Evening star., 1929-12-21
Religious Questions
n1SHIISCED RX
DISCUSSED BY
DR.. S. Pdrkes Cddrnan.

moral stewardship and to discharge
the obligations it entails on every In
telligent being Is stressed by the char
acteristic word. "unrighteousness," a
solemnizing term which has in 1t the
essence of countless human tragedies.
The distinction drawn between sin
not unto death" and that which finds
no repentance is traceable to the bias
phemy against the Holy Spirit recorded
In the Gospels. Every other transgres-
sion except that is susceptible to par
don. But when the transgreSsor will
fully denies what is manifestly the work
Of God, and deliberately aScribes that
work to the forces of evil, he places
himself beyond the pale Of pardon by
trampling beneath his feet the sole
means Of securing forgiveness.
OF course this attitude Is far more
than one act of wrongdoing. Indeed,
1t Is nothing less than perverse habit
which AYERS that light is darkness and
good Is evil. Those who fear they are
guilty Of it have not committed 1t,
since II they had they would feel no
conjunction whatever. Its last stage
is one Of complete spiritual atrophy.
O. Having in mind the fall of Adam,
the death of Abel, the Deluge, the Con-
fusion of Tongues, the sin and failure
of the Israelites, the Babylonian cap
tivity, the decay and failure of the
ancient Egyptian. Babylonian, Grec1an
and Roman civilizations, the recent
German debacle and the fact that at
the present day in our Christian land
there are less than so per cent OF the
people communicates of any churcn
and 80 per cent Of the so-called church
members serve the devil and not God,
do YOU not think that Gods creation
is a failure? According to my view OF
things the devil is rapidly winning out.
Why?
A. Your list of catastrophes Is i'm
pressive, but not pertinent. What have
We to do with the death Of Abel, the
Deluge. the Confusion of Tongues, the
backSlidings of Israel, the Babylonlan
cantivity or the decay Of ancient en-
pires? In so far as these were actual
historic events they serve as admonl-
tions, but not as overtures for our own
downfall.
In touching on the German debacle
YOU get nearer the mark, especially II
YOU do not limit the debacle to Ger
many. She was by no means the only
nation guilty Of that stupendous be-
travail Of Gods Fatherhood by His own
children. You must have noted the re-
sultant hate Of war which has widely
prevailed in the public mind since 1918.
Why not call attention to 1t ana dlrect
your predictions toward its ultimate
triumph?
AS for the Christian churches, 1t is
quite true they have their depressing
aspects. But would you abolish them?
II so, what do you propose to substitute
in their place-the Democratic or Re
publican parties? Should the churches
obey their Lord and unite. do you not
think that the so per cent OF churchless
people to whom you implicitly refer
might assume a better attitude toward
religion? I believe. they would.
Moreover, with all their faults, these
churches have surely preserved Christ's
ideal Of the Church, and for its realiza-
ton they proclaim the redemption OF
mankind unto her founders purposes.
I wonder what statistics you have up
your sleeve, enabling you to say un-
qualifiedly that 80 per cent Of "so-called
church members serve the devil and not
God" It strikes me that none but God
or the devil can know whether such is
the case. Since it Is the unwholesorne
business of his satanic majesty to thus
accuse the brethren, why not leave 1t to
him and strive to fulfill the law OF
charity?
I utterly reject the idle notion that
evil Is winning out or that Gods crea-
ton Is a failure. This Is about the
| rawest atheism and crudeSt thinking
conceivable. Dismiss 1t from your mind
! and stop looking on life through eyes
colored by prejudice.