Show THE fAM l y C I DISSATISFACTION OF OI DOUBT f BY MADISON C C. C PETERS I believe in things ne new not new not new in inthe inthe inthe the sense of novelty but new in the sense Of bf freshness freshness fresh fresh new now methods and modern moden applications I believe in iu thin things s old not old oldin in the sense of ancient but old in the sense of pr primary mary fundamental et eternal stability ity of basis basis conser conservative progress Tennyson truly says sars II There Ii lives ves more faith in doubt than half the creeds But not every doubter is necessarily a truth seeker even though doubting is an essential part palt in inthe inthe inthe the process of finding truth Every honest honest honest hon hon- est doubt must sooner or lat r give Q way to a sense o of 01 sureness Tennyson did not mean rest in jn doubt he meant an honest doubt that was bent upon inquiry and was open to conviction He fought his doubts and gathered strength He would not make his hs judgment blind He faced tho the specters of his mind And laid them laid them thus he be came at length To find a stronger faith than his own And power w was s with him in the night Which makes the darness and the light I And dwells not in the light alone I I God Gods God's S 'S work is equally past finding out in in the apple drawn ea earthward in inthe inthe inthe the grain of sand in the precious gem in in the drop of water in the electric spark in the beam of light Exact knowledge of anything anything- is impossible There is enough mystery said Linnaeus Lin I in a handful of moss to give one a lifetimes lifetime lifetimes lifetime's s 's study At every step sten in his studies the scientist is charmed with increasing knowledge but he be is still stillmore more fascinated with I ble mystery The man who waits for logic to o settle settIe his convictions for him will have to die dio without b believing lievin any any- thing Some men deb debate te in order that they may not decide If you will not take the one step that is is made clear you cannot know the part of the way that lies in the shadow B By doing doino the duty that lies nearest will ever brin ring oring you to the next duty Doing you rou shall shan know kno Christianity is not merely ecstatic fervor fervor it it is life If you want to know 1 the certainty of these these- things you must put them in practice If you wish t to find out whether a machine will work you sot it If you want to know whether a coat will fit you put it on If you wish to actualize God obey him At Reigate England in the spacious spacious spa spa- spacious cious grounds rounds of the ancient priory there is a tree which is known as the tho II tree tree of decision Under it stood Lady Henr Henry Somerset in the d darkest hour of her life the very foundations seemed seemed- to be bo giving way She was struggling with the awful question Is there a a. God 1 when there came to her hera a message Live as though I were and you shall know that I am The decision decision decision deci deci- sion was inside and God became real Mysteries there will always be The great unknowable beyond our present finite sense we must ever recognize as out of pres present nt reach But this is is quite quito different matter from a mere dubiousness dubious dubIOUS- ness and a halting haltin- attitude toward any question guestion which legitimately presents itself as one on which we ought to take a side It is easy to fall faIl into the habit of incessant incessant in in- Incessant doubting doubting-a a floating drifting I unanchored condition of mind It is better to be sometimes sure than never to be sure sure simply to avoid the risk of bein being sometimes mistaken A great character is not built by b doubting It is not necessarily a mar marof mark of intelligence to doubt A fool can hold a penny to his bis eye and say h he lie can see the hidden sun A creed is not religion jt it it is a statement state state- ment nent of what some men nen think about re re- re- re ligion Worship is not religion religion religion-it it is isa isa isa a method of expressing religion The church is not religion religion religion-it it is an organization organization organization of men and women for the purpose purpose purpose pur pur- pose of promoting religion It i is not a definition of God God it it is fellowship with him not a definition of sin but hut sorrow because b cause of sin not a definition of for for- but relief from remorse remorse not not nota a definition of redemption but a new and divine life the life the life of God in the soul 9 It is B a personal consciousness of God it is is comradeship with God Reading Peary is not going goin to the north pole Believing a 11 a creed is not perceiving perceiving perceiving per per- God I Fatherhood means personal personal personal per per- relation A fattier fatter and an orphan orphan or or- phan asylum but he lie Cannot ann t get et father father- hood Fatherhood implies personal relationship for which neither Bible creed nor church can serve as a sub sub- t Some men will believe anything if it itis is is not in the Bible For example an evolutionist is quoted Evolution is is a change from the indefinite incoherent homogeneity t to a definite coherent heterogeneity through continuous differentiations dif dif- and integrations which being interpreted reads in plain English thus Evolution i ig isha a R change from to a aI and i in R general genera n not nt all by continuous continuous con con- something and And there are persons who accept without question the assertions of scientific men much in the tho spirit of the old Scotch woman who when asked if she could comprehend compre compre- hend the minister whom she had bad been replied Comprehend him I would no hae the presumption The most miserable men and women I ever knew were the poor souls who gave up God Without God there is no peace for the heart no peace for the conscience no neace Deace for th thA niina n u. u A celebrated French statesman said II God God is is as necessary to France as lib Jib lib lib- erty The cry of humanity is for God From the lower depths we hear this cry Ever since sinco the presence of I sin sin has has' drawn a deep dark shadow over the race the yearning of men men's mens s 's hearts has gone out toward the ble By various methods have they sought to to express this desire The different dif dif- ferent kinds of religious expression prove that men are hungering and thirsting for the satisfaction of their inner inner craving The idols and oracles of the heathen world clearly prove this The speculations of the ancient philosophers philosophers philosophers and the guesses of modern show that beneath their outward self possession thero there is is a burning desire desire de tie- sire to know more of the secret nature of that force which moves the world But aside from philosopher and scion scion- there is in the breasts of the vast majority of mankind a thirst for rest for peace peace for those things which God alone can n As Augustine puts it t II ThO Tho soul is restless until it rests in in God |