The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-01-12
RY WILLIAM t. ELLIS.

BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS
The whole world is being swept by
n wave of characterization In some
places this takes the form of revolu-
tim, in others of socialism, in others
of an accentuated democracy orient
and OcciGent alike are feeling TINS
of the common man. 1t is undoubt>
edly the one chief characteristic OF the
day in which we live Beneath the
varied and local manifestations OF this
principle, the thoughtful person sees
a truth as old as IEden.
For what mean these workbench
cling agitations for the uplifting or the
individual except the ancient enunc1a-
ton which we ind here In the mrs.
chapter of Genesis, that man was made
to be a master and not a slave; that
man was created in the image OF God,
to be the lord of all created things,
and to walk upright forever IN con
scious sovereignty? Whatever de-
means man, be it his own sin or his
neiEhbor's selfishness, thwarts the d.
vine programme
No Worm of the Dust Is Man.
There is a sense in which, to state
the converse of the famous old cate
chism question, that the chief end or
God is man The Infinite Creator dis
played his power, for inscrutable rea-
sons, by the creation of the universe;
then he made man the crown and
climax of this work. Man alone he
made in his own likeness. Man alone
he made by the direct breathing or
his own life. Man alone he made to
walk upright and able to hold fellow
ship with himself. So we may boldly
affirm that the Infinite has as his chief
pleasure and interest the man whom
he created
A reign of doubt for many years led
men to say otherwise. Scientists de-
lighted to assert that man is only an
infinitesimaI and inconsiderable mole
Guile in boundless scheme of whirling
IL I, -
worlds. They scoffed at the theory OF
this earth's being the center of the
universe, with man as the reason for
the earth's existence. Recently there
has come out of this Babel startling
voice which has, for the moment at
least arrested science in its madcap
race after improved theories. A scien-
fist whose position is second to none,
and whose words command hearing
in any body that makes the slightest
pretension to learning, has challenged
this new theory of the universe. So
far as proved facts go, he asserts, we
have not advanced beyond the Gene
sis conception of a universe which
ministers to this earth, and of which
this earth is the center. When all
guesses and conjectures are laid aside,
we only know that this earth is the
center OF the solar system, and that
man is the reason for the earth'S char
acter, contents and Inhabitants
All this, like the creation story in
the opening of the five books of Moses.
goes to show that man was made to
reign. He was intended to have do
rnirion over all creatures, including
himself. Every time a mortal yields
to fear or discouragement he is
thwarting the divine plan. All abject-
ness and servility. all crushing of his
nobIestimpulses. all atrophying of his
regnant spirit, is mans offense against
his own destiny and his Creator.
A Man Is More Than a Monkey.
Even biology, which delights to
trace the evolution of life through sue
cessive stages, confesses that there is
an unbridgable chasm between man
and all other animals. Decades of I'M
ceasing effort have failed to discover
link that will connect man with the
lower order of creation. 1t must be
made in the image of a jelly-fish or
of a protoplasm or of a monkey; man
was made in the image of God. The
very ability of man to probe into the
deep secrets of knowledge is itself an
evidence of his supernatural nature.
Here is the great and unshakable
truth about man, alike his sceptre of
sovereignty and his magma charta of
liberty: And God said, Let US make
man in our image, after our likeness:
and let them have dominion" OF his
other handiwork the Creator had said,
Let there be a armament" Let the
waters be gathered together Let the
earth bring FORTH Let there be
light Let the waters swarm" The
divine fiat has been sufficient But
when 1T came to man, there was
summoning of the counsels of eternity,
and a direct action by the Creator,
LET US make" Man was not merely
willed into existence; he was made
The very manner OF his creation put
him on higher plane than all else in
the universe. Better things were
planned for, and are expected from.
human being than from all the uni
verse besides.
All this dignity and power were per-
ilous. With these went the possibility