Torch of reason., June 28, 1900, Page 2, Image 2

T H E TORCH OF REA SO N , SIL V E R T O N , OREGON, JU N E 28, 1900.
for the favour of her param our, produced by thoughts, though dim
Says Mommsen, “ a wager m ight and confused, of this power with its
be made th a t the more lax a creative and sustaining and its de­
woman was, the more piously she structive forces, seem to me as
BY B. F. UNDERWOOD.
w orshipped Isis.” A Rom an youth fundam ental and a6 universal as
T he editor of the Free Church entreated H ercules to hasten the an y th in g we can discover in the re­
Record sends me a copy of I)r. Ab­ death of a rich uncle th a t he m ight ligions of the world. Dr. Abbot
bot’s essay on “ S ectarianism ,” or inherit his fortune. Today m ulti- says: “ In precise phrase U niversal
Inclusiveness and Exclusiveness in ' tudes continue in wrongdoing, he« S p iritu al Religion is the genus of
R eligion,” with a request th at I re­ lieving th a t by the C hristian atone- which Special H istorical Religions
m ent, by the death of C hrist, they are sim ply the various ‘species’ ”
view the work.
I recognize the earnest sp irit, th e will escape the n atu ral consequences This being so we can hardly more
ability and lofty thought of the of their crim es and vices. A bank- expect these different religious spe-
essay, and concur in its practical ru p t salvation scheme is the very, cies to come together in common
•coiclusions and main purpose, but essence of the C hristian theology, I work or for a common purpose than
I
I am not prepared to accept u n ­ Says Dr. SchafT (in the Princeton we can hope, th at the different spe-
qualifiedly the au th o r’s definition Review of September, 1879), “ The cies of the zoological world will tv er
of religion or all his theoretical negroes are very religious by na- co-operate in a common m oral aim .
ture, and infidelity is scarcely Yet we may indulge the hope th at
conceptions based thereon.
In stead of saying th a t religion, known am ong them , but their in the remote future the more a d ­
as it is known historically and sci­ m oral sense of honesty and chas­ vanced system s and the more en­
entifically, is “ actually living up­ tity is w eak.” Dr. W illis, Spin­ lightened sects of th e religious
w ard ” or is “ m an’s effort to perfect oza’s biographer, referring to the w orld—aud this is probably w hat
him self,” I am disposed to regard association of religion w ith crim e Dr. A bbot m eans— will unite in an
religion as an expression of m an’s and im m orality (as well as the effort to com bine the highest m or­
relation to the Cosmos, or to the highest m oral excellences), says: ality with the most ratio n al in te r­
“ The piety— the religion— displayed pretation of n atu ra l phenom ena,
Cause or Basis of all phenom ena.
Religion begins with m an’s feel­ is a perfectly tru th fu l m anifesta­ including the life and thought of
ing of dependence upon the power tion of the em otional elem ent in m an, though the patience of [a] god
which causes and sustains hum an the n atu re of m an, which seeks and is needed to base practical, effort on
life. Feeling precedes thought, and finds satisfaction in acts im plying the expectation of such a realiza­
it is prim ary in religion. I t is m ere­ intercourse with Deity, but neither tion. M eanwhile, the Free Church
ly anim al.
L ater come emotions seeks nor finds satisfaction in acts of Tacoma, and all other free re­
which result from reflection, from of honesty and virtuous life in the ligious societies, have sufficient rea­
recognition of the unseen cause or world. We have here an e x p la n a ­ son for their existence and for the
causes of phenom ena, with the cor­ tion of how it happens th a t our “ strenuous effort” to support their
responding impressions. As seen penitentiaries are filled with the work, in the urgent need of educa­
today, religion is fund am en tally a ' worst sort of crim inals, whose lives, tive and directive influence during
predisposition to worship, to rever­ prior to the detection of their the present transition from the theo­
ence the unseen cause of phe­ crim es, were characterized by em ­ logical to the scientific, ethical and
nom ena; and secondarily, a body inent piety and a strict regard for rational stage of th o u g h t.— [Free
Church Record.
or system of doctrine in regard to religious observance.”
Often religious belief is strong,
the unseen and unknow n. Ac­
cording to the doctrine of evolu­ and religious feeling, the devotional For the Torch of Reason.
Church U nity.
tion, religion, both as a predispo­ disposition, is dom inant in persons
sition and as a belief, is experiential whose m oral nature is but little
BY F. S. MATTESON.
— is a product of observation and developed or perverted.
Says Lange: “ U nusual piety is
reflection, and also of heredity. If
The Legal Adviser of May, 1900,
m an was evolved from the anim al, iu the popular eyes either genuine
there was a time when m an was saintship or a wicked cloak for all printed in Chicago, 111., contains
without religion, or when his relig­ tb a t is vile. For the psychological an article on “ Lines of Church
ion was indistinguishable from the subtlety of the m ixture of genuine U nity,” which appears to me to be
feelings and thoughts of the ap e­ religious em otion with coarseselfisli- a good subject to quote and com-
like creature from which he as­ ness and vicious habits, th e o rd in a ry ment on.
m ind has no ap p reciatio n .” T h at
“ The Rev. Algernon Crapsey,
cended.
W hether religion is universal which is universal in religion is not, rector of St. A ndrew ’s (P ro t. E pis.)
am ong men today depends, as L u b ­ it seems to me, thinking, feeling and church, Rochester, N. Y., is the
bock observes, upon the definition living upw ard, so much as the re- au th o r of a pam phlet on church
cognition of power above m an and unity, in an appendix to which he
given to religion.
F ear and desire to escape the beyond his control, to w h i'h ’ ? form ulates the lines along which
pains and perils of life were most sustains a relation of dependence, he believes such union m ight, and
prom inent in the early religious Religion is but one of the m any should, proceed. These lines are
life of man. L ater the moral n a ­ elem ents which unite to com plete quoted, with approbation, in the
ture and with it the social ideals the complex n atu re of m an; and ‘Ascension Record,’ the editor of
and the higher moral and spiritual the extent to which it infuses or is which is the Rev. Percy G ran t, sec-
asp iration appeared. These were intim ately associated with m oral retary and com panion of Bishop
m erely “ p o ten tial” iu prim itive thought, feeling and conduct, is Potter in a recent oriental to u r.'
m an. W hen religion is defined by determ ined by the moral develop- They are as follows:
M atthew A rnold
as “ m orality m ent and education of individuals
“ F irst. S ubordination of the
touched by em otion,” or by M ar- and nations. If man is an evolved Official organization of the church,
tineau as the “ cu lm in atin g m erid­ product of the m odifications of low- from the highest to the lowest of
ian of m orals,” or by Abbot as the er forms of life, both m orality and its m em bers, to the church itself,
“ effort of m an to perfect him self,” religion have existed in every stage as practiced in the prim itive
the higher aspects of religion only of prograss; and both m ust have church, as decreed by the W estern
are considered. Neither in thought been developed from conditions Church in the Council of Constance,
nor in conduct are religion and which are regarded as unm oral and and as affirmed by the principles of
m orality necessarily connected. In unreligious.
the P rotestant R eform ation.”
ancient Rome the thief prayed for
A feeling of weakness, of depend-
Here is direct legislation: Church
success in his contem plated crim e ence upon the power m anifested iu governm ent by and of the people.
and the adulteress im plored Venus , the world, and later the em otions The priestly, autocratic regime of
Dr. Abbot’s
Definition
hgion.
of
Re.
m odern C h ristian ity appears to be
wearing out and to need m ending,
and the second proposition points
to the patch to put on.
“ Second. The pastoral, rath er
th an the priestly, conception of the
m in istry .”
T h at is, more of a feeding care­
taker and less of a shearing “ boss.”
It would appear th a t the “ sheep”
are beginning to th in k . And then
the Rev. Algernon Crapsey, rector,
etc., gets off th is surprising propo­
sition as his “ th ird ly .”
‘ T h ird . T he statem ent of C hris­
tian doctrine so th a t it will be in
accord with the facts of the visible
universe, as these are discovered
and form ulated by the process of
inductive th o u g h t.”
Here is an adm ission th a t C hris­
tian doctrine does not accord with
the facts of the visible universe.
C onsequently, either th eir Bible is
not “ inspired,” or else they, or
their God, has made a blunder
which it has become necessary to
rectify. B ut if C hristians accept
the views of F reeth in k ers, the la t­
ter will not object. B ut the
“ fo u rth ly ” of the Rev. Algernon
Crapsey is a stunner.
“ F o u rth .
T he
statem ent
of
C hristian doctrine so th a t it will
not conflict with the great prim al
instincts of the hu m an heart, the
in stin cts for justice, mercy and
tru th . No m an will be compelled
to believe such a doctrine as th a t
of everlasting punish m en t as tau g h t
by St. A ugustine, or th e doctrine
of predestination as tau g h t by John
C alvin.”
This is Secularism , pure and
sim ple, as far as it goes. But
please note the adm ission th at
“ C hristian doctrine” does “conflict
w ith the great prim al instincts of
the hum an h eart (m ind), the in­
stinct for justice, mercy and tru th .”
Aud the “ d o ctrin e” of the “ fall of
m a n ” is a fraud. The “ doctrine”
of “ to tal d e p ra v ity ” is a deception
and a snare; and all th is “ redem p­
tio n ” preachee-preachee is only a
“ dam ned barren ideality.” Surely
these preachers should be “ a class
of meu widely renowned for breadth
of cheek and strength of gall.
T ru ly , the n a tu ra l “ great primal
in stin cts of the hum an heart
(m ind) are for justice, mercy and
tru th , and alw ays were and are so
wherever the pernicious and de­
m oralizing “ C hristian doctrine”
has not perverted them . C hristi­
anity has m uch to answ er for.
But the Rev. A lgernon C rapsey’s
“ fifthly” is a paralyzer.
“ F ifth. Absolute intellectual free­
dom w ithin the church (w ait a
m om ent, please, till I catch m y .
breath), so th a t every opinion shall
have a hearing (rest) and be taken
for w hat it is w’o rth ; (hear, hear!)
to have the force of its au th o r’s
personal character, learning and
wisdom; (bravo, bravo!) and to es­
tablish itself by its own tru th fu l­
ness or not at all.” (G reat ap ­
plause.)