THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, TH U RSD A Y , DECEMBER 9, 1897.
C h ristian Inconsistency.
----------~
E ditor T orch of R eason :
odd to the orthodox. One of the
conclusions to which it im pels its
.
..
believers is that m atter eternally
I nearly always attend the Union existed. Now the eternity of m at-
Sunday School at this place, ami ter is a notion which leads directly
today I thought I would stay for to the doors of Atheism. 1 he idea
preaching and write it up for the
},n eternal universe is incom-
T orch . The preacher is a young patible with the idea of an eternal
fellow and a Baptist. His sermon God, the co-eternity or even co-ex-
was on the love of Christ for the i«t**nce of a “ stupendous whole,”
fallen.
with anything else, am ounting to
He said that if we were in a large an im possibility.
'I he universe
city, say Portland, we would see ’Hay be an intelligent being— which
th a t the C hristians tu rn their backs of course, may receive nam es by
upon the poor and outcast nearly 1 he score; hut it is impossible th at
every time; th a t they would look there can be a God in, out of, or
out for the soul of the wife o f the ap art from the universe. The
president of the United States, but whole includes the whole, and is
the soul of a beggar or an outcast the whole, or there is no sense in
from society would he of no account language; vet, in trie teeth of th at
in the eyes of the average Christian truism — a trui-m standing m no
He said: “ Suppose a girl from more need of proof than the tru ­
R espectfully invite you to visit
the slum s should come here to T u r­ ism th a t a triangle is not a square
th e ir estab lish m en t and con­
ner today; how m any of v«»u peo­ -pantheists gravely assure us
vince yourself th at they are
ple who call yourselves C hristians m atter is the body, God is the
show ing the greatest line of
would go to her and help h e r to a soul, of the universe, which am ounts
< General M erchandise in Marion
better life? Not one of you. You just to this: m atter is everywhere;
county at popular prices.
would turn your hacks upon her God, though not m atter is every­
Mail orders given p ro m p t a tte n tio n ._
and keep out of her way.
There where too.
would bedozensof excuses for your
I he ablest w riter m ay be defied
Yours to Please
not helping her: people would to m ake clear a philosophy which
laugh at you; people would talk; is obscure by nature. Such a sub­
people would think it strange th at ject is pantheism . It is neces­
Silverton, Oregon.
you would have anything to do sarily obscure, because based on
with such a person.”
pi inciples purely assum ptive ami
The average C hristian looks up­ dark as assum ptive. It is neces­
on the soul of the well dressed per­ sarily absurd, beeause all its con­
son as worth saving, hut the beggar clusions are draw n from premises
- dealers in -
at the gate receives no attention. positively false, or, at best, purely
There was an instance of this, here, im aginary. It is necessarily tnis-
lig h t after church was over. A chevious, because falsehood is in ­
man was found on the street who variably so. Pantheism
is, in
was deal and dum b, out of work, tru th , a senseless su p erstitio n ; and
Corner Main and W ater Streets,
and hungry. The Sunday school pantheists may, w ithout injustice,
SILV E R T O N , O R E.
boys and men on the street gather­ he ranged in two great sections—
ed around and laughed and jeered one of honest sim pletons, .the other
at him , but did not offer to help of dishonest A theists.—[C. South-
\
him. 'fhe ex-m inister of the M eth­ well, in Freethinker.
odist church, who had heard the
DEALERS IN
sermon th at morning, passed him
Resolutions.
without a word. At last an unbe­
liever gave him a nickel, and a n ­
The following resolutions were
AG RICULTURAL IM P L E M E N T S
other gave him twenty cents. One adopted at the regular m eeting of
of the Infidels of T urner took him
th e executive board of the 0 S. S. <iuns, Fishing Tackle, Cutlery, Sporting Goods, Etc.,
home and gave him a dinner. As
U. last S unday:
SILVERTON, OREGON.
he was going along the street he
W hereas , death has claim ed as
met another Infidel. “ Where are
you going with that m an ?’ asked its victim our esteemed friend and I
the second Infidel. “ The C hristians co-worker. Mr. Robert H. Scott, ;
have throw n off on him, and I am vice-president of the Oregon S tatel
taking him home to get some d in ­ Secular Union, and,
” heheas , we deeply feel the loss !
ner.” said the first Infidel. “ T ..........
h a t’
just the way with the C hristians,” froni our ranks of one so earnest
said the other.
and honest in the work for m ental
So I don’t think the sermon this Jiberty, and in every p u rsu it of
m orning had much effect on the life5 ° ne w,»o was respected by all,
C hristians of this town.
n" m atter of w hat belief, therefore
U I). M.
be Jt
W e W ill Do It For You
A. Wolf & Son
A. W OLF & SON
C u s ite r & D a v e n p o rt
M
erchandise
Hicks & Ames.
Hard w are^T in w are, Stoves,
kl
Secularists
anybody
SEND US YOUR JOBWORK
Turner, Ore., Dec. 5, 1 ’7.
Pantheism .
All are bat p arts of one stupendous
Whose body nature is, and God the
8 oul ’ )
I op«* s Essay on Man.
Popes authority, then, is in
favor of the idea th at nature is the
universes body, ami God is its
soul. Odd doctiine. Alarm ing as
R esolved , that w e, the E x ecu tiv e
Board of the Oregon S tate Secular
I «don, do hereby tender our sincere
sym pathy to th e bereaved relatives
and friends in their great loss* and
**
urther
R esolved , th a t a copy o f th ese
resolutions he spread on the books
<«f the secretary, a copy forwarded
to the wife of the deceased, and a
copy given to the T orch or R eason
for publication.
Neatly, Quickly, and
For Less Money
\\e ^ -
Than You can Get It E lsew here.
P rint A nything
Etc.