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Show WHAT CHURCH Denial of God Leads Ultimately to Zero Philosophy of Common Sense Belief in God Coeval and Coexistent With trie. History of Man Obligation to Worship God Reason Unable to Dictate the Form of Worship Church Established, Teachers Appointed to Do This What Church? (Written for the Intermountain Catholic.) Jst week, replying to a Lawyer, who objected to churches on the ground there were so many contradictory con-tradictory religious teachings, and concluded that 'faith was useless," we assumed that he was a theist and a -believer in the supernatural and the ; immortality of the soul. The reason of our as- j fumptK'n was that members of that profession are j not iiiible to pet into religious controversies unless thst Miff ft ill lingers in their souls, and that they arc unable 10 silence the voice of conscience. To K an iitheist requires a greater effort of the intellect-and a more supreme act of the imagination imagina-tion ilmn to believe in a Supreme Being, because nan has always concluded from God's works his omnipotent power and divinity. A deniel of God is a denial of all existences, and to deny all existences exist-ences .is equivalent to a denial of all knowledge, since what, is not or does not exist could not be an object of knowledge. They then who, like 'Berkley, 'Berk-ley, deny ill exis1- "vs. or modern Christian Scien-ti?i. Scien-ti?i. who deny . ! alitics. which is equivalent in paying that l -s nothing, could not know at the same tim, tbt nere is no God. This, philosophy phil-osophy of comm.,., s "'-e. indorsed always and everywhere ev-erywhere by the bri." of the human race, savage and civilized, in ?. Svprenic Being, leaves no reasonable rea-sonable grounds for cf nibting that (iod exists, and man'? obligation of worshiping Him. Belief in God. and man's obligation of serving one true God. a we read in the tenth chapter of. Exodus, sre coeval and coextensive with the history of the iumsn race.- But it is not enough to know lhat one is obliged to worship his Maker. He must, if possible, ascertain as-certain in what that worship consists. Will man's rr-Bson serve as f. competent judge in deciding this ell important question i In all that pertains to the Unknowable or the Supernatural reason admit? ad-mit? its inability to judge. Even in ordinary mat-tor? mat-tor? of every-day life reason is not infallible. It toll? all. that good is preferable to evil, and that every man should do right and avoid doing what is Toiiir. But it does not always tell what is good, nd right. -as distinct from what is evil and wrong., "hat the light of reason points out to some as pod government, good policies, good food, good ttetinn and hundreds of other good things, to c"h--rs the same light of reason points out all these pods as evils. Reason knows that her knowledge a bniied; hence its incompetency in passing judg-frarat judg-frarat in what she knows not; hence her incom-J":?iicv. incom-J":?iicv. too, in deciding the worship which God feands. It is within the province of reason to ft- judgment upon a supernatural revelation that is well authenticated, but it is outside 's province to prescribe a form of worship based w that supernatural revelation. Assuming the Christian religion, which is admitted to be pertly per-tly satisfactory to reason, to be true, how know tii" fr,rm f worship which it prescribes? In oui Jt answer to the Lawyer we showed that God es-ifbiishni es-ifbiishni ;i fhurch and appointed teachers. "He that will H,t hear the church let him be to thee as heathon and a publican." Again, "He that hear-p"h hear-p"h you. j, areth me, and he that heareth me. hear-ji hear-ji Him that sent me," that is, God the? Father. Which is the church that all are bound to hear? e k back to Paradise, and there we have the r;,!" mi- faith in the Patriarchal religion, which ' '''''I'inu.'.j till God revealed himself to Moses. Then came th" synagogue, which preserved the written Th- Israelites were the faithful custodians c' tl.r- h.,. ,,f f(,ses for two thousand years. Next ?m" ' bristian dispensation, which was simply ,,!"' Ailr'iiln ent of the promises made by God from I1'1' l;e?iniiiiig, namely, that He would send His son 111 ' . Ti.l that lie would redeem the human c. ' Ms Christ came twenty centuries ago. In JJiiu ,;! ! & indent prophecies were fulfilled. On Li'" ( -s lie atoned for the sins of a fallen race. J".r ';: His work He established His church ?!"' '." -cinisMoned teachers to go forth and teach Hi can lUere be any douty: as to the 'n-r.-h which He established or as to true and real ?'"c"vs f the early Apostles? If we appeal to fcist.-.r - tho vf-rdict is certain. No one doubts that tV q-.p.v.p succeeded the patriarchal religion. ' ic t-HI . b arer and more historically evident that .' ( r'l !: church succeeded, or was dove-tailed, ito synagogue, leaching the same religious trmh ::-.::t Wf,re taught from the beginning. She Rri'J c'..Tjt!mjs anc traces j10r lineage back for 1908 ai'N wiMiont a missing link, to Peter, who was missioned' to feed the lambs and sheep. She in T--sosinn as the only legitimate successor p 'I1' "-.viiacogne, as the svnagoguo was of the tnsr-h:ii religion. She claims still the author-:,v author-:,v t-. teaob that was originally conferred on the ApostW by their divine Master. She satisfies all J drttisnds of reason by claiming in all matters '.' la,1h arid morals certainty, or the guidance of :" )fly (ihost. To make good her claims she jW-al to the promises made to her by her divine "uii'l-r. who said, "He would send the Holy Ghost her all truth," and that "the gates of hell W1 not. prevail against her' The Lawyer will mt jld in ,cr teachings for twenty centuries the CuMraJictioiib" to which he referred in his ob- jections. To him then it is an important and serious seri-ous question and one worthy of his honest and sincere investigation. The more he will investigate, investi-gate, basing his examination on the divine origin of Christianity, the more will he be convinced that the Catholic church, established by Christ, still retains re-tains her mission as the authorized and infallible teacher which implants in the soul the true faith and offers to all mankind the means of securiug the salvation of their immortal souls. . . F. D. |