The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-07-27
IN THE RELIGIOUS WORLD.
What the Church Folks Are Thinking About and Doing
Religious News From Everywhere.

would have waited the return of Mo-
ses, and then have perceived the BEN
eflcent purpose of his absence. They.
like later pilgrims to the Land of
Promise, needed to stand still and see
that Jehovah is God.
Where Idols Are Plentiful.
The reader who has a taste for fol-
! lowing an interesting thought through
histories this assertion: The greatest
nations are those which have the
! greatest God. Like master, like
man. The people which has the
most exalted conception of the Deity
/ is the one which has the most exalted
| type of manhood. Little gods mean, in
| the long run, a little people. Slowly,
| ism of the Jews elevated them above
and made them a peculiar people, a
powerful people and persisting peo-
pie.
After more than a little firsthand
observation of idolatry. am prepar-
| ed to say that idol worship Is always
on a descending scale. 1t degenerates
| into mere superstition and demon
olatry. There are doubtless some Hin
dus and Chinese and Japanese who
can give an Intelligent explanation of
the character and purpose OF the
greater figures in their pantheon; but
the plain people worship all idols. any
idols, only from blind fear and an ig-
norant hope of receiving faVors.
have a dozen or more charms that I
secured at various heather temples,
which engage to protect me from all
the ills of body and spirit The peo-
pie who start with one idol soon have
many idols, and customs OF the gross
est.
Those Jews at first wanted a mere
representation that would fix their
thoughts upon Jehovah-an laid TO
devotion" as lovers of images and
pictures say-but it was not long ere
they rose up to play" after the
abominable manner of the heather
excuses. He whose devotion is not
conferred upon the one Supreme OBJ
ject of devotion will find himself
swinging in strange orbits. and wor-
shipping unexpected gods in unholy
wayg.
Skill and Superstition.
Those who consider civilization a
mere matter of material skill and pro-
gress may be reminded that some of
the finest mechanical arts are pos
sessed by people far down on the in
tellectuaI and moral scale. The en-
broideries of old Japan, the carvings
of China, the brass work Of India, the |
shawls of Cashmere are nor
excelled anywhere in the world. In |
the museum at Cairo you may see
piles of beautiful jewelry, in cunning |
ly wrought gold and gems. 1t was
such as these that the Israelites wore,
and offered to the melting pot for the |
golden calf. |
those elaborate ornaments of gold
and the puerile, savage worship of the |
molten calf? All, but even today bar |
barism and gross superstition wear
Jewels and silks and raiment a la |
mode. 1t is not in our wealth and up
to-datencss and material grandeur |
that the hope of the age lies; but in a |
steadfast and obedient |
recognition of those spiritual ideals |
which follow in the wake of the in |
nf mr.
ing God Materialism cannot make
nation great any more than a big |
house and lavishly spent money can |
qualify a person to move in truly good |
society.
That golden calf is still being wor-
shipped today. The bull, as repre-
senting life and reproduction, Is a
common object of heather ~veneration.
Even the living bull is worshipped~ in
India, and the streets Of Benares are
full of slate-colored bulls, roaming
at will, lords of the highways, and
unmolested from the bazaars
The mummy Of COW, and its restored
is one OF the most inter
esting sights in the museum at Cairo. |
The Swift Vengeance.
The orgies around the molten calf
did not go unheeded on the mount,
where Jehovah conferred with Moses
Heaven is forever less Indifferent to
tho doings Of earth than earth i'm
AGNES. One of the mistakes of those
who stoop to folly Is to suppose that
'nobdy cares; whereas the whole So
ciat body cares, and so does the God
above, who Is Jealous for the welfare
Of his people below. There is never
an IDOL set up, in a nation or in a hui
man breast, that the loving Father of
all Is not grieved and offended.
Swiftly Moses was sent down to deal
With the perverse IsraeIites-only to
ind them as shifty, evasive and ire
5ponsible as they had been idolatrous.
They who disobey God in any one
sYitabie- Moses burned with hot in
1lgnatlon; he had all of a great mans
for strong feeling. His anger
caused him to cast to the ground the
aoles OF stone upon which Gods fin
ger had written; for of what use was :
he law to such characterless people as
-hese? And he ground to powder the
golden calf. and he sent an avenging
WORD through the camp among the
mpenftent. so that there fell three {
men. All who overturn the
aw must fall beneath the law. |,
A Great Man in Crisis L
what blazing figure is the old !
prophet, as he strides about the cow
ring camp, the very incarnation of
Irvine Judgment The picture quick
tremendous powers of indignation he G
lad still greater powers of compass I
ion. In this crisis he proved himself Y
constructionist. Jehovah was ready
o repudiate this miserable people who ]
rad so insultingly repudiated him. I
he narrative. with strong anthropo-
norphism, represents Jehovah as
Vaxing so wroth against the stiff /
lecked pilgrims that he was ready to l
onsume them in his wrath c
Then arose Moses the majestic as +
n intercessor. yet now" he cried, 1
II thou wilt forgive their sin; and Il
not, blot me, pray thee. out of the / c
ooks which thou hast written" There
poke the very spirit of Calvary. |
loses so identified himself with the '
eople, and loved them SO much better :