Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1912-04-15
RELIGION REALITY
AND WILL REMAIN
REALITY FOREVER
DR.. Mendel SLIDER, Rabbi of
Temple Albert, Occupies
Pulpit in Congregational
Church Sunday Afternoon.

sooner or later those within tho
chuTch must open vide tho portals of
Gods temples TO the tenonts OF truth
and allow light 10 stream in freely
and fully open both pew and pulpit.
Thus spoke Dr. Mgndel Silber. rabbit
of Temple Albert congregation, ~
summing up q sermon on Religion
and Common Sense" which he de-
llvered az the vesper service In the
congregational church yesterday af-
ternoons DR.. Siiber's sermon was IN
deed encouraging TO those whose faith
In religion was weakeninR. Il furn-
ishod plenty OF Thought food for those
who have studied over possible rea-
sons for the decadence OF religion
among people generally. A brief aO-
stract Of Dr. siiber's sermon Is as fol-
lows:
Extremely practical Is the present
age. Our standards OF judgment arc
altogether practical standards. We
gauge ana measure our lives and ac-
Hons by practiehl rules. Common
sense has invaded every sphere OF
human thought and activity. The
only field, Il seems, IN which the seeds
Of common sense are not often enough
sown Is religion. Both those outside
the church ana those IN the church
frequently fan to apply common sense
TO the subject or religion. This fact
alone, ] take u, accounts for the many
akeptica and s0Offers without and the
many failures within the church.
The argument often advanced BY
those who would not affiliate them
selves with organlzed religion Is that
religion originated az a time when alb
surd ana untenaDlc notions OF man
and his universe obtained and that.
as these notions have been abandoned.
religion should be abandoned. Mod
ern man, they say, has outgrOwn re-
ligion just as he has outgrOwn the Old
conception OF heaven and earth. The
sciences. inventions and discoveries OIL
modern times. they assert, have once
and for all dethroned religion. Now,
what IN wrong with such arguments2
Nothing more than lack Of common
sense. Common sense would show
70 those people that, although the old
notions or man and the world have
been abandoned, man and the worid
themselves have not been a0andoHed:
that the sciences. inventions and dis
coveries u modern times have chang
NU OUT fUnfNVAARM VI Attt MNlNNENr'| kHA
not the universe. The same Alps
which yielded 20 tho skill OF a Napol-
en- tried the endurance OF a Hannibal,
The same sea which brings forward
the faaisRoing steam driven vessel Of
today was once beaten by tho banked
oars or primitive oarsmen. II n the
samo air which was once merely a
zephyr or a hurricane. but which has
or n
lent message 20 mis- distant fellow. iti
Is the same orc that WAS once crudely
hidden in the deep earth which IS now
dug and drawn and fashioned into
Puck'e g-rdle. "a h the same words
which once bore the deathlcss verse
OF Homer from the bard to q small
group of fascinated hearers, and with
whose fading sounds tina poems pass
ed beyond recall. that arc now firmly
flxed upon the printed page In a nun
bred tongues. carrying to a million
eyes what could once reach only q
hundred ears In all these. and a
thousand other accomplishments and
achievements OF the human race, what
has been changed IL merely our un-
derstandlng and our application OF the
phenomena OF nature end not nature /
itself; what Is different IL only our
INTERPRETATION OF the universe and not /
the universe Itself II those outside |
the church would only exercise COM
mon sense. therefore, they would not
keep aloof from organised religion, /
BAIT they would rather seek organized
religion and bring 20 Il new inter-
probation In accordance with the
scientific spirit OF tho age.
on the other hand, those within
the church often make an equally ia
TAI mistake by excluding common /
sense from their religious catachism
they frequently fail TO see that reiig-
ION must keep pace with progress.
Thov fail 10 see that the all-conquer-
ing Influence OF thought and reason
deserves q place Of honor IN religion,
they fan 10 sec that the human mind
which has cast itself. chameleon like,
into tho form OF noblest Music, Of
most moving oratoFy, OF grandest
painting, OF most splendid architec-
ture. OF serenest reflection, OF freesl
government. Of purest science, OF most
helpful discovery and most useful In
ventlon--thoy fail 10 understand that
the same human mind must cast Itself
also into the form Of deepest and tru-
est religion. Common sense would
ten them that Thought and reason are
not the enemies bias tho most loyal al
lies % religion. Common sense would
convince them that the spirit OF
scientific development haa made re-
ligion a truer reality than q ever was
in the dim days 81 human infancyi
that Il has enthr0ncd God IN the unit
verse BY tho very phenomena Il OBJ
served and the very laws Il discover
"a. In the undevelopod stage of the
human race man sees only \ world Of
independent objects. The objects are
grouped In certain rouehly marked
visible and audible ways. by the pleas
ure or palm, by the comfort or dis
comfort thay cause. THEFT similarity
and dlasimliRrity. their possible inter-
relation and lnterdependanoe arc OF
very subordinate Importance Each i
object has q separate reality Each
oak tree SENS an independent Trims.
A falling apple augEosts not a uni-
vorsal law OF God Instituted In nature
bat merely a means Of gratifying an
Individual appetite. Ia the developed |