South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-02-22
RELIGIOUS FEAR TOPIC
FOR EVENING SERMON
Rev. Or. Edwards Speaks of
Two Extremes - SIaviSh,
SerViIe, Selfish and Soul Like
Born of HoIier Beings.

Rev. Loren NJ. Edwards Of the
Methodist Memorial church. in his
Sunday evenings sermon took for his
subject Religious Fear" In the
course Of his remarks me quoted vari-
Gus phrases from the preachings OF
Wesley, Whiteheld and Jonathan Ed
wards, who made generous use OF the
appeal TO fear in their efforts 20 evan
gelize the multitudes
In our own day said the speaker.
such preaching is almost negligible.
the nearest approach to il being the
SulphurOuS assaults of some OF the
prOfessior"l evangelists. In literal
thousands IF pulpits the word hell is
never pronounced and if any refer
ence is ever made TO future torment
IL is sOftened into 'hades.' or some
other less direct and ugly phrase.
1 would be willing to guarantee
that in the communities where our
good friend Billy Sunday conducts
evangelistic campaigns, the church
going people hear the word hell oft
erner In SIX or seven weeks time than
In all the former attendance in
church. Mr.. Sunday rolls the word
on his tongue with apparent JUNCTION
and seems almost at his very best
when he is cOnsigning whole sections
OF the community TO eternal damna-
ton.
IF a careful study Of scripture was
made OF the subject Of fear. two ex-
treme would be noted; on one hand
there is a slavish, servile, selfish fear.
which is to be stunned; on the other
hand there is a soul like fear, a fear
born OF kinship with a higher and
holier being, a fear cOmpanioning
with regard and reverence which is
TO be sought and cultivated. The fear
which crtnges and craWls, the fear
which harrOws and destroys that fear
is to be superseded by love, according
10 the Bible. But the fear which
realizes an intamacy with the Divine.
the fear which senses the infinite val
ues OF religious experience and SER
cE knowledge and wisdom, and which
brings salvation nigh-that fear is to
be made the subject Of appeal and of
deliberate culture.
THAT some people can be scared
into religion is just as true as this
other fact that some people can be
scared into almost anything. Pictur-
ing the tOrtures of the damned and
the horrors Of hell in lurid coIOrs will
terify some people into repentance
and espousal of the Christian life; il
viii halt some prodigal in his wild
debauch and turn his thoughts to-
ward home. Albeit. the prOdigal in
Jesus story turned his face toward
home in the thought OF his fathers
love and fOrgiving mercy.
Fear has a legitimate and indis-
pensible relation to religion. indenti-
flying itself with the great struggle
for self-preservation. In its proper
quality and relations It is not the OBJ
1ect Of scorn which some have de-
clared. When moral government
holds sway the possibility Of disaster
through failure TO meet these moral
demands is not only ever present. but
ever-wortthy serious consideration.
Though the highest Christian ap-
peals do not consist Of exhortation to
flee from the horrors of hell. never
theless hell is horrible; IL cannot be
garnished into a garden of roses. It
carrot be changed into paradise by
a flash Of rhetoric; il Is described in
the Eable in figures which cause US to
cringe and shudder and the fear that
spurns such a place and seeks to es-
cape such a tragedy is sensible and
right
For my own part, I ara frank to
say that / consider the state of the f.
nally unredeemed as part utterance
and do not want to be in that num-
Der"