The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-07-20
addressed as the Divine Monarch. In

| NeNlCduS duUICSSSu NOu, 4lC OOu W
whom we live, Thou omnipresent, Who
knoweth all out thoughts, and giveth all
gifts" They baptized children with this
formula, Let these holy drops wash away
the sin that it received before the founda.
ton of the world, so that the child may be
new born" In the Catholic religions we
discover an element less conspicuous than
in the others. 1t is pardon for past sins,
reconciliation with God and growth in
grace. 1t would be interesting to trace
under this division the practice of sacrifice,
worship, but we pass on.
Inspiration implies that man must have
a capacity to be inspired, which makes it
a human faculty and therefore common
to all. Inspiration in its largest sense is
the sight of inward truth, a truth which is
seen within the mind. A thought will
come while one is walking, conversing,
reading or meditating. 1t is a kind of
inspiration. Poets have been inspired to
write poetry. Scientists have been in.
spired to formulate the sciences, musicians
| Newton and Edison to both discover and
invent. Inspiration differs in quantity
and quality, religious being the highest.
The Vedas and Zend Avesta are considered
inspired by their cult. The Mohammedans
believe the Koran is inspired of God and
therefore infallible, and Christians make
the same contentious for the Scriptures.
There is a low and crude form of inspira.
ton among the undeveloped races, which
is not committed to writing. The Samoieds
of Siberia have OWNERS who work them
selves into a frenzy before delivering ora.
cles. The notion of inspiration appeared
and the Greek OWNERS who fell into
frances. In the religion of Greece it APP
peared as an alien element. The wild
dances of the Bacchantes, the shriekc and
| self-lacerations Of the Corybtantes were
considered forms of inspiration. In the
Hindu religion it appears in the Yoga,
that is one who seeks God by withdrawing
from the things of sense. Painful posi-
toni are assumed, contortions of the limbs,
suppression of breath and other incred.
ible notifications. The Greenlander has
his prophets, who abandon the converse of
| men and remain in fixed intensity Of
thought until they hear and see the spirits.
Balaam was compelled to utter an invol-
cut themselves with lances. Sometimes in
or own country, at protracted meetings,
men have the Jerks" The Shakers dance,
the Mohammedans whirl. These seem alb,
surd to us, but they disclose this, that all
mankind would ascertain the will of God.
From time immemorial the human race
has had some intimation of an endless
life. The most degraded savages and the
most enlightened philosophers share the
conviction that death does not end all.
The Hottentot and the FIJI Islander agree
with Plato and Aristotle. The Esquimaux
in the Arctic circle, the native of Siberia,
the Apstralians, the ~Patagonians believe
that the grave is the cradle of another
| hfo All tho ro11n1Nnc Of ontInr11tu hohot-a
in immortality, Egypt, China, India, Per.
STA, Greece, Rome, Mexico, Peru, the Tar.
tar tribes Of Central Asia, the negroes of
Central and Western Africa and the isl.
ands of the Pacific, all contend that while
the body returns to dust, the spirit goes
to God, Who gave it. The North Amer
lean Indian believes in duplicate souls,
n remaining with the body, the other
departing during. sleep. 1t has been
claimed by some that Buddhism is an ex-
ception, but it is not. The teaching of
Buddhism is to annihilate by the destruc.
ton of desire. 1t is not claimed that this
incarnate in one form or another unit. it
rests in Nirvana. The TRANSPORTATION of
souls was taught by the religion of Egypt,
hence they embalmed their dead 1t is
found in Brahmanism, among the Greek
Observation-Disclosures, Empedocles and
Plato. By the Neo-PlatoEists, Jewish
Cabbala, Arab philosophers, by origin and
| other church fathers. Also Ly the Gnos-
tics, Manicheans, Druids and in more re-
cent times by Fourier. Christianity be-
lieves in eternal life, and that Jesus be-
came flesh, not only to disclose God, but
to bring life and Immortality to light.
Man is a moral being, because he has .
moral nature. He has a moral sentiment,
| moral 1haaO onH o rnnroI nnyvor Tho
moral sentiment is the sense of right and
wrong, which produces a feeling of duty
and obligation. Moral ideas consist in the
belief that certain acts are right, others
wrong. Moral power Is the ability to do
the right and not the wrong. Feeling,
thought and will cannot be elimin-
mated from any moral test. Even
the childlike races have some conception
of right and wrong, though often very
much below the Christian standard;
enough, however, to be classed among
those who are not without God. But
few, if any, have been discovered without
enough moral ability to say yes to the
right and no to the wrong. 1t is not de-
MED that the moral standard is different
in each system, and that what may be
| right in one may be wrong in another.
| The temples of India and China encourage
vices which are too low to mention. The
underlying principle of Brahmanism is to
crafty every desire. The test of Chris
tianity is the type of life it produces. The
liberal, consistent, devoted business man,
father, brother, son, the position Of
mother, sister, daughter, the Christian
home, school, hospital and the National
| flag. They are the result of the code of
ethics-the Bible. One has only to read
any of the standard works on the life of
| the nations in order to be convinced that
| Christianity is capable of producing the
ideal life. That while every system con-
tains some truth, Christianity is the truth.
The religious world is passing through a
great change. To just what we are com.
| ing no one is confident, though the indi.
| cations are that Christianity is destined
to e%ncircle The globe. :
l.. Christianity is the one system that
is making civilization. We lament the in.
| difference and apathy or the part OF Chris.
tians, but it is not to be compared with
| the lethargy of heathenism. &!
2. Christianity is destined to spread,
| because it has the Bible, church, Sabbath
and has produced a type of civilization
| that satisfies the enlightened mind and
| renewed heart.
8. All the aggressive systems have the
inspiration of an inspired prophet. We
nave the greatest of them all. Christ is
| seeking the nations, End they are seeking
Him.
4. Christianity not only contains all
| the truth of all other systems, but much
not possessed by others.
The Sermon That Is After o Soul.
Thu oermnn that is after n soul is. like