NOBLEST SCIENCE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 14 June 1913, Page 3

NOBLEST SCIENCE.

WISDOM FROM ABOVE,

THE VALUE.OF LEARNING AND

ITS COST

(Inserted by Arrangement.)

The above was the subject chosen last 'Sunday by Pastor Russell, of the London Tabernacle, and his text was: "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy, and good fruits, without partiality, and with hypocrisy." (James iii. 17.) He said : Once the colleges of the world represented mot merely secular education, but the sentiment of their founders, who were generally religious; but a great change, has taken place! The condition of things to-day, the Pastor declared, was deplorable; for the great institutions of learning throughout the world—so well equipped for the inculcation of faith in God— ar©, as a matter of fact, doing more to overthrow faith than are all other influences combined. The increase of knowledge,, spread abroad amongst the masses, the Pastor believed to be accountable for the increase of vice, which is so great that, were it not for pur inventions and police arrangements, this would be the most .jnsecure time in the world's history. He explained that the unlermining of faith in the Bibb as the Word of God and the inculcation of the Evolution theory tend to destroy faith in a personal God, as well as in the unjust. One of the most peculiar things to him was that very wealthy men have richly endowed leading colleges, thereby destroying faith and unintentionally leading mankind to social revolution, to the precipice of anarchy. Nothing in the, Pastor's words indicated condemnation;, but, on the contrary, he manifested a deep sympathy for those entangled in the snares of Occultism and Evolution.

He had once be >n entangled himself, he said/ He had got free in time, thank God. Had his experiences gone so far as to lead him to doubt the existence of a supreme Creator, he believed that he would ;have been m irrevocably lost in Evolution as ma-ny of the* noble specimens! of our race who are in college, chairs. CAUSE OF THE TROUBLE.

The Pastor well knew that the pri-

Mary difficulty iy. that they cannot' believe the Bible to be the inspired record. So also had he once rejected dt because he thought it to be in harmony with the creeds of the Dark Ages, whose absurdities become more and more apparent to all thinkimg people. Now the Pastor pronounced himself to be a-most firm believer in tho. inspiration of the Bible. He said: .■ . ■'■ -. v • ,•.■ ' "' ; ' One of tha surprising things my Bible study revealed .was that the Bible supports the teachings of none ■of the cYeeds; and that none of the creeds and sects use all the Bible. Each has made selections of doctrine

from the Word of God. Each, uses these in its own defence, and ; each finds in the Bible other teachings! supported by other texts, which do not fit in with its own creed. Evidently none of the 'different sects manufactured the. Biblo. Had Calvini&ts made, dt up, tlu\y would have left out all texts which, teach Divine free grace. Had Arnnnians—the Methodists, etc—made up .the Bible, they would have put ia. more *? e , *ra* fi teste and left'ft those Which mention election. Had Catholics made the Bible, they would have added something to t,ach the immaculate conception of the Virgin Marv, and to prove that ©he should now be worshipped. iTiey would have put in something about indulgences, high mass and low mass, holy water and hofy candles, etc. Thev . would havo put in, as wouldmost Protestants A I number of tests .tellrafc .about the : Catholics and would have left out the textswinch tell that the dead are asbep,. to awaken in, the resurrection morning. Indeed, they would nave o™*™ £_ everythins respiting the •Aon- for one of the most ..difficult matters to explain |« be a resurrection of the dead, when they teaoh that those who seem to become, more alive, than when they were living- Evidently the oW bU, which I, noW a Pr:*e so hio-blv, was not made by man.. TIIUE VALUE AND WST OF LEARNING,

My booe. prayer,' and effort ie on behalf of the thinking Christianijg pie of to-day. I wo«td have them see £ha v t this wonderful Book whale out of accord with, the creed* of Chnstegdom, is fully in, harmony with itself. The treat Tilan of .salvation which th> Bible sets forbh towers far abovejail the puny men «j' ed in ihe creeds of Christendom, ibe S>ri«S its length.. and -breadth and heißht- a,nd dftpth, could ■ wjt- ■ Jave come-from any other- quarter ..than from Above. ' . ~ o Learning along the various lines ol instruction is . surely valuable. Chemistry has AmemMh for tfho world; so .have electricity and - other allied sciences. I rem«nd you, |2srw that the truths which apnlv to our every-day life, while very Kpbrtut in every way to our human progress, are not sufficient> Jwv us. 11l humanity ar.3 so created as to have mental cravings whichl none or the aooHed sciences, hpwever useful, will satisfy The human 1 mmd must &ry respecting whence ; we 5 and whither we go and the object of our present existence. _ ° I understand that in many elates philosophising is tabooed. The Searcher for knowledge along tnese lTnids referred to Plato anfl SocrateTand their immature deductions. 6 ont simingly, thinks of fa*, to Wess,m .!&**££■ bevond thes? slants of tfte_ & evolution theory us

been much nearer to the* monkey state, than we are to-day. Besides. those men had none of the Wisdom from Abovo—claimed none of it. A WISE COURSE. The Pastor sought to impress thJ wisdom of beginning Bibie study afresh, ignoring the creeds of the Dark Ages, and permitting the old Book to explain itself —one passage throwing light upon another. He pointi.nl out, however, .that the Bible specifically declares that only the consecrated can have the Holy Spirit, without which the Bible cannot be clearly understood. His exhortation implied that all who desire to have the Wisdom and instruction from Above should first of all recogniaa a supreme personal Creator,. a God of Justice, Wisdom,, Love, and Power. To Him they should consecrate thenlives. Then they should take up thi study of His Word, desirous of doing His will in every particular. What shall it profit a man H he gain all material knowledge and miss the Wisdom from Above P Unless the Pastor were greatly mistaken, the next few years will show that much of the present-day learning really has been injurious. The Pope is quite right in his declaration that the education which ignores a God and a Divine purpose in revelation cannot bring blessing. The Pastor believed that the most important element of human nature has been left untaught—the highest organs in the braan, appertaining to religion, justice, mercy, equity, reveronce for God. What college "can claim that it has sent forth its students properly cultured along these lines? If not, sure then they are in an unbalanced condition, only waiting for the winds of selfishness and strife to blow, when thoy will be capsized in a turbulent sea of revolution and anarchy. This is cause the education of thfe heard ana the religious proclivities.bfrthe mind have ,'boen seriously neglected. Would that I could impulse a. reviva.- n Bible studv ,of reverence for God and holy thing's, but not a- reverence for superstition!- said the Pastor.