The Pensacola journal., 1907-05-26

At a recent meeting of the minis
ters' association of Tampa, the fol
lowing impressive paper on the sub
Ject, -What is Religion?" was read
by DR.. H. S. Stollnitz. rabbi off the
Jewish congregation Schaarai Zedek:
20 Lord. open thou my lips, and
my mouth shall declare thy praise
Perhaps no one on earth loves
peace more than does the Jew. To
the Jew peace is synonymous with lib
erty. which guarantees equality-the
birthright of every man-which makes
for brother-love, the breeder, promo
ter, promulgator of good will to one
another Hence, since time immemo-
rial the word 'Shalom, peace. sounds
like sweet music to the Jewish ear.
Hardly an occasion in Jewish life
passes without this simple, yet SO in
fnitely much meaning utterance being
brought into requisition. The first
words of the Jew on meeting his be-
loved ones, or even strangers, are
Peace be with youn to which is re
sponded With you be peace,' When
the Jew mentions the name of a de-
parted dear one, he never fails TO
exclaim: Peace be with him Tor herr =
Regarding peace as the most precious
gift, the Jew always rejoices when he
thinks of God having said to Moses: 1
viii give them my covenant of peace
The last words of the priestly blessing
are May the Lord send you peacei'
Jesus, the Jew.
Il wish also TO prove this by the
fact that Jesus, the Jew, preached
Peace on earth and good will toward
men. The very fact that 1, Jew, am
called upon by a most reverential
body of ministers representing the
Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Con-
gregational and Seventh Day Advent
Ist creeds and faiths-aIl followers of
the teachings of Christ, to speak to
them on religion also gives me proof
of how greatly you cherish and how
you are permeated by peace, the most
blissful of all blessings.
What is Religion?
s"What a boon is religion to man
kind ! dare to make the broad as
sertion that there scarcely lives a
man on the vast globe of earth who is
entirely without religion. Call him
atheist, pagan, heather, ethical cul-
tufist, and so on, his belief in some
supreme force or any other halluci-
nation is evidence of his religious be-
lief, ergo he is not without religion.
Rightly says Carlyle: Man always
worships something; always he sees
the Infinite; and indeed can and must
so see it in any finite thing, once
tempt him well to keep his eyes there
on and as Robert Hall teaches: Re
1igion. the final center of repose; the
goal to which all things tend, which
gives TO time all its Importance to
eternity all its glory, apart from
which man is a shadow. his very ex-
istence a riddle, and the stupendous
scenes which surround him as inco-
herent and unmeaning as the leaves
which the sybil scattered in the
wind
II therefore do not aim in this
paper at asking Is There Religion?
but What Is Religion?' In this prac-
tical age. when the people are strain
ing after truth. backed up by strong
demonstration, when theories and doc
trines are looked at askance until
logic and figures are brought to bear
TO prove these theories: when rhet-
orical rhapsodies may please the ear,
but fail to bring conviction: in this
age the question What Is Religion p
arises with greater force than it has
ever done since man first began 70
ponder over that mighty subject. And
in this age IL has set the heads of all
the churches thinking how best TO
satisfy the practical demands of their
congregations. 1t has been a sort of
competition, each one throwing his
dogmas in the teeth of the others
and crying aloud: We have found the
key TO the door which leads (the way)
to the mysterious chamber of religion
and we. only can commune with the
spirit which poirE the way to cter-
nal salvation!'
Is Religion mysterious.
But is religion after all such a mys-
terious thing? Is il housed up and
the door carefully locked that who
ever is so fortunate as to find the key
may have monopoly of that precious
treasure? Can we that religion pro-
claim when, through embelms on our
breasts, or through uniforms. we an
nounce To the world at large to
which sect we belong? Is the one
who frequents a church. mosque or
temple necessarily endowed with re-
ligion? Is he who shouts damnation
to all creeds and sects but those of