September 1927
565
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
and the preservation of the fundamental ideals of our Government. We are not acquainted with all of the learned atheists referred to above, but the writer knew Lynn A. E. Gale from his earliest days back in a town in the East, the name of which we will not mention since the good peo ple of that peaceful hamlet have long been trying to erase the memory of him. He was always, looked upon as a freak. During the war, he skipped the country, went into Mexico and started sending out printed matter against the United States government which would have done credit to the reddest Russian. He remained out of reach of the authorities until it was safe for him to come back, and now he is connected with the Atheistic Association and set up as an example of a real “American” atheist, whose scholarship may be pitted against the greatest champions of Christianity. pg® g |^H E crack of doom has sounded for Protestant- ' sm’”—80 says Dr. Herbert Parrish, Rector of an historic New Jersey church, in an article in the Atlantic Monthly. By Protestantism, Dr. M ljr Parrish seems to mean orthodox Christianity rCU as it has stood throughout the centuries. He would sweep into the dust-heap of time “its senti mental cant, its vapid prayer meetings, its preposterous confessions of faith, its holier-than-thou pose, its intoler ance, its emotionalism, its assumption that mere negation constitutes salvation, and the thousand and one Peck- sniffian attributes.” It is this learned doctor’s conviction that thé sooner the Protestant church disappears from American life, the better. We, of course, have no defense to make for many unseriptural beliefs and practices that have crept into many Protestant churches, nor for hundreds of mere pro fessors of religio'n. We do, however, most decidedly take exception to Dr. Parrish’s contention that the Christian faith as held by Protestants “does not answer to the deep needs of human nature,” that “as a moral guide it is super ficial, and that “as a mystical experience it is sentimental, without intelligence, and with narrow vision.” That man must indeed have a profound regard for his own wisdom who will attempt, at one crack, to demolish the Christian experience of millions of people. Many a man who has aired his doubts about the Bible has found himself silenced in the presence of godly men and women whose experience of Christ he could not account for. The spiritual power of many a godly mother and father has been too great an argument for many a son and daughter who had become inoculated ,with rationalism. Dr. Parrish apparently would sweep this evidence all aside as a delu sion. One is reminded of Prof. E. D. Cope, who, when shown a geological specimen which contradicted his the ories, frankly admitted, “If no one were looking, I would fire it out of the window.” It is amazing how great a mass of evidence some men today will attempt to throw out of the window. C an C h r is t ia n ity B e V e r if ie d ? * Now, the fact is that Jesus Christ was willing to have
If Lynn is a fair sample of the other learned gentle men listed above, we can only believe that Dr. F. R. Woellner hit the nail on the head recently, when in a lec ture on “American Government and Life,” the following happened : In his own way, he had likened American civilization to a great automobile moving over a steep and rocky highway—a dangerous pass, that began with mere strug gles for recognition and ended with unchallenged world supremacy. He was comparing the smooth-running engine under the hood of the car to the Constitution of the United States, when the voice of a Socialist loudly interrupted : “Say, Doctor, we hear a lot of knocking coming from that engine!” Before the audience could register its reactions to this outburst, the Doctor replied with equal force : “The knocking does not emanate from the engine, my friend, but from the loose nuts in the back seat.” His claims inquired into. He asserted that His doctrine could be verified in experience. He threw down the chal lenge to every man, nor need we fear to repeat the same challenge today —“I f any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine” (John 7:17). There can be spirit ual certainty for every man. “The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit o f God” (1 Cor. 2:11). We may "know the things that are freely given to us of God” (v. 12). Christian experience—and there áre scores in every community whose testimony by lip and life cannot be waved aside—is still the answer to such statements as those made by Dr. Parrish. We depend upon human testimony in nearly every thing in life. Why do we believe some people and doubt others ? We believe the testimony of a good man before we believe that of a bad man. We have a right to believe that a man who is known to be a virtuous man, will not practice deceit. We believe the testimony of an intelligent man, espe cially when there is reason to believe that he speaks from experience. The insane, the feeble-minded are disquali fied. Mere hearsay evidence is not wanted. Furthermore, the number of reliable witnesses who testify to a certain thing has a great bearing on the case. Have not the world’s best men and women testified by word and deed that the Old Faith satisfies “the deepest needs o f human nature”? Have their lives not borne wit ness that, as a moral guide, this Christian Faith is any thing but superficial ? Is Dr. Parrish prepared to say that the mystical experience of these men was merely “senti mental and without intelligence”? The word of virtuous men would be accepted upon any subject, so long as it was known that they spoke but of knowledge derived from personal experience. Yet when it comes to their testi mony as to Christian experience, even though its fruits have been most manifest in the life, some men are ready to reject their testimonies. The intuitions of the soul are a safer guide than mere logic. Thousands of intelligent people continue to accept Christianity in spite of all the propaganda of critics. Why is it ? Because faith can be verified in experience.
Can There Be Spiritual Certainty?
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