The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-11-10
REELECTION WITHOUT DOGMA.
EssuntlAls Sf a Holy LAEs OuhaAde - ma
rAmFua,en. 4

conhAcer 70 A9 based ON Act10n ana COnduCt-
In the prevalent conception religion aa-
sunes TO guide mems lives according "a
truths disclosed by miraculous revelation
recorded In the Bible or declared by the
Church. IL IN held that W. thus recotv0
kn~OwledgeofA personal God. a divine Saviour,
a way " sal alton opened 70 men By faith
In this Saviour and an Immortality beyond
the rave These truths. H. In held. give the
motive. the aim and the way Of the religious
life. and acceptance Of them is the necessary
foundation OF that life. Now. beyond aues-
ton a multitude Of people DO by the help Of
this creed of the Church lead sincere and
serviceable and happy lives Conspicuous
Instances just now are the Bishop Of London
and General Booth OF the Salvation Army.
h have been walking In the affections Of
the American people II is not the multitude
Of believing and earnest Church men whom
these men typify that l am now addressing.
Hereafter ] may have some friendly speech
to them. but at present. Wishing each other
God speed we part as did Faithful and
Christian, of whom the reader Of Bunyan
will remember hat the one took the upper
road and the other the lower road, but both
travelled toward the same point
I am spea king now to those to whom ell
the creeds of the Church have become incred-
ible. doubtful OF unreal or these-and they
are q multitpde-some have become clearly
convinced by the study Of history that the
entire miraculous element is bic,
and this has destroyed for them the authority
Of the Bible and Of all it's prophets even TO the
greatest Others have reached a like conctu-
sion through the attitude and mental atrnos-
pbere attendant on the study OF the physical
scienceS Probably a much greater number
have never thought the matter out. but
under some influence Of the Time Spirit the
wonder stories of the Bible and the Church
come 20 their ears like a fairy tale. And
thereare others. to some OF whom no one could
deny q reverpnt and aspiring spirit. whom the
devotional forms Of ths Church quite fail 10
touch. because they md those forms some
how remote from the natural spontaneous
movement OF their minds and hearts To all
these the churchly type Of religion has become
practically impossible OF Is held in a weak
and waverinE grasp.
I onoe fell into confidential talk with an
upright. strenuous man OF Affairs. one whom
his acquaintance would hardly suspect Of
thinking much about religion. ard he said: Il
would give every dollar OF my property II
7 could believe a. my wife believes" ] once
knew a successful elderly lawyer who told q
friend; I'm going TO bslieve every word Of
the Bible, every word Of iti II begin to let
20. ] know 7 shall give 1t all up ! talked
once with q woman Of admirable character. .
faithful attendant on Church Observances.
who said to me: -Of course. We don't know
anything about the real truth Of things, and
never can know. but these practices Of the
Church have come down from our fathers and
seem to have a good tendency. and so l keep
them up A man who took an active part
in the affairs Of his church was once telling
me Of his experiences a. a soldier in the civil
war. and in reply to some question he an
swered in all simplicity and good faith: oh.
Of course. up here religion Ia all very we'll. but
down there among realities IL didn't count
for muchl"
need not dwell on these different instances
Of undermined religion the man painfully
conscious Of his loss, the one holding on with
the surface Of his mind and afraid to think.
the ono habitually asserting to the most
solemn anfrmations with the sub-consUious-
ness of course. We don't really know any
thing about it, and he who had no use for
religion when he got among realities I
use them as instances and su questions Of the
wide ebbinR away Of genuine religious con-
victiOn. Partly. no doubt. the ebb In due to
faults Of purpose and will and temper but a
great c~ontributory cause is the growing I'M
possibility to a class OF thoughtful minds Of
the whole supernatural creed.
Does religion need that creed ~ its basis?
" seems to me. on the contrary. that vital
reli giOn depends on neither creed nor theology
nor authority: that II essentially consists W
an attitude and an aim which every honest
mind recognizes as sound and desirable: that
It's essentials are moral fidelity. the temper
Of sympathy and service. the spirit OF rever-
ence and aspiration and obedience to natural
law. To a life clearly and honestly devoted
TO these aims I believe the experiences Of the
advancing years will bring In full measure
the strength, the love. the joy. the sense Of
inner and outer harmony which are the best
fruits OF religion.
Two questions NAV Turk in the readers
mind: Is religion. after all, Of any grSat inn
pOrtance or necessity? And even II IL APP
pears desirable. is " possible and PRACTICABLE
without such a creed as the Church sfirme?
A. 30 a al IA EAAHU nAnAAAAEU that
question recalls a remark which when ! was
a youngster my mother made 70 me; She
WAS not at all In the habit Of preaching or
moralizinR, TO her children or anybody else.
But in the course OF some ordinary talk she
said with only the little emphasis Of adj
| religion life rs a failure" That was all, and
the talk slipped on to other topics. But !
1 %itSoSt re SSGSeTsd Ard = "t tRis rr rome her, ral %se
had such resources besides-he her family. her
home. her. various comforts and pleasures.
Really X seemed az II even without religion
her life would be far from a failure; But ]
woman And the longer / live the more I am
convinced that those were true words, and
that without religion human life is a failure.
incomplete: a sense Of Illustration steals over
| the fairest scene, and fates inevitabl blows
fall with crushing weight know OF no
without fixed and hiR purpose Who has
gone on with swelling sails and favoring
1 MN00N VlI E1tft NDFuCt -ONlN Dlr vi NuF livery
day chances-f failure OF health. defeat Of
ambition. loss OF property. death OF wife
or favorite child-and the ship founders
or drifts a helpless wreck; The hea venly
voice had been unheard, the summoning Of
pieasantness and all nv paths are peace.
And now when the earthquake has destroyed
| the house, the Wisdom that was neglected
seems to upbraid~ Because ye have set AZ
nought all my counsel. and would lone Of
INV reproof. also will laugh at your cslamIty
] will mock when your fear cometh. or y
may be. as by the more gracious gospel. of
The New Testament, that disaster teaches
what was not learned In prosperity. and
starvation drives the prOdigal back to the
And az we often see life q failure for want
Of religion. so We often see ~ a success by
means Of religion imperfect but genuine
religion triUmphinR over trouble, disa eter,
heartache. One need not go TO the accredited
YOU can ind them " you watch your neigh
bors or read your Newspaper. The other
day 7 read in TIE SIN the talk with the re-
porter OF a woman whose son, q policeman,
had that day been wantonly shot. She was
one; she had only pity for the wretch Who
murdered him; she tenderly recalled what
a good boy he had been. and all the acts
and words Of his met hour az home-ths
whole story was a leaf from the book OF a
But that woman wasa Catholic. says some
one. Yes, I believe she was. and 7 hope
there lie no one who doubts that religion.
the holv life. il abundantly' to be found IN
Only there are some OF VS. who think that
the holy life n be. lived outside OF the
churches too. And that brings US TO the
second question: Granted that religion Ia
desirable. is II possible and practicable with
out acceptance OF the Church's creed?
That Ee NAV anaWer that uVpeaffOn lef uu