The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-12
THE RELIGIOUS SITUATION.

/
acceptance Of my letters has brought me
many tokens Of interest In the subjects To
, which they relate Some Of my correspond
ents AJAX me for my theory. But, as have
said before, have no theory. All ! pre-
tend to do Is 70 state the case and invite
opinion.
The subject IA one Of interest, practical
as well as deep. we're il only from it's bearing
on the future position of the clergy. What
are clergymen on whose minds the light Of
criticism has dawned hereafter to do2
R,n,n and Matthew Arnold seem In effect
TO wish that the clergy should continue to
preach a religion suited TO the multitude,
while they. the sons OF light. sit aoft in
light by themselves But will learned and
conscientious mon. as your clergy must be,
be found to preach wholesome falsehood
for State purpose. and, like Roman au-
gurs, 70 laugh each other in the face when
they meet2
There are symptoms also Of the disturb
ance Of morality. especially OF public moral
ity. by the failure Of rel gious belief. The
| strange phenomenon Of n lg worship Is one
Of them
II ultra naterialism IL true, man is mere
development Of the germ-plasn- There IL
| ip hlOAui lOi Ocllcl III a iiiOi ~ &ONti
| oi the univtrie. Conscience. il 1t speaks
| OF a tribunal higher than the human. lies.
Death ends all for u.s. and levels us all.
| When we die IL signifies nothing whether
our life has been good or evil. Materiallsts
say that the evidoer will be punished by
remorse for wasted life. But how can
his life be said to have been wasted IL he
has supped full OF pleasure. gratiHed every
| t,,a4tna1 Dlai.
! tivism tells us that we shall live for good or
evil In the future Of the race What inter-
est. when we have personally ceased to be,
shall We have in the future OF the racer
After all. In what will tho race end? Science
says IN physical catastrophe
Dogmatio and miraculous Christianity
we resign. But the vital principles Of Chris
tianiy tho fatherhood OF God and the
broth 9rhood Of man. still rest on their his
torical and moral evidences as key to the
moral problem OF our being. AT the same
time Christianity, by throwing of dogma
and miracle. il nd OF ono OF its heaviest bur-
dens. There is no longer barrier between
ChriRtendom and the rest OF humanity.
The term heather becomes unmeaning.
Socrates. Epictetus. Marcus Aurelius cfe
no longer consigned as out Of the pale OF
God. We live henceforth under an ampler
sky.
There Is no use in guessing al the nature
OF the Power which fills and moves the
universe. We cam IT hope to delineate or
define the inconceivable The world visible
to us presents to our senses a perplexing
MIXTURE Of that which to us is good with that
which 20 us IL evil, Of order with disorder. OF
a.. i.l Ii - T. ~
unbeaudfui. We cannot solve the mystery.
Bridgewater Treatses picking out instances
Of order and benefcence and saying nothing
about the oppostes, no longer afford US
help. Human excellence is attainable only
through effort. which implies a struggle
with evil. This, apart from revelation,
il apparently the only hint OF solution
that we have. Yet /. Is difficult to b lieve
that rational being Is confined 70 this planet /
or that nothing speaks TO Va through tbs |
majesty and glory OF tie universe.
Conscience, says Bishop Butler. a keen
anatotnist Of human nature II it had power
as it las authority. would rule the world |
Conscience tells us that as We do well or i'll
it will be we'll or i'll in the sum of things
Is this a mere delusion? Is conscience or
is it not really a part OF our nature' II it
is. have we any special ground for refusing
its evidence more than for refusing that Of
our physical senses on which all science,
moral or physical. restsf After all. whit Ia
truth but that which, by the constitution
OF our nature, We cannot help believing2
Ia any man without oonscienoei There
are mon who crush it, perhaps silence it
In themselves; but Is any man without it?
That notions OF duty vary considerably
l.
conscience always declares for duty as we
see it at the time against the forces OF pos
sion or sef-love.
II may be true that conscience, like other
PARTS OF our nature, including the scientific
faculties. is developed by an evolutionary
process. This does not affect its authority.
When developed. it is here. We must. how
ever, be allowed to challenge the claim of the
gerrn-plasm 70 prepotency and hnality
The germ-plasrn is the starting point of
development which, carried forward and
moulded by variety Of influences, culmi-
mates in Socrates. But Socrates is not a
Zern-p lasIn any more than he is particle
n the nebula from which the serm-plasm
itself is an ernanadon- That man had his
foundation in che dust we knew long ago.
But conscience, moral aspiration, spiritual
Affection, tho sense OF spiritual beauty.
dealization, are. if our inner sense does not
Utterly mislead us, higher In their nature
han dust
Let characterization prove It's case, and
re accept it, little welcome as 1t may be.
But let it distinctly prove its case We are
ust nov in the rush Of the eat Darwinian {
discovery. We want little time and re- :
lection 10 SOS what the limits OF that dis !
'overy are GohDvIN SMITH J
Work for the Sanitary squad.
To ruu rnrr,, m IL, cr,.---,,,-. w.. -. 1