The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-04-08

I
/ the above theme, taking as basis the
! doubt of Thomas as found in the Goth
! chapter of John. After narrating the
circumstance of this apostles connection
with the risen Christ he said in part
1--WE have in all this an illustration of
Christ's treatment of doubt. He lived in
an age of skeptical inquiry, when every
thing was subject to the keen, logical cri-
terra of such minds as Cicero's and it is
strong argument in favor of Christian
| ity that it could establish itself in an era
of such ruthless investigation.
! That we also live in an age of doubt
| is one of the intellectual commonplaces
As soon as the spirit and methods of
true scientific inquiry took possession of
the mind then every doctrine became an
open question. God, the soul, prayer,
miracle, immortality, revelation, were
all put under the scalpel
| There have been three main causes
! of religious doubt during the past seven
/ ty-fve years. The first is the progress
of physical science. This made its first
appearance in the discoveries in geology,
which caused a furious attack on the
book of Genesis, and men jumped to the
conclusion that if geology were true, then
/, Genesis-the corner stone of the Bible
was false, and consequently the whole
! fabric of revelation must be torn down.
The demand was made that the same
process employed in chemistry and math-
ematics must be employed in morals and
religion Because this could not be done
many doubted the reality of those spirit
ual facts which the Christian theologian
insists do belong to the invisible life of
! the soul.
| The second cause has been philosophic-
al speculation. The most remarkable
product of that speculation has been the
claimed it was hailed as a new gospel
Given the eternity of matter and certain
factors in evolution and there was no
need of creating God The church
made the mistake of hastily attacking
! the principle in toto, and not until it was
shown that that principle was in perfect
harmony with Christian teaching was re-
! ligious faith treasured.
| A third prolific cause has been the
progress in the Higher Criticism of the
Bible Unfortunately SO few have I'M
derstood what that criticism is. Briefly
stated it is study of the historical con-
ditions under which the Bible grew up.
| Men have made the mistake of starting
with certain assumptions as necessary to
divine revelation, and when it was
shown that those assumptions did not
exist they began to doubt whether the
Bible was a revelation from God at all.
! But the process of REIMBURSEMENT is at
work, and when the smoke has cleared
away, it will be established more firmly
| than ever that the Bible is a real voice
from heaven.
The word doubt implies that there are
two ways before us, and that for the
present we do not know which one to
take. Transferred to the mind it means
the suspending of our judgment until we
come to a more clear and sure conclu-
sion. This was first given as a rule in
philosophical method by Des Carries, who
tells us that he began by doubling every
thing. True doubt is nothing more nor
less than the true spirit of inquiry.
Now there may be a wrong form OF
doubt as well as right one; hence it is
necessary to test even our doubts. Al
though the mind is made for truth, yet
do you know anything that is more con-
Trajectory sometimes in its operations?
A man who doubts God will yet believe
| in ghosts with all his heart; will dis
believe sovereign providence and yet
believe that if he sees the new moon over
his left shoulder, or begins a voyage
on Friday, it forbodes harm.
! There is shallow doubt which grins
as it questions, which knows little but
talks much; which dilates with self
satisfied air on what it calls the illusions
| of Christian folk.
An intolerant doubt which having stir
red physics successfully ignores every
thing that cannot be brounght into the
laboratory, and coolly throws into the
waste-basket as out of date those faiths
and hopes which have inspired the best
of men.
A dishonest doubt which denies God
and conscience because it does not want
to accept the moral responsibilities which
those doctrines imply; which turns It's
eve away from the light and says, Il
cannot see the sum-"
Yet there is an honest form of doubt !
which seeks a reason for the hope that is
in the heart, and therefore is process
towards truth and faith. This is how 1T !
operates in Thomas and was honored by
Jesus. Paul also acknowledged its legit- !
imacy ''Prove all things" he said, hold
fast that which is good" Many OF us |
know the soul torture of this experience; |
nevertheless it is necessary. We need
definiteness. We need constant recon |
structions of our theology to meet the !,
progress of thought in other departments i
of knowledge.
Each case of doubt must be treated ac- /
MEXICAls