The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-01-20
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. DR.. c. F AkED.
Theme: Chesterton's Discovery.

Theme: Chesterton's Discovery.
New York City.-The Rev. G. F.
Aked, D. D., the. pastor of the Fifth
J Avenue Baptist Church, preached in
his pulpit Sunday. His subject was
How Mr.. Chesterton Discovered
England" He took for his text Mat
they 1928 and 80, II will give you
rest" "Ye shall find rest unto your
souls" Come unto Me all We that
are weary and heavy laden and I will
give you rest. Take My yoke upon
you and learn of Me, for I am meek
and lowly in heart, and ye shall find
rest unto your souls" and said:
This is Christianity's first invita-
tion to the world. 1t applies the test
of universal religion. For the test Of
universal religion is not in the num-
bers of those who accept it, but in the
varieties of men and women who &C
cept7it, and whose needs it meets and
satisfies. This invitation has been
! accepted by every kind and condition
Of men and women throughout the
whole of the human race; and every
type of character, every circumstance
of need has responded to this invita-
ton. The men and women who have
accepted have found the rest for
their souls which Christ promised.
But I am not going to preach tonight
upon this text. Millions of gracious
sermons have been preached upon it
and millions of souls have been won
to the rest promised. I have one
| purpose only in repeating the words
at the outset, and that Is that you
may use them, not as a text to ex-
pound but as a motto of that which is
to follow, for I purpose to speak
about a conspicuous figure in the
world of letters who has accepted this
invitation of Christianity and found
rest for his doubling, wondering, in
curing mind, rest for his turbulent
spirit; and he has written a book tell
ing us how he found his way to Chris
tianity and to the rest that Chris
tianity offers.
The man is Mr.. C~hestertoh. His
books are freely on sale in this coun-
try and he occupies a very conspic-
uous place in English literary life.
The book Is called Orthodoxy" It Is
a story-autographical-of the way
in which he brings himself to the &C
ceptance of Christianity. The style
is all his own. He Is the supreme
master of paradox among living men
the wide world over. His purpose is
to take any statement about any NOR
tai thing and show that universally
the contrary Is true. II, for instance,
I say that the doctrine Of original sin
is gloomy and depressing his method
Is to show that the doctrine Of orig
lnal sin is universally the most brac-
Ing and most in~vigorating and ex-
hilarating that the mind of man can
conceive. That is the mans way, and
he has attained to enormous influence
and his books to enormous sale by
working this paradoxical method. It
does not follow because I call your
attention to this book that I am COM
mending it unreservedly, but the
value of the book is that 1t stimulates
thought. 1t sets you thinking about
the deepest and highest things, and
many things deeply suggestive and
helpful to spiritual life. In one sense
1t Is a corrective of that very curious
ingrained temper of our day which
launches every now and then an en-
tirely new and original gospel that is
going to supersede all other gospels
that have ever been preached and
bring in the millennium by special ex-
press with all expenses paid within
the next fortnight. We have seen
too much of that sort Of thing and it
is a corrective Of this curious habit,
this launching with banners flying
morrow, which, on examination.
proves to be merely a secondhand
copy Of a sleepy edition Of the gospel
Of yesterday afternoon.
Mr.. Chesterton likens himself to an
English yachtsman, who in the Eng
lish Channel loses his bearings and in
his imagination thinks he is in the
Southern Pacific and on approaching
the land believes it is some uninhab-
.ted-or savage island. He goes ashore
prepared to meet wild men and ami
mails, and discovers that he is among
his own people in the familiar streets
of Dover or Brighton. Mr.. Chester
ton sets out to discover a new ethic,
4 new philosophy of life, a new moral
ity. and he discovered Christianity.
l have not been in this country TWEEN
ty months yet, but I am quite certain
that there have been twenty new gos-
pels launched upon an astonished
public during that time. I remember
one that was to take possession of til e
church to win the world to Christ
inside of the next twelve months.
The publisher sent me a copy of the
book for my opinion, and I wrote him
that I did not care two straws about
that sort of thing, but before the ink
in my signature vas dry a friend
called on me and l asked him how
DR.. So and Sos scheme was getting
on. "Oh," he said, "he is about
through with it,.
said, why, I have only just got
his book from the publisher" THAT
does not make a difference" said my
friend. But" I said. "how can he
have got through with it already?"
He looked at me with pity for my
insular ignorance and non-apprecia-
ton of the ignorance Of the American
mind and said, Have you not been
here long enough to know how easily
we take a thing up and how much
more easily we drop it again." The
fact is that what is new in these new
schemes is not true, and what Is true
in them is not new. I am very glad
to have such a man as Chesterton,
with his paradox, irony and sarcasm,
calling attention to the utter folly OF
being led by this or by that, because