Devils Lake weekly world. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1911-1914, 1913-02-14
s'The World Through Its
Wisdom Knows Not G0d''
Rev. Torbett Delivery Helpful Sermon

wisdom Of God the world through its
wisdom knew not God, it was God Is
good pleasure through the fooliehness
of the preaching (thing preached) to
save them that believe"
Whoever looks out upon the philo.
sophical and religious systems Of tho
ancient world and upon the philoso-
phical and religious systems Of the
world in our own day, will readily See
that the inspired apostle was wholly
correct in saying that "the world
through its wisdom knew not God"
In some of these systems there were
the most gross conceptions Of God, and
some of the forms Of worship were
horrible and debasing, not to say in.
human and vile.
Not all of this grossness in thought
and act has been done away, and not
all Of this darkness has yet disappear.
ed by the power of gospel truth
brought to men by Him who is "The
Light Of the World"
In the very pest ancient and modern
pagan systems of religions the concep
tions of God, of man, and Of the uni
verse, are grossly unworthy and utter
ly inadequate to the needs Of man
kind.
Practically all races Of men have al.
ways had belief in some sort of God
or oGds, however, they came to have
this idea, and their thinkers have
framed arguments to confirm this idea.
The sight Of house or any mechan-
ism with evident design to fulfill some
rational purpose, conu:nees every "a
tional mind that some intelligent per-
sou built that house or constructed the
mechanism.
Then surely to look upon the mater,
ial universe packed with indisputable
proofs of intelligent and benevolent
design aud infinitely skilled handi-
craft, from the movements and mag
nitude Of the rolling planets TO thepol-
len Of the flower, and the velvet 81
the wing Of the butterfly, and the hu-
man body. itself. ,fearfully and wonder
fully made, is sufficient ): evidence to
convince every rational mind that the
builder and maker OF ell these is God.
Surely the Psalmist was justified in
saying, "The fool hath said in his
heart there Is no God!"
How can fool or even wise man
expect to understand all things in the
uniNsssaer= -. ..
Let the mind ron over the pages Of
history and notice how events cutmin.
ate toward beniAcent results, near or
remote, as if II individual and all ma
tional affairs were . fabric Of many
colo1s being made by an all.controlling
Weaver.
Even Matthew Arnold, the agnostic,
said that this apparent design and ad.
agitation Of means to ends in human
indicates that there is a power not
ourselves, working within and without
ourselves, and tending toward right.
eousness and benevolence.
The ancient prophet put it far bet.
ter, thus: He that planted the ear,
shall He not heart He that formed
the eye, shall He not sect"
And shall he that controls all events
and makes them work for some be.
nifcent end, shall He be thought Of as
not person but only an IT.
But while man IS moral nature seems
instinctively to acknowledge God, and
while there are many of his landmarks
in creation, there are no rational argu.
ments which can convince the stub.
born heart of the fool who says there
is no God.
But in all ages there have been
widely diverse conceptions Of God even
among those who acknowledge His
existence.
l. PoHtheists are those who be.
iieve in many gods; but this is really
a personiication of the forces of u.s.
ture-Neptune means the sea; Bachas
means the vinyard and the winecup;
Venus means spnngtime and amor
BUSINESS; Mars means war; Pluto means
the underworld Of the departed dead.
Polytheism is a sort Of worship of
nature.
2. Pantheists are those who believe
that all things are but transient phe.
nomena of one divine substance, the
only and absolute reality.
The Standard Dictionary defines
pantheism as "The form Of monism
that identifies mind and matter, the
mite and the infinite, making them
manifestations of one universal or