to
foretell what a dreadful situation would
ensue as the result of their havoc. The
man who puts agnosticism 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 pagapism
d little later of rank barbarsm. The
skeptic is no more an apostle of libera!ity
than Is the anarchist an apostle OF liberty.
with great regret it must he confessed
that there are and have been mutiludes
of .narrow-minded Christians. lnasmuch
as human nature finds it difficult to attain
unto liberality, Il is not to be wondered at
that so many fall snort 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
faith and their sects to the catholic
church. 1t is simply impossible to apollo.
glze for them or to offer any argument in
eXtenuation OF their gricvous otfenses a'ong
this line. They have restricted their God
aud their Bible and their creed. and
have stood up stoutlv to resist the large.
mindedness OF their Lord. But this does
not really affect the issue which we have
in hand 1t does not az all impair our
contention that the gospel OF Christ itself
mot Professionalism or Puri5auism or
~edievaism, but the gospel-contains the
hr01deSt doctrines. the broldest ideas OF
God and of man and of destiny, and the
bro1dest working principle OF thought and
of life
Gods commandment is exceeding
broad in itS practical application to mans
conditions. 1t breaches Gods Fatherhood.
which is mighty foundation for the in.
tellectual life. and mans brotherhood,
which makes the scope of moral obligation.
Gods reation 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. The 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
~ saw OF the higher things or of an eternity
II b!essedness, and nothing that avai,s for
the enlargement of aspiration and the re.
lntoreement 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.
pressiy to lift human nature out OF its
'raIlnesS and to pace 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 rOval
lie; He disclosed a large meaning for du.
ties and Gfiefs, pleasures and possibilities;
He would have His Deop,e stand on thr
Mount OF the Ascension whence they can
see the present in its perspective. and have
an expansive outlook for the study of them.
selves. and their lives. The broadminded
LoTd has gwen n broadminded religion for
me- when they pray and work and suffer.
and He, would inspire them to rise M
10 the obligations and opportunities which
NIIt upon them every hour in the day.
How narrow is the average man. Mod
ern conditions are not an unmiXed boon
20 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 curtail the individ.
nal 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 hv the demand Tor specialization.
lie individual is being called upon to do
some one task and to do it over and over
irain 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 dep,orahle ills of the times
The rules of offices and factories and shoDs
which encourage eNperts is ruinous to the
individual VINO indeed learns 10 do one
thing perfectly. bur 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 hecomc man of business
and thus reduce his life to the level of
mere monev-mnker. 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
winch sotely requires a crusade in favor OF
broadmindedness-a crusade that will ex.
hort the people. IN spite of discourage.
ments to the contrary. to find leisure for
considering tonirs and rCsorting to occu.
patlons 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 rot Teat 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 i,lherality. He would
have us accept Gods largest estimate OF
ourselves. He would call Us to a life which
will issue at last in the heavenly land. He
would fill u in mind and heart and soul
with Gods commandment which is so ex.
:eeding broad.