Los Angeles herald., 1905-02-13

What I Believe, and why I Believe
It." He said in part:
"I am believer. I believe not less,
but more than formerly. I might well
take for my foreword, Here is what
sings unrestricted faith I am not
wandering in the fogs Of unbelief'
stand under clear sky with a shining
sun and a vision of the eternal. I
emphasize no doubts, I teach no mega
tions, encourage no pessimism, ] toll
crate no despair. AS Browning says,
This worlds no blot for us nor blank,
it means intensely and It means good.
To find its meaning is my meat and
drink
"I formerly believed some things.
Now | believe all things. First, about
nature and history, do not believe
that man is fallen and that he needs
special redemption. do not think
that God has ever failed and that he
had to atone for his failure and mans
fall by the blood of his son. 1t Is in
conceivable to me that I ever have
thought so, or that others still believe
it,
'T believe there is one God, who has
thrown himself out in the manifestation
of nature to the remotest atom and
that in the densest particle Of matter
there is an intelligence that works as
the wisest man and one wiser than man
would, If he were there in person.
Nature Is the progressive manifesto
tion of the inescapable necessity of God
to express himself as he really is.
History is the record of the relation of
God to himself, as is shown in the de-
veloping experience of the human
race.
"In the second place / believe in
human experience. I used to see that
all things work together for good to
them that love God. / see that still,
and now also perceive that IL men do
not love God, all things work together
to lead them to that love-that is, to
realize their unity with life, force.
spirit, reality, God. I believe that
physical mental, moral and spiritual
incompeteness, sickness, weakness,
death, ignorance, folly, temptation to
sin are all gymnastic apparatus for the
mental and moral development of men
as individuals and of the race. l be-
lieve the word of Augustine is true, %
God, thou hast made us for thyself
and our souls are restless till they rest
in thee and L say as Whitman did
that lin fact there is no evil, and If
there is, it is just as important to you
and me as anything else 1T is only
in thought that we have departed from
the precincts of God and all distance
cannot separate us from the love of
God, and through these things we shall
come to be more than conquerors.
'In the third place, / believe in all
men. I used to believe that
Some feet would never press
A pathway through the wilderness
From midnight to the morn to be-
I do not believe that now 1 do not
believe in the ultimate loss of single
soul. a single cell, single atom
do not believe there is any loss any
where, except in a very restricted sense
OF the word. I hold the doctrine of
hell which teaches that fires burn now
and will burn with increasing intensity
to burn up the dross of sensuality and
selishness from every human life and
/ say to my fellowmen with tremendous
moral energy, some day we will have
tc choose to be good. Why not COM
mence now?
'It has recently been said in the
public press by one of the ministers of
this city that I am more to be pitied
than any man in the world. If am
the most miserable man in the world,
this is a good world and there is hope
for all men. If 1 were miserable and
were given my choice, I would still 30
on and count all sacrifice as nothing
that I might be loyal to my highest
convictions"