Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-06-28


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
mat might be considered. there is not
one but has some Specification. There
Is not a religious error of the day
but contains some truth. There is
some valuable Specification in it. and
from 1t the religious and orthodox can
oftentimes learn useful lessons. Prob
ably never in. the history of the world
nave 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 a man as
reiigion-hi5 relationship to God in
volving his own veal or woe for eter
nity-and he wants to know just what
the truth is.
With a goodly number the voice OF
reason is esteemed as safe, and as the
Christian religion is a 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
place beyond its right, and the result
is most unsatisfactory, and with many
there Is fanaticism and unreason, of
which Paris worshipping a harlot is
a suggestive result. Men trusting rea-
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 a 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
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 its voice Is
worthy Of the highest respect. 1t is
never wise to neglect the great his
toric creeds. nor the church as speak
ing through representative ministers,
but II the church as such is depended
on exclusively it becomes ultimately
the voice of a 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 it's popes or
councils has certainly often been
wrong. and 1t cannot therefore i'm
plicitIy 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 1t once did, and
that because 1t 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 its creed.
The teachings of the great divines of
the sixteenth and seventeenth centu-
ries, when theological thought was at
its 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
apologize Lepsius makes
the modern theologian say, christian.
fly has for nearly two thousand years
forgotten what the Master originally
taught, and perhaps neither Paul, nor
John, cor Augustine. nor Luther, nor
Calvin ever understood who Jesus was
ah0 What LAG W6htCu. u6
church from the beginning of the
apostolic age to the present genera
ton has been one great misunder
and blunder."
There is another voice and that is
God speaking through the Bible. By
the special providence of God that
book 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.
In no triumph does modern science
appear as the almost angelic wonder
worker Of these times than Its trans
formation of poor little cripples and
tots into healthy and happy
children. And no agencies for human