Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-04-23


IL our beliefs" The saying is profoundly
true and it explains why some men seem
IN believe less and less every day.
To maintain selfrespect, and keep on tolerable
terms with himself. man must make his creed
SQUARE with his conduct. unless he has determined
to be an intentional and conscious hypocrite When
therefore he finds himself protesting adhesion to
creed which is out of all proportion to the lie ne
is leading ne proceeds contract his creed to MS
conduct in order to save his of sincerity that
is easier to do than bring his conduct up to his
creed
Much heresy is the result of poor, misdirected
effort to be genuine To escape unrealty many minus
plunge into unbelief For example, certain minds
lose all communion with the living Christ, although
by force of habit, by compulsion OF CUSTOM tney
continue to conform the general ethical principles
Of the gosneI and forthwith they begin to deny the
divinitv of Christ call Him nothing more than
.the Master" and eulogize Him the greatest moral
teacher that the world ever saw These are they
who cry so much about returning to the Sermon on
the Mount" and having done with all your creeds.
They seem forget that when they get back 10 the
Sermon on the Mount they will be confronted by the
Preacher on the Mount, and that they will have to
take account of Him in determining what they VIII
do with the sermon. In the close of the Sermon on
the Mount Jesus said 'hosoever heareth these say
ings of mine aaL doeth them, 1 will liken him unto
a wise man, who built his house upon rock: and
the rain descended and the hoods came, and the
winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell
not for it was founded upon rock. And every
one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them not shall be nkened unto foolish man, VINO
built his house upon the sand: and the rain descend
ed. and the floods came, and the winds blew and
heat upon that house, and it FELL and great was the
fall of it" Matthew vii 2427). Such language is
two full of sefassertion for u to endure 1t from
mere man. who talks in that commanding tone must
he greater than mere man, he will be less than
a good and humble man.
There is no intelligent submission to the moral
teaching of Jesus without the recognition OF His dl
vine character and the inspiration OF His helptul
grace The man who denies that Christ is God, and
vet starts back from the standpoint of such shru1ken
faith to make stand on the Sermon of the Mount,
will find he can not stop there when he reaches the
point where he proposes to make his stand; per-
sistently he will recede from some of the implca-
lions and requirements of the sermon to which ne
has gone back Conduct low plane leads TO de-
pressed faith and in turn the weakened faith reacts
on the life to make conduct less elevated This has
been the history of rationalism in all lands and In
ali times.
When the law was proclaimed at Sinai the nrst
utterance was not the commandments, but a sublime
creed about God: Hear o Israel, the Lord thy
God is one God" Polytheism could not furnish moral
vigor enough to keep the Ten Commandments ana
the rationalism which reduces Christ to mere hu-
man teacher, can not supply moral power sufficient
To conform to the Sermon the Mount A gospel OF
mere ethics will not remain even ethical long
In like manner a gospel of mere humanitarianism
will not remain for any considerable space Some
men undertake to disguise themselves and to con-
ceaI from others the decline OF their faith, by pro-
Tossing a creed of mere kindness. They AFFECT to
play the part of Leigh Hunts good Abou-ben-
Adhem" In the end they find that unfalllng love
of men can not survive in default of fervent love
towards God Faithless hearts soon become hard
and loveless hearts.
If we would know how cold a world is faith
less world we must study the condition OF things
the fountains of benevolence, like Moses bringing
by a word refreshing water from the thirsty rocks
ThIhorn in his admirable treatise entitled THE Con-
hict of Christianity With 'Heathenism," says Pagan
antiquity was thoroughly egotistic. Charity, COM
passionate love- was virtue of the ancient world
saws Boeckh one of the highest authorities respect
ing it. Every one sought his own interests regard
less of Others and ignorant of life but the pres
emit knew no other aim than happiness which IN lts
assence was only endowment, whether coarser or