The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1913-03-22

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Once the colleges represented, not
merely secular education. but the re-
lIglous sentiment Of their founders,
usually religious men Today. how
ever, colleges are ashamed to acknOwl.
edge any religious affiliations: and al.
though they represent high moral pTin-
ciples, nevertheless, they are hot.beds
of neutrality-suspicious. in the Bible as
the DivIneIy Inspired Revelation. This
condition Is depIorable.
In the Pastors opinion the great In
stitutons OF learning. so well equipped
for the IncuIcation Of faith in God. are
doing more to overthrow faith than are
all other influences combined. The 10.
crease Of knowledge he believed to be
accountable for the increase Of vice.
He explained that the undermining Of
faith in the Bible as the Word Of God
aud the incubation Of the Evolution
theory tend to destroy all faith in a
personal God and in rewards apd pun
ishments from Him. One Of the most
peculiar things was that very wealthy
men have richly endowed leading COL
leges, thereby destroying faith and IN.
Intentionally leading mankind to social
revolution. to the precpice of anarchy.
Sympathy For Higher Critics.
Nothing in the Pastors words indi-
Gated condemnation; on the contrary,
he manifested n deep sympathy for
those entangIed in the snares OF DC.
cultism and Evolution. He had been
entangled once himself. he said. bnt
had gotten free. Had he gone so far
as to doubt the existence Of God. he
believed that he would have been Ms
lost In Evolution as are many OF the
noble men occupying college chairs.
The Pastor believes the difficulty ls
that many cannot accept the Bible as
the inspired Record. So also he bud
once rejected It: for be had thought 1t
to be IN harmony with the absurd
creeds Of the Dark Ages. Now he Is
most finn believer in the inspiration Of
the Bible. One of the surprising things
his Bible study has revealed is that the
Bible supports none Of the creeds: and
TINT none OF the creeds or sects use all
Of the Bible. Each sect has selected
doctrines from the Word Of God. and
uses these in It's own defense. But
each finds there teachings which Do
not fG in with its creed.
Evidently none Of the sects manu-
featured the Bible Had the Calvin
lists done so, they would have omitted
texts teaching Free Grace. ArminIans
would have omitted Election. CathO'
lies would have added something to
teach the Immaculate conception. IN
dulgences, high aud low mass. hoIy
water, holy caAdIes apostolic success
sion, etc. All would hive put III texts
telling about the Trinity.
All would have omitted texts teach.
Ing that the dead are asleep; to awnk'
en- in the resurrection morning. In
deed, It is most difficult for them to,eI'
plain how there can be resurrection,
IL those who seem to die are really
more dive than ever. Evidently the
Bible was not made by man.
My prayer and effort is that think
ing Christians 1nay'see that this Won
derful Book, while ont OF harmony
with the creeds. is fully in harmony
with itself. The great Plan of saliva
ton which the Bible sets forth towers
far above all the efforts of puny men,
represented in the creeds OF Christen-
dom. The Bible Message could not have
come from elsewhere than Above.
Lsarnins's True YaIuo and Cost
'Learning along all lines of present
day instruction is surely valuable. The
applicd sciences are doing much for
the world. But while very important
and helpful to human progress, these
alone are not sufficient The human
mind must have a theory respecting Its
future destiny and the object OF It's
present existence. The searcher foe
knowledge along these lines is usually
referred to Plato and Socrates. None
seem to think OF progress in mental
philosophy beyond these giants OF the
past. Yet. II the Evolution theory be
true, these men were much nearer tue
monkey state than We are today.
The Pastor sought 10 impress the pro-
prIOty Of beginning Bible study afreSh'
ignoring the creeds Of the Dark Ages,
and permitting the old Book to explain
itself. He pointed out however, that
the Bible specifically declares that with
out the holy Spirit It cannot be fully
and clearly understood Those who
consecrate their lives to God and thus
enter the School Of Christ will be
taught Of Him.
He believes that unless the highest
, organs OF the human brain-those ap'
pertaining to religion and morality-be
cultivated. the student Is poorly pre-
pared to Withstand the storms of life