Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-07-26

souol why uO you NOT lueOlOplCully
broaden out1 Why do you stick 20
close to your Jewish lawsp Why 10
you not become Student Of the new
thoughtT" But what Is the new
thoughtT" says Daniel. why" say
the Babylonish friends, don't ,lou
know Have you not been reading our
new theology? Why. the new thought
Is beautiful belief This is It in sub
stance: God Ia goodness. God is in rs.
We are all part OF God. lust try "a
think of God as good pcing and try
to develop all the good in you. and you
VIII grow better and grow like God"
But says Daniel, what has that to
do with the first commandment, which
Moses gave to the children of Israel I
am the Lord thy God. which brought
thee out Of the land OF Egypt and out
OF the house Of bondage; thou shalt
have no other goos before mep' "Oh,
Daniel, Daniel, Daniel" say the Baby
lOnish friends. 1--WE have outgrown all
that supersttious stuff. We have out.
grown all the commandments and the
Jewish dietary laws. We are the advo-
new thought we Just try to be good,
and that is all one peeds to do" My
friends, cannot you hear Daniels
friends trying to get him to eat the I'M
clean food and adopt the religious lib
eralism of the Bnby!onish capital?
Is not Satan trying to get you to cat
Of the uncean food IL our modern
Babylons by the same pernicious argu.
mert Of theological liberalism? 1 am
not the least bit afraid ths. yen will
become a blatant atheist. l am not
afraid that YOU will turn your back
upon Christ or upon the Bible. But I
an afraid lest the insidious advance Of
the new liberal thought should under
mine the foundations Of your faith. I
find it doing its deadly work in the
church and in society. Men are giving
up their anchorages and are drifting
out on the sea of doubt toward the
rocks OF eternal disaster. Never let go
Christianity. The divinity of Christ, his
sinless life and his atonenent on the
cross, his resurrection and ascension,
the work of the Holy Spirit the neces-
sity Of the new birth and the inspra-
ton of the Bible-these are the dis
tnguishing doctrines Of our faith. To
abandon these is to surrender all that
has made our religion power in the
world; it is to turn Christianity into a
dry, dead system OF ethics. In Christ
alone have we life. The Bible declares
it. If you deliberately go forth to eat
Of the unclean food IN the Babylonish
capital you must perish o God, may
we never become so liberal that we
cannot make the words of Jesus Christ
the center. the circumference, the all
in all of what we should believe and
how we should live!
A National Prejudice.
But there is still another fact which
would have made the eating of the
kings meat easy for Daniel. The kings
food was spread in the presence Of the
young mans enemies. II Daniel did
not eat the meat and drink the wine
which came from the royal kitchens
and wine cellars at once, in all proba-
bility the refusal would be reported to
the kings higher officials, and Daniels
bright political prospects would not
only be stopped, but without doubt
Daniel would lose his head. We'll"
you say, that Is strange. How can this
be? Daniel did not have any enemies
as yet. He had just been selected for
future political favorltism and had not
yet eaten his first meal in the palace"
All, my friends, by that question
know one fact. You have not Travelled
much abroad.
In our country the word "cannlsh-
ness" has not much meaning. When
we go back to our Revolutionary days
we find that Kosciusko and Baron
Steuben and Lafayette helped to win
our independence Then we find that
Hamilton and host of other states
men who helped make us what we are
We're foreign born. Then we find that
scores and hundreds of inventors like
Ericsson and moneyed kings like Car
negle and teachers like Agassiz We're
also born across the sea. And thus
strange to say, the highest recommen-
dalton that an artist or writer or a
preacher can have before the American
public is that he was foreign born
But. though our own people seem to feel
that all prima donnas who have a for
eign name can sing better than our
own. yet this is not true of foreign
lands. The man whom the Germans
are most ready to honor is the German
Tho man the English are most ready
to honor Is the Englishman. The man
the Scotch are most ready to onor is
the Scotchman. The same law was
true of the Romans, the Greeks, the
Egyptians. the Hebrews and the Baby
lonians. The people who were not OF
their own nationality were always
looked at askarce and despised, Thus
you can see the national prejudice
which at once arose against Daniel
after his selection by the ling because
he was foreign born.
"What Have You Donef"
AHA" the people cry. Aha. II he
does not eat tho kings meat we will
expose him. Then this foreign upstart
will remain slave, as he ought to do"
And yet, my friends. as hear the enc.
mics Of Daniel gloating about his over.
throw, can l not hear your enemies
gloating over your spiritual overthrow
in the same way? You enter certain
line Of business. The proprietor de-