Year: 1878

doubts to which l refer relate to que


tions that affect both the religious an


the social order.


Take the subject of religion. The tim


was when the masses had implicit fait


in the Church. Its authority was absc


lutte. Its teachings were regarded as il


fallible That was generally true G


Catholic countries. In Protestant cour


tries the time was when all had implici


faith in the Bible 1T was regarded a


plenarily inspired and as absolutely in


fallible. Its authority was final. N


one thought of questioning its teachings


The heather world universally believe,


in the presence and protection of tn


gods. When Christianity supplantet


paganism, theism took the place of poly


theism, and all believed in the presenc


and power and ruling providence of on


living God All minds believed in a fu


ture world of rewards and punishments


Take the question of government. Th'
time was when the masses believed in thu
divine right of kings and rulers. AnC


when more liberal forms Of government
appeared and the people were permitted


some share in choosing representative!


and in forming laws, they still believed


in the divine principles of right-tha


governments rested upon these divine


principles and were set for their defense


Now, it is almost impossible to over


estimate the power of these religious ano


social beliefs over the popular mind. As


long as the people believed, without any


shadow of doubt, in the authority of the


Church they would yield obedience to


that authority they would accept as


true what the Church told them. AS
long as the people believed implicitly in
the infallibility and authority of the
Bible, they would accept its teachings as
the end of controversy in matters of doc.
trine and duty. As long as they believed
in the existence and providence Of God,
the power of that belief was felt to the
profoundest depths of their being AS
long as they believed in future state,
the power of that belief was felt both as
a restraint from wrong and a consolation
believed in the divine principles of right
ment were secure They rested not alone
nor mainly upon the kings or rulers, but
upon principles that were eternal and
interchangeable. Thus it appears that the
stability of both religion and government
in the past have rested upon the two
pillars of faith and authority. A closer
analysis will show that the authority
rested upon the faith; so that, outside of
pure despotisms, the whole social order
may be said to rest upon the faiths or
beliefs of the people.


Let US now inquire if there are indica-
tions that the public mind is drifting
away from these old foundations. Let
us look first at the philosophical and re-
ligious phase of the subject.


NTH Tho h;rbo, or5ore n
thought, both in Europe and in our own
land we observe first the growth of the
material philosophy. This philosophy
denies the existence Of spirit or mind in
any other sense than as result of the
changes produced in matter. II denies
all intuitional perceptions; denies all
knowledge except what is learned
through the senses and through expert
ence; denies any such thing as right in
itself; denies any other foundation for
right except utility. 1t denies the super
1t denies or, at least, fails to
affirm-the conscious existence of the
soul after death. Life may continue on
the earth. The life-forces that animate
Us now may continue to exist in some
form; but we shall not exist as individu-
ais after death. If it does not explicitly
deny the existence of a living God, it
fails to affirm such existence,
and gives US only nature, or the system
Of nature, in its stead.


Another fact that we observe is the
growth of rationalism and positivism. A
proper rationalism, or the proper use of
'eason in religion, can certainly do no
aarm, but must be Of great value; but
that begins by laying the
foundations of all knowledge in sensa-
ion and experience, and thus denies the
very foundations on which higher rea-
son and spirituality rest, and then in
'ists upon the exclusion of all the higher
principles of truth and right, and insists
1pon the rejection of every thing that
cannot be certified by the senses or dem
onstrated by its form of reason, reducing
to the narrow domain Of
oositivist's philosophy-sucha rational
sm is at once destructive of a spiritual
'aith and of all inspiration, and rules out
,he whole world of the supernatural.
Such are the undoubted tendencies and
inal results Of materiaiism, rationalism,
md positivism.


And still another thing to be noted in
he tendencies of our times is the growth
IF science and criticism, and the gradual
of what was, perhaps, an over
confidence in the literal and critical in
allibility of the Bible This has come
n many ways. First there was the con-
lct between the Catholic Church and
;he later views of astronomy, in which
the Church was beaten and the old geo
centric theory of the earth had to be
given up. Then came the science Of ge
ology and pal@ontology, unfolding the
method of creation and demanding
longer time in which the earth was Gre
lted and an earlier date for the appear
ance of man in the world than our chro-
nology allows; and we have had to shape
our Interpretation of Genesis to suit the
new theories of science. And now the
doctrine of evolution is pressing its
claims, with fair chance of soon being
accepted. Meantime, questions
Of history and criticism have arisen as to
the authorship of some of the books in
the Bible, and as to the dates of the
books and the authority of the councils
that composed our present canon-ad-
mitting some books and excluding others.
And, along with all this the demand has
arisen for a new translation of the Bible
Eminent scholars have admitted that the
mistakes and inaccuracies in our present
were such as to not only jus-
tify, but to demand a new translation
And along with all this we have had the
painful fact of so many different parties
and angry controversies in the Church as
to the real meaning of the Scriptures.
Now, all this has had tendency to
weaken the confidence Of the masses in
the authority of the Bible, and, hence,
also in the authority of religious teach
ings. These things may not and 1 sup
pose do not in any serious way affect
thoughtful audience, such as this, or the
more intelligent public We can see how
it may be that the Church has been mis-
taken in its teachings on many points,
and how it may be that there are mis-
l. i I -. -.