El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-01-13

errors about religion current in
the society in which our lot is
/ cast is the error of free thinkers.
,, People of their mind are against all
| churches and church going They are
too wise in their own concelt 70 need
any liberators of human thought from
the tyranny of creeds and dogmas.
Human understanding alone. they
say, is able TO find out the truth They
abjure all authority. all prescribed
forms of religion No outside help. no
| special light from above is possible or
necessary; revelation so-called Is an
impOsture debasing the dignity Of hui
man reason Christianity is necessary
neither for the guidance of the individ-
ual nor of society Believe in God and
follow your common sense is the only
dogma of this naturalism. They point
triumphantly to individuals of known
integrity. so far as natural virtues go.
who profess no religious faith and say.
Here are men who reject your relig-
ious teaching and who live better
lives than many OF your church goers-"
They appeal to n universal natural re-
lision." the religion of reason. and claim
that reason tells man all he needs to
know about religion, that man is suf-
flcient 10 himself
Truth at Bottom OF FaIsehOOd.
error. Every false doctrine is perver-
sion. a deformity. an exaggeatiOn of
some truth lie US see first what truth
may be al the bottom of this falsehood.
In the first place free thinkers are
the pretentious guardians Of natural
religion" Is there such a thing as nat
ural religion
When we speak of religion we mean
that tie. that bond Of duty. which binds
Us TO God 1t may be the sum of those
moral obligations of man towards God
That God is our creator. supreme mas
ter. benefactor and judge and obliges
US to pay Him the homage Of alteration.
obedience, gratitude. love. fear. etc
Now when we speak of religion we
mean this body Of relations between
ourselves and Almighty God.
Natural religion is distinguished from
supernatural religion The natural is
the ordinary, the original; the super
natural is that which is added to the
original and ordinary and is above it.
The religion which is natural is the
bond of duty man owes to God by the
original constitution Of things viz. Gre
alton That God is mans r'aker and
owner requires a certain behavior OF
man toward Cod 4 supernatural relig-
ion would mean something more, some
thing added to the original arrange
ment, some Improvement on the natu-
raj. ordinary relations with God
God Gives Us Adoption.
By. nature. by the fact of creation
simply we are creatures; our place is
in the servants hall. we are bound TO
serve Him who made US and owns US.
BY supernatural grace, by q new and
gratuitous gift Of God. by a favor we
bad no right TO expect. God. through
His only begOtten Son. has given US
adoption. so that we no longer are
merely servants. but friend. sons, and il
sons heirs also. coheirs of Jesus Christ
We are called up from the servants
hall to enjoy the intimacy OF the family
circle This was not to be expected.
. md frsHrsr
desceusion. this Is not the ordinary nat
Cral thing. but beyond it-supernatu-
raj Our behavior must now be CORE
spOndingly improved There are new
are new and more delicate relations be
tween US. The old allegiance IL not dis
solved. We owe him all that we did I'm
the natural. original order OF things
To perceive these natural relations
with God. to understand our duties
toward Him in the natural order is
within the province Of human under
man by the author Of nature 20
show this natural religion TO him
and TO enable him to live by it
There is nothing in natural religion
strictly above pure reason to grasp.
There is nothing in its demands which
are not heartily in accord with the SEN
timents of sane reason
To BE Religious Is Natural.
We go this far with free thinkers.
therefore. that there is a universal nat
Gral religion which appeals TO reason
To live uD TO il is our reasonable ser
vice. It is the most natural. the most
reasonable. thing in the world It is alb
solutelv essential to human dignity and
self respect TO pay TO God the homage
We owe Him as our creator. our SOW
ereign master. our constant benefactOr-
In other words for a man to be re-
ligious is most natural; not TO be relig-
ious is most unnatural
This, however, is not 10 deny the pos
sibilitv or the need of supernatural
religion. Because there is a natural
order Of behavior toward God arising
from creation does not make il impos-
Sible for God to hestOW another gift I
upon US requiring more perfact behav /
Tor on our part The necessity OF salts
flying the demands OF natural religion /.
does not exclude the possibility or the I
necessity of a revealed religion. II may I
be that the man is unable with his nat 4
ural powers to fulfill it. in which case
he would need help In that case he !
would be most unreasonable and most +
,ecr to search for n light from God 10 !
help him He would be guilty Of con- /
empt OF natural religious duties If he Z
did not seek the necessary aid to fulfill 4
them
How Is Man TO Know.
When we separate from our adVer- I
saries il is not on the question Of the I
existence of natural religion. but on I
this question; rs man able to know IL, I
is it within his reach to know what it !
preach at Calvary Houston Square |
Baptist church. sol Montana, both I