The Infidel in the Rapids

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 12, 1907

The Infidel in the Rapids

A NUMBER of atheists were in session to hear an address by a prominent infidel orator. The enthusiasm was unbounded, and the harmony of the discussion unbroken, until an old man who had been sitting quietly in the rear of the room, rose to answer the charges that had been uttered against the Christian faith. “My friends,” he said, “I have a word to speak to you to-night. I am not about to refute any of the arguments of the orator. I shall not criticize his style. I shall say nothing concerning what I believe to be the blasphemies he has uttered, but I shall simply relate to you a fact, and after I have done that, you shall draw you own conclusions. Yesterday I walked by the side of yonder river. I saw on its flood a young man in a boat. The boat was unmanageable; it was going fast toward the rapids; he could not use the oars, and I saw that he was not capable of bringing the boat to the shore. I saw the young man wring his hands in agony. Presently he gave up the attempt to save his life, kneeled down and cried with desperate earnestness, ‘O God, save my soul! If my body can not be saved, save my soul!’ I heard him confess that he had been a blasphemer; I heard him vow that if his life were spared, he would never be such again; I heard him implore the mercy of Heaven for Jesus Christ’s sake, and earnestly plead that he might be washed in his blood. That same young man has just now addressed you, and cursed his Maker. What say you to this, sirs?” The effect of his words was astounding, and needless to say, the sentiment of the meeting was very soon changed.—Selected.