The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1913-07-04

is without some
particular significance.
Transferring the scene to the pres
ent day there are many voices con-
corning almost all subjects-social,
political, commercial and religious.
but We confine our thought to the
last. OF the many voices on religion
that might be considered, there is not
one but has some signifcation. There
but contains some truth. There is
some valuable Specification in it, and
from it the religious and orthodox can
oftentimes learn useful lessons. Prob
ably never in the history of the world
have the voices touching religion been
SO confusing as now. and largely be-
cause the most dangerous of them
carry some badge of adherence to
the word of God and traditional reli-
gion of the best kind There is moth
ing that should so concern man as
seligion-his relationship to God in
volving his own veal or woe for eter-
nity-and he wants to know just what
the truth is
With goodly number the voice Of
reason is esteemed as safe, and as the
Christian religion is religion Of ra-
/ tionality that voice has strong sup
port. That the power of reasoning is
highly important is conceded, or God
would not ask man to reason together
with Him. But reason Is given a
n1o ;rhf
is most unsatisfactory, and with many
there Is fanaticism and unreason, of
which Paris worshipping a harlot is
suggestive result. Men trusting rea-
son will either become thorough an
archists, or adopt some religion which
is the very antithesis of nationality.
With some the voice of the inner
spirit Is supreme, and by introspection
they are seeking to know what God Is
saying. This voice is so variable that
no reliance can be placed on it, every
man becoming law unto himself
The most grotesque experiences are
at this point engendered, and the way
is open for the incoming Of all kinds
of religious fallacies such as Christian
Science. spiritualism, occultism. and q
brood of other evils.
With many the voice of the church,
as such. is supreme, and when the
church, considered in the light of it's
history. is fairly treated it's voice is
worthy of the highest respect. 1t is
toric creeds. nor the church as speak
ing through representative ministers,
but if the church as such is depended
on exclusively it becomes ultimately
the voice of single person, and we
have the hundreds of millions of the
human race dominated by one person.
1t has been found that the church.
whether speaking through its popes or
councils has certainly often been
wrong, and 1t cannot therefore i'm
plicitly be depended upon.
But with some the church speaking
at the last moment Is to be needed.
1t is contended that the church today
does not believe as it once did, and
that because it is more intelligent it's
voice is to be needed rather than the
church of two or three centuries ago.
Or even the church in the first centu-
ries of the Christian era. This is evil
denced by the tendency to the revi-
sion of church creeds, and the argu-
ment for such revision is that the
church does not believe as it formerly
believed and should change it's creed.
The teachings of the great divines of
the sixteenth and seventeenth centu-
ries, when theological thought was at
It's zenith, are thought to be outgrown.
and that the teachings of the men of
today, regardless of their loyalty to
the Bible, are to be needed.
1t is claimed that the Christian
teachers of the earlier centuries did
not know the truth. The German dis
tinguished apologize Lepsius makes
the modern theologian say, christian
ity has for nearly two thousand years
forgotten what the Master originally
taught. and perhaps neither Paul. nor
John, nor Augustine, nor Luther. nor
Calvin ever understood who Jesus was
and what He wanted. The entire
church trom the beginning of the
apostolic age to the present genera
ton has been one great misunder-
standing and blunder." We might
ask, is it likely that the further we
get away from the source of religious
teaching, the clearer will be our view?
Is 1t likely that the German and Eng
lish rationalists know the truth bet
ter than Jesus Christ, and Paul and
John?
There is another voice and that is
God speaking through the Bible By
the special providence of God that
look has been preserved through
many centuries substantially as it was
given to the holy men of old, and the
reader of today can go to his English
Bible with just as much confidence in
its safe guidance as those who han
died the original manuscripts. The
Bible Is a safe guide in doctrine and
practice AS to doctrine, it contains
the faith once for all delivered to
the saints, to which there have been
no additions, and from which there
have been no subtractions. The his
tory of individual nations by whom
tie Bible has been sincerely respected
and made guide, shows that
prosperity OF all kinds has followed
end hopes for the future have been