The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1913-05-22
interpretations Of God IL
Mature or Humanity?
Lyman Abbot in The outlook,

Lyman Abbot in The Outlook.
What Is the best way of presenting to q
child the reality Of God3 cannot teach
my child hat God is a Father, an ever
wHtcnIu n near presence, because I do
nor myself have that conception Of God;
and I cannot-and would not-have thot
attitude toward him. But I do feel very
strongly the reality Of a God who Is the
origin OF all laws. a force greater than
anything the universe can produce. This
10 TO me a perfectly satisfying conception
or God 4 feel no desire to draw nearer
TO that Presence by praye or communion.
But how can I answer my boys questions
as C. origin of the world and all that
is in It?
NSome years ago a little boy of my ac-
quaintance was playing on the floor of his
fathers study, wheSa his fathe was at
work with his books. The father became
aware OF an unaccustomed stiffness;
looked up, theb boy was in a brown study;
then suddenly turning and seeing his faith
er for the moment d~iscngaged, put to him
the question he had been pondering:
Papa, is GOD a mann"
Mol my child"
What. Is he a woman then?"s
The little, fellow had, found his way un-
aided to the primitive faith Of the He
brew people,. "God made man in his own
image, male and female created he them"
Inc objects he most revered were his
father and mother. TIC them he looked for
an image of God. And he was quite right.
There are two directions IN which we
may look for an Interpretations f God. to
Nature; to Humanity. Paganism looks to
Natlres Christianity and Judaism (for the
two are one and the same religion) look to
Humanity.
"A cyclone sweeps through Kansas and
Nebraska; q flood sweeps through Ohio.
Property is destroyed; homes are broken
up; lives are lost. Instantly there springs
up all over the country a human move
ment for assistance and rescue. Men
freely offer their money, their time, some
of them their lives, to help their fellow
men. The president does not wait for a
lawyers opinion as to his constitutional
p~rerogat1ves, or congressional appropria-
ton of money. He calls instantly on the
resources of the governtr ant to aid in.
sending assistance. ~
Shall we look to the cyclone and the
Hood for an Interpretation of God? Or
shall we look to this spontaneous move
ment of Humanity? Is He In Nature? Or
is He in the hearts and lives of men? Did
He plan the destruction? Or did He in
sp1re the sympathetic hearts and the help
Ing hands?
We are not left in doubt as to the He
brew prophets answer to this question.
~ AACo bCCd ndoC ~ kitS
vicious and cruel religion Of Baal, f~ostered
and supported bys the. vicious and cruel
Jezebel. He had known no other way of
conquering vice and cruelty than by de-
stroying those who practiced 1t. He had
taken advantage of a sudden popular re-
action, and. by what we should now call
either an act Of mob violence or an act
Of political revolution, he had put the
priests Of Baal to death. But the popu-
lar reaction did not last. The people were
frightened at their own temerity. He was
left to face alone the wrath of the queen.
He fled into the wilderness and would fatn
have committed suicide, but his conscience
forbade. Obeying a divine impulse, he
went on a pilgrimage to Mount Horeb in
the wilderness of Sinai.
And the word of the Lord said, Go
forth and stand upon the mount Sefore
Jehovah. And behold, Jehovah passed by,
and a great and strong wind rent the
mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks
before Jehovah; but Jehovah was not in
the wind; and after the wind an earth
quake; but Jehovah was not in the earth
quake; and after the earthquake a fire;
but Jehovah was not in the fire; and after
thef fire a still, small voice."
The message to Elijah in the Sinaitic
wilderness was, God Is not in the tempest,
the fire, OF the earthquake, but in the still,
small voice. The message Of Elijah to
A1IlC &4So . AASSh INV Ao1 " al AK y
clone or in the flood; look for him in the
impulse which inspired a nation with a
common purpose to help those bereft by
the cyclone and the food.
!. The difference between the religion of
a and the religion of Jehovah was not
a mere difference in names. The religion
Of Baal was a religion Of nature; the wor-
ship Of Baal was a worship of force. The
religion Of Jehovah was a religion of hui
manity; the worship of Jehovah was a
worship of character. The worship of
force makes a religion Of fear; the wor-
ship OF character makes a religion of SER
vice and love.
The lesson was taught to Israel in the
Old Testament timestsby a simple but
striking object lesson. In all pagan tenn
pies was q Holy of Holes In which was
placed IN image Of the object Of their
worship. In the Jewish temple, in lieu of
such an image, were the ten command
ments and the Altar of Mercy. The Jew
tsh temple was continually saying to the
people, The divinest objects you know
are conscience and compassion; worship
them. The same. lesson was taught to his
disciples by Jesus in the saying, Our
Father" Look, He seems to me to say,
for God In what is perhaps the tenderest.
and most sacred Of all relationships, hat
Of parent and child. It was taught by
Jesus in the saying, Forgive us our tres
pdSSeS, as we loI6lS6 llOSe WHO uGSpdSS
against us. In all civilized governments,
He seems to me to say. there is made pro-
vision for forgiveness; in all homes there
Is mercy toward the wrongdoer. If you,
can thus forgive one another, believe that
Goo can forgive you.
To look through Nature to Natures Soc
is paganism. To look through Humanity
to Humanity's God Is Christianity. Cod
says Hegel. us not a spirit beyond the
stars; He is a Spirit in all spirits" This
is what Jesus means when he says, God
is Spirit"
This is the clue to follow in your en-
deavor to realize God yourself and to en-
able your child to realize it. Understand,
and teach him to understand. that the
forces Of Nature are not the interpreta-
ton Of Gods nature: that your nil is
not to reverence them nor fear them; that
they are not his gods. but his servants;
that he is greater than they are, and is to
understand them. catch them, domesticate
them. harness them, make them do his
bidding; thatshis reverence is to be re-
served for spiritual qualities as they are
manifested in noble men and women; that
In conscience enforcing duty and In sym
pathy inspiring to service he ia to hear