The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1904-02-24
ELEMENTS OF RELIGION
A Brilliant Sunday Sermon by Rev.
John N. Davidson.
Mans interes. 10 the inearaatlon-A Str king
Thought About the Divinity Of War.

VITUTVIT. NWUUHN
The pastor, the Rev John NJ. Davidson,
preached on "What Are the Permanent
Elements of Religion He said:
In this period of questioning, when old
structures of religious faith are being torn
down and new ones are taking their places,
hhen what seems the very foundation OF
laith is being removed here and there to
make way for new material. it is well
worth our while to ask the question that
s consequent upon such condition, What
elements OF our religious faith are perma.
nent and arc likely to resist the tendency
TO CHANGE Ut is a question that is agitat'
ing more people than ever before in his
.ory. We have been tod that there is a
growing indifference to relation. that men
ire abandoning the churches. that pagan
sm has re-aosorbed large sections OF the
country. even Puritan New England shar-
ng in the general dissolution.
No one can deny that the influence of
.he church Is not as great as it was when
almost the Only educated men were min
sters. We VINO occupy the pulpits to-
lay frankly recognize the tacU that the
occupants OF the pews are not only our
equals in intellect. but are capable OF CIV.
ing us instruction in many departments of
Thought wherein the minister OF old time
was held to be supreme. The minister OF
to-day must recognize his relatively
changed condition He addresses minds
~ ICHSt rs wei lOiO'lntu anu as DIlRnJ uS
,is own--and on many subjects more so.
And he is wocfully mistaken and unalerU
{ he does not welcome the change as an
advantage to himself and his work rather
ihan detriment Nevertheless for the
time being, this condition tends to bring
down the church attendance figures and
TO lessen the church's influence. 1t will
continue to do so until the church finds
men who are leaders (if not in intellectl
N the effort for social ameloratiou. They
must be specialists and authorities in
lher field. as the physicians and lawyers
are in medicine and Jurisprudence.
That the temporary falling off in the in
huence of the church as an institution ar
yues for an Indifference to religion | do
aot believe. The church has not yet
learned its work. 1t is still dc.ving in
theo,ogies and PHILOSOPHERS, when men
are no more interested in the one than
the other. Both theology and philosophy
are vital matters but the old manner OF
discussing these subjects cannot now inter
est men who are touched by the spirit
Of the scientific age. Until science and the
whole new method OF thought that fol-
lows upon recent scientific discovery have
enteree into and vivhed theology aud phil
osophy, they will cease TO interest on IN
huence man. They have no point of con
tact with his interests. But men are In
terested in religion. This very question
to pagansm, as it has been called. that
trend, particularly noticeable in rural New
England, away from the Journalism OF the
church and back to nature, 1t not so
alarming as appears at first glance. We
are learning to see that, although for CEN
.uries we have called certain peoples pa;
gans,' thinking to give them a bad name
and so to avoid more tedious investigation
into the character of these same pagans,
we have much to learn aboet religion. and
we may not seldom sit with profit Mt the
feet of many a pagan prophet. Men are
asking whether, after all. comparatively
small sect is right and all the rest wrong,
or whether there is not a bit OF truth IN
them all. They go further. They ask
peoples free; they are wondering whether,
after all, salvation is to be found with one
and universal destruction with the other.
whether the Creator of all nations is like.
ly to make one OF them His favorlte, ia
give that one a true and final revelation
and to withhold it from all Others. Men
are going even further than this in tfeir
questioning. They are putting the reiig-
ions side by side for comparison. Ihey
are inQuiring whether or not the truth
that is in one may not be found OCCASION
ally in another, and they ara finding
through this comparative study OF rellg-
ions that at bottom, all are alike. Great
found making the claim of exclusive reve'
lation ridiculous. In fact, when 1T Is
found that every single form OF religion
on the face of the earth lays clam TO an
exclusive revelation of some sort, and we
find that the term hereto Is merely an
expression 6f one mans, or group OF men g.
point of view, we begin to open our eyes
to the fact that our own past claims III the
matter may not carry so much weight u,
we had thought.
The discoveries that we have made dur
ing the last century about the habits ol
life and the character of thought OF the
other half OF the world, the scientific meth
DDS of investigation into the subject OF re
lgion, it origin. rise and-often--ts de
cay, into religious literatures, and among
them our own Bible, are broadening in
view even while, and perhaps because
they disturb our complacency. Religion II
given a new interest. we find that We
Christians are not the only members o.
Gods family, and that there are other,
who care for Him as much as we do anC
whom He loves as greatly as He loves us
| say that this is the tendency OF men''
minds to-day Hardly do the most of III
admit the changed point OF view AS az
accomplished fact, even to ourselves, ant
in many localities the old eXclusiveness Il
as impenetrable as ever 1T was in the dari
ages. Universally, where religious exclu
and safeguarded by some form OF claims t,
final revelation or final authority for trutl
some artificial guarantee that the doc
trine preached in that church in the be
ginning Is now and ever snail be preached
without change, world without end. Tha
such claim is manfestly impossible to sub
stantiate has never deferred the churcl
from making it, Ii is one recognition
though a weak one-that absolute truti
is interchangeable, and every religion anC
every church that claims to have tina
and true revelation must, of course, CLAIM
to possess Il knowledge of that absolute
which Spencer calls "unknowable." No
one such body cou.d step forth boldly an,
lay hold on the great affirmation of to-day
that the faith of to-day is but the steppin
stone to the faith OF tomorrow; that rev
elation is not sealed; that truth is a ly
ing thing, growing AS we grow; that man
kind is saved through perpetual evolu
tion from lower to higher, or, in othe
words, by fulfilling one meted destiny o
becoming perfect as the Father in Heave
is perfect Our business to-day is frank
to admit that the final revelation is ye
far off and that we have by no mean
found the "absolute" truth. The know
edge of to-day is but little section of tina
absolute. The thing for us to remember
and to take courage from remembering,
that we are here to enlarge, md that W
are enlarging, that section of knowledge
/ have said that whatever religious el
clusiveness is found 1t is accompanied b
some kind OF authority purporting to guar
antee the permanency and integrity OF il
faith The creed has been changed froI
its original meaning-"credo, / believe
to an imperative thou shalt believe.
From being simple statement of an ind
vidual faith it has become formal stat,