The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-07-21
THE PULPIT.
A BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. HOWARD c. IVES.
Theme: Faith of God in Man,

tarian-Universalist Church, of New
London, Conn, preached Sunday
morning in All Souls Unitarian
Church, Fourth avenue and Twen-
tieth street, the Rev. DR.. Thomas r.
Slicer being the preacher at Cornell
University. Mr.. Ives subject was
THE Faith of God in Man" The
text was in these words: God hath
given man dominion over the earth
and over every living thing that o
eth upon IT," In the course Of his
sermon Mr.. Ives said:
We cannot too often remind our.
selves that mans idea or ideal or
God has constantly, though so slowly
as to be almost imperceptible,
changed as the ages have rolled
around. From a faith in God as that
of the savage who trusts Him to pro-
tect him from plague, fight for him
in battle and guide him in his hunt
ing, through many upward steps nal
has come to have faith in a God OF
love and Fatherhood. When to-day
the leaders of scientific and religious
thought speak of a faith in God, they
do not mean any acceptance c: a
definition of His attributes and func.
lions, nor any description OF HIS
powers or dwelling place. Both SCI
ence and religion accept the universe
as the developing work of a rational
power. Every intelligent man to-day
regards the universe as an unfolding
living organism. Every scientist ap'
proaches the study Of this life Will
an awe and wonder exactly proper.
toned to the depth and sincerity OF
his character; and every thoughtful
mind sees in it all the working out OF
an immutable plan, the expression OF
IN indwellirg God, the unfolding OF
q life which is material or spiritual
only as it is viewed from different
sides and by different grades of In
t%elligence. 1t is only by tracing these
slow developments of spiritual life.
of an appreciation of the worthful-
ness of purity, honor and truth; OF
the constantly developing ideal OF
God, that we are able to see that To
worship an arbitrary Being, en-
throned at the centre Of the universe
to whom prayers for selfish gratihca.
ton may be addressed, is just as truly
idolatry as If we were to set up a
brazen image and pH:.y to that. The
only faith which a finite being can
possibly have in an infinite God, with
out being Intellectually ridiculous, ls
to accept the highest ideal Of the age
in which he lives as the God worthy
of worship.
Now, Is 1t not plain that all this
burden of progress, Of d~evelopments
of faith in himself, of faith in God.
has been thrown upon mans shoul-
ders? This infinite God, this power
that works for righteousness, this
eternal energy from which all things
proceed, has literally said to men
through all history, go forth and
have dominion owe the earth and
over every moving thing which NOV.
eth upon it. Pillow into the ocean
with your ships; girdle the world
with the electric spark; trace the
mighty sweep Of worlds and suns;
tunnel mountains, water arid plains,
traverse the air like the bird, swim
the ocean deeps like the fish, separate
in your laboratories the elements
from which I have compor1ded the
worlds. Do all this and a thousand.
fold more, for, 10! I am with you to
guide and uphold" And men have
done it simply because God has trust
ed them with the edged tools of the
world.
But He has trusted US with still
greater power. How did we ever
come to replace the idol of a wrath
full, vengeful God with the spiritual
conception of God as love? Simply
through Gods faith in US as His spir-
itual children. In the fullness OF
time a great soul-the first Of those
true sons of God for whom the crea.
ton had Leen in travail through the
ages, enunciated the simple, tire.
mendous truth that all this galaxy OF
earth and sky; all the meaning OF
history; all the lessons Of nature and
the voice in the hearts Of men, con.
verge toward the proof that Gods
plans involve nothing but the ulti.
mate happiness and goodness OF HIS
children; that He is not pleased with
the death of the wicked; that He sor.
rows over the prodigal and that there
is joy in heaven ove n sinner that
repenteth. In a word, that God 1s
fully, completely, scientifically de.
scribed in the words, God is Love
But this tremendous truth had al.
ways been in the world. God did not
suddenly become a God Of love. Men
had been slowly learning the lesson
through the ~sufferings consequent
upon ignoring it, and they learned 1t
by experience, simply because God
trusted them to learn it and had
faith in them. That after it was
learned they would turn with Joy and
hope to the new ideal of Him and OF
themselves as His children.
When God gave us the earth to pos
sess, He also gave us ourselves, and
trusted us to learn that the only way
to really possess u W souls Is tc
prefer others before ourselves; the
only way to be first is to be the SEC.
want of all; the only way to conquer
is to love. This is the whole message
Of Christianity. We are no longer
told we must be good in order to gain
heaven after death. We have learned
that we must live purely and un.
selfshly in order to make a heaven
here and now for our brothers; and
in learning that we have, learned it
all. We have only to adopt this
simple rule to the involved conditions
of modern life; only to make it effec-
tive In shop and home, Senate cham
Der and school, in street and farm and
press, and, 10! Gods age-long faith In
His children has been justified and
His kingdom has come on earth as it
is in heaven.