Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1904-02-17
ZEAL AND KNOWLEDGE

c6F1ty, OF edTueslHteS Oh puIpUSS VI SoA-
viction of recttude is justification for
almost any sort of action. Il believe,
therefore l do" is the syllogism OF
most humble philosophers. He is SO
sincere" we say; therefore he must
be excused"
But it is only abstractly speaking
that we admit this When the conse-
quences of exterior actions touch US
personally and unpleasantly we are apt
to lose sight of the theory. Theory
and practice diverge nowhere so wide
~ as in the Christian religion.
Sincerity without knowledge-which
is better than insincerity without
knowledge-is a dangerous criterion to
establish by which TO determine con-
duct or character. AS with sincerity
so with zeal. Zeal, to be of value in
Gods sight, must be according to
knowledge. Alas! it usually is not.
The most Jealous people have often
nay, have usually-been the most ig-
norant, or the most perverted and mis-
taken. Peryersion and error are the
worst forms of ignorance.
In Springfield, Mass the other day.
this thought came pow erfully 40 me as
| stood looking at the st. Gaudens
statue of Deacon Chaplin, one of the
founders of the community, n Puritan
of the Puritans. There he stood in his
peaked hat, his long cloak. his severe
ly plain attire, with his Bible in one
hand his rod in the other cast in en-
during, weather beaten bronze which
assorted well with his grim, stern, and
forbidding countenance. He typified Il
class of men whose zeal for God was
certainly tremendous, who, by the eX-
ercise of that zeal. stamped them
selves, their beliefs. and their habits
upon the pages of history with such
everlasting force that their influence
persists in large measure to this day.
Certainly the men who fiogged the
Quakers at the carts tail and exc
cuted the so-called witches in that free
country where they had established
a church without a bishop and gov
eminent without a king" could not be
| accused of lukewarmness. | do not
love the Puritan. but | respect him.
He did much good in his way, and the
good on the whole overbalanced the
harm. There is something respectable
about zeal. even if it is not according
| to knowledge. But how much better
| 1t would have been for humanity, and
how much more good could have been
done, if that fiery energy for God, ex-
! pressed by the terse monosyllable,
zeal" had been accompanied by ade-
| quate knowledge of him!
! "Other times. other manners" Mod
| ern ethics have tempered much of the
strenuous energy with which we en-
| ter upon the problems and pursuits of
/ life. On that pleasant Sunday morn
ing in Springfield l noticed with joy
| that three or four children had clam
| bered up on the broad stone pedestal
| supporting the uncompromising deacon
in bronze. and were playing cheerfully
| behind his infiexible cloak and around
his unyielding legs. Like Signor Bene-
| dick, nobody marked them, save in
amused pleasure Yet l could imag me
the shoulders mich might have run
up and down that bronzed Puritan
| backbone at such a Dissertation of the
Sabbath day.
| We have indeed changed. but in the
| general amelioration of conduct and
| ideals we have lost something. Our
religion is emasculated 1t is too dain-
/ ty. The naked ugliness of sin is con.
| cealed. We consider ii more polite and
refined to Grape and cover up shames,
| and shams, and frauds, and wickedness
of every Kind, rather than sternly to
| expose and rebuke them. We want
more virility and more strength In re
| Iigion and life. We want to become
/ more strenuous in our religion and life
Life is earnest. life is real" though
we may smile at the pleasant poets
| familiar words.
| Fire and birthstone preaching in the
pulpit has vanished, perhaps never to
| appear again-except in country dis
| tricts, maybe-but no real genuine, if
| tempered, strength has come to take
! its place. Let rs go back and strive
! to acquire some of the ancient zeal,
| only let it be according to knowledge;
know ledge of God, his plans, his pur-
poses, his intentions. his hopes. his
! aspirations, for humanity. Let US go
| back and seek for the good in the Puri.
tan. that which was permanent and
| lasting in his character. which made
| him such a tremendous force after all
/ for righteousness. and unite it with
| our modern conception Of Gods love
and Gods charity. which. after all. is
as old as nineteen centuries. dating
from a cross, and apply that combina-
| ton to the solution of the ills of the
present, and let us see what the re-
suits would be.
OF all the people described in the
Bible. tile Laodiceans. who were neith-
| er cold nor hot, are the most unpleasant
and unsatisfactory Do not be a Lao
dicean. DO not be q Puritan, either,
but be a man whose zeal for God is
according TO the knowledge and the
/ love of God as well a jealous Chris
tan. And remember that in the con-
cordance to the Bible language II
"abase" is the first word, zeal is the
last. There is something striking about
/ that | think.
I TEE HOME AND THE CHILD.
/ BY Or. Joseph SHERMAN.
Except the Lord build the house, in
vain do its builders toll thereon