The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1909-11-20
DR.. powell RE-
PLIES TO CRITIC

or contributions believing that silence
is the better part of valor." How
ever 1 feel justified in making few
brief comments on the criticism of a
sermon reported in the Daily News
of last Wednesday, preached by your
humble servant on lis There Hell?"
The Tribune of last week contained
the criticism upon which l offer
criticism,
/. My critic seems to have read
the report of my sermon backwards.
He evidently regards what was stated
there as "Mr. Powells opinions"
To quote: mo matter what we base
them on, all our beliefs regarding the
future are merly opinions. Opinions
are usually the things that dreams
are made Of"
Now, distinctly stated that it
mattered little what John Smith or
Thomas Brown or G. l.. Powell said
or believed in regard to hell. The
exact words were: These are not
the final authority. There is only
one Being in the universe that can
tell us about hell and that Being is
God" That does not sound like
"Powell's opinions"
He would be a consumate fop-
doodle in preaching on such a mo-
mentous subject, were he to air his
opinions" as the ne plus ultra on
the question. The preacher did not
deal in opinions, as commonly under
stood, and manifestly that is the
connotation given to the word by
our Brother Contributed" He
dealt in the facts based upon three
unassailable arguments, namely, the
argument from the philosophy of
the history of religion, the argument
from Revelation or the Scriptures,
and the argument from experience.
These are a powerful trio-a tr1-
umvirate-that no man need to be
ashamed to call to his assistance, no
matter what the theme or problem
involved. claim that these argu-
ments are absolutely invulnerable
and it is up to Brother Contributes"
to put up a reductio absurdum or
to disprove their value. The onus
probandi rests upon his shoulders.
submit that to any unprejudiced
mind the first and last arguments are
strongly presumptive evidence that
there is a hell or a place of separa-
ton between the bad and the good
in the world to come. l submit,
further, that the argument from
Revelation or the Bible i sthe direct
evidence, that it is trustworthy, that
it is not mere opinions" and that it
constitutes the only knowledge"
that the race possesses regarding
hell.
CO. "All our beliefs regarding
the future are merely opinions"
This is partially true and partially
false. There is differentiation,
Brother Contributed" Let me
make it. AS mere opinion or specula-
ton, nothing can be said regarding
the future of souls. This is the at
titude of metaphysical psychology of
theistic idealism. One mans spec
ulations, be he philosopher or ignor-
anus, is as good as another's in this
connection. That's half the truth
and your position is right-perfectly
right. But there is the "other half"
You have looked upon the problem
with only one eye open-like the
Irishman views a matter sometimes.
When the Bible speaks of the future
of souls, 1t is not speculation or
mere opinion. 1t deals in facts-and
facts are stubborn things" accord
ing to Shakespeare. Thus, humanity
speaking, all that we assert regard
ing the futre of souls is speculation
apart from Revelation. Do you
see the distinction? You will be
convinced that it is not the distinc-
ton between tweedledum and tweed
ledee but a very vital and important
one. In fact, the difference is so
great that man is dumb in pres
ence of it, and all that the meta
physician and agnostic and scientist
can do is to shut up" When deal
ing with phenomena, these fellows
can have their say and can opinion
ate to their hearts delight, but when
dealing with eternal and spiritual
realities, especially the future of
souls, their say is nothing but the
babblings of infants, possessing no
more logical content that these Gin
fants crying in the night, and with
no language but a cry" Savez vous,
Brother "Contributed?" You no
doubt see the place the Bible oc-
cupies in the moral and religious
life of the world, and when the flu
ture is concerned the Rih1e is our