The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-03-25
RELIGIOUS
WORLD
A LONG LOOK AF HISTORY

n 4COHN~ x&OOA Hf nlSIOkY 4
The International Sunday Schooa Les.
son o March 80 Is q Quarterly
| Review. The God Of Our Fathers"
(By WILLIAM T. ELLIS.o
The historian OF the future will
probably write down these present |
years through which We are living
as the period in which the western
continent became aware Of the world.
He may recall n quote Bushnelrs
sentence, about this time I passed
into a period Of comprehensiveness."
The awakening Of the Orient is not
more noteworthy than the awaken
ing Of the Occident to a cosmopolitan
conscience. Mems horizons are rap-
idly widening today. They are think
ing in more liberal terms. The en-
tire globe and a vaster range Of hu-
man interests are cOmprehended
within their consciousness.
In sympathy with this spirit the
Sunday schools Of the world have for
the past quarter been studying the
long reaches Of time. They have
marked back to the beginning of be-
ginnings to the uncomfortable period
when all things that now are were
not. The hand Of God has been seer
in the shaping of the universe and in
determining human history. The first
quarters lessons in this year 1913
have included all of history prior
10 and including the life Of the He
brew patriarch Abraham. This sur
vey has been most general, in the ma
ture Of the case, yet it has given
perspective n background to our
cont emplation Of present life. The
person who sees things from the
standpoint of their beginnings is not
likely to get over-excited concerning
the latest press dispatch. He knows
that this old world has been a long
time in business, and he can find an
analogy in the past for most things
that engage the present.
"ln the Beginning
Newspapers have Of late been
making startling announcements
(which the next day are explained as
having been ~premature) concerning
the scientific creation of life. Tn
doubtedly these are the days of evo
lutionary discoveries; physical science
is being made over; man is penetrat-
ing far into the thought of the creator.
h office of man as the divine in
strument seems to grow more exalted
with each passing decade.
The reverent Christian is serene
amid all these claims of upsettine
innovations and discoveries, in the
consciousness that the first words OF
Scripture are mistaken. I'm the be-
ginning Cod After all. what more
need we know? 1t is sufficient fol
faith to know hat God, the eterna
and omnipotent. is before all else ane
the cause of all else. What were Hi!
exact processes in the task Of creation
Ceive; certainly the world three thou
sand a 6 could not take thii
truth. II is enough for us to know
n a lin the beginning Cod" was AM
worked.
This is no runaway world. Tn
universe is not an accident. Blin'
chance did not create the spheres o
orders Of life. We are not Tin tn
fell clutch of circumstances" /
sovereign God is ruling over tn
world and His favOrite name i
Father"
Old Truth for New Times.
Every day is 6. fresh beginning,
Every day is a world made new"
The message hat is written in tn
story OF creation is Usually the oil
lesson for daily life. God is at it
source and God is ov%erruling it. Fac
day is a little life, and it should b
begun in conscious relationship wit
Him. The majestic words Of tn
Psalmist Illuminate h present re
view:
lord, thou hast been our dwelling
place
In all generations
Before the mountains were brougf
forth,
Or ever thou hadst formed the cart
and the world.
Even from everlasting to everlastin!
thou art God.
Thou turnest man to destruction,
And sayest, Return, We children
men.
For a thousand years in thy sight
Are but as yesterday when it is pas
And as a watch in the night
The message Of creation is in tt
lessons golden text. "Our fathe'
trusted in Thee: they trusted in Thu
and Thou didst deliver them" G
as the first fact in u present life
the old truth for the new times.
The Serpent in theC Garden.
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