Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-07-01
THE PULPIT
a BRILLIANT. SUNDAY
The REV. HOWARD c. SVEN WEN BY
Theme: Faith of God in Ma,

= 1s Ines iora tlts'-fae Rev. Hova,,
tarlan-on1versalist Church. 81 Uni.
London. Conn, preacnad u New
morning In All Souls' sunday
Church. Fourth avenue ,r Sauioarlan
tieth street, the Rev. Dr.. iwen-
Slicer being the preacher - o cHs r.
University. Mr.. Ives cornell
1.-THE Faith Of God ia Nan as = was
text was in these words. 60 Inc
given man dominion over ~ boo nath
and over every living thing ~ earth
eth upon It," In the conrSa aiov'
sermon Mr.. Ives said: VI lis
We cannot too often remind ~.
selves that mans idea or iao,, our.
God has constantly, though 81 80 s1au OF
as to be almost imDercon. JMly
changed as the ages have ain
around. From a faith in God a. so 4nd
OF the savage who trusts Him ~ .nat
tect him from plague, fight for p.o-
in battle and guide him in HE ,n nlm
ing, through many upward stems naaS
has come to have faith in a ca ~
love and Fatherhood. When toOae VI
the leaders of scientific and ralic;oas
thought speak of a faith in God tbo,'
do not mean any accordance ~
defaition of His attributes and fnnc'
lions, nor any description of Hia
powers or dwelling place. Goth sc;'
ence and religion accept the universe
as the developing work OF a rat:on.1
power. Every intelligent man TO-DAY
regards tho universe as an unfo]dinc
living organism. Every scientist an'
proaches the study Of this life with
an awe and wonde: exactly nronor'
toned to the depth and sincerity NJ
his character; and every thoughtfnl
mind sees in it all the working ont Of
an immutable plan, the expression NJ
an indwelling God, the unfolding NJ
alife which is material or spiritual
only as it is viewed from different
sides and by different grades of in.
telligence. It is only by tracing these
slow developments Of spiritual life.
Of IN appreciation OF the worthful.
ness of purity, honor and truth; Of
the constantly developing ideal Of
God, that we r. able to see that to
worship an arbitrary Being, en-.
throned at the centre of the universe.
to whom prayers for selfish gratifca.
ton may be addressed, is lust as truly
idolatry as if we were to set up a
brazen image and pray to that. The
only faith which a finite being can
possibly have in an infinite God, with
out being Intellectually ridiculous, is
to accept the highest ideal of the age
in which he lives as the God worthy
Of worship.
Now, is it not plain that all this
burden of progress, of development,
of faith in himself, of faith in God,
has been thrown upon mans shout
ders? This infinite God, this power
that works for Righteousness, this
eternal energy from which all things
! proceed, has literally said to mel
through all history, go forth anl
have dominion over the earth am
over every moving thing which NOV
eth upon it. Plow into the cceal
with your ships; girdle the worlt
with the electric spark; trace tn
mighty sweep of worlds and suns
tunnel mountains, water arid plains
traverse the air 1ika the bird, swim
the ocean deeps like the fish, separat
in your laboratories the element
from which I have compo, 1ded tn
! worlds. Do all this and a thousand
fold more, for, 10! / am with you
| guide and uphold" And men hav
done it simply because God has trust
ed them with the edged tools of tn
world.
But He has trusted us with. sti
greater power. How did we eve
come to replace the idol of a wrath
full, vengeful God with tho splritus
conception Of God as love? Simpl
through Gods faith in US as His spl
itual children. In the fullness {
time a great soul-the first of thos
true sons of God for whom the cre'
ton had been in travail through II
ages, enunciated the simple, tn
mendous truth that all this galaxy
earth and sky; all the meaning
history; all the lessons of nature al
the voice in the hearts of men, CO.
verge toward the proof that Goa
plans involve nothing but the ull
mate happiness and goodness OF ID
children. that He is not pleased WI
the death of the wicked; that He Sc
rows over the prodigal and that the
is JOY in heaven over one sinner IN
repenteth. In a word, that Goa
fully, completely, scientifically {
scribed in the words, "God is Low
But this tremendous truth mad
ways been in the world. God DID I
suddenly become a God of love. M
had been slowly learning n less
through the sufferings conseque
upon ignoring it, and they learneao
by experience, simply because y
trusted them to learn it and Il
faith in them. That after II "
learned they would turn with 10! d
hope to the new ideal of Him anu
themselves as His children.
When God gave us the eartn 70 p
: sess. He also gave us ourselves d
/. trusted us to learn that the only "
to really possess our W sous -
prefer others before ourselves, =
!. only way to be first Is to be tne ~
want of all; the only way to coneu
is to love. This is the whole mesa
of Christianity. We are no ions Is
told we must be good in order 10 81
: heaven after death. We have iealn !,
that we must live purely anu =
3 selfshly in order to make d MA q
here and now for III brothers. q
in learning that we have learnet u
: all. We have only to adops " =
simple rule to the involved conoi aF
of modern life; only to make II en
: tive in shop and home, Senate cna