The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-01-11
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
.KNOWINE THE TRUTH"

The Rev. Cornelius Woelfkin Dwells on
the Condition of Learning Spiritual
Truth as Laid Down by J~esus-Open-
Mindedness is the First Qualification
BROOKLYN, n. YIN the Greene Ave.
hue Baptist Church Sunday morning the
minister, the Rev. Cornelius Woelfkin,
preached the sermon. MI, Woelfkin's text
was from Deuteronomy XxiX:29: The Sc
cret things belong unto the Lord, our God,
but the things that are revealed belong un-
to as and to our children, that we may do
all the words of this law" he. said:
A noted astronomer once said: II have
searched the stars, but I find no God.". A
noted philosopher said, IF there ls an INN.
mite, personal God. He is u~nknowable:"
Materialistic science and rational phil
osophy have formulated the creed OF az,
nosticism, VIZ: that God is unknown and
unknowable. It sounds conservative, mod
est and wise. But it Is not really new.
One of the a~ncients wrote in the long ago,
"Canst thou, by searching, find out God?
Canst thou know the Almighty unto per-
lection? .Zophar, the Naamathite, was a
clever agnostic. The Hebrew. lawgiver
writes, 1.-THE secret things belong unto
the Lord our God"
If God be the Infinite. Eternal and Alb:
solute, it is impossible to comprehend and
explain Him. There must always be d.
mansions of mystery unknown and un-
movable in Him. The astronomer never
expects to find the walls of the universe:
There is always the unknown beyond. II
space and time stagger the imagination.
can we ever hope to bring the eternal God
completely within the range Of human
conception? We are all agnostics. Even
Christians worship at the altar OF the su'
per movable. God. 1t is no discredit to
the theist that he cannot tell the day OF
Gods birth. We need not distress our
selves because We cannot walk about GOD
and know His diameter and circumference
He is unknowable. .,
But because we cannot know all, shall
we rest content to know nothing? The
scientist is aware that he can never know
it all. Does he therefore break his lnstru-
ments and content himself to abide IN lE..
norance? He knows in part. He will
know more, though he never knows 1t all.
So. concerning God, there are things that
may be known. The mystic y Of the I'M
known is the very charm of eternity: The
ages will ever clothe themselves with new
garments of mystery. -
spirit and must be spiritually known. John
Fske, speaking of the spectroseope, calls
IL an auulLlou W oui sSnses.
inventions are extensions to o senses.
There IS auto-seeing, auto.hearing, auto:
feeling. Tyndale said, The silence OF
the forest at MONDAY is agitated with
sound, if we could only hear it." There
|, are som things telescopically disccrnedi,
others, microscopically and spectroscopi-
cally. Without these they are not dis
cerned at all. Why does one man only
glance at a picture, and pass on, While
another will study it by the hour? Why
will some people leave the music nan,
symphony? Because some things are art
i~stically discerned and others unsteady.
There must be the subjective faculty to
appreciate objective genius. " >,
Why do some men go through nte with,
out any sense of reverence, worship and
PRAYER, while Others bow in humility and
alteration to one whom they call God? Be
cause God is spiritually disce-ned. The
natural man receiveth not the things OF
God, neither can he know them. He IS
lacking the souls telescope, microscope,
spectroscope, etc. Natulal devices cannot
discover a spiritual God. ...
The study of man himself presents u
iaints analogy Of this truth. Science stud
les the human body; articulates the sicle'
ton; knows the nervous system; explains
organization. But does the anatomist dis.
cover the ' -ole man? Does he end that
eoyereign-rhe will, the magistrate-the
conscience, the artist-the imagination, the
orchestra-the emotions, the librarlan-thc
memory? They are all there. bnt the N.
struments of physical dissection DO not
cerned. When spiritual men, as suel,
PRONOUNCE upon physical science, they be-
come fools. AnC when materialists. az
such, pronounce upon spiritual things
thew likewise turn out folly. One qualifi-
cation cannot constitrt: authority upon
all things. 80
1t is sometimes said that religion speaks
in a language CT its own-a foreign tongue
This must be so in the nature of the case
Every new idea demands the garment OF
q new word or phrase. Every science ere
ates its own nomenclature. We might
find a hundred 7olumes written ii our ma.
tive tongue and yet not understand what
is written. Spiritual realities Must ex-
Instead of quarrelinC with the introduc'
tion of new terms, we should as true stu
dents learn theirNmcaninS and SO widen
our apprehensions. =,
The condition of learning spiritual truth
j. laid down by Jesus. Gle that wil,eth to
DO His viii shall l:now the teaching"
There must be right attitude first, and
then the experiment Of action. Open:
m~indcdness' Is the first qualification for
apprehension. Prejudice distorts and
blinds the Judgment. It is the chief factor
Al our limitations. 1t Is the. handicap
upon honest examination and experiment.
Prejudice shut the. theologians out Of nat
nral science for years. Prejudice Is shut
ting the materialists out of religious science
to-day. The whole universe is governed
by law. Let q man obey the laws of ma
lure and nature will unfold its mysteries
ito him. Let a man put himself in align
rlcnt with spiritual realizes, and the
spiritual world will discover itself to him.
"Hc that cometh to God must believe that
He Is, and that He is the rewarder OF them
that diligently seek Him" .
There must be action, the test of e-neri-
rlent. Here is \ stumbling block. Men
have their.own wills and hesitate and halt
ct doin. the will of.G6d. The chief diff.
culties concerning, religion do rot rise out
of intellectual embarrassment so much as
a failure in attitude and action. let with
out these men cannot know.
The means of knowing are twofold. st.
John says, That which we have heard,
that which We have seen and handled with
our hands declare we unto you" There IS
we have heard. There is tradition in
e~ciencc. Some things have been worked
out, tested and proven. They are accepted
as automatic by the consensus of all stu
Ccats. Who thinks to question the round
ness of the earth or its motion round the
Gun? Few of US have proved it; we accept
it on scientific tradition. We do the same
in all, scientific study. Tradition is the
foundation already laid, and we build
thereon. To exclude the authority of ira
Lition would check all progress. So relig-
+ ion has its traditions. Some things come
| 70 ,,r with tho nstnriinr,, mark of the CEN