“REASONABLE FAITH”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 733, 5 August 1929, Page 14

“REASONABLE FAITH”

CHRISTIAN RELIGION BASED ON FIRM TRUTH REASONS FOR BELIEF “Be ready always to give every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you,” was the text taken from 1 Peter iii., 15, on which Mr. Reuben E. Dowle j based his sermon in the Mount j Roskill Congregational Church yesterday morning. "How remarkable it is that many believers, as well as many sceptics, are culpably negligent in giving an intelligent account of the doctrine of the New Testament,” said the speaker. “There is no excuse for believers, and, probably much prejudice on the part of unbelievers for this. Evidence simply abounds for the absolute confirmation of that holy faith once for all delivered to the saints.” On one occasion Colonel IngersoH and General Lew Wallace travelled together. Ingersoll, always ready to dilate on the so-called "mistakes of Moses,” asked Wallace if he could give a reason for his belief in the Christian doctrines. Wallace replied, "Really, Ingersoll, I have never given much time to the questions involved. I had a Christian training and have always accepted them tacitly.” Ingersoll expressed surprise. They parted. The iron had entered the soul of Wallace, and he resolved to give more time to the intellectual position of the Cliristian believer. After much reading and study he felt himself more than a match for any sceptic. He thereupon wrote the famous book, “BenHur." Pi-ter, it seems, had freely delivered himself in regard to suffering for Christ, for he realised the firm foundation upon which the Gospel was built. Among other encouraging remarks he advised believers to be always ready to give a reasonable reply to those seeking to know the hope found in Jesus Christ. Iu modem days, characterised by so much lopsided educatiou, “vain babblers” were assuming that believers were merely trusting in authority and tradition. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Many of the intellectual giants past and present had ably demonstrated the reasonableness of the holy faith. Being ready always to give information to candid inquirers is, in these latter days, very essential. In the scientific, and even in the commercial world, it was essential that specialists should be trained to satisfy the popular mind. In fact a man’s services were not at all required unless he could deliver the goods. How much more important, then, for the Christian to be expert in “proving all things and holding fast that which is good.” It could be done for a certainty. Too many today are horribly ignorant of the scriptures of truth and would not listen themselves to honest investigation. This intensified the responsibilities of students of divine truth. Perhaps, never before, had mankind been so anxious to know the truth. Guilty consciences were very often the cause of moral cowardice. The sceptic was always ready to deny that which he knew condemned him. People were “groping after God if haply they may find Him.” Man was a worshipping creature, and he must worship something. Christians, always and everywhere, must take trouble in rescuing wanderers. Sceptics, too, to be at all rational, needed to look to their bearings. Many of them were struggling in the slough of unbelief, if not in that of despond. Sinners could only be rescued by accepting the redemption of Jesus Christ, purchased on Calvary. Then, and only then, would they realise that individuals and nations were exalted, because "blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord.”

A BETTER LIFE SERVING THE CAUSE OF RELIGION SAVING THE SINNER Many counter-attractions did not j affect the Strand Theatre service last evening, there being a capacj ity audience to hear Mr. Scrimgeour give his usual “heart-to- | heart” talk. “Example” was the theme of his address. ! “It has never been the infidel or the j so-called modernist that has done ! damage to the cause of religion,” said ] Mr. Scrimgeour, “but rather the in- | consistencies of professed enthusiasts. ! It is a very simple matter to preach j about the sins of mankind —there are i so many—but it is a vastly different j matter to demonstrate a better life by j living so that others will desire to copy your example. “Some really earnest people spend ! the greater part of their time and enj ergy in trying to correct everyj one who has the brains to think some- : thing out, and the courage to let everyone else know he thinks it. . . It is only too easy to get abuse by speaking one’s mind. It is easy to incur the wrath of those who allow the’r personal feelings to overshadow the greatness of tlie point at issue. We must not allow such to impede us in our walk toward right! The man who stops to throw a stone at every cur that barks at his heels will be a long time getting to the end of the journey. "Because I believe in the philosophy of this, I refuse to waste time in replying to those who disagree with me. ... I know the wisdom of this old Spanish proverb. . . . “Christ certainly spoke in very unmistakable terms of certain sections of the community, but His method of teaching was on a different line. . . . He wanted to teach forgiveness; so He freely forgave all. He wished to show the virtue of loving one’s neighbour, so we find Him by the side of the outcast woman, and dining occasionally with the publicans and sinners. “Tlie great truth of Christianity is that God is seeking to save mankind,’ concluded Mr. Scrimgeour. “He is seeking to save a good many people inside the churches. But He is just as anxious to save the dirtiest, meanest specimen of a man possible to find. And whenever He gets a shadow of a chance, He will succeed. With every such reformation, an advance is made toward a new social order and a new community." The screening of the film. "The Fool,” and the song, “Behind the Clouds.” by Mr. Neville Carlsen, served to illustrate the sermon.