Torch of reason., September 29, 1898, Image 1

TOBCH OF
VOL. 2.
L earn of N atu re.
SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1898.
NO. 38.
the fountain of (be Godhead. The Problem of R eligious C o n tra d ic ­ a t e ancient, the witnesses are dead,
H oly Ghost issues from the Son,
tio n s .
but their w ritings rem ain .”
R E V IS E D FOR T H E TO RCH .
___
because in the Godhead there is
“ Be it so,’’ replied the legislator,
BY
C.
F.
VOLXEY.
'
v T o i I L E pondering o ’er th e <” )ly one beginning, one cause, by
“ but if they contradict each other,
Y* , W
m an y creeds, it seem ed
which all th a t is in the Godhead is
Chiefs ami doctors of m ankind ! who shall reconcile th em ?”
V h-iC-t- < » A changing scene ap- pro()uced f ,,.
*
* *
N
'
peared as if I d ream ed,
«-tv.
n u w , You rem ark how the nations, living
“.Just judge,” cried one of the
H em m ed in w ith strong i f w e attem p t to give some definite
apart, have hitherto followed dif­ stan d ard s, “ the proof th a t our wit-
and tow ering walls
m
eaning
to
the
words
Ghost,
F
attier,
th ere rang
ferent palhs, each believing its own
have seen the tru th is, th a t
A voice of m illions as they loudly san g : S on, G odhead, fountain, issue, im ­
they died to confirm iCT and our
“ St. 1’e te r is o u r rock, we can n o t f a il;
to be that of tru th .
If. however,
age,
resting,
power,
reflected,
per­
’G ain st us th e gates of hell can n o t p re­
faith is sealed by th e blood of
sonal product, m outh, connection, I lr u th is one, and opinions are vari-
vail.
m arty rs.”
We say in words w h at o th ers say in it will im m ediately appear th a t the j oup’
evident that some are in
deeds,
“ And ours, too,” said the other
such vast num bers
•Our creed is rig h t, h u t w rong all o th er whole becomes mere sound, unpic-j e rro r‘
stan d ard s; “ we have thousands of
c re ed s.’
turahle
in
thought.
The
reasoning,
i
aie
in
the
wrong,
who
shall
This is o u r th em e, our never-ceasing
m artyrs w h o have died in the m ost
also, is som ething astounding. A drtre ,o SH.V, I am in the right ? ’
song,
excruciating torm ents, w it bout ever
‘O ur ch u rch is r ig h t; o u r c h u rch was
Begin, therefore, by being indulgent
issues
from
B
because
there
is
only
never w ro n g .’ ”
denying the tru th .”
Let us all
one b e g in n in g in C. A gain, A is in your dissensions.
Then the C h ristian s of every sect,
The scene was changed, a n d o th er
Œe personal product of B, belong-
<r»«h « . if
tbe Io(Jiani) |h e
th ro n g s were nigh,
Each p arty fenced in walls both strong C ing to, but not out of D, because it
,e •’!>' n ‘o,,!' " | ," cl' t0 «»«s _ «lay j Hpane8e>
q{
and h igh.
produces F.
h a \e governed the world, oiiginat-
Each m u ltitu d e on teachers did depend, is E which produces
confessors, m artyrs, penitents, etc.
Who w alked th e walls each fortress to
All this inde finite. unthinkable ing from chance, propagated in ob­
Ar.d one of these parties, having
defend.
,
Alas! w hat clashing creeds w ith erro r l a n g u a g e , p e r f e c tly u se le s s fo r a n y scurity, adm itted ' w ithout discus­ denied the
m artyrology of the
frau ght
intellectual purpose, is most efliea- sion, accredited by a love of novel­ others: “ W ell,” said they, “ we will
W hat hase tra d itio n s from th e pagans
and im itation, have usurped
brought!
"
| cious in the production of emotion. ty
.. •
. .
, ,
then die ourselves to prove the
A las! w hat tru stin g dupes th e teachers During ihe time these worthy th o th e.r em pire in a clandestine man-1 | n | , h <)f our
le d !
And in stan tly a crowd of men,
A h! w hat vile, unclean food to flocks lo g ian s w ere s ittin g in in c u b a tio n ner. It is time, if they are well
was fed
founded,
to
give
a
solemn
stam
p
to
of
every religion and of every sect,
over this production, nothing could
And y et, from every p a rty rolled the
exceed, no doubt, in volume Ihe their certainty, and legitimize their presented them selves to suffer the
song,
Let us summon them torm ent8 of d e a th - M any even he-
“ O u r c h u rc h is r ig h t; o u r ch u rch was ! em otional flow of awe a n d sole m- existence.
• i
. . y . , let. J i gan • to , tear , their , arm
n ev er w rong.
.
. . . .
to a g en eral . s c ru tin
, s, ’ and to . , heat .
, nity, and in this result we recognize tins <lav
"
,
their heads and breasts, w ithout
The scene w as c h a n g e d ; I saw before me
41 , A • ,i .
i
,
gtan(1
6
its theological use. In theological each piopound his creed, let the discovering any sym ptom of pain,
One w ithout open bible in his h a n d .
language such a m ixture of mi- whole assem bly be the judge, and j But the legislator, preventing
W ith e a rn e st face from N a tu re ’s book
i
„.„„ j .
„ h i « i-
tie read
; th in k a b , le
w o rd s is called
h ig h , let th a t alone he acknowledged as them —“ 0 , m e n !’’ said he, “ hear
my words with patience. I f you
And th en in tones of flrrnness spoke and holy and m ysterious tru th .” We true which is so for the whole die to prove t h a t two and two make
“ I read from out this book not writ by | sb o u ld a lw a y B b,-a r
f i n d that h u m a n race.
four, will your death add anyth in g
Then,
by
order
of
position,
the
to this tru th ? ”
m an ,
this word “ t r u t h ” has a very differ-
“ No,” answered all.
nrrnr
1
' e n ’ m e a n in g in theology from w h at representative of the first stan d ard
vi I’M I f..r,
<111 •
“ And if you die to prove th a t
’M idst all th is din, w hat better<‘an we do j it h a s in science.
In science tru th on the left was allowed to speak.
they
m ake five, will th a t make
T han read am i search th is volum e i „ .
. .
. . .
“ You are not perm itted to doubt,”
through and through?
| " ieanB a M atem en l g iv in g a co rrect
them five ? ”
said
th
eir
chief,
“
th
at
our
doctrine
It teaches us alw ays to live a rig h t,
representation of facts; in theology
Again they all answered, “ No.”
And e ’e r sh u n cruel s u p e rs titio n ’s night. ! t r u t h m e a n s a s t a t e m e n t s u p p o s e d is the only true and infallible one.
“ W hat, then, is your persuasion
' sotm-11'
ln- n t v r 't.i.iiig | O pe jn accordance with the reve- F irst, it is revealed by God him- to prove, if it changes not the ex-
N atu re is r ig h t; h e r teach in g s never lation “ accepted” and the creed self—”
istence of things? Truth is one
w rong.
“clung to. ’ In fact, theology and
“So is o u rs,” cried all the other your persuasions are various; m any
. . .
.
I of you, therefore are in error. Now
science do not speak tin* same la n ­
stan
d
ard
s,
and
you
are
not
per-
¡j man> a g jg evident, can persuade
guage
T heological R easo n ing.
T his fact, if remembered, will ex- m itted to doubt it.”
him self of error, what is the per-
by JOHN w il s o n .
plain m any things w hich otherwise
“ But at least,” said the legislator, | suasion of man to prove?
In the year 1875 there assem bled are not to
accounted for. A “you m ust prove it, for we can not
“ I f error has its m arty rs, what
a num ber’ of ecclesiastics in Bonn ’¡1<‘ol,, 'gT ' 7 ' ' 1.1 a PI'‘"-en. faith in believe w hat we do not know .”
is the sure criterion of tru th ?
.1 n u m o c r OI CCGICPIMSUUH Hl jm h iii . the trllth of jlls statem ents, pro-
u
. . .
„
“ If the evil spirit works m iracles,
The object of their meeting was to claim s to his hearers th a t an infi-
O ur doctrine is proved, rep lied wh a t is the distinctive character of
find a solution to the question, How nitely good God has prepared two the first stan d ard , “ by num erous God?
can the differences in the creeds places — one of torture and one of facts, hv a m ultitude of m iracles, “ Besides, why resort forever to
“ clung t o ” by the E astern and delight. Into the first he has de- by resurrections
of the dead, by incom plete and insufficient mir-
Instead of changing the
Western churches be so adjusted U ™ ofethe°hum 7n'race,' and ¡"nto rivers d r‘(ed UP> G mountains re- acles?
course of nature, why not rath e r
as to allow a practical reconcile- the second a select few. D uring moved —
change opinions?
W hy m urder
nient?
These grave theologians eternity the m ajority will be gnash-
“ And we also have num berless
and terrify men, instead of in stru ct­
spent m any days in solemn prayer ’’ig th eir teeth with anguish, while m iracles,” cried all the others, and ing and correcting them ?
“ O, credulous hut opinionated
and m editation and in deep confer- ’,.1® fe? i ’111. 6®
th « praises each began to recount the most in-
m ortals I none of uh know what
ence together. No doubt th e flow ¡nfinHe goodliet*. If we fo„ ow the ^ b l e things.
was done yesterday, w hat is doing
of em otion was copious, all of them preacher and his hearers home
Ih e ,r nJ,racle8» sa,d the first today even under our eyes; and we
feeling the im mense im portance and from the church, we shall find them stan d ard , “ are im aginary, or the swear to w h at was done two thou
the trem endous responsibility of ’n half an hour a t lunch, eating fictions of the evil spirit, who has sand years a g o !
their position. The results o f'th eir a,.'d .d rin l‘i" 8 an d («»ghing over delude.! them .”
”Oh the weakness and yet th e
united efforts were at length com- fp 'olc.us Kr.w ,p
Did we im agine
<.Tlley are yours,” said the others, p n d e of men ! 1 he laws of n atu re
imiieu en n s
r
i gui co
the preacher and his hearers to be- u ,
J
v «re unchangeable and profound —
m unicated to the world, and among Reve, in the scientific sense, in the
a * ar< im aginary;
ami each our Injn(j s are full of illusion and
these we find the following lan- tru th of these statem ents, what we gr°up, speaking of itself, cried out: frivolity — and yet we would com-
guage, em bodying the conclusion “l,<H,ld conclude would be th a t they
“ None hut ours are tru e; all the prebend everything — determ ine
they arrived at as to the origin and
all, be P1« " « '''1 *""> inconsol- others are false.”
everything ! Forgetting th a t it is
s “ H oly Ghost ” -T h a t i ' ' 1"
a " <J,t<-rr<’r- Bu‘ how dif‘
The legislator (hen asked, “ H ave ®a"!er for «b« » b °>« b» m aa
n atu re of the
11
ferent from this, a* we have seen,
.. .
c
be in error, th an to change the na-
th e H oly ( ihost issues from the i* t h e a c tu a i f a c t! — [T h o u g h ts on 5 ° “ 1’vir.g w itnesses of the facts ? tUre of theiiinalleat atom.”—{Ruins
F ath er, as the beginning, the cause, j Science.
, “ No,” replied they all; “ the facts of Em pires.