Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1907-03-21
BELIEF.

On a Monday morning recently two
pastors happened to meet. One OF them
was quite distinguished for pulpit
oratory,'' while the other was a plain,
practical preacher. "What did you
preach about yesterday" said the
orator. The practical preacher men
toned a simple theme. "Wen," said
the orator. ST preached on h plurality
of worlds, discussing the question
whether the stars are inhabited. What
do you think of it?'' 81 don't think OF
it at all. The question: is altogether be-
yond the range of my thinking. 1 see
no evidence on either side, and I have
no opinion about it," was the reply.
If his view wereheld by the world
at large it would relieve us of an i'm
mense deal of the confusion Of thought
which prevails on the subject of what
we call our beliefs.
You believe a proposition when you
accept it as true, upon what appears to
be rational evidence. In order to reach
such a state of mind towards any pro-
position it is necessary that that pro-
position should be Ineligible to you.
If it conveys no meaning to your intel
lect, it is impossible for you to believe
it. An honest attempt to put our So
called tbeliefs" into the form Of intelli
gible propositions will often rid us OF
much mental confusion and will greatly
help the cause of clear and correct
thinking.
When Jacob Boehm, the famous Ger
man mystic, tells us that"all the voices
of the celestial joyfulness qualify, com
mix and harmonic in the fire, which
was from eternity in the good quality
what are you to believe in hat case:
The so-called sentence" conveys nc
meaning to your mind, and SO it is am
possible for you to believe it.
When the famous Professor Oxen, o.
the University of Zurich, tells you thai
self consciousness is a living ellipse,'
does he not put himself outside of the
range of your intellect? What ideas did
this professor intend to convey when he
wrote that "God is a rotating GLOBE
and that "the world rotating is God?'
This last statement may vaguely sug-
gest what is called "Pantheism,'' but
as a proposition, it is unintelligible
and, therefore. incredible.
But even when you have no diff.
Guilty with the meaning of a statement
you cannot properly be said to believe
it until you have and weigh the evi
dence. To decide without the Evidence
is the very essence and definition O
prejudice.
For man years there was a very
widespread "beIief'' among Christian
people in many parts of the country tina
the Bible somewhere prophesied tha
the time should come when no on,
could tell the winter from the sum
mer, except for the budding of thu
trees. Of course, the Bible contains
no such prophecy. Indeed it contains
Genesis 8: III, a flat contradiction o
it: "While the earth remaineth, seed
time n harvest, and cold and heat
and summer and winter, and day ant
night shall MOI cease; and these word
are represented as coming from J0nO
yah Himself.
How SO wild an error as we are her,
exposing eyer originated it is impos
sible now to ascertain; but it is a wei
known fact that the "belief'' was hand
ed down from generation to generation
among Christian people in a large re
> gion of the country, and was accept
ed, not only without evidence, bu
against the dearest evidence.
Many people seem to imagine tina
sincerity is a purely moral quality
: with which the intellect has no sort Q
e concern. 1t is 81 sad mistake; for Their
< is such a thing as intellectual insince1
l ity, and the vice is not only dangerous
. but altogether too prevalent, eve
among what are called good people
: 1t is you intellect which you use i
t the discovery Of truth; and if you d
e not give your intellect fair play, 20
e are really, SO far, a traitor to the truth
A strong but uninstructed conscienc
e is a dangerous thing. He was a wise
a devout and a thoughtful man VIII
:. prayed: "Give me understanding an
t I shall keep thy law"
BONAPARTE In The EAST.