The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-09-17
DISSATISFACTION OF DOUBT
NJ MADISON {. PETERS.

i believe In things new. not new
1 In the sense of novelty, but new in
! the sense of freshness---fresh I'M
! Holdings, new methods and modern
applications. / believe In things old,
not old In the sense OF ancient, but
old In the sense Of primary, funda-
mental. eternal stability of basis--
conservation progress
Tennysor truly says. There lives
more faith in honest doubt than half
the creeds." But not every doubter
is necessarily truth seeker. even
though doubling is an essential part
honest doubt must sooner or later
give way TO a sense of sureness. Ten
nyson did not mean rest in doubt; he
meant an honest doubt" that was
bent upon inquiry and was open TO
conviction.
He fought his doubts. and gathered
strength
He would not make his judgment
blind:
He. faced the spectres Of his mind
And laid them. thus he came at
length
| TO find stronger faith his own.
And power was with him in the
night:
Which makes the darkness and the
light.
And dwells not In the light alone
Gods work Is equally past finding
cut in the apple drawn earthward, in
the grain of sand, In the precious
gem, In the drop OF water, in the
electric spark in. the beam OF light.
! Exact knowledge of anything Is i'm
possible. There Is enough mystery
ssat u to- ~
to give one iifetime's study" AT
every step. in his studies the scientist
Is charmed with increasing knowl-
edge. but he ~ still more fascinated
with unfathomable. mystery. The man
who waits for logic to settle his
! convictions for him will have to die
| without believing anything.
Some men debate in order that they
may not decide III you will not take
the one step that is made clear, YOU
cannot know the part Of the way that
lies. in the shadow. BY doing the duty
thA lies nearest win ever bring you
to the next duty. Doing YOU shah
know.
feryor--it is life. IL you want TO
know the certainty OF these things,
You must put them in practice. II
you wish to find out whether q ma
chine will work you set ii a-going
Ii you want to know whether a coat
! VIII fit. you put 1t on.
III you wish to actualize God. obey
him. AT Reigate. England. in the
spacious grounds of the ancient prf-
CRY. there is tree which is known
as the tree Of decision" Under II
stood Jady Henry Somerset in the
darkest hour OF her slife: the very
dat ~f,-
She was struggling with the awful
question, Is there Godg'' when
there came to her message, Live
as though l were and you shall know
that ] am The decision was made
and God became real
Mysteries there will always be. The
great anknowable beyond our pres
ent finite sense we must ever recog-
nize as out Of present reach. But this
is quite different matter from mere
dubiousness and halttng attitude to-
ward any question which legitimate
ly presents itself as one on which
We ought to take a side
II is easy to fall into the habit OF
fncessant doubting--a floating, drift
ing. unanchored condition OF mind. II
Is better to be sometimes sure than
never to be sure simply to avoid the
risk or being sometimes mistaken
great character Is not built by
doubling. 1t Ia not necessarily mark
OF intelligence to doubt. A fo0f can
hold penny TO his eye and say he
can see the hidden sun.
creed is not religion--it Is 4
statement or what some men think
about religion WOsship il not re-
iision-~it IL q method Of expressing
religion. The church Ii not religion
iii 10 an organization OF men and wo-
men for the purpose OF promoting
religion. II liz not definition OF
God--t Ii Fellowship with Him: not
definition OF sin. but sorrow because
OF sin; not definition OF forgiveness.
but relief from remorse--not defIni-
ton OF redemption, nut new and
divine hfe--the life Of God in the \
soul.
Ii Is perSonal consciousness of
God II - coft1rndeship with God
Reading ReNry II not going to the
North Pole. Believing a creed IA not
perceiving Goa. F'atherhood means,
personal rAla&(On father ana an
orphan asylum are not identical. One
may ret food and shelter from an
orphan asyIuD. but he cannot get
fatherhood. Fafherhood implies per
sonal relationship, for which neither
Bible. creed nor church can serve al 4 |
substitute
Some na6n viii believe anything il X |
II not ip the Bible. For example. Al
eyo3utl0nlet y quoted: Evolution II |
! chan9o from the Indefinite. inc0her-. |
ssfI 0enstty to : deiinlka p
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