Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-01-13

terence 5H pointing out the frosty eh!ll about the words of Marcus Atire- llHs' the Roman emperor and phil oSopheI, and the warmth. the enfb0s- lasm, i'll lhe expression of Job in He brew literature as h. reflects on he same subject of the Supreme Power Compare the fri9idit4 of Mafens Aurelius fine sentence, If gods care not for ne or my children. here is
 reason for 1t, with Jobs exulting cry. Though He slay he, vet will l
 trust in Him. and you will at once
 see the difference between the merely ethical attitude and the religious out
 look. c'Earieties,' D. 70. If an eX-
 ample from history be sought, what
 better one may be found than Jere-
 mlah,s refusal to accept the offer of
 an easy life in Babylon after Jerusa-
 lem fell, choosing to remain and
 weep with his unhappy people. No cold morality could inspire a superior act like that, an act whose very basic motive is love and loyalty. On the oth- CT hand, Josephus' course in following
 the victorious Titus to Rome there to enjoy life while he left his people in
 Wretchedness and squalor, is entirely defensible from the point of view of
 ethics, but it fails to satisfy our high est religious standards.
 
 l have dwelt so long on the im- possibility of ethics without religion
 despite the fact that in reality my ad- dress tonight entitled The Religion Of he Cultured Man of Today" takes it for granted that we all concede the in- dlspensability of religion. because there are a good many people claim ing title to culture who boast of be- ing without any religion, or are proud of saying, by confusion of terms, that ethics is their onlv religion. It is we'll to remind them that they are many years behind the spirit of the times, that the same scientific inves- tigators and philosophers who were hostile to religion twenty five years ago have now almost unanimously changed front. IL is still more impor- tant to point out to them that the ab- sence of religion ill any scheme of
 life betokens defect in their emo-
 tlonal and intellectual nature
 The Qualifications of the Cultured
 Mans Religion.
 First then q religion of mere good ness is a misnomer The cultured man recognizes it's deficiencies. Now positively what must be the other qualifications of a religion acceptable to the cultured man of today?
 First It must be form of faith 1 that does not conflict with human req son and knowledge but is in absolute harmony with them, basing it's prin- clples upon the latest and completest researches of science. Adopting this as fundamental qualification. the cultured mans religion must reject all cut and dried theology that con- talns or retains any dogmas, however venerable, that initiate against hu- nan intelligence and knowledge. A 'eligious system which, for instance, )oslts as an essential doctrine that he world was created so many thous- lnds of years ago, in the face of the :, test teachings of the science of ge- <. 'logy which has demonstrated almost . o certainty that the earth is mill ions Of years old is not acceptable . the cultured man of the present.
 Second. The religion of the cultur- d man must assign proper emphasis oth to the intellect and the emotion. must beware of overestimating the | importance of the intellect lest the D re, the glow, be extinguished and le religion be left cold and dead. D rom this. point of view we must e riticlze all church organizations that r ave taken out all symbols from their a ervice, or all mystery from their be- b efs. On $he other hand the religion Ii
 the. .cultufed man must be careful so ot to exaggerate the value of the q notional phase and surrender the ii ind to the feelings. There are great f, stems of religion entirely organized le ith this fallacy as guiding princi- nl Q. Quitting the old and venerable ;s lurches to avoid controversy, we cs ay at least point out that this mis- .1 ke. of surrendering the intellect to Q emotions is the weakness of lristian Science, Dowieism, Spirit
 lism and the other forms of mysti- to sm. na Third. It is not enough that the ligion of the cultured man must not Eli nflict with human reason and hu- b an know 1e1op. it rnucf coyor a fo1d \ c4,