Evening journal., 1910-03-15

hNhiA anu Aihu ana atltHbtuf ana 9oub
neighbor as yourself TO tho keeping OF
this great commandment We bend tho
energy Of our lives. DO you?
Belief Of the Christian.
have stated the essential requirements
OF tho religion of Jesus. every one Of
which IS an intergal Of our religious be-
lief and which combined, form the rock
upon which Christian Science rests un-
shaken, the impregnable fortress behind
which Christian Science is secure. II
would be unkind. possibly impertinent, not
to assume, accept without saying, your
professed belief in these essentials of the
Christian relgion and If your belief is
real, trustful, reliant, when tested by
your works, then relentless logic will
drive you either TO change your religious
belief or cease your assaults upon ours;
and il your belief is not real, not proven
by your works. might there not be a sug-
gestion OF safety to you in the caution TO
'dwellers in glass housesTi
II may be said that I have given you
some OF the points Of doctrine upon which
the old churches and Christian Scientists
agree, but that / have not tod you any
thing about the many points upon which
they do not agree. The failure TO do this
was not an oversight. IT Is a part of the
ethics OF my profession, that a lawyer
shall willingly smiingly even gleefuliy
lose his own case rather than deliberately
slaughter his own logic. ! have made an
effort for a few moments at least to satis-
fy you that upon the essentials OF the re-
ligion we do agree. II is apparent TO US
that in the religion OF Jesus we do agree
1t is apparent to us that IL you have tho
essentials Of that religion. then We each
shall have the gospel supplies. and Il is
just as apparent TO your logic as TO mine
that II we are in accord respecting the es-
sentlals Of tho religion Of Jesus. then
there is not anything essential for us to
disagree about and there never is an op-
perfume time to discuss nonesscntials.
Again YOU might ask: III we are In har-
mony respecting the essentials of religion
Of Jesus. what is the necessity for new
church, why do you, as nine-tenths of the
Christian Scientists have, go out of the
old churches?" If we really believe alike
respecting these essentials there is no an
swer to the question; there would be no
reason, for a church would be new,
Transformed by the renewal Of your
mind" all one; for when all the people
think alike and think Alright Of the one
only living ana true God there will be and
can be but one church. the heavens ITS
dome, the Lord God Almighty and the
Lamb its temple; the redeemed nations
shall walk in IT, and the glory of God
shall light it,
You will observe, however. that in my
comparison of the old churches belief and
ours / speak OF declarations of belief; ana
there is a vast difference between what
one says he believes and what he really
believes Religious belief, belief in God.
cannot be ascertained from human speech.
What you do, not what you say, deter
mines the status OF your real belief in
God, your concept Of God. A declaration
OF belief in the Infinite is but a futile at
tempt to express in finite language the
creatures obedience to God. trust i'm God
and reliance upon God. n
There is no human Language tonpuo
or speech, image, sign or character.
that can express It. "God Is Spirit.
and they that worship Him must wor-
snip Him in spirit and in truth"
Test of Belief.
Your worship of God is the infallible
test OF your belief in God. l venture
TO illustrate my position. Suppose
some gentleman should arise and saw
10 this splendid audience, my friends
believe thai alcohol has brQught more
sorrow INTO this world, more heartache
ana heartbreal, has desolated more
homes' wrecked more lives, drawn more
tears than all other things combined.
l believe in my very soul that every
place where intoxicating LIQUOR is sold
as n beverage is but a ticket office To
hell, and that the face OF every honest
man and woman should be turned as
flint against this horrible. ghastlv
practice" and having said this should
go out of the house and stop at the
nearest ticket office of this character
and buy few tickets for himself and
some for few near friends, from
whom he does not wish to be separated
wherever the transportation might
carry them, would you not know, every
one Of you, every child in the house
know, that that man did not state his
real belief. or If he did. that he was
amazingly attracted to the lurid
terminus Of the transportation pur-
chased The illustration / have en-
ployed is not far-fetched. Few of us
indeed have escaped furnishing ex-
amples Of the same inconsistency.
Apply the test to yourselves! As the
years have come and gone, YOU have
said so many times with Paul, "In God
we live and move and have our be-
/ ing" which is simply saying and only
saying in God we have life, health and
Immortality. Yet, you have gone from
every such declaration TO the doctor.
the druggist or climate, for the life
, and health that you declared you had
and only had in God DO you then
believe #? II you say that you be-
lieve that your life and health IS in
God and then go to some human
agency, some duh clod Of earth for
your life and health, would you be
greatly surprised If your 'neighbors
should say that you arc either mistak-
en- in your belief or that you place
a very low estimate upon the value
of what you have In God? How many
b many times have you all Joined in the
: most beautiful invocation, LET the
words Of my mouth and meditation Of
, my heart to be acceptable in Thy
sight, o Lord, my strength and my
Redeemer?"
I Do YOU really think you believe that
God is your strength and your Re
deemer. and yet hesitate TO 60 to God
and God only. day by day. hour by
hour for your strength and for re-
/ 1ar,,pffpn from apor-r III fbat oof4aDo