The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1906-01-26
UNCLE EPHRIAN's IDEA AsouTIT.
no the editor of ocala Banner:

The school of Higher Criticism"
have proven to tnelr entire satisfac-
ton that the Book of Daniel and 9TH
err books of the Old Bible have no
foundation in fact that they are fab
ulous myths, entitled to no credence or
consideration. Among other things,
they have established the fact CD that
the Book of Daniel was written 400
years after the death Of the so-called
prophet Daniel. And many other
things equally astounding have these
wise and learned men found out in
regard to the Old Bible.
1t must have taken a great deal of
time and laborious research to estab-
lish all these facts, and Uncle Eph-
riam hopes they are happy over it,
and will reap their reward, whatever
that may be.
But why should these learned men
labor and delve among the musty old
archives of past ages, To what end
What do they expect to accomplish,
and what reward have they?
What if old Daniel never lived o.
wrote, never was cast into the lions
den, If Jonah never swallowed the
whale, or Joshua blew a rams horn at
Jericho. What If these learned and
scientific men succeed in proving the
whole of the Holy Scriptures without
foundation or fact, and by undermln-
ing delving and digging out the foun-
dations of the Christian church cause
the whole of the grand old structure
to topple and fall into a mass of
chaotic ruins. What then? When
they have demolished this old Temple
Of ours, and turned us out into the
cold, have they a grander and more
glorious Temple ready for us to enter
into? Or will they leave the millions
of the Christian family shelterless,
homeless, helpless and hopeless?
From the foundation Of the world,
all nations and peoples have had som,
king of religion; some form of wor-
ship of an invisible supreme being.
that they look up to, and reverence
as their God. 1t was so from the be-
ginning. From the time when the
morning stars sung together, and all
"the sons of God shouted for JOY" Since
Abel offered his first sacrifice to the
Lord. And will be so to the end o.
time. 1t is inherent, implanted by tn
Creator in all human beings, from the
lowest type of humanity to the highest
The yearning and longing of the i'm
mortal soul for an existence which il
feels must be its destiny after the
death of the mortal soul.
Don't you see, my very wise and
scientific masters, that we are obliged
to have some kind of religion? We
cannot get along without it, We want
IL and need ii. The religion of Jesu:
Christ is a part of our very lives an(
beings. The foundation of our gov.
eminent and laws. Our bulwarks
against anarchy and despotism. Gu
stay and comfort in this life, and tn,
foundation of our hope for a blessed
immortality. 1t is a good enough re-
ligion. A good one to live by, and
blessed one to die with Then why
try to demolish it. Why trouble your
selves about it's origin. What if you
cannot verify all that the old prophet
have written in regard to Jesus Christ
or trace his ancestry in a direct line
back to Adam? Or doubt His being
the son Of the Great Jehovah by the
virgin Mary. Why not accept the
Christian religion as we do the many
other good things the Almighty has
blessed us with, without questioning.
and with thankful hearts?"
1t matters little however, if you as a
class don't like it. You are free to
plan, and adopt better religion if you
can. You have precedents by the bar
relfull. Mahomet didn't like it, and
hence the Mohammedan religion with
its doctrine of Kismet Joe Smith es-
tablished the Mormon church with
polygamy as one of its chief corner
stones. And now, Mary Baker Eddy
has inaugurater a religion which is to
Danish sickness and sorrow, pain and
death" from the face of the earth.
And the old prophet Elijah comes forth
from the misty shadows of the past,
and proclaims that he is full bent"
on reforming the world if it takes a
billion Of dollars. o fiddle de dee. Let
our religion alone. You are free to
come and play in our yard" but
don't tear down our playhouse.
UNCLE EPHRIAM.