An Infidel's Testimony

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Dec 7, 1882

An Infidel's Testimony.

At the Freethinkers' Convention held at Watkins, N. Y., not long since, Mr. Miln, whose extremely "liberal" views had proved too much for even the Unitarians, and who has left the pulpit for the stage, gave his testimony as to the power of certain features of Christianity. When infidels themselves admit that they have nothing to compare with that which the Christian religion offers, there is no need of preaching against infidelity. Here is what he said:—

Let me next call attention to a feature of strength possessed by the church, to which the liberal cause as yet offers but meager rivalry; I mean its wealth of poetry. To challenge the fascinations of poetry were to deny the instincts of humanity. If one pauses he will at once perceive how charming a dress is there provided for the most insidious, though well-intended error. Be sure of this, that a proverb or a rhyme is the safest vehicle for either truth or error. Let me illustrate my meaning. The Christian conception of this world is a wilderness through which we journey to a promised land. In this wilderness are dangers innumerable—besetting foes, the seductions of dangerous by-paths, and a thousand ills beside. Now, in this view what could possibly supply a stronger motive for exertion than the tender strain:—

"Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak, but thou art mighty, Hold me with thy powerful hand."

Again the Christian dogmatist teaches his follower that he is in danger. To a disciple deeply and earnestly imbued with such views, what greater inspiration could he offer than this well-known song?

"Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee; Let the water and the blood, From thy wounded side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure, Save from wrath and make me pure."

Or, if we consider an attempt to awaken enthusiasm over the indestructibility of the Christian system, what shall we find superior to this?

"How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in its excellent word; What more can he say than to you he hath said, To you, who to Jesus for refuge have fled. "Fear not, I am with thee; oh! be not dismayed, I, I am thy God and will still give thee aid; I'll comfort thee, cheer thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my mighty omnipotent hand."

I shall not ask your pardon for introducing to you these old hymns, which to many before me will have all the charm of novelty, and to others will come as an echo of by-gone days; but I will say that in my judgment the church wields no stronger influence than that which resides in sacred poetry.

We come now to consider the seductive charm for the human heart which surrounds the Christian doctrine of a blissful immortality of the righteous. Look for an instant upon this inviting phase of Christian doctrine. "In my Father's house are many mansions," said Jesus of old, and every Christian fondly believes that Christ has gone before to prepare a place for him. How radiant, how peaceful, how replete with light and joy and unbroken harmonies that fair dwelling-place shall be! "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive!" How alluring, how fascinating this prospect! The keenest logician of us all bids farewell to that conception with ill-concealed regret. The reunion which it promises, how full of tenderest anticipation! And because self-preservation is the first law of nature, and because man projects the desire to preserve and perpetuate self beyond the limits of this mundane existence, I hold that that system which predicts an eternal life for the individual man has in the present stage of human development, a tremendous advantage over the system which denies or is simply agnostic in regard thereto.

Perhaps to this practical age, however, the chief claim as put forward by the church in her own defense is found in the magnitude and variety of her charities. I count that man foolish indeed who attempts to sneer at the philanthropic activity of the Christian church. When I recall the sincere self-denial of her missionaries, the constant benevolence of her followers; when I think of her care for the aged, for the halt, lame and blind; when I remember her tender solicitude for the street waif, or for the poor creatures who stand upon the brink of humanity, I detect at once the tender benevolence of the human heart and the secret of the mighty grip still laid by the hand of the church upon the heart of humanity.