IN HIS IMAGE
By
William Jennings Bryan
_In His Image_. James Sprunt Lectures. 12mo, cloth....$1.75
_Heart to Heart Appeals_. 12mo, cloth....$1.25
The cream of Mr. Bryan's public utterances on Prohibition,
Money, Imperialism, Trusts, Labor, Income Tax, Peace, Religion,
Pan-Americanism, etc.
_The Prince of Peace_. 12mo, boards....60c.
_Messages for the Times_. 12mo, boards, each....35c.
_The First Commandment._ In simple, unaffected language, the author
enlarges upon the present-day breaches of the First Commandment.
_The Message from Bethlehem_. A plea for the world-wide adoption of the
spirit of the Angels' song--"Good-will to Men." The context and import
of this great principle has never been more understandingly set forth.
_The Royal Art_. A lucid exposition of Mr. Bryan's views concerning the
aims and ideals of righteous government.
_The Making of a Man_. A faithful tracing of the main lines to be
followed if the crown of manhood is to be attained.
_The Fruits of the Tree_. "Either for the reinvigoration of faith or
for the dissipation of doubt, this little volume is a document of
power."--_Continent_.
In His Image
By WILLIAM JENNINGS RYAN
"_ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he
him_."--GEN. 1: 27.
1922
_Dedicated to the memory of my beloved parents_
_SILAS LILLARD RYAN_
_and
MARIAH ELIZABETH RYAN_
_to whom I am indebted for a Christian environment in youth, during
which they instilled into my mind and imprinted upon my heart the
religious principles which I have set forth and applied in the lectures
contained in this volume_
THE JAMES SPRUNT LECTURES
In nineteen hundred and eleven, Mr. James Sprunt of Wilmington, North
Carolina, by a gift to the Trustees of Union Theological Seminary in
Virginia, established a lectureship in the Seminary for the purpose of
enabling the institution to secure from time to time the services of
distinguished men as special lecturers on subjects connected with
various departments of Christian thought and Christian work. The
lecturers are chosen by the Faculty and a committee of the Board of
Trustees, and the lectures are published after their delivery
in accordance with a contract between the lecturer and these
representatives of the institution. The lecturers up to the present have
been:
REV. DAVID JAMES BURRELL, D.D., LL.D.
SIR WILLIAM M. RAMSAY, D.D., LL.D.
REV. PROF. JAMES STALKER, D.D.
REV. A.F. SCHAUFFLER, D.D.
REV. HARRIS E. KIRK, D.D.
PROF. C. ALPHONSO SMITH, PH.D., LL.D.
REV. A.H. MCKINNEY, D.D.
REV. G. CAMPBELL MORGAN, D.D.
REV. PROF. J. GRESHAM MACHEN, D.D.
HON. WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN.
The tenth series is presented in this volume.
W.W. MOORE,
_President_.
Preface
The invitation extended me by President Moore on behalf of Union
Theological Seminary provided the opportunity for the presentation of an
argument I had had in mind for years--an argument to the heart and mind
of the average man, especially to the young. This purpose originated in
two desires, one of which is to repay the debt of gratitude that I owe
to my revered parents for having brought into my life the Christian
principles upon which their own lives were builded. My appreciation of
the importance of this early training has grown with the years. As those
who brought me into the world, cared for me so tenderly during my early
years and so conscientiously guarded and guided me during the formative
period of my life, have passed to their reward, I know of no way
in which this appreciation can be effectively expressed, except by
transmitting these principles to others.
The second desire is to aid those who are passing from youth to maturity
and grappling with problems incident to this critical age. Having spent
eight years away from home, in academy, college and law school, I have
reason to know the conflicts through which each individual has to pass,
especially those who have the experience incident to college life. I
never can be thankful enough for the fact that I became a member of the
Church before I left home and therefore had the benefit of the Church,
the Sunday School and Christian friends during these trying days.
In these lectures I have had in mind two thoughts, first, the confirming
of the faith of men and women, especially the young, in a Creator,
all-powerful, all-wise, and all-loving, in a Bible, as the very Word
of a Living God and in Christ as Son of God and Saviour of the world;
second, the applying of the principles of our religion to every problem
in life. My purpose is to prove, not only the fact of God, but the need
of God, the fact of the Bible and the need of the Bible, and the fact of
Christ and the need of a Saviour.
Therefore, I have chosen "In His Image" as the title of this series of
lectures, because, in my judgment, all depends upon our conception of
our place in God's plan. The Bible tells us that God made us in His
image and placed us here to carry out a divine decree. He gave us the
Scriptures as an authoritative guide and He gave us His Son to reveal
the Father, to redeem man from sin and to furnish in His life and
teachings an inspiring example by the following of which, man may grow
in grace and in the knowledge of God.
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be
acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer."
W.J.B.
_Miami, Fla._
Contents
I. IN THE BEGINNING--GOD
II. THE BIBLE
III. WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST?
IV. THE ORIGIN OF MAN
V. THE LARGER LIFE
VI. THE VALUE OF THE SOUL
VII. THREE PRICELESS GIFTS
VIII. HIS GOVERNMENT AND PEACE
IX. THE SPOKEN WORD
I
"IN THE BEGINNING--GOD"
Religion is the relation between man and his Maker--the most important
relationship into which man enters. Most of the relationships of life
are voluntary; we enter into them or not as we please. Such, for
illustration, are those between business partners, between stockholders
in a corporation, between friends and between husband and wife. Some
relationships, on the other hand, are involuntary; we enter into them
because we must. Such, for illustration, are those between man and his
government, between man and society, and between man and his Maker.
Tolstoy declares that morality is but the outward manifestation of
religion. If this be true, as I believe it is, then religion is the most
practical thing in life and the thought of God the greatest thought that
can enter the human mind or heart. Tolstoy also delivers a severe rebuke
to what he calls the "Cultured crowd"--those who think that religion,
while good enough for the ignorant (to hold in check and restrain
them), is not needed when one reaches a certain stage of intellectual
development. His reply is that religion is not superstition and does not
rest upon a vague fear of the unseen forces of nature, but does rest
upon "man's consciousness of his finiteness amid an infinite universe
and of his sinfulness." This consciousness, Tolstoy adds, man can never
outgrow.
Evidence of the existence of an Infinite Being is to be found in
the Bible, in the facts of human consciousness, and in the physical
universe. Dr. Charles Hodge sets forth as follows the principal
arguments used to maintain the existence of a God:
I. The _a priori_ argument which seeks to demonstrate the being of a
God from certain first principles involved in the essential laws of
human intelligence.
II. The cosmological argument, or that one which proceeds after the
_posteriori_ fashion, from the present existence of the world as
an effect, to the necessary existence of some ultimate and eternal
first cause.
III. The teleological argument, or that argument which, from the
evidence of design in the creation, seeks to establish the fact that
the great self-existent first cause of all things is an intelligent
and voluntary personal spirit.
IV. The moral argument, or that argument which, from a consideration
of the phenomena of conscience in the human heart, seeks to
establish the fact that the self-existent Creator is also the
righteous moral Governor of the world. This argument includes the
consideration of the universal feeling of dependence common to
all men, which together with conscience constitutes the religious
sentiment.
V. The historical argument, which involves: (1) The evident
providential presence of God in the history of the human race. (2)
The evidence afforded by history that the human race is not eternal,
and therefore not an infinite succession of individuals, but
created. (3) The universal consent of all men to the fact of His
existence.
VI. The Scriptural argument, which includes: (1) The miracles and
prophecies recorded in Scripture, and confirmed by testimony,
proving the existence of a God. (2) The Bible itself, self-evidently
a work of superhuman wisdom. (3) Revelation, developing and
enlightening conscience, and relieving many of the difficulties
under which natural theism labours, and thus confirming every other
line of evidence.
A reasonable person searches for a reason and all reasons point to a
God, all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving. On no other theory can we
account for what we see about us. It is impossible to conceive of the
universe, illimitable in extent and seemingly measureless in time, as
being the result of chance. The reign of law, universal and eternal,
compels belief in a Law Giver.
We need not give much time to the agnostic. If he is sincere he does not
_know_ and therefore cannot affirm, deny or advise. When I was a young
man I wrote to Colonel Ingersoll, the leading infidel of his day, and
asked his views on God and immortality. His secretary sent me a speech
which quoted Colonel Ingersoll as follows: "I do not say that there is
no God: I simply say I do not know. I do not say that there is no life
beyond the grave: I simply say I do not know!" What pleasure could any
man find in taking from a human, heart a living faith and putting in the
place of it the cold and cheerless doctrine "I do not know"? Many who
call themselves agnostics are really atheists; it is easier to profess
ignorance than to defend atheism.
We give the atheist too much latitude; we allow him to ask all the
questions and we try to answer them. I know of no reason why the
Christian should take upon himself the difficult task of answering all
questions and give to the atheist the easy task of asking them. Any one
can ask questions, but not every question can be answered. If I am to
discuss creation with an atheist it will be on condition that we ask
questions about. He may ask the first one if he wishes, but he shall not
ask a second one until he answers my first.
What is the first question an atheist asks a Christian? There is but one
_first_ question: Where do you begin? I answer: I begin where the Bible
begins. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." I
begin with a Creative Cause that is sufficient for anything that can
come thereafter.
Having answered the atheist's first question, it is now my turn, and I
ask my first question of the atheist: "Where do you begin?" And then his
trouble begins. Did you ever hear an atheist explain creation? He cannot
begin with God because he denies the existence of a God. But he must
begin _somewhere_; it is just as necessary for the atheist as for the
Christian to have a beginning point for his philosophy.
Where does the atheist begin? He usually starts with the nebular
hypothesis. And where does that begin? "In the beginning"? No. It begins
by _assuming_ that two things existed, which the theory does not try to
explain. It assumes that matter and force existed, but it does not tell
us how matter and force came into existence, where they came from, or
why they came. The theory begins: "Let us suppose that matter and force
are here," and then, according to the theory, force working on matter,
created a world. I have just as much right as the atheist to begin with
an assumption, and I would rather begin with God and reason down, than
begin with a piece of dirt and reason up. The difference between the
Christian theory and the materialistic theory is that the Christian
begins with God, while the materialist begins with dull, inanimate
matter. _I know of no theory suggested as a substitute for the Bible
theory that is as rational and as easy to believe._
If the atheist asks me if I can understand God, I answer that it is
not necessary that my finite mind shall _comprehend_ the Infinite Mind
before I admit that there _is_ an infinite mind, any more than it is
necessary that I shall understand the sun before I can admit that there
is a sun. We must deal with the facts about us whether we can understand
them or not.
If the atheist tells me that I have no right to believe in God until I
can understand Him, I will take his own logic and drive him to suicide;
for, by that logic, what right has an atheist to live unless he can
understand the mystery of his own life? Does the atheist understand the
mystery of the life he lives? No; bring me the most learned atheist and
when he has gathered all the information that this earth can give, I
will have a little child lead him out and show him the grass upon the
ground, the leaves upon the trees, the birds that fly in the air, and
the fishes in the deep, and the little child will mock him and tell him,
and tell him truly, that he, the little child, knows just as much about
the mystery of life as does the most learned atheist. We have our
thoughts, our hopes, our fears, and yet we know that in a moment a
change may come over any one of us that will convert a living, breathing
human being into a mass of lifeless clay. What is it, that, having, we
live, and, having not, we are as the clod? We know as little of the
mystery of life to-day as they knew in the dawn of creation and yet
behold the civilization that man has wrought.
And love that makes life worth living is also a mystery. Have you ever
read a scientific definition of love? You never will. Why? Because a man
does not know what love is until he gets into it, and then he is not
scientific until he gets out again. And even if we could understand the
mysterious tie that brings two hearts together from out the multitude,
and on a united life builds the home, earth's only paradise, we still
would be unable to understand that larger mystery that manifests itself
when a human heart reaches out and links itself to every other heart.
And patriotism, also, is a mystery--intangible, invisible, and yet
eternal. Because there has been in the past such a thing as patriotism,
millions have given their lives for their country. Patriotism could
command millions of lives to-day. Our country is not lacking in
patriotism; we have as much as can be found anywhere else, and it is
of as high a quality. There ought to be more patriotism here than
elsewhere; as citizenship in the United States carries more benefits
with it than citizenship in any other land, the American citizen should
be willing to sacrifice more than any other citizen to make sure that
the blessings of our government shall descend unimpaired to children
and to children's children. The atheist knows as little about these
mysteries as the Christian does and yet he lives, he loves and he is
patriotic.
But our case is even stronger: Everything with which man deals is full
of mystery. The very food we eat is mysterious; sometimes man-made food
becomes so mysterious that we are compelled to enact pure food laws
in order that we may know what we are eating. And God-made food is as
mysterious as man-made food, though we cannot compel Jehovah to make
known the formula.
We encourage children to raise vegetables; a little child can learn
_how_ to raise vegetables, but no grown person understands the mystery
that is wrapped up in every vegetable that grows. Let me illustrate: I
am fond of radishes; my good wife knows it and keeps me supplied with
them when she can. I eat radishes in the morning; I eat radishes at
noon; I eat radishes at night; I eat radishes between meals; I like
radishes. I plant radish seed--put the little seed into the ground, and
go out in a few days and find a full grown radish. The top is green,
the body of the root is white and almost transparent, and around it I
sometimes find a delicate pink or red. Whose hand caught the hues of a
summer sunset and wrapped them around the radish's root down there in
the darkness in the ground? I cannot understand a radish; can you? If
one refused to eat anything until he could understand the mystery of its
growth, he would die of starvation; but mystery does not bother us in
the dining-room,--it is only in the church that mystery seems to give us
trouble.
In travelling around the world I found that the egg is a universal form
of food. When we reached Asia the cooking was so different from ours
that the boiled egg was sometimes the only home-like thing we could find
on the table. I became so attached to the egg, that, when I returned to
the United States, for weeks I felt like taking my hat off to every hen
I met. What is more mysterious than an egg? Take a fresh egg; it is not
only good food, but an important article of merchandise. But loan a
fresh egg to a hen, after the hen has developed a well-settled tendency
to sit, and let her keep the egg under her for a week, and, as any
housewife will tell you, it loses a large part of its market value. But
be patient with the hen; let her have it for two weeks more and she will
give you back a chicken that you could not find in the egg. No one can
understand the egg, but we all like eggs.
Water is essential to human life, and has been from the beginning, but
it is only a short time ago, relatively speaking, that we learned that
water is composed of gas. Two gases got mixed together and could not get
apart and we call the mixture water, but it was much more important that
man should have had water to drink all these years than it was to find
out that water is composed of gas. And there is one thing about water
that we do not yet understand, viz., why it differs from other things
in this, that other things continue to contract indefinitely under the
influence of cold, while water contracts until it reaches a certain
temperature and then, the rule being reversed, expands under the
influence of more intense cold? It does not make much difference whether
we ever learn _why_ this is true, but it is important to the world to
know that it is so.
Sometimes I go into a community and find a young man who has come in
from the country and obtained a smattering of knowledge; then his head
swells and he begins to swagger around and say that an intelligent man
like himself cannot afford to have anything to do with anything that he
cannot understand. Poor boy, he will be surprised to find out how few
things he will be able to deal with if he adopts that rule. I feel like
suggesting to him that the next time he goes home to show himself off
to his parents on the farm he address himself to the first mystery
that ever came under his observation, and has not yet been solved,
notwithstanding the wonderful progress made by our agricultural
colleges. Let him find out, if he can, why it is that a black cow can
eat green grass and then give white milk with yellow butter in it? Will
the mystery disturb him? No. He will enjoy the milk and the butter
without worrying about the mystery in them.
And so we might take any vegetable or fruit. The blush upon the peach is
in striking contrast to the serried walls of the seed within; who will
explain the mystery of the apple, the queen of the orchard, or the nut
with its meat, its shell, and its outer covering? Who taught the tomato
vine to fling its flaming many-mansioned fruit before the gaze of the
passer-by, while the potato modestly conceals its priceless gifts within
the bosom of the earth?
I learned years ago that it is the mystery in the miracle that makes it
a stumbling block in the way of many. If you will analyze the miracle
you will find just two questions in it: _Can_ God perform a miracle?
And, would He _want_ to? The first question is easily answered. A God
who can make a world can do anything He wants to with it. We cannot deny
that God _can_ perform a miracle, without denying that God is God. But,
would God _want_ to perform a miracle? That is the question that has
given the trouble, but it has only troubled those, mark you, who are
unwilling to admit that the infinite mind of God may have reasons that
the finite mind of man does not comprehend. If, for any reason, God
desires to do so, can He not, with His infinite strength, temporarily
suspend the operation of any of His laws, as man with his feeble arm
overcomes the law of gravitation when he lifts a stone?
If among my readers any one has been presumptuous enough to attempt to
confine the power and purpose of God by man's puny understanding, let
me persuade him to abandon this absurd position by the use of an
illustration which I once found in a watermelon. I was passing through
Columbus, Ohio, some years ago and stopped to eat in the restaurant
in the depot. My attention was called to a slice of watermelon, and I
ordered it and ate it. I was so pleased with the melon that I asked the
waiter to dry some of the seeds that I might take them home and plant
them in my garden. That night a thought came into my mind--I would use
that watermelon as an illustration. So, the next morning when I reached
Chicago, I had enough seeds weighed to learn that it would take about
five thousand watermelon seeds to weigh a pound, and I estimated that
the watermelon weighed about forty pounds. Then I applied mathematics to
the watermelon. A few weeks before some one, I knew not who, had planted
a little watermelon seed in the ground. Under the influence of sunshine
and shower that little seed had taken off its coat and gone to work; it
had gathered from somewhere two hundred thousand times its own weight,
and forced that enormous weight through a tiny stem and built a
watermelon. On the outside it had put a covering of green, within that
a rind of white and within the white a core of red, and then it had
scattered through the red core little seeds, each one capable of doing
the same work over again. What architect drew the plan? Where did that
little watermelon seed get its tremendous strength? Where did it find
its flavouring extract and its colouring matter? How did it build a
watermelon? Until you can explain a watermelon, do not be too sure that
you can set limits to the power of the Almighty, or tell just what He
would do, or how He would do it. The most learned man in the world
cannot _explain_ a watermelon, but the most ignorant man can _eat_ a
watermelon, and enjoy it. God has given us the things that we need, and
He has given us the knowledge necessary to use those things: the truth
that He has revealed to us is infinitely more important for our welfare
than it would be to understand the mysteries that He has seen fit
to conceal from us. So it is with religion. If you ask me whether I
understand everything in the Bible, I frankly answer, No. I understand
some things to-day that I did not understand ten years ago and, if I
live ten years longer, I trust that some things will be clear that are
now obscure. But there is something more important than understanding
everything in the Bible; it is this: If we will embody in our lives that
which we _do_ understand we will be kept so busy doing good that we will
not have time to worry about the things that we do _not_ understand.
In "The Grave Digger," written by Fred Emerson Brooks, there is one
stanza which is in point here:
"If chance could fashion but a little flower,
With perfume for each tiny thief,
And furnish it with sunshine and with shower,
Then chance would be creator, with the power
To build a world for unbelief."
But chance cannot fashion even a little flower; chance cannot create a
single thing that grows. Every living thing bears testimony to a living
God and, if there be a God, then every human life is a part of that
God's plan. And, if this be true, then the highest duty of man, as
it should be his greatest pleasure, is to try to find out God's will
concerning himself and to do it. When Job was asked, "Canst thou by
searching find out God?" a negative answer was implied, but we can see
manifestations of God's power everywhere; in the suns and planets that,
revolving, whirl through space, held in position by forces centripetal
and centrifugal; we see it in the mountains rent asunder and upturned
by a force not only superhuman but beyond the power of man to conceive.
Captain Crawford, the poet-scout, in describing the mountains of the
West has used a phrase which often comes into my mind: "Where the hand
of God is seen."
We see manifestation of God's power in the ebb and flow of the tides; in
the mighty "shoreless rivers of the ocean"; in the suspended water in
the clouds--billions of tons, seemingly defying the law of gravitation
while they await the command that sends them down in showers of
blessings. We behold it in the lightning's flash and the thunder's roar,
and in the invisible germ of life that contains within itself the power
to gather its nourishment from the earth and air, fulfill its mission
and propagate its kind.
We see all about us, also, conclusive proofs of the infinite
intelligence and fathomless love of the Heavenly Father. On lofty
mountain summits He builds His mighty reservoirs and piles high the
winter snows, which, melting, furnish the water for singing brooks, for
the hidden veins, and for the springs that pour out their refreshing
flood through the smitten rocks. At His touch the same element that
furnishes ice to cool the fevered brow furnishes also the steam to
move man's commerce on sea and land. He imprisons in roaring cataracts
exhaustless energy for the service of man: He stores away in the bowels
of the earth beds of coal and rivers of oil; He studs the canyon's
frowning walls with precious metals and priceless gems; He extends His
magic wand, and the soil becomes rich with fertility; the early and
the latter rains supply the needed moisture, and the sun, with its
marvellous alchemy, transmutes base clay into golden grain. He gives us
in infinite variety the fruits of the orchard, the vegetables of the
garden and the, berries of the woods. He gives us the sturdy oak, the
fruitful nut-tree and the graceful palm.
In compassion He makes the horse to bear our burdens and the cow to
supply the dairy; and He gives us the faithful hen. He makes the fishes
to scour the sea for food and then yield themselves up to the table; He
sends the bee forth to gather sweets for man and birds to sing his cares
away. He paints the skies with the gray of the morning and the glow of
the sunset; He sets His radiant bow in the clouds and copies its colours
in myriad flowers. He gives to the babe a mother's love, to the child a
father's care, to parents the joy of children, to brothers and sisters
the sweet association of the fireside, and He gives to all the friend.
Well may the Psalmist exclaim, "The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament showeth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night sheweth knowledge." Surely everything that hath
breath should praise the Lord.
It would seem that a knowledge of nature would be sufficient to convince
any unprejudiced mind that there is a designer back of the design, a
Creator back of the creation, but, for a reason which I shall treat
more fully in a future lecture, some of the scientists have become
materialistic. The doctrine of evolution has closed their hearts to
the plainest of spiritual truths and opened their minds to the wildest
guesses made in the name of science. If they find a piece of pottery
in a mound, supposed to be ancient, they will venture to estimate the
degree of civilization of the designer from the rude scratches on its
surface, and yet they cannot discern the evidences of design which
the Creator has written upon every piece of His handiwork. They can
understand how an invisible force, like gravitation, can draw all matter
down to the earth but they cannot comprehend an invisible God who draws
all spirits upward to His throne.
The Bible's proof of God becomes increasingly necessary to meet the
agnosticism and atheism that are the outgrowth of modern mind-worship. I
shall speak of the Bible in my second lecture; I refer to it here merely
for the purpose of pointing out the harmony between the spoken word and
the evidence furnished by God's handiwork throughout the universe. The
wisdom of the Bible writers is more than human; the prophecies proclaim
a Supreme Ruler who, though inhabiting all space, deigns to speak
through the hearts and minds and tongues of His children.
The Christ of whom the Bible tells furnishes the highest evidence of
the power, the wisdom, and the love of Jehovah. He is a living Christ,
present to-day in the increasing influence that He exerts over the hearts
of men and over the history of nations.
We not only have God in the Bible and God in nature but we have God in
life and accessible to all. It is not necessary to spend time in trying
to comprehend God--a task too great for the finite mind; we can "taste
and see that the Lord is good." We can test His grace and prove His
presence. The negative arguments of the atheist and the indecision of
the agnostic will not disturb the faith of one who daily communes with
the Heavenly Father, and, by obedience, lays hold upon His promise.
Belief in God is almost universal and the effect of this belief is so
vast that one is appalled at the thought of what social conditions
would be if reverence for God were erased from every heart. A sense of
responsibility to God for every thought and word and deed is the most
potent influence that acts upon the life--for one man kept in the
straight and narrow way by fear of prison walls a multitude are
restrained by those invisible walls that conscience rears about us,
walls that are stronger than the walls of stone.
At first the fear of God--fear that sin will bring punishment--is
needed; "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." But as one
learns to appreciate the goodness of God and the plenitude of His mercy,
love takes the place of fear and obedience becomes a pleasure; "His
delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day
and night."
The paramount need of the world to-day, as it was nineteen hundred years
ago, is a whole-hearted, whole-souled, whole-minded faith in the Living
God. A hesitating admission that there is a God is not sufficient; Man
must love with _all_ his heart, and with _all_ his soul, and with _all_
his mind, and with _all_ his strength,--and to love he must believe.
Belief in God must be a conviction that controls every nerve and fibre
of his being and dominates every impulse and energy of his life.
Belief in God is necessary to prayer. It is not sufficient to believe
that there is an Intelligence permeating the universe; nothing less than
a _personal_ God--a God interested in each one of His children and ready
to give at any moment the aid that is needed--nothing less than this
can lead one to communion with the Heavenly Father through prayer.
Evolutionists have attempted to retain the form of prayer while denying
that God answers prayer. They argue that prayer has a reflex action
upon the petitioner and reconciles him to his lot. This argument might
justify one in thinking prayer good enough for _others_ who believe,
but it is impossible for one to be fervent in prayer himself if he
is convinced that his pleas do not reach a prayer-hearing and a
prayer-answering God. Prayer becomes a mockery when faith is gone, just
as Christianity becomes a mere form when prayer is gone. If the words of
the Bible have any meaning at all one must believe that God "_is_, and
that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
Belief in God is necessary to that confidence in His providence which is
the source of the Christian's calmness in hours of trial. We soon reach
the limitations of our strength and would despair but for our confidence
in the infinite wisdom of God. David expresses this when he says, "Unto
the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. He ... shall not be
afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord" (Ps.
112).
In my youth, my father often had me read to him Bryant's "Ode to a
Waterfowl" and it became my favourite poem. I know of no more comforting
words outside of Holy Writ than those in the last stanza:
"He who from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight;
In the long way that I must tread alone,
Will lead my steps aright."
Belief in God gives courage. The Christian believes that every word
spoken in behalf of truth will have its influence and that every deed
done for the right will weigh in the final account. What matters it to
the believer whether his eyes behold the victory and his voice mingles
in the shouts of triumph, or whether he dies in the midst of the
conflict!
"Yea, tho' thou lie upon the dust,
When they who helped thee flee in fear,
Die full of hope and manly trust,
Like those who fell in battle here.
Another hand thy sword shall wield,
Another hand the standard wave,
Till from the trumpet's mouth is pealed,
The blast of triumph o'er thy grave."
Only those who believe attempt the seemingly impossible, and, by
attempting, prove that one, with God, can chase a thousand and two put
ten thousand to flight. I can imagine that the early Christians, who
were carried into the Coliseum to make a spectacle for spectators more
cruel than the beasts, were entreated by their doubting companions not
to endanger their lives. But, kneeling in the center of the arena, they
prayed and sang until they were devoured. How helpless they seemed, and
measured by every human rule, how hopeless was their cause! And yet
within a few decades the power which they invoked proved mightier
than the legions of the emperor and the faith in which they died was
triumphant o'er all the land. It is said that those who went to mock at
their sufferings returned asking themselves: "What is it that can enter
into the heart of man and make him die as these die?" They were greater
conquerors in their death than they could have been had they purchased
life by a surrender of their faith.
What would have been the fate of the Church if the early Christians had
had as little faith as many of our Christians of to-day? And, if the
Christians of to-day had the faith of the martyrs, how long would it
be before the prophecy were fulfilled--"every knee shall bow and every
tongue confess"?
Belief in God is the basis of every moral code. Morality cannot be put
on as a garment and taken off at will. It is a power within; it works
out from the heart as a spring pours forth its flood. It is not safe for
a weak Christian to associate intimately with the world because he may
be influenced by others instead of influencing others. But one need
not fear when his morality derives its energy from connection with the
Heavenly Father. Just as the water from a hose, because it comes from a
reservoir above, will cleanse a muddy pool without danger of a single
drop of pollution entering the hose, so the Christian can go into
infected areas and among those diseased by sin without fear of
contamination so long as he is prompted by a sincere desire to serve and
is filled with a heaven-born longing for souls.
Joseph gives us a splendid illustration of strength inspired by faith.
Reason fails when one is punished for righteousness' sake; only a belief
in God can sustain one in such an hour of trial and make him enter a
dungeon rather than surrender his integrity.
We need this belief in God in our dealings with nations as well as in
the control of our own conduct; it is necessary to the establishment of
justice. Without that belief one cannot understand how sin brings its
own punishment. Among the beasts strength is accompanied by no sense of
responsibility; only man understands--and then only when he believes in
God--that he must restrain his power and respect the rights of others.
Only man understands--and then only when he believes in God--that the
laws of the Almighty protect the innocent by bringing upon the sinner
the effects of his own sin. No nation, however great, and no group of
nations, however strong, can do wrong with impunity. The very doing of
wrong works the ruin of those who are guilty, no matter how powerless
their victims may be to protect or avenge themselves.
Most of the crimes committed by nations are due to an attempt on the
part of those in authority to establish for nations a system of morals
totally different from that which is binding upon the individual.
Nothing but a real belief in God and confidence in the immutability of
His decrees can stay the arm of strength in individual or nation.
Belief in God is the basis of brotherhood; we are brothers because we
are children of one God. We trace through the common parent of all
the tie that unites the offspring in one great family. The spirit of
brotherhood is impossible without faith in God, the Father, and peace,
at home and abroad, is impossible without the spirit of brotherhood.
One must believe in God in order to be interested in the carrying out of
the Creator's plans. In the prayer which Christ suggested as a form for
His followers, interest in the coming of God's kingdom stands first.
The petition begins with adoration of the Supreme Being and in the next
sentence the heart pours out its desire in an appeal for the coming of
that day when the will of God shall be done in earth as it is done in
heaven. It is proof of the supreme importance of this attitude that this
petition comes before the request for daily bread; it comes even before
the appeal for forgiveness. How quickly the prayer would be answered if
all who utter it would rise from their knees and make the hastening of
God's kingdom the uppermost thought in their minds throughout the day!
Finally, belief in God is necessary to belief in immortality. If there
is no God there is no hereafter. When, therefore, one drives God out of
the universe he closes the door of hope upon himself.
A belief in immortality not only consoles the individual, but it exerts
a powerful influence in promoting justice between individuals. If one
actually thinks that man dies as the brute dies, he will yield more
easily to the temptation to do injustice to his neighbour when the
circumstances are such as to promise security from detection. But if
one really expects to meet again, and live eternally with those whom he
knows to-day, he is restrained from evil deeds by the fear of endless
remorse even when not actuated by higher motives. We do not know what
rewards are in store for us or what punishments may be reserved, but
if there were no other it would be no light punishment for one who
deliberately wrongs another to have to live forever in the company of
the person wronged and have his littleness and selfishness laid bare.
The Creator has not left us in doubt on the subject of immortality. He
has given to every created thing a tongue that proclaims a life beyond
the grave.
If the Father deigns to touch with divine power the cold and pulseless
heart of the buried acorn and to make it burst forth from its prison
walls, will He leave neglected in the earth the soul of man, made in
the image of his Creator? If He stoops to give to the rose-bush, whose
withered blossoms float upon the autumn breeze, the sweet assurance of
another springtime, will He refuse the words of hope to the sons of men
when the frosts of winter come? If matter, mute and inanimate, though
changed by the forces of nature into a multitude of forms, can never
die, will the imperial spirit of man suffer annihilation when it has
paid a brief visit like a royal guest to this tenement of clay? No, He
who, notwithstanding His apparent prodigality, created nothing without
a purpose, and wasted not a single atom in all His creation, has made
provision for a future life in which man's universal longing for
immortality will find its realization. I am as sure that we shall live
again as I am sure that we live to-day.
In Cairo, I secured a few grains of wheat that had slumbered for more
than thirty centuries in an Egyptian tomb. As I looked at them this
thought came into my mind: If one of those grains had been planted
on the banks of the Nile the year after it grew, and all its lineal
descendants had been planted and replanted from that time until now,
its progeny would to-day be sufficiently numerous to feed the teeming
millions of the world. An unbroken chain of life connects the earliest
grains of wheat with the grains that we sow and reap. There is in the
grain of wheat an invisible something which has power to discard the
body that we see, and from earth and air fashion a new body so much
like the old one that we cannot tell the one from the other. If this
invisible germ of life in the grain of wheat can thus pass unimpaired
through three thousand resurrections, I shall not doubt that my soul has
power to clothe itself with a body suited to its new existence, when
this earthly frame has crumbled into dust.
II
THE BIBLE
Jesus Christ not only endorsed the Old Testament as authoritative, but
bore witness to its eternal truth. "Think not," He said, "that I am come
to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot
or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled"
(Matt. 5: 17, 18).
When one's belief in God becomes the controlling passion of his life;
when he loves God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his
mind and with all his strength he is anxious to learn God's will and
ready to accept the Bible as the Word of God. All that he asks is
sufficient evidence of its inspiration.
After so many hundreds of millions have adopted the Bible as their guide
for so many centuries, the burden of proof would seem on those who
reject it.
The Bible is either the word of God or the work of man. Those who regard
it as a man-made book should be challenged to put their theory to the
test. If man made the Bible, he is, unless he has degenerated, able to
make as good a book to-day.
Judged by human standards, man is far better prepared to write a Bible
now than he was when our Bible was written. The characters whose words
and deeds are recorded in the Bible were members of a single race; they
lived among the hills of Palestine in a territory scarcely larger than
one of our counties. They did not have printing presses and they lacked
the learning of the schools; they had no great libraries to consult, no
steamships to carry them around the world and make them acquainted with
the various centers of ancient civilization; they had no telegraph wires
to bring them the news from the ends of the earth and no newspapers to
spread before them each morning the doings of the day before. Science
had not unlocked Nature's door and revealed the secrets of rocks below
and stars above. From what a scantily supplied storehouse of knowledge
they had to draw, compared with the unlimited wealth of information at
man's command to-day! And yet these Bible characters grappled with
every problem that confronts mankind, from the creation of the world to
eternal life beyond the tomb. They gave us a diagram of man's existence
from the cradle to the grave and set up warning signs at every dangerous
point.
The Bible gives us the story of the birth, the words, the works, the
crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension of Him whose coming
was foretold by prophecy, whose arrival was announced by angel voices,
singing Peace and Good-will--the story of Him who gave to the world a
code of morality superior to anything that the world had known before or
has known since.
Let the atheists and the materialists produce a better Bible than ours,
if they can. Let them collect the best of their school to be found among
the graduates of universities--as many as they please and from every
land. Let the members of this selected group travel where they will,
consult such libraries as they like, and employ every modern means of
swift communication. Let them glean in the fields of geology, botany,
astronomy, biology, and zoology, and then roam at will wherever science
has opened a way; let them take advantage of all the progress in art and
in literature, in oratory and in history--let them use to the full every
instrumentality that is employed in modern civilization; and when they
have exhausted every source, let them embody the results of their best
intelligence in a book and offer it to the world as a substitute for
this Bible of ours. Have they the confidence that the prophets of Baal
had in their god? Will they try? If not, what excuse will they give? Has
man so fallen from his high estate, that we cannot rightfully expect as
much of him now as nineteen centuries ago? Or does the Bible come to us
from a source that is higher than man?
But the case is even stronger. The opponents of the Bible cannot take
refuge in the plea that man is retrograding. They loudly proclaim that
man has grown and that he is growing still. They boast of a world-wide
advance and their claim is founded upon fact. In all matters except
in the "science of how to live," man has made wonderful progress. The
mastery of the mind over the forces of nature seems almost complete, so
far do we surpass the ancients in harnessing the water, the wind and the
lightning.
For ages, the rivers plunged down the mountainsides and exhausted their
energies without any appreciable contribution to man's service; now they
are estimated as so many units of horse-power, and we find that their
fretting and foaming was merely a language which they employed to tell
us of their strength and of their willingness to work for us. And, while
falling water is becoming each a day a larger factor in burden-bearing,
water, rising in the form of steam, is revolutionizing the
transportation methods of the world.
The wind, that first whispered its secret of strength to the flapping
sail, is now turning the wheel at the well, and our flying machines have
taken possession of the air.
Lightning, the red demon that, from the dawn of Creation, has been
rushing down its zigzag path through the clouds, as if intent only
upon spreading death, metamorphosed into an errand-boy, brings us
illumination from the sun and carries our messages around the globe.
Inventive genius has multiplied the power of a human arm and supplied
the masses with comforts of which the rich did not dare to dream a few
centuries ago. Science is ferreting out the hidden causes of disease and
teaching us how to prolong life. In every line, except in the line of
character-building, the world seems to have been made over, but these
marvellous changes only emphasize the fact that man, too, must be born
again, while they show how impotent are material things to touch the
soul of man and transform him into a spiritual being. Wherever the moral
standard is being lifted up--wherever life is becoming larger in the
vision that directs it and richer in its fruitage, the improvement is
traceable to the Bible and to the influence of the God and Christ of
whom the Bible tells.
The atheist and the materialist must confess that man should be able to
produce a better book to-day than man, unaided, could have produced in
any previous age. The fact that they have tried, time and time again,
only to fail each time more hopelessly, explains why they will not--why
they cannot--accept the challenge thrown down by the Christian world to
produce a book worthy to take the Bible's place.
They have begged to their God to answer with fire--appealed to inanimate
matter with an earnestness that is pathetic; they have employed in the
worship of blind force a faith greater than religion requires, but their
God is asleep. How long will they allow the search for strata of stone
and fragments of fossil and decaying skeletons that are strewn around
the house to absorb their thoughts to the exclusion of the architect
who planned it all? How long will the agnostic, closing his eyes to
the plainest truths, cry, "Night, night," when the sun in his meridian
splendour announces that noon is here?
Those who reject the Bible ignore its claim to inspiration. This in
itself makes them enemies of the Book of books, because the Bible
characters profess to speak by inspiration, and what they say bears the
stamp of the supernatural. "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost" (2 Peter 1:21).