The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1911-07-14
WHAT IS THE CREATOR?


mortal have looked out into the deeps o
the universe, and sent forth across th
starry and iIlimitable fields of space thi
query, Whence and whither?" whenc,
man, this world, and the multitude o
worlds, moons, and suns that swim til,
cosmic deep through the silent centuries
Time was when man owned with aw,
and reverence the workings OF an in
scrutable and supernatural power in al
nature. The rude pagans, our an
cestors, recognized this power, anG
bowed to it, in all natural phenomenon
In the warmth of the sunshine, in the
whisper of the breeze, in the murmul
OF the brooklet, in the springing Of the
grass, the unfolding OF the flower, they
owned its benign influence; and in the
bursting forth of volcanoes, the up
heaving of the earthquake, the wild
rushing OF the terrific storm, the BOOM
ing of loud thunders, the flashing Of red
lightning from the black bosom Of the
mad storm cloud, they recognized its
ruder and more dreadful manifestations.
The universe to them was wonder, a
mystery, miracle, the marvellous
workings of which could only be at
tributable to superhuman and divine
agencies. Hence, they peopled the earth
and heavens with hierarchy OF gods
and demigods and bowed to them in
reverential awe.
But to-day we have banished the
nymphs OF woods, the naiads of lake
and river, and dispersed the sacred
synod OF the mightier gods; aye more,
we have become SO enlightened that we
have dethroned the Almighty himself,
and banished him from his own uni
verse. BY the aid OF argus eyed science
we have traced the working OF nature
back to its ultimate source, and dis
covered that the cosmos originated from
primal nebula, ulteriorly in state OF
inertia, but which was at length put to
revolving by some internal natural
force, evidently self originated, and as
it whirled, ever gaining in momentum,
it threw off mass after mass cf fiery
matter that went whizzing out in bound |
less space, still whirling, and subdi-
vided into suns, and attendant moons,
and worlds, which arranged themselves,
after the order Of highest intelligence,
into perfectly balanced systems, and be-
gan to move with lightning speed, each
in its respective orbit, in perfectly
orderly manner Thus confusion
worked herself into harmony, and dark
and elemental chaos wrought herselfin-
to a marvellous, shining, glittering uni
verse; We have also discovered that
life, with all its organic forms, from the
dull crustacean to the highly nervous
and intellectual man, was self, or spon-
taneously, brought forth from matter.
Organic life was generated OF itself spon-
taneously from death, or at most, from
a vague dim element Of life mate in the
original atom. Thus have we solved
The enigma of the universe, unwound
the riddle OF the Sphinx, banished all
mystery, destroyed mans Immortality,
and annihilated the Deity--reduced all
% blind chance and to the grindings of
soulless and insensate universal
OH star-eyed science. hast thou wandered there
70 watt us home the message Of despair?''
Thus, we have answered all questions /.
lbout the creation, by provoking the :
lnanswerable; solved the mystery by !
DOSING all in still deeper mystery, and !
animated all by plunging all in dark
less more profound For whence the
riginal nebulaY whence the initiative
ush? whence the element OF life in the r
rimal atom? How can a thing that
oesn't exist bring itself into existence?
Tow can Ike spontaneously generate? :
low creature without creator? Thus :
e may question until the soul is lost !,
infinite, abysmal gloom, il we de- !
md on the materialist and agnostic
r an answer.
Aside from the idea Of Deity, OF
,rsonal and eternal God, upon no ra-
,nal ground Of thought whatsoever
n we account for the creation. The vii
rfectly adjusted and perfectly work ro
g machinery of the cosmos as surely ar
'ints to an inteIligently planning and tn
nstructing origin, as the steam engine an
es to the master mechanic that made fill
The inconceivable vastness Of the wa
Iiverse, the exact adjustment Of each 1t
rt to all, and their nicely balanced ab
otions, which have not varied since tol
n