The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-06-23

EI5A TOR = IIssEIl audience. Profound
impressions were
undoubtedly made Speaking from the
text. Holy. holy, holy Lord God AL
mighty, the whole earth shall be filled
with Thy glory" Revelation iv. 8. the
speaker said:
Shakespeare tells of some damned
by faint praiseI' We grasp his state
ment as implying that a faint praise
is more injurious than silence. But as
we look to ourselves and the remainder
of the reputed four hundred millions
of Christendom and their united trib-
ute of praise to the Almighty Creator
we are forced to admit that with many
He is given faint praise" while the
vast majority positively blaspheme the
Holy Name by most atrocious misrep-
reservations of the Divine character,
which they claim to be His own reve-
lation of demoniacal plot for the
eternal torture, in one way or another,
of the thousands of millions brought
into existence by His power and with
out their own consent.
There may be said to be three diff
ferent theories prevalent in Christen-
dom on the subject They all have
jealous, earnest. honest advocates.
Each contradicts the others. Each
claims TO love God and to seek to serve
and honor Him. Evidently. two at
least of the three are wrong. 1t is our
conviction that all three are in error.
We believe that all three of them have
fragments of the truth around which
have crystallized distorting. SANDER
Gus. blaSphemous errors. The uphold
ers of these theories are so blinded and
bewidered that they fail to discern
that their praise and worship toward
the Creator are defled and converted
into ISLANDERS and calumnies and bias
phemies by their incrustations of false
hood.
Three General Views.
All three of these views declare thai
the Almighty. with full power to have
done otherwise, so created humanity
that child once born into the worlt
can never die-he must live somewhere
increasingly either in pain or in pleas.
IRE. BY what authority any make
these declarations we have never as
certained
Surely it is q gross SANDER upon
God of infinite Justice. Wisdom. Love
and Power to- claim that He ever en-.
trusted TO poor, fallen. human par.
ents the power to bring into existence
sin-blighted and sin-disposed human
creatures such as we see our race to
be, and then made the happiness Of
their eternity dependent upon Il super
human resistance of the evils of their
environment and of their depraved
constitutions! This blasphemy against
the Holy Name is common to nearly
every creed of Christendom.
Our Catholic friends tell us that by
Divine arrangement terrible purga-
torial experiences await practically
every member of our race. in the hope
that. if rightly exercised thereby. afte.
centuries of torture. an eternity of bliss
will be gained. Is not this also a bias
phemy against the Holy Name? Who
can deny it? Who would not shudde;
to have such an awful crime of evil
design charged against himself or
against bis earthly parents? Who that
is begotten of the Holy Spirit is not
panied even To think of such i charge
being made against his Heavenly
Father. 1.-The God of all grace? Surely
such theory is blasphemous. hor-
ribe.
But we have grown so accustomed
to this blasphemy that 1t fails to prick
the majority to the heart as it should.
With all of our development Of human
sympathy and care for the sick and
even for our wounded enemies on the
battlefield. and with our precautions
of modern times against crimina! neg.
ligence which might lead to the de-
struction of human life by conf1agra-
tion-with all of our fire apparatus
and benevolent laws for the protec-
ton of the very humblest of our race
we have calmly and without protest
charged against our great Creator. and
indorsed it as our belief. either pub
licly or tacitly. that He would look
upon holocaust of millions with nc
fire brigade for their relief Is no,
this blasphemy of the Holy Name?
Worse and Worse-Predestinate d.
Is it any wonder that in early life
our childish hearts were filed with
fear rather than with love toward oul
Creator and toward His Revelation
the Bible? Is it any wonder that il
required all kinds of fighting witt
our common sense TO believe. as We
were taught we should. that God low
ingly predestinated that all the fami
lies Of earth should suffer externally
except a sanity handful-because Fl.