The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-05-07
DOUBr ANp IT'S FRUITS.


ought frankly 10 resign, that We may hold
fast that which ON. What IL really in
furious TO the clergy is the suggestion that
they should continue 10 preach for purposes
Of expediency that which has ceased TO be
believed. To what extent the doubw
manlfostly prevalent among the laity
may have spread 20 the clergy, do not
pretend to say That they have spread TO
some extent surely cannot be gainsaid'
In my last communication j pointed 10
the volume Of letters on the subject OF re-
ligion entitled sDo We Belieye1'-a selection
from 1000 sent 10 the London Daily Tets-
Graph in three months--as proof that the
subject hal living and general interest.
This book Is a fair mirror Of opinion, and
In two respects Ia welOome. 1t proves
at ones the triumph OF federation and the
earntstness Of quest for truth. OF dogmatio
narTowness or bitterness there is hardly q
trace. We ere In . far bettsr and more
hopeful state than Christendom was
hundred years ago.
The collection is divided into three parts
Faith 'Uniaith" and Doubt Doubt
is hardly distinEuishable from Unfaith'
Nor does Faith make any serious stand for
the evidences. The stand II makes IL for
Christian character and the consultations OF
religion. Even Archbishop Temple, when
Intercepted about the miracles, can only
say that omnipotence had always power
10 perform them, and that the absence
Of them In our day Is no proof Of their
absence in past times; two propositions
which a skeptio might subscribe. Unfaith
and Doubt are left In possession OF the
critical field and they are able 10 cite start
ling admissions on the clerical side, suoh as
that Of an eoolesiAstio Of eminence who
gives up as mythical the virgin birth Of the
Redeemer.
On the other hand, Unfalth and Doubt
generally accept the Christian view Of
character and the Christian rule Of life.
They place happiness In benevolence,
which is taken to be its own reward. On
what Is that assumption founded II there
IL no God or Hereafteri II conscience is
delusion and death clears all scores, what
have We to say to the man who INDUCES
his lust and escapes the lswi He may be
social nuisance. but how can you show
that from his own point Of view he 10 un-
wise' Man. says one bold Doubter,
Lives In a world which gets its living by
lying and deceit. You must fight that
world with its own weapons. And II you
are sharp enough, you will become a re-
spected member OF society" What have
We to say 10 the man II he wins bis gamer
II this life Is all, what a spectacle il his
tory What Is there - redeem the picture
Of the barbarism or pain and misery in
which myrlads have lived and died, in
which millions are still living and dyinEl
Is it easy TO oonfute the pessimist who
wishes that such a world had never been'
A Bishop is cited as avsrring that the
doctrine OF the Sermon on the Mount would
never do for foreign policy or for the man
agement Of States. The precepts Of the
Sermon on the Mount are in the language
Of Oriental hyperbole. However, they are
not meant for foreign policy or for the
management Of States, which Jesus never
had before his mind, but put aside with the
preospti Render unto Cesar the things
which are OBsars.' Jesus recognized the
calling OF the soldier and the authority Of
public law. St. Louis OF France acted
even In his foreign relations on the Chris
tian principle, with results not altogether
disastrous.
II as the result Of this discussion theism
loses revelation, 1t ceases to be perplsKed
by attempts to grasp eternity and inhnity,
to eIcogitate a primum mobile, TO reconcile
almighty goodness with the existence Of
evil. Is conscience the voice Of the Power
which rules our worldi Are moral effort
and struggle toward perfection the dis
psnsation under which we live? II so, our
life Is not without a guiding Light.
Immortality passes our conceptions,
We now know, too that the soul Il not a
being separate from the body, enclosed in
It at birth and severed from Il At death.
STILL spiritual life may be a reality and may
be instinct With further hopes. The inn
personal immortality In the progress Of the
race which Posltivism offers US L. little
consolinR. II q man contributes to the
progress Of the race, and in that sense
lives In Il, 90 Il may be said does anything
that helps progress, q beast Of burden or a
machine.
Christianity, oeaslng TO be q revelation,
does not cease to DO moral light. 1t has
produced Christsndom, and Chrstendom,
despite the unspeAkable grimes OF kings
and prieItI, has been nearly Identical with
moral civilization This IL matter Of his
tory. Nor has the moral influence Of Chris
tianity been confined to the doctrinAl pale.
What IL TO be the moral code Of haterialiani
We have yet to learn. The moral code Of
Agnostoism IL Btill Christian.
Let me repeat that do not presume to
breach theory, Ny aim IL only to keep
in the right path, frankly 10 resign what
ever has been disproved, to be cautious
In accepting the extreme conclusions Of q
newborn materialism riding on the wings
Of grand discovery, and 10 avoid the mis-
leading fAnoies which swarm in the eclipse
Of religion. such As splritualism. olAlrvoy-
anoe, planohette and telepathio revelG-
ton. Especially do vlsh TO elicit a proof
Of the assumption, fatal 10 spiritual life and
It's hopes. that the germ-plssm. AZ il Is the
beginning Of our being, must be the limit
Of its development and its end. In this at
ali events l may hope to have B, D., o1on..
on my side. GoLDwN SAITH.
No Longer Secrecy in Technical work.