Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1916-10-04

snail be as wool.
Isaiah / rs.
The Pastor averred that nearly all
of the doctrinal teachings given to
mankind in the name of the Lord
must be swallowed without mastica-
ton or not at all; for they are too
unreasonable to be received by any
logical mind. On the contrary, Gods
Word appeals to mans reason; and
every feature of the Divine Plan,
when understood, is thoroughly rea-
sonable and worthy of our great
Creator. When God invites His peO-
pie to reason with Him, He means
that we are to search the Bible to
find therein the explanation of mans
present condition, to find Gods pur-
poses concerning man, and to eXer-
else our minds i'm regard TO these.
The speaker reminded his hearers
that while the lower animals can
reason to a very limited degree, yet
man alone of all the animal creation
has the ability to reason upon high
plane. He alone possesses moral fac
ulties, and can reason with his Gre
ator's revealed Word. 1t is only rea-
sonable to expect that God, having
endowed man with reasoning facul-
ties, would give us a revelation OF
His will and His purposes which
would appeal to our reason. In mans
present fallen condition, some can
reason better than can others. New
ertheless, God still appeals to man.
power to reason, as shown by our
text.
For the past few centuries the
Lords people have been gradually
emerging from the Dark Ages. For
twelve hundred years before the Re-
formation they had been practically
without Bible study. Then the BIZ
BILE came back into the hands of
Gods people, and they began to stu
dy again. But their brains were
more or less confused with the errors
of the creeds formulated during the
centuries when they were without
GODS Word. We have inherited
many of these errors. We were
born with our reasoning faculties
more or less twisted; and these
twists were accentuated by our teach
ings at home, in the Sunday School
and in the pulpit. We imbibed them
lin our reading. When we wished to
reason, we were told, you must not;
if you do, you will become an inf
dell"
Reason DivineIy Guided Blessing.
The Pastor added that many who
became infidels respecting the teach
ings held out to them found that it
proved a great blessing to them il
that it led them to study the Scrip
lures for themselves. There they
learned what the real character of
God is-that He is not monstrous
Devil, but God of Love, of Reason,
with Plan for human salvation
worthy of all acceptation.
Their own imperfect reasoning,
perverted for centuries by false
teachings, would be very unreliable
as a guide, would lead them astray.
But reasoning according to the in
structions of Gods Word clarifies
the mind, and leads the earnest scar
lcher after Truth into the light of
God as it shines from the fact of our
Lord and Redeemer. There is a
beautiful harmony in the Bible which
is found nowhere else, when Gods
Word is rightly divided limo
thy '3:15-17;2:
AS long as we reason within the
lines of Divine Revelation we are
safe. No human being knows any
thing of mans origin and destiny
save as he is instructed by the Lord.
No matter how much any man may
boast of his knowledge and wisdom,
he knows nothing about these i'm
lportant subjects except as it Is re-
vealed from Heaven. If we go be-
yond the inspired Word of God or
loutside of it, we shall soon be adrift
on an unknown sea. We must have
a "Thus saith the Lord" for every
item of religious truth that We re-
lceive.
All Bible theology relates to sin
how it entered the world, how man
is to get rid of it, what its effects
are, how God views it, how we should
view it, what means God will use to
lift mankind out of their present de-
gradation up to human perfection
and everlasting life. This is the sum
total of Bible theology. God created
man perfect, "a little lower than the
angels." This perfect man sinned,
and brought death upon all his I'M
born posterity. Our Lord Jesus died
a corresponding-price for Adam and
his race. Because He died, our race
will live again in the resurrection.
| PAID ADVER TISE MENT