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Centennial Addresses, Histories of the Boards and Report on the Centenary Fund
Centennial Addresses Histories of the Boards and Report on the Centenary Fund Author:Presbyterian Church General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1889 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: THE ADAPTATION OF PRESBYTE- RIANISM TO THE MASSES. By Hon. J. Randolph Tucker, Lexington, Va. "D ELIGION is the bond which unites man to God. It is, -- though it be silent, the most potent influence in forming his moral character; and therefore in its moral effects upon the masses of men in their social and political relations. The deeper his insight into its true nature, and the stronger its grasp upon his mind and soul, the more complete will be the force of religion upon the man and the mass, in raising both to the high plane of a true, pure and strong manhood. As atheism is the negation of all religion, so the Being of God is the primal fact in every system of religion; and laith in God is the conservatism of all the religious forces operating on human nature. Without a God there can be no religion ; and without faith in God, religion is without forceful influence on man. It is obvious that this influence of religion on man will be proportioned to his faith, and the force of his faith will be in proportion to the majesty of the God, revealed to his consciousness as the object of his worship. In fact, man teuds to assimilate himself to the God to whom he acknowledges subjection; and thus the character of the man in the individual and in the mass may be measurably estimated by his subjective conception of the Deity he adores. Man will practice the vices his Deity sanctions or condones, but will strive to purify and perfect himself as his God is pure and perfect. These considerations explain the marvelous influence of the religion of Christ, inclusive of that of Moses and the prophets, upon huma...« less