The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-09-10

that certain fancied laws of evolution
might help them upward and onward
to glory, honor and Immortality.
The result is that religious thought
today everywhere and in all denomi-
nations is chaotic. The whole of Chris
tic-admitting that they do not know
the truth nor how to adjust their rea-
soning faculties to present consecra-
ton. They are in an expectant attl-
tude = seeking light. Nevertheless
many fear the light lest it shall make
manifest cherished errors or selfish
hopes and ambitions which must be
abandon. But they are still pretend
ing to know many things which we
and they know that they do not know.
But daily the strain becomes more in
tense. Gradually everybody is recog-
nizing that there is a great crisis along
every Hne-that the people are awak-
ening and thinking and will no longer
receive their errors.
Converting the World to God.
Fifty years ago Christian people. full
| of faith in the Bible which they seri-
ously misunderstood and read with
sectarian spectacles of various colors,
were fully agreed that God had given
his church the commission to convert
| the whole world and to establish Mes
| siahs Kingdom, when the nations
would learn war no more, but beat
their swords into plowshares and their
spears into pruning hooks. Jealous
Christian people urged that the heath
en- would go down to hell of eter-
nal torment at the rate of ninety
| thousand every twenty-four hours.
And noble men and women sacrificed
| their earthly interests for the assist
| ance of the heathen-to prevent that
awful catastrophe, to help thwart the
very program of God which some
other Christian people of an earlier
! day had declared was predestinated
and foreordained as unalterable. Good
was certainly attempted. We trust
| that some good was accomplished. We
| know that some harm was done. in
| that fallacious conceptions of the char
acter and plan of the Creator were
promulgated amongst the heather,
| which have hardened and embittered
| some of them.
But by and by practical people
| sought for statistics, and now know
that there are twice as many heathens
in the world as there were century
| ago. OF course there are unthinking
and unstatistical people who refuse
| knowledge and who are today claim
| ing with common dable zeal, but a
,reprehensible ignorance, that large
contributions of money would enable
| them to capture the whole world for
God. Nevertheless. the masses no
longer see the matter as they did, and
can no longer be swayed to the same
extent. Thinking people refuse to be-
lieve that God for centuries has sat
calmly viewing the situation. allowing
millions to go to eternal torment.
They refuse to believe that their
hearts and sympathies are more ten
der than those of their Creator.
Even the heather are getting awake
to the inconsistency of what has been
given them under the Gospel label.
/ They are finding out that the word
Gospel signifies good tidings," and
that what has been preached to them
is the most awful message conceivable
that all of the heather and the ma
jority of their civilized neighbors and
friends and relatives have been de-
creed, sentenced, foreordained, to eter-
nal torment because of ignorance, be-
cause of a misbelief in respect to
which they were thoroughly honest
Perplexed, the missionaries ask. What
shall we preach? The message OF