STUDY VIII. HOW TO HELP THE MAN WHOSE FAITH IS UNSETTLED. "And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye men of Athens, in all things I perceive that ye are very religious. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, To an Unknown God. What, therefore, ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you." (Acts xvii. 22, 23.) PART 5. BE CONSTRUCTIVE IN DEALING WITH UNSETTLED FAITH. ARGUMENTATION is the poorest method known for convincing either yourself or another man. In the midst of an argument the passions are aroused and the judgment is thrown into the background. It is always wise when you wish to get another to see the truth, whether it be scientific, political, or religious truth, to allow the other man to state uninterruptedly his conceptions; then state your own in like manner. In dealing with the truth seeker I have usually said: "I myself have had questions, and this is the way I found relief; perhaps this may help you to find the truth which you are seeking." This at once disarms any antagonism. In one of the colleges some years ago I met a relative of Robert Ingersoll, a fine, intellectual fellow. He came for an interview, primed for a great argument. I would not argue. I simply said I took for granted that he was genuinely in earnest to find the truth about Christ. I outlined carefully the steps I had taken in solving my own doubt on that question, and then asked him if he would not begin a thorough investigation. He agreed he would. A year later I visited his college again and he came for another interview. When asked what progress he had made he re plied: "I have deliberately come to the conclusion that Christ is the Son of God." Argument would have driven him farther away. Constructive dealing helped. In this connection one ought to caution the inexperienced worker not to allow himself to be kept on the defensive. Do not let the other man keep you answering his doubts. You cannot answer them all. Some things can be answered only by life processes, not in words. Many a man needs to hang up most of his doubts and live positively on what he does believe. Therefore do as Paul did. Find out what a man does believe. It may be that the only thing he believes is the reality of his own sense of duty. Then begin with that. Ask him to think of the meaning of this sense of duty, which is universal. Ask him to consider why man alone understands the "ought" conception. From this lead him step by step into constructive thinking. I once organized a large Bible class of Jewish students. When I proposed that they study the life of Christ one man objected strenuously. I did not ask him his objection, but asked what was the orthodox Jewish conception of Jesus. He said they believe him to be a great teacher and a great prophet. I asked him if they consider him as great a teacher and prophet as Isaiah. "Yes, much greater, the greatest of all." "Well, then, you ought to know what the great man taught and did." Not another objection was raised, and the class studied the life of Christ. But the class could have been wrecked if I had taken the defensive and tried to answer his objections. Find out what your man does accept. Ask him to forget his doubts for a season, just for the sake of investigation; point out a constructive course of thought; make sure that he actually does think; and, above all, insist on his living up to the standard of what he does believe, and most doubters will soon find the light breaking. STUDY VIII. HOW TO HELP THE MAN WHOSE FAITH IS UNSETTLED. "For when Gentiles that have not the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are the law unto themselves; in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness therewith, and their thoughts one with another accusing or else excusing them." (Rom. ii. 14, 15.) PART 6. IS RELIGION A REALITY? I RECENTLY spent an hour with a brilliant young professor talking about the fundamental facts of religion. Finally he said: "I have deliberately come to the conclusion that there is no reality in religion. It is just the exaggerated wish of our hearts, to which we have ascribed reality." This is not an isolated case. I had a conversation two years ago with another man who took precisely the same attitude. This latter man I know well personally, and consider him one of the cleanest, truest men I know. He is absolutely honest in his belief, or non-belief, as we may call it. This is no new philosophy. A school of English thinkers held to this theory less than a century ago. To them the one final reality was thought. Everything outside of us is a delusion of the senses. There is no God: and evil is simply that which causes us pain; while good is that which gives us pleasure. Living in the midst of pain as man does, he naturally desires to find peace and soothing. He thinks he can find this in fellowship with a complete being. So man's desire becomes the father of his God. This niceting of need and creed Browning sets forth in "Easter Iy:" The human hearts' best; you prefer Making that prove the minister To truth; you probe its wants and needs, That faith plucks such substantial fruit And again in "A Death in the Desert," speaking of the Christ conception, Browning represents the doubter saying: Did not we ourselves make him? Our mind receives but what it holds, no more. Knew first what else we should not recognize. This whole question of whether there is anything outside us corresponding to our need for God, whether these states which we call religious experience are real or simply the pictures of an inflamed imagination, needs to have careful attention. To-day let us glance back at the headings of Study II. and ask ourselves if a mere imagination can give us peace of conscience, can transform us from self-centered to God-centered personalities, can give us a unified being and send us out with a new loyalty which is helping us to conquer the world. Can a mere "projection from a man's mind" do this? STUDY VIII. HOW TO HELP THE MAN WHOSE FAITH IS UNSETTLED. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, How I went with the throng, and led them to the house of God, And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him For the help of his countenance.” (Ps. lxii. 1-5.) PART 7. IS RELIGION A REALITY? Look back to Study V., Part I, to see what was given there as a test of reality. Ordinarily men accept an experience as real when a great number of independent, competent witnesses testify to its truth. That the vast majority of the men in the world have testified to their sense of the reality of religion cannot be doubted. A second test of reality is whether it really makes any difference if the thing in question is neglected. If a thing has reality, then to neglect it must make some difference. Does it make any difference when religion is neglected, and does it make any difference when religion is cultivated? We have tried to answer the second question in relation to a specific religion in Study II. We saw there that something does really happen when a man becomes a Christian. But is a man poorer when he leaves religion out of his life? Development into the fullest personality is the conscious need of all humanity. The ideal for that development may vary greatly, but all men want and expect development. It is just as universally recognized that man has lost his way. Something is wrong. He has not the power within |