The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1907-08-02
CHRISTIAN BELIEF
Tire A-rrrents FOG th1 Existence
81 fr. c-cntor me DIVINITY Of
Christ end me huthor
It ei the albie.


ch,.s. I.. r.uI. Hs pleasures aad if'
u.ic.f ODD the ono band Up fho road
ul.l leads to fho higher ifc Of afh
ana t5 eternal oampsnlou-h.rs on ilo
other. tito f.1t is KINGS xviii -i
.uou ioae ha.t So between tNo onu
lrrsfr
FHnh the author oft fhe wori, oi mt
tevt % speaking 'o King Ahoh ani 90
fao children of Israel BE Describes
tho notion as batting or hes.iat'ns
The wori WINS nn appropriate one a
man who IS not sure about his posi-
fi1n o~ his course. who travels @ little
vn, in ono erection and then little
way 'n orother direction. makes no
progress ue ha.ts and stumb.es. u
is o. most unsatisfactory state. whether
it relates 10 people Of that oiden time
or Pm people of onr time. so many of
whom ore similarly battling Elijah
contends that Jehovah IS God and .ha'
Tan is O mere bloch OF wood or Stone
that cannot hear prayer or reward
his uorsh.pers lie proposes 90 prove
DO Oh tho people tlon aud there Let
fv0 affairs lc erected and @ slaughtered
animal be laH on each. Then Ter
paars priests pray TO him 20 send
down Ore 90 burn up the sacrifice. and
IIfah VIII pray 90 Jehovah to DO thc
same 90 the other sacrifice The result
vin prove which Of the two IS able %
hear and answer prayer. which OF the
two is God. The proof was clear and
unmistakable The prayer 90 iaai ie'
ON deaf cars. and there was no ne
Spouse. Elijah prayed 20 Cod and the
fire fell on hts altar and consumed IT,
Then the people began 70 cry. The
Lord he ifs the God. the Lord he is the
Codw Now. the purpose Of this SER
mon in nutshell Is 10 contrast some
of the Illogical theories or false be
liefs which the people Of this day are
believing with the incOntroyertibie
wholesome beliefs OF the bible.
would make test case this morning
of these theories and today let you de.
eide whether you VIII worship God or
whether you VIII bow before the shrine
Of false philosophers.
In order TO mako our consideration
little more personal let Us this morning
use the socratic method of asking and
answering questions. Thus ! turn TO
one gentleman and say: MY friend
what Is you belief about God? DO you
believe there ever was a Creator of the
universeg DO you believe there is am
intelligent Divine Being who today IS
ruling en- thlngs3 WHIST is your idea
about God. anyway "Wel." you an-
swcr. 81 do lot believe I'm God / am
am atheist ] am an atheist i'm the
sense chat am an eyolutionist. l be-
lieye that man Is simply the higher
form of the animal creation Ia the
vegetable world the biologists tell MS
that AN plants ore developed from
some earlier form Of plant SO I believe
that man IS q development from the
lower form Of animal life Now. God
has absolutely nothing 20 do with the
creation. Law. natural law has der
Ve.opod this world and nothing else
When baby comes into this world be
IS born Ike q puppy, and when a man
goes out Of &c De dies Ike a dog. and
that is an there is in human life" DO
YOU believe that my brethrenf Is such
a theory rationale Is il according TO
common sense1
Who made these laws Of natures
who constructed thcm9 Surprising you
stood upon Mount Moriah in 1912 b. G..
AS you stood there you saw the work
men excavating O foundation. and you
saw a long line Of teams drawing up
their huge stones on the ono side of the
hln. and on the other side Of the hin
there came Up another line of teams
drawing beams and rafters and doors.
Then. surprising without noise OF ham
mer or rosping of saw. all these differ
ent stones and beams and rofters and
doors We're put into place, would you
for ono instant Doe foolish enough 20
suppose that King Solomon's temple as
It rose higher and higher and higher.
did not have one master mind planning
itl And yet ] want 20 tell you. from
common sense standpoint. that It is far
more rational % suppose King Solo
mons temple went up by haphazard
chance. without any designing archi
tect than to suppose this magnificent
temple Of a world was created by hap
hazard chance.
OR take another Illustration. Sup
posing you take a carriage and drive
through the country and you come
20 a great wheat region. Then perhaps
you ind a fine mill built upon q river
bank near by. and you soc the water
Of th0t river damned up 40 that 10 can
tumble down upon a wheel ana turn IT,
Then. watching you see the wheat
taken into that mill and ground into
-four and shipped 70 the great cities.
where 10 Is baked into bread. You
would not be foolish enough % sup
pose an that growing Of tho wheat
and that grinding of the wheat and
that baking of the wheat were done hy
chance. Well then. II you grant q
master mind originated and planned
the one process. viii you not grant
that God IS somewhere around when
yon see me grass growing in the val.
ieys FOR the horses and the cattle. and
tho nuts falling on the tree for the |
squirrels and the seeds dropping 10
The ground for the chipmunks. and the |
winds blowing the pollen from tree TO |
tree in order that they may be fer
tiI7clf rs tho cosmos Of the social /
world amy more Incredible than the /
cosmos Of noturel
con. but" some one says. you mis-
understand nae. ! DO not believe this /
world came into existence ~ day /
or Do p year or in "a millennium 10 /
has taken centuries upon centuries and /
milIenniums upon mil.cnniums 20 pro-
duce tho form Of life which we have. /