Editorial November 17, 1898 Issue

Colonel Ingersoll, in his recent lecture in Boston on...

Editor

Colonel Ingersoll, in his recent lecture in Boston on the subject of Superstition, among many other brilliant things, said: "Superstition is to believe without evidence, to explain one mystery with another, to disregard the real relation between cause and effect, to believe that matter was created by mind, to trust in miracles, charms, and dreams. Superstition is the child of ignorance and the mother of mystery." He further said: "At Chicago they erected arches and arranged a great thanksgiving to God, and there came a great storm and blew down the triumphal arches, and drenched the earth with rain. Is that the way a gentleman does when you try to do him honor? When you approach his house, does he turn the hose on you?"

Mr. Ingersoll's remarks are no doubt pithy and pointed, but not always strictly reverent. Yet, in so far as he assails the old and erroneous beliefs of God, there is much truth in what he says. If Mr. Ingersoll would study the Scriptures more with reference to their spiritual and allegorical meaning, and less with reference to the literalism of the old schools of theology, he would find no occasion for opposing and ridiculing them. For instance, if he were to unravel the deep meaning of the following Scripture,—"And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice" (1 Kings, 19:11, 12). Also Matthew, 8:24—27: "And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves; but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey him!"—he might become convinced that God did not send the rain upon the Peace Jubilee at Chicago, and that He is not in the storms and whirlwinds; and he might become satisfied that when Jesus rebuked and stilled the waves and the earthquake, he did it, not in violation of, but in obedience to, divine Law. Jesus expressly said that he did not come to destroy the works of the Law, but to fulfil the same. Was he not fulfilling the divine Law when he calmed the waves and stopped the earthquake? If the earthquake and the storm are of divine origin, surely Jesus would have been overturning instead of fulfilling God's Law in such act.

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