The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-07-15
= Conuce
Rv.R PhtD
- 1.IpaINIAN-s wEEKI.Y sEEAIoN
IMMORTALITY
BY Rev. Russell Cecil, D. D.
Pastor High street Baptist Church. Charlottesville. Va

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Pastor High street Baptist
tgy Rev, Russell Cecil. u. T., Pastor
of the Second Presbyterian Church,
Richmond. Va.
eff man die. shall he live again ~
job. II. II.
The immortality OF man IS a sub
1ect both old and new. 1t perpleNed
the mind Of Job and other angs, NJ
literature shows that thoughIfui men
in other lands had similar eT'tori-
ence, All men have been Interested
In their own immortality 1t has also
leen recently much agitated. la ~"
efoIts Of mater!alists to prove uiut
all things earthly, the human t"t'
ROT exec pied, are the Results of nat
Iral development there 81 no PA
lsfl for personal immortality. The ia
tluence OF this philosophy has ut
thonghtful people 20 thinking n1r
talking about tho subject. For chr -
tiau people. and indeed f0r most peu-
pls IN Christian lands. the Hciy Sly
tbfes are the SUFFICIENT and hHol a~-
thcrity on the subject. hat There -
othe. testimony IN favor of I'm uol-
t4ltt~ which should not be lightly t--
tetmed II has furnished basis up .
which many great minds, such as ; 49,
rates, Marcus AureiIUs and Eptsle' as,
have passed through the gates &
r. eeath-a+f-tAe- firm assttfsIft v--ft m
endless existence, aside from ravc,1-
lion what are some Of the manifest
indications Of mans immortality
/. The higher nature Of man. Man
is a composite of mind and ma, rf.
lie is an animal. but not all an nal
lie Is partly spiritual and the s2lr-
itual aspires, IL breathes towards Gvd
and reveals our kinship with HIN.
Wordsworth says.
Trailing clouds Of glory do We come
From God, who Is our home"
If We came out from God we must
return to him. II our spiritual NE
In part OF his life. we can never die.
There liz no accounting for the spIT-
itual nature Of man In the philosophy
of materialism. There is nothing In
the ordinary growth Of nature to PR
duce a soul. But the soul Is here
1t is in every human being, and II is
Indispensable TO man. Where did it
come from ? Why do we not find some
men without souls? What Is the soul,
SO wonderfully endowed. so ambitious,
so unlike the things about II, what lis
IL. II not "a trailing cloud of glory
come from Cod" II through the Spir-
ii we are kin to God we must as long
as he lives. Because | live" said the
Son Of God. ''ye shall live also"
2. The products OF human thought
an is thinking animal; he is a rea-
soner, and ne is capable Of long and
sustained processes Of ratiocination
touching the problems Of life and the
universe Thus he has created an
other world for himself. invisible and
intangible, and set-as real as the
things which can he seen and felt,
and this he calls the world OF thought.
He has created elaborate systems OF
philosophy. of ethics and OF religion.
which have survived for ages. and In
fiuenced millions Of people. The his
tory of China runs back for ages. and
yet the most potential factor IN Chi
nese civilization has been the system
OF Confucius. India owes much To
the Medals and to the teaching OF
Buddha, Persia can never pay her
debt to Zoroaster; Egyptian civiliza-
ton extended over more than thirty
dynasties, and ma CHI OF it's permanency
was due to the Boot OF the Dead. ="
The Jews had their Holy Scriptures.
and II for the moment we only think
OF them as literature. Ii must not be
forgotten that they embody the best
thought OF a nation and the most
elevated system Of religion and moral
ity that the wored has ever seen. These
things are the products OF mind. Can
the mind which gave them birth eXer
perish? Is 1t not tFt4r-that the thougts
OF men are also the thoughts of God
Is II not true, as some one has said,
that In thinking OF true and good
things, we think the thoughts of God
after him. Could we think good
thoughts at all, were il not for our
kinship with God. and that the quality
of mind in us and In him Is essentially
the same? Is not the very thought
OF God itself an evidence OF immor-
tally? The thought OF God as AN
Infinite. eternal and Interchangeable be-
Ing in his wisdom, power, holiness
Justice. goodness and truth" is too
big for any animal lower than man
who has a mind capable Of apprehen-
ding in SINE sense the Infinite.
9. The desires of the human heart
All men desire 10 live. Skeptics scoff
At the Christians love OF life, but the
love OF life is an essential feature Of
life. If men did not love life, they
would destroy themselves under the
weight of suffering and sorrow; but
we take IL as an evidence Of mental
alteration when man destroys him
self TIL desire to- live forever and
10 the normal mind there is no peace
and satisfaction in the thought Of an
utilization. Whence did this desire to
I've arise?
Men desire moral purity and perfec-
tfcn or likeness TO God. have heard
many a bad man say: Il wish l were
better man. / wish / could be good"
Men have ideals of perfection in their
mind and they have notion that
these ideals meet in God. and they
desire TO be like him. How patheti-
cnfly job cries. 20 that / knew where
might find him. And the Psalmlst
AS the heart panteth after the water
3 brooks, SO panteth my soul after thee.
o God My soul thirsteth for God. for
the liviag God; when shall / come
and appear before God?
Men desire society. and this is the
call of love We can not endure the
Il thought OF eternal separation from
those we love, We long TO meet them
agai min the eternal home.
& 20 how sweet It will be in that beau
tifui land.
So free from all sorrow and pain.
With songs on our lips and harps in
our hands,
To meet one another again,H
Tha ,ha AZ