The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-01-26

| OgN. 81. in the same sense. the accept
ance Of certain great convictions OF our
! day calls for a rewriting of theology
| 4 new theology Call il new theol-
! osy II You will. but 10 not let prejudice
! blind YOU IL truth. no matter from
| which direction truth may come. y
/ thing i true not because it, statement
| il old. nor yet because that statement
| iS new. but because IL conforms 20 the
! great fact. or facts. for which that
! truth stands. The great fact. or facts
back Of the truth and its statements
! do not change. Theological statements
| and systems may change Some per-
! sons may become angry. others fright
! cned. and still others f0Olishly and
! fiippantiy declare thar they have no
theology; but. in the meantime. theol-
! ogy remains the greatest science in
the universe. even the science OF God
! and divine things based upon a reve-
| lation made OF God. through Jesus
| Christ; and that science. itself as such.
| does not change.
Gods foundations are firm amid all
| the mutations which mark the history
OF the human race amid all the storms
ana shocks; amid all the diSintegrating
! agencies: amid the rise and fall OF
! empires; amid The hirth. the growth.
maturity. the old age and death of
nations: amid things present and
things 10 come. life ana death i'm spite
of every thing that may oppose. or as
sail. belief. character. hope. love, in
curvuptihle life al may nave perfectly.
indC>trucuh!e foundations. What ara
some of these foundations? Religious
experience, mat iS al experience of
God i'm the soul OF man Is an iude-
Structible foundations Such cNper.
| iau'c : knowledge derived from fact
ana abiding i'm spiritual consciousness.
God is spirit" Man il spirit.
! There i possible contact ma commune
ion here There is the possibility OF
The bCSJ knowledge iu the world right
he"e. Fact. evidence. proofs. kuoWi-
edge. they are all here. knowledge
has found the proof: proof implies thH
existence Of the evidence. evidence
! implies the existence and reality OF
the fact while the primary datum
abidc> in experience.
When a man has 4 religious expert
cEce then he has an indoSructble
/ foundation. He cannot then hc morally
ignorant. lie knows something. That
which Il man sees may deceive him.
That which he hears may not always
be 80. but that which hp knows. he
knows. and no man can take il from
him. He is upon n foundation which
! cannot be destroyed. Then faith finds
her best function in establishing the
fact. in dealing in the great unseen
realities which are always more than
the seen. i'm giving the assurance Of
! things hoped for, in proving things noe
| seen" y man cannot subject such an
| -. ~
senses II j. too large for such test
aS that. but ne knows he is right and
h knows he j. upon an indeSTuCtiOlc
foundation. II is not only our knOwl-
edge Of God There is another iude-
StructiDlc foundation in His knowledge
of us. 1t is written; "Howbcit the
| firm foundation of God standeth, hav-
! uG this seal the Lord knOweth them
! that are His" He cannot mistake. We
! could not deceive Him. even though we
might deceive others or he deceived by
| what We might suppose To be expert
! once. even religious experience. even
| though we might deceive ourselves.
| God knows. or this W. are certain.
| He knows Us perfectly. If We are His. !
| He knows it. If we are not His by
! the regeneration of tho Holy Spirit, we
may becom" His He will know. He
will cause us 10 know il. The secret
OF the Lord is with them that fear
Him" He desires il to be there.
Every man has just as much right to
know that he i alive spiritually aS he
does that be is alive physically. This
| knowledge iS brought 10 us in the wit
| ness Of Gods spirit Thus it is that
We 20 deeper than religious experience
and find another foundation in that
| firm foundation OF God-IIiS knowledge
Of Us. Jesus Christ is another founda-.
| ton. He j. our chief cornerstone. The
| ideals He holds. His simplicity, HIS
grandeur, His humanity. His Deity,
| Ills faith. His love. His life-all COM
| bine 10 make Him the perfectly .ncOrn-
parable one among all religious teach
| ers: and while i'm a certain profound
sense Christ and Christianity are one
and inSeparable. there is still another
| sense i'm which Christ as our fOunla-
! ton is more than Christianity. even as
| the sun is more than the multiudiuOuS
rays which fall upon our little portion
| OF the par,h: Christ il more than Chris
| tiauity. aS the thinker is more thnn his
| thought. rs life j. moro than that
| which cmbOdips life. We build rs
! Christians. NOT upon this or that creed
| about Christ. but upon Christ Himself.
! He Is our indestructible foundation.
! our faith rests at last. not in creed.
| though we should all have creed.
| and not in q book. though We can never
/ do without the Bible. but IN q person.
| and that person, Christ, places our
! lives upon God.
Let w. resolve 70 60 deeper. deeper.
| II We are at all unsettled i'm matters
| Of religion. We should not despair. We
! can find the solid and tn" safe. Let
rs build there. Let H. build according
| to the plans of the Supreme Architect
Of the universe. Lei all build until
! humanity shall become a temple com.
! plete. filled with the light and music Of
! Heaven. filled with the life Of God: and
| then. even thong. storms may come
/ and the last night FAIL about uS 1t VIII
! only bc tae servant of q new day. and
| We shall be- able 90 SHY. Il know whom
! I have believed and 3m persuaded that
! He Is able 10 guard that which ! have