The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1911-02-08


GS!s s= 80 "W h at Is Man,
HFAS Tor e yJS5EtL.y That Thou Art
Mindful of Him.
psalm viii. A. The large audience
listened with intense interest, so that
pin-drop could have been heard
The speaker said
For some weeks our city will be in
the throes of Revival of Religion"
Hundreds of ministers have placed
themselves and their congregations
under the leadership of the Rev. Dr.
Chapman and Mr.. Alexander, the IA
nous singer. for the purpose of reviv-
ing religion; for the purpose of rescu
ing human souls from eternal torment,
as the proposition is generally under
stood. Business men have subscribed
large sums of money for this noble
work of rescue, reasoning that if thou
sands of dollars are spent in freight
ing apparatus for the protection of hui
man life for few years, the services
Of Messrs. Chapman and Alexander
will be cheap if they carry away TWEEN
ty-fve thousand dollars for a months
work, provided the results show a
goodly number rescued from eternal
torment
We sympathize with some of these
large-hearted and open-handed bust
ness men who give their money for
20 laudable An object. Yet we can
d, not think that many. nay not even a
} majority. Of those who contributed
this sum have done 30 conscientious
b. We cannot think that one-half Of
them believe In the teaching Of eternal
torture. nor can we think that more
than one-tenth Of them believe that q
practical conversion Is signified by a
response to an invitation which I'm
plies a preference for heavenly bliss
rather than for eternal anguish. How
ever, it is for those who pay the mon
ey to exercise their own consciences in
this matter, and it is none Of our bust
ness what they decide.
We sympathize also with the hun
dreds of Pastors of this city who have
joined in this movement. which they
hope will increase their congregations
and church revenues, but these Pas
tors know in reality that the Bible
does not teach eternal torment, and
they have discarded the Bible anyway
In favor of Higher Critical-Infidelity
Theirs is an unhappy and stultifed
position.
We sympathize still more with the
poor people whose education along
spiritual lines is almost wholly neg
lected. and who 1--we in constant fear
of the God who loves them and in
dreadful misunderstanding of the BIZ
BILE, which he has riven them. Be
tween the imperfe tness of the trans
lation and the coloring of prejudice
and the twist of misunderstanding Of
some parallels and symbols they are
helpless in the presence Of educated
men who teach inferentially what they
do not themselves believe. Alas! poor
common people" that you should be
betrayed by those in whom you re-
pose confidence and whom you unwit-
tingly pay for keeping you in the dark
edge Truly, my people perish for
lack Of knowledge" CHosea Nv. g..
sympathizes Still More With God.
But still more we sympathize with
God, whose name is dishonored, whose
Justice, Mercy, Wisdom, Love and
Power are traduced, nay, vilified. We
say to ourself, How wonderful the
patience of God, which for centuries
has endured blasphemous misrepre
sensations of his good character and
Divine Plan of the Ages! Well does
he tell us that as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so his plans and
methods in respect to our salvation
are higher than ours-not lower. Well
does he tell us that human fear to-
ward him is taught by the precepts OF
men, not according to his Word Qsa
iah xxx, 49,. We can see reasons
why the Lord has kept silence toward
the heather, but we are perplexed that
judgments have so long delayed TO
come upon those who. knowing bet
ter, still Islander the great and holy
name and misrepresent the Divine pur
poses.
an under-Shepherd found misleading
the sheep. guiding them into poison.
Gus pastures? We believe that he
would take the sheep from them, even
though he allowed them still to shep-
herd the goats And it is quite our
thought that such judgment impends
over Chrlstendom and that all shep-
herds, false to their trust. will be dis
missed ignominlously, and that very
soon.
Some urge that we should do evil
IN order to obtsin good results; that
we should misreprescnt the Divine
character in order to get people to join
the Church. Is 1t urged that some
may, as result of this evangellstiC
movement. lead a more orderly an6