The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-05-24
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Subject: The Religious Life.


Henderson, took as his text Deut.
s:3. Man doth not live by bread only,
but by everything that proceedeth
out OF the mouth OF the Lord doth
man live" He said:
The one thing most necessary in
the life OF the individual and OF So
ciety is religion. A man may exist
In the possession OF all the temporal
and material aids to comfort and to
the satisfaction of the natural man,
but he never begins really to live
until he Is conscious OF the divine
personality and recognizes the valid
ity OF the divine control. man may
exist without thoroughgoing sense
Oh the reality and the control OF the
DIVINITY that shapes our ends" but
he only Is alive when he gains a con-
sciousness OF God and of his account
ability and infinite Indebtedness to
Him.
In our day too many men are drift
Ing from the religious life, too many
are endeavoring to live without a
controlling sense of the reality of
God, too many are endeavoring to
live as though God were non-exist-
ant and as though He were entitled
TO no authority over their lives. Many
good men, confusing ecclesiasticism
with religion, and uncomprehending
OF the vast difference that there often
Is, though to be sure there should not
be, between church membership and
the Christian life, have turned and
gre turning, altogether too commonly
for the peace of mind of the church
OF the living God, away from organ
lied religious systems primarily and
from any sort of religious observ-
ance at all. Gazing upon the hope
less insincerity of many Christians
and the stupid indifference of many
churches to the needs of society and
the demands Of the times, as con-
trasted with the beauty and the uni
versa interest of the Goldman and
His Gospel, upon whose character and
truth the Church is founded, men
have misjudged Christianity by its
misrepresenting fruitage, and, in
numbers that annoy us, have turned
from religion entirely. Contemplate
ing the sins of individuals in the
church, they have permitted their
eyes TO be withholden from the dis
cernment of the truth that the per-
sonality and the pronunciamentoes Of
Jesus Christ as the oracle of God are
the leaven that most surely could
transform their own lives and effect
a transformation in the social order
of which they are part. Many bad
men. with the determination not to
know or to serve God under any con-
ditions, utterly are neglectful Of the
claims of the religious life upon
their higher natures. They turn from
religion because they are willfully
desirous TO be the followers of the
devil rather than the servants of
God.
Many men have turned from or
ganized religion because of intel
lectual difficulties. Some of these
have gone out of the church to fol-
low the bent of their peculiar and
personal religious conceptions and
convictions; some have turned to
philosophy and have deified man as
sufficient unto himself; still others
have to their entire satisfaction
eliminated God from the scheme of
things.
In spite of the attitude of a host Of
men, however, true religious life is
as necessary to the welfare OF human
ity as are fresh air and pure food
and the creature comforts that we
desire, need and strive so persistent
ly to secure. No man is we'll round
ed; no man has realized the possibili-
ties of manhood; no man is COM
plete; no man is really alive until
be is alive unto God. And no man
has sounded the limits Of the capaci-
ties Of his own being until he has en-
joyed a knowledge of the highest rev.
elation of the character of God that is
in the world to-day.
A true religious life ought to ap-
peal to every man first, because it is
reasonable; secondly, because it is
spiritually real; thirdly, because it is
ethically influential
The true religious life is reason
able. 1t does no damage to our good
sense, and 1t commends itself to our
judgment. 1t does not shock our
Ideas OF the fitness of things. 1t sat-
isfies our intellects. Man, in the wis
dom of God, is an intelligent being;
he possesses mental qualities that are
fundamental in his makeup. Men
must be convinced of the reasonable
I ness OF things before they can have
any lasting hold upon them. That
which is Intellectually unsatisfying
or that will not stand the tests ap-
| blitu ny Nht VI men, lneN re-
! ject. Man does not demand that
I he shall be able to exhaust
every subject which comes under the
province of his intellect, but he does
demand that, whether or no he is
Gble to explain all the things in
which. as rational being, he holds
an interest. he shall at least be able
/ TO discern in them the evidences of
I reasonableness. Religion appeals to
I the mind of man. Not because he is
/ able TO sound all the depths of relig-
| ious philosophy or of religious truth
, or to explain all the manifold won
ders of religious experience, but be-
/ cause there is in religion that which
is intellectually reasonable and salts
\ flying. No religious system that is
worthy of attention holds the respect
/ of humanity for long unless IL be first
I OF all of no damage TO our sense of
\ the fitness of things. The true relig-
\ ious life commends itself to our best
| judgment and in the recognition of
its imperatives we find rest and JOY.
/ The true religious life is transcend