The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1912-04-06
THE PUBLIC FORUM
THE INFINITE AND THE FINITE.
Some Remarks on the Questions Put
to a Church Member BY a
Secuarist.
By John Marcus.

~ q StNi(tA 6I
Secularist.
By John Marcus.
In the April 3rd number of the Chief
tain there was request made that
John Marcus" answer some A ques-
tions propounded by a certain party
to Church Member" of the city. I'm
asmuch as in me is" should very
much like to throw little light ON
the subject. The questions are as old
as Materialism, and SAVIOR somewhat
of the queries put by the English ma
terialistic philosopher Hobbies many
years ago. 1t is a sort of Satanic
Catechism," and is full of sophistry.
1T is hotchpotch of stuff calculated
to puzzle the ordinary reader, re-
sembing the old problem of How Old
is Ann?" or the couplet that dislocated
the mental clock-works of not few
curious souls half a decade ago:
Punch, brother. punch. punch with
care,
A five cent slip for the passenjaire.
The old adage perhaps expresses
the situation; amy fool can ask ques-
tions, but it takes mighty wise man
to answer them And ! am sure that
have no desire to lose myself in a
wilderness of fool questions such as
We had in the columns of the Chief
tain a few days ago Yet the char
acter of the queries indicate the cum
lning always displayed by infidels in
seeking to build all their arguments
on an hypothesis instead of the truth.
And John Stuart Mills definition of
an hypothesis is exceeding apt and to
the point. He said. AN hypothesis
being a mere .supposition, there are
no other limits to hypothesis than
those of the human imagination"
Darwinianism is built upon mere
hypothesis, and all the arguments of
the higher or destructive critics"
are built upon the same kind of a
Foundation. The free-thinker or in
fidel has always mistaken license for
liberty, for the simple reason that he
will not brook the restraint the Word
of God places upon fallen human ma
ture. Instead of allowing the Bible
to Judge him, he would sit in judg
ment upon it. and the result is law
llessness or moral anarchism.
I will take up but a few of the more
salient or conspicuous features of the
queries put by Mr.. Materialist
First: ut the God you believe in
and worship infinite2"
Yes. The God of the Bible is abso-
lutely infinite.
rs the universe of matter infnite?"
No. 1t is impossible to believe i'll
the eternity of matter; matter is not
eternal. The universe of matter is
the work of an Infinite Creator.
And right at this juncture the reader
will see that the cunning of the sophist
! lis displayed in assuming that tie
Christian believes in the eternity Of
matter or substance. Here is where
the philosophic speculation of the ma
terialist is shown to be merely an
hypothesis. VIII the Church Mem
ber" please observe that if he or she
admits a belief in the eternity of mat
ter, then there must follow as nat
ural sequence submission to all the
dogmatic conclusions of the material
ist.
The fact of the matter is this: no
finite being can comprehend the in
finite. "Canst thou by searching find
out Cod? Canst thou find out the Al
mighty to perfection? 1t is as high as
heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper
than hell; what canst thou know
| Dob 1879. God is Spirit, and they
that worship Him must worship Him
in spirit and in truth?' So the Christ
/ declared.
Further, the sinner saved by grace
is alone given the knowledge that is
withheld from the unregenerate. I'm
Hess the divine nature has been re-
ceived, in other words the life of Christ
communicated, and the soul is made
to bow to the divine sovereignty Of
God. there can be no apprehension OF
Deity in the true sense of revelation
| So we read in Cor. 2:6-16;
How be it we speak wisdom among
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