The Yale expositor., 1909-06-04

covered with an oily substance de-
signed, evidently, to prevent evapora-
ton of sap during the long drought.
saw the mesquite bush with its large,
long roots evidently designed to store
sap during the brief rainy season and
keep in touch with the underground
streams that the branches above
ground might be supported during the
drought. / saw the giant cactus with
its storeroom for water, which is filled
during the rainy season and preserved
for its own use and the use of man
and beast during the drought. Now
the naturalist says that Mature" does
these things for a specific purpose.
And as / stood among these evidences
of design in the desert 1 asked the
question: rs Nature a thing or
thinker" If Nature does not think,
how can Nature design? And if Ma
ture thinks, Nature is not thing but
a personality. My mental machin-
cry is so made that thought compels
me to infer a thinker and design
designer. Intelligent result compels
me to infer intelligent cause.
Every man, therefore, has his god,
the thinker, behind the thoughts ex-
pressed in Nature, the design behind
the designer, the intelligent cause be-
hind the intelligent result. The bush
man of Africa gives to his fetch the
power to think, design and act. The
Chinaman gives to his idol in human
shape the same attributes. A philos-
opher like Herbert Spencer calls his
idol "the great unknowable."
l am a Christian, again, because I
am a nationalist, willing that sound
reason should be my guide, and sound
reason is modest and honest enough
to admit that it is not infallible or
even sufficient as a guide. There is
no such thing as universal reason.
What appears reasonable to one is ut
terly unreasonable to another. There
are degrees of reason from the half.
idiot to the philosopher.
My own reason is modest enough to
admit that ii is a very fallible and
] imperfect guide, and, believing as /
do in a personal God who cares for
his creatures, my reason leads me to
|
through some other channel. Agnos-
| ticism, which is a sort of science Of
ignorance concerning God, is a strong
witness in favor of revelation of God
in some direct way, for, If it be true
that man cannot discover God by look
ing into his own inner consciousness
or through the telescope and the mic
| tchA CIV
sumption that he will reveal himself
in some other way. am thus pre-
pared to receive the revelation of
God in a book, and, though there are
difficulties and mysteries which l may
not fully understand, l believe that
the proof in favor of the Bibles being
revelation from God is so over
whelming that a man who knows the
proof cannot reject II without doing
violence to his reason.
am Christian, again, because
am a scientist. l do not mean that I
devote all my time to scientific inves-
! legations, but / believe In the scien-
tific method of gaining and verifying
knowledge by exact observation and
correct thinking" An ounce of fact is
worth ton of theory. A group of
philosophers were debating the ques-
ton whether a fish introduced into
bucket of water would increase its
weight and one of them had proved to
his own satisfaction that IL would not.
Let us try it," said Benjamin Frank
lin. A bucket of water was brought
In and weighed. Then a fish was in
troduced and the weight was increased
by the weight of the fish, That set
tied it.
1t is scientific to account for facts
with little heed to fads and fancies.
And there are two facts which must
be accounted for-the Bible and Jesus
Christ. The proofs in favor OF the BIZ
BILE as the inspired word of God and
of Jesus Christ as the incarnate God
are so abundant and conclusive that
any one who knows the proofs and
refuses to accept the Bible as inspired
and Christ as divine does violence to
the scientific spirit. He refuses to
admit the existence of the sun while
II is shining in the heavens.
am a Christian, once more. be-
cause l am a man whose every need
of mind and heart is met I'm Christ
the Son of Man" His ideal OF hui
man greatness attracts me. The world
ly ideal is power which masters 9TH
ers. Christ's ideal is service. Who
soever will be chief among you let
him be your servant, even as the Son
of Man came not to be ministered
unto. but to minister and to give his
life a ransom for many" The climax
of this greatness is seen on the cross
as the Son OF Man suffered for our
sins. the just for the unjust, that he
might bring us to Cod" settling for
ever the sin question for all who will