Editorial December 13, 1919 Issue

"Have faith in God"

Ella W. Hoag

When Jesus said to his disciples, "Have faith in God," he was not turning them to an unknown Deity, but was calling upon them to rely on a Father whom he had proved in their presence again and again to be omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient good. Moreover, he encouraged them to know that with this faith in God they too could do the same works; for he went on to say: "Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."

From that day to this Christians have longed to possess this wonderful faith in God, which, understood and demonstrated, would enable them to repeat the works of Jesus and his disciples. They have counseled each other to seek it; they have prayed to God to give it to them. Occasionally there have been a few earnest seekers who have succeeded in winning a sufficient belief in faith to have results of good follow. Rarely, however, could they explain in any way the process by which they had attained it, so that others might go and do likewise.

When we ponder the ordinary theological teaching in regard to the arbitrariness of God's purpose for His creation, we find a reason for the seeming difficulty in the past of winning a practical, demonstrable understanding of such faith in God as would result in a repetition of the mighty works of the early Christian era. When we remember that for centuries God has been preached as a God of wrath as well as of love, and that His correcting rod was supposed to be wielded to inflict dire calamities upon man, is it strange that it has been difficult to gain a faith in Him and in His willingness to deliver from evil and to produce good and good alone?

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