The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-07-28

.tC:s:, n the Tine WQeu tue mystery
Ia ending and the righteous dealings
Of God. from the Scriptural standpoint.
may be clearly seen.
But these revelations are not meant
for the world in general now. but
merely for 1.-The elect" the ''sanctifled
in Christ Jesus" ITO you it is given
to know the mysteries to outsiders
these things are spoken in parallels
and dark sayings (Matthew Kill. IL. 13).
But not until the elect shall be glori-
fed and the Messianic Kingdom es-
tablished will the mystery" be made
fully known to the world and every
knee bow and every tongue confess.
Hence. only those of q contrite heart
may now see, now understand. the real
character of God. His real purposes to-
ward man, etc. Thus our Lord de-
clares. "This is life eternal that they
should know Thee. the only true God.
and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast
sent (John xvii. 81.
In a darker day than ours the theory.
ITO doubt is to be damned" held such
power over many that they dared not
use their reason. And thus a certain
reverence for God was maintained in
many homes-a reverence. however,
which surely would not be as highly
appreciated by the Creator nor have
as deep an influence upon the creature
as would faith moved by love and
an intelligent appreciation of the Di.
vine character. based upon an under
standing of the Divine Plan OF the
Ages.
An lnundation of unbeIief.
In our day the shackles of ignorance
and superstition are breaking. Men.
women and children are beginning TO
think for themselves. They no longer
believe the fairy tales of other days;
the dreadful hobgoblins and night
mares of the Dark Ages respecting
purgatory and eternal torture are
doubted by all. and by the great mass
totally disbelieved. What have they
now to attach them to the Almighty.
since they have never been taught the
love of God--the lengths and breadths
and heights and depths passing all hu-
man understanding? This is the
worlds great need-to know God as
He really is. a Father. Friend God
Of love! And to thus know Him the
people need to be taught how serious
ly they were mistaught i'm the past
along the lines Of hell and purgatory
How could they ever truly love and
worship God of injustice and of hate
--One inferior to themselves-One who
knew. foreordained and prepared for
their torture, before they were born.
They must see that these things. taught
by the creeds of the Dark Ages. are
they will never come back TO the BIZ
BILE nor be able to see its teachings in
their true light. They must be taught
that the sin and death. sorrow and
trouble all around us are the wage or
penalty of father Adams disobedience.
They must learn that God proposes a
blessing and uplifting which will be
as world wide as is the curse. They
must learn that the foundation for this
work was effected by the death Of
Jesus. the Just for the unjust. They
must learn that God is now selecting
sanity class to be associates with
the Redeemer in the work of uplifting
and blessing Adam and his race; and
that each will be held responsible and
receive stripes in proportion to his
knowledge and wilful disobedience:
and that the persistently rebellious will
be destroyed like natural brute
beasts in the Second Death.
a Have Lost Ny God"
Not long since. in conversation with
q young lady. she said with great con-
Germ. 81 fear that | have lost my
God" As child Of religious parents
she had had helpful influences in her
home. but in school she had come in
contact with the general spirit of
skepticism, which. instead Of repudiat-
ing the. Bible. as did Ingersoll. Paine
and Voltaire. merely smiles at any ref
erence to q Divine revelation. a faith
in God and a respect for His will.
IucSc lcdSuSiS uOuCSIs we NC
lieve. as were IngersOll. Paine and
Voltaire; nor can we deny that they
have the same right to their disbelief
that we claim for our belief We can.
however. say with all sincerity that
it is a great pity that the learned men
of Christendom are nearly all infidels,
in the sense Of not believing in the
Bible as a Divine revelation.
Many of them even deny that there
is a personal God and ascribe every
thing to-a great Nothing. which they
designate Nature-god. Is it surpris-
ing. in view of the fact that these
teachings are being promulgated in
the universities and colleges and theo-
logical seminaries. in the high schools.
und even to some extent in the COM
non schools-is it any wonder that the
rising generation is losing it's God? IL
It even be claimed that bad thing
Is better lost than kept. we must dis
sent from their course. We must claim
that the misconception Of God can
be destroyed only by the introduction
to the heart and mind Of the true God
whose glorious attributes of Justice.
Wisdom. Love and Power will take
The place Of the malevolent miscon-
ceptiOuS of the Dark Ages