Christian herald., March 28, 1884, Page 4, Image 4

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sorts of card-playing. From whist
to betting is but a step ; and when
_ once that step is taken the worst
sort of gambling is likely soon to
follow. Those parents who permit
..L the inirndur.tinn nf„cards tn thr.ir
premises may soon learn that their
sons visit gambling houses f<5r the
most dangerous sort of amusement.”
Total abstinence from card playing,
as well as drinking, is the safest
rule everywhere. Christian par­
ents particulaPiy should not allow
cards to entecjheir dwellings ; and
if found there they should go into
the fire with no special ceremony.
— --’Th s Independent.
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Missionary Column.
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much prefer to look at them in panying letter to the Treasurer
’• their rugged grandeur, defects and authorizing him to use,for building
in Albany so much of the money
all.— The Interior.
as remains after meeting our, other
C ard P laying .—Just as the obligations. I think no better use
twig is bent the tree is inclined. could be made of our money than
Just when young people begin to thus to help this mission to a house
“ amuse themselves ” in playing and thus to early put it on a per­
whist they enter the down-hill path manent basis, and thereby the
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MISSIONARY BOARD.
Church of Christ in Oregon.
W. H. Adams, Portland......... ............. President.
Leo. Willis, Salem..,................ .Vice-President.
’ Mrs. Belle P. Walker, Forest Grove, Rec. Sec.
J. G. Davidson, Portland..................... Treasurer.
J, W. Spriggs, Salem................... Cor. Secretary.
All communications relating to the employ­
ment of evangelists, protracted meetings, co­
operation in securing pastoral work, etc. all
pledges of assistance with requests for the
same, and all business properly coming Before
the Board will be addressed to the Cor. Sec­
retary All collection«, payments of pledges,
etc., will be addressed to the Treasurer.
Brethren.
The time for taking the second
quarterly collection for missions is
near at hand, namely : The first
Sdnday in April. Will not every
church that has made a pledge be
prompt with this collection ? And
will not all the churches that have
not pledged take a collection and
forward the amount of the same to
I. G. Davidson, Portland.
Circumstances are such that it
* becomes a necessity to have a
church house in Albany. A lot
has been secured and a subscription
is being circulated at Albany and
at other points to raise money to
build with. Now I would like to
suggest to the brethren everywhere
that this may be read, that you aid
this enterprise to the extent of your
ability.
As Bro. Cheetham has stopped
work, and as there are now no
obligations of the Board but to
Albany and Forest Grove; it might
be well for all who send in their
April collections to write an accom-
J. W. S priggs , Cor. Sec.
Salem, March 19, 1884.
Original Contributions.
IS THERE A GOD ?
A. r. TERRELL.
When man walks forth, on a
beautiful spring morning, into the
green, pastures,. .dotted....here.....anil,
there with, lovely shade trees, under
which grow wild flowers, and in
whose branches sing sweet birds,
he is apt to ask himself, Who ma*tt\
all these things? Who mad« the
earth and carpeted it with this
living green? Who made the
beautiful flowers, ranked their
tribes and breathed into them such
delicious breath ? Who made the
little birds, plumed their wings,
tuned their hearts, painted their
breasts and caused them to sing so
sweetly ? And as he looks into
the distance around him and above
him, he asks, Who reared the
mountains, rocks, the oceans, and
propells the sun in his course ? To
all of which . interrogations the
Christian philosopher answers—
G od . But, says the enquirer,
What evidence have you of the ex­
istence of such a being ? To satis­
fy this enquirer the philosopher
says:
1. From nothing nothing comes.
But something is, therefore some­
thing must always have existed
and that always existing some­
thing, from which all else sprang
as an effect, the Christian calls
God. The being that made this
earth, filled its store house with so
many riches and gave it to man for
a home, and then decorated the
heavens with so many lights to
guide him in his wanderings here
is worthy of our highest admira­
tion.
2. In the second place, one of the
qualities of matter is inertia, i. e.,
matter has not the power to move
itself. But it does move, as is seen
in the movements of the several
planets, and the query arises, What
put them in motion ? If I lay a
ball Or a stone upon the earth it
will stay there forever, unless some
putside pressure is brought to bear
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ijgjn it. Why ? Simply because
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it has not the power in itself to
move itself. If then matter has
not the power to move itself, and
yet it does move. What moves it ?
What put it in motion? That
which moves the earth, rocks, the
oceans, uplifts the mountains and
propells the moon and stars in
pher calls G od . T o start all of
these things in motion, and keep
them going, took infinite wisdom
and power. What but an all
powerful hand could have scooped
tains, turned the earth on its axis
and swung the sun in the heavens ?
And who but an Allwise Being
could direct all of these planets so
as not to Tiring about a collision,
without the ringing of a bell or the
blowing of a whistle ?
3. There is an argument in favor
of the existence of a God in the
adaptations of things. Look, for
example, at the human frame.
Study man in all of his parts. See
him as he stands before you in
physiology and anatomy. See him
as lie stands before you in skeleton
form. How complicated is the
whole, yet how perfectly adapted
are the pieces for the use which
they serve, how beautifully adapted
one to the other, and every one to
all' When we look at man as he
lives and walks and talks before us,
we Are forced to, the conclusion that
he is the product of intelligence.
But intelligence implies mind, and
mind implies a person. Now, the
mind that so harmoniously adjusted
all the parts of man, and every
part to all is God—God who is
without beginning of days or end
of life. ’
Not only are the various parts of
man adapted to each other, but he
is beautifully adapted to the world
around him, and it to him. The
air is just suited to his vital organs,
water to his thirst, light to his
eyes, sound to his ear, &c. To thus
adapt man to nature and nature to
man required infinite wisdom and
power.
4. Intelligence. There is in in
telligence or mind an argument for
the existence of a God. Whence
came intellect, sensibilities and
volition ? Did intelligence spring
from non-intelligence ? Did sensi­
bilities spring from a thing without
sensibilities ? And did volition
come from non-volition, or a thing
that had no will power ? The in­
tellect, sensibilities, and volition in
man points us beyond and above
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man to a mind that is over all
mind, and the source whence comes
all intelligence.
5. The earth and the Bible both
exhibit marks of design. Then
they must have had a Designer.
On any other hypothesis, how ean
you account for thé gold, silver,
copper, iron, coal and water found
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for the fruits, flowers and vege­
tables that grow out of the earth ?
Were they not all designed for the
good and happiness of man ?
Again, on what other hypothesis
..Gan yoJi.ncconnkfar the unity and-..-
harmony, the simplicity, and at the
same time* for the absolute incom­
prehensibility and the superior
morality of the Scriptures ? How
will you account for the superna­
tural character of Christ, the exis-
tence, history and prevalence of the
Christian religion, the plain and
unmistakable fulfilled prophecy,
and, finally, how shall you account
for the harmony of the Bible with
the progress and discoveries of
modern science and philosophy, if
you reject the argument that the
Bîble is inspired—tfiat it, came
from God ? “ Concede that this •
wonderful volume is the inspired
Word of God, then all that follows
is plain, simple and rational. The
facts and other recorded phenomena
are just such as we_ might reason­
ably expect.”
”6: The idea ¿f God inihTwdfH
whence came it ? According to the
teachings of both heathen and
Christian philosophers, it would
have been impossible for man to
have originated or created the idea
of God. Whence then came the
idea ? Why, if man could not have
originated it, God must have spoken
to him, and thus revealed himself
to the world; The very fact, then,
that the idea of God is prevalent
among men is proof that there is
such a being.
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7. “ The fool hath said in his
heart, there is no God.” Why ?
Simply because there is no connec­
tion between his soul and God.
His soul is all out of tune. • God’s
thoughts, emotions and words find
no responsive cord in his brerst.
He is out of harmony with God,
and hence cannot find him out. It
is known to musicians, that if two
violins and tuning forks are tuned
in harmony with each other and
placed close together that both will
sound by simply striking one of
them. If you draw a bow across .
one violin, or strike one fork tho
other violin or fork will respond,