Bellefonte, Pa., May 27, 1927.
Dr. Colfelt on Theology.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
By Rev. L. M. Colfelt D. D.
There is no Eden into which some
Serpent does not intrude. Most men
of active mind about the age of 45 ar-
rive at a period of disillusion and
Cataclysm. Mine took the intellectual
and theological form. The new Sci-
ence whose marvels Darwin’s re-
searches revealed, and Herbert Spen-
cer reduced to philosophic deduction
.and system intoxicated. dizzied, and
.shook the whole structure of inherit-
ed beliefs to their foundation. The
Scholastic system of Augustinian The-
ology tumbled down into Catholic
ruin. The Evolutionary hypothesis,
even after one clung with desperation
to the first words of Genesis “In the
‘beginning God” left little beside abol-
ishing utterly Archbishop Usher’s
chronology of 6000 years and carry-
ing back man’s existence to the Glac-
ial Epoch, enlarging the longevity of
the race by more than two hundred
‘thousand years. In establishing the
descent of man from superior animal
forms his special creation was con-
signed to limbo. The Federal headship
and the fall of man from a sudden de-
scent, to a long, steady ascent, from
inorganic to organic, animal to men-
tal, mental to moral, moral to spirit-
al. The cosmogony of Moses and the
Garden of Eden was changed into a
jungle filled with ape-like creatures,
the Deluge into a local cloud burst,
-and in fine the whole Bible story of
origins was reduced to a beautiful
Mythus with no scientific basis.
Science revealed that the world has
“been fortuitously compressed, con-
creted and rounded out of impalpable
Star dust and is destined after an un-
“known number of revolutions to be
redissolved into the aboriginal lumini-
ferious ether, and that after the same
‘manner the whole universe passes
‘through this same process of Evolu-
‘tion and Involution endlessly. Ter-
restrial phenomena repeat the same
circular performance. The vegetable
consumes the earth, the ox and the
sheep graze upon vegetation, we eat
the ox and sheep, invisible agents we
call death consume us, in the scale of
creation some creatures serve only
‘to destroy other creatures, and the
universe is like an enormous Cata-
falque upon which burns a funeral
torch lighting up the Statue of Eter-
‘nal Fatality. Some are patient be-
cause they have been born lymphatic,
many are heroes because they have
much blood, others are thinkers be-
cause they are bilious, more are mu-
sicians and poets, their nerves are ex-
citable, but all die of their own char-
acteristics and all live while their
stomachs endure; while their hearts,
‘their brains, their spines are sound.
What we call virtues or vices are
‘tendencies of organism, what we call
faith is but a few drops of blood less
‘in the veins or some atoms of phos-
phorous in the bones, and what we call
‘immortality is an illusion. Death
only is real and certain, and human
“history is but a procession of shadows
passing like bats between the day
and the night and dropping one af-
ter the other into an obscure unfath-
omable abyss called nothingness. As
for religious beliefs, they are mere
phantasies of imagination. The In-
carnations of ‘Gods, the Deifications
of men, the miraculous conceptions,
‘the material Miracles, the Heavens
-and Hells, Angels and Demons, all the
spiritual paraphernalia are but beau-
‘tiful poetic fancies, products of the
childish imagination of the race, ac-
cumulations of Folk Lore, mythology
-aggrandized into Theology, Credulity
dignified by the name of faith and
quite incapable of rational verifica-
‘tion by practical experimentation.
Thus the race has passed through
successive cycles of Evolution begin-
ning with theological superstition, ris-
“ing into the rational and metaphysi-
cal and culminating in the positively
scientific age into which it is our priv-
‘ilege to be born and to enjoy its
certainty. The problem of the exact
sciences is the succession of cause and
effect. The experimental method
gives positive results concerning the
“laws of light, chemical affinities, the
development of organisms, the laws
that govern different bodies and even
the laws of human mind. It will fur-
nish exact answers to questions about
the chemical élements of the stars
and planets, about the movements of
the sun with its constellations, about
the origin of species and of man,
about the infinitély small and weight-
less particles of ether. The agglom-
eration of these particles has produc-
ed that lump we cdll the body and
the mutual action and reaction of
these particles upon each other has
produced what we call life. In fine,
all is development, and differentia-
tion tending by the operation of in-
exorable laws to complication and
perfection, and the province of human
investigation is to discover and sys-
tematize the laws that govern the pro-
cess. Here alone are we on the solid
ground of verifiable knowledge. All
scientific allusions and data, there-
fore, found in so called inspired and
Sacred Books of all ages and races
that are pronounced irrational and
untenable by Exact Science must be
eliminated as impossible of rational
belief however it may jar man made
doctrines of Inspiration and Inerran-
cy. Truth is mighty and must prevail
and no error can be made immune by
calling it inspired.
All that is finite is within the pro-
vince of experimental and exact
science. All that is beyond is the In-
finite and may be apprehended theo-
retically and imaginatively but not
comprehended. But it must be con-
fessed that the apprehensions of in-
finite things by finite 'béings are not
verifiable and one man’s guess is as
good as another’s where nothing can
be exactly or exhaustively known. It
is this incomprehensible realm beyond
the finite which has given rise to so
many systems of theoretical science,
the most important branch of which
is Metaphysics or Philosophy. Multi-
‘tudes of men in all ages and races
have devoted themselves to this Her-
culean task of unraveling the Infin-
ite, only to the contradiction of each
other, only to describe a perpetual
oscillation between Materialism and
Spiritualism, Epicureanism and Stoi-
cism, Nominalism and Realmism, the
futile quest ending in the hopeless
conclusion that we are all and each
but an inconceivable part of an incon-
ceivable whole. These intellectual
Samsons have circled round creation
but never a one has ground out any-
thing that has satisfactorily solved
the riddle of universe, but have only
ended where they began. Indeed the
wisest of them all, Socrates, Saky, a
Mouni (Budha) Solomon, Schopen-
haur, baffled utterly in the quest, took
refuge in Pessimism and ended their
Samson-like labors by pulling down
the pillars of the intellectual universe
upon themselves, finding no resource
better than the Philosophy of De-
spair. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!
Thus no refuge from the Iconoclasm
of science can be found in philosophy,
the profoundest researches of which
end in nothing but the Agnosticism
which must helplessly confess that
the end of all wisdom is we do not,
cannot know. What wonder paul said
to the Corinthians,” the world by wis-
dom knew not God.” This disloca-
tion of the traditional Theological
view, brought about by the new
science of nature for which no pan-
acea can be found, in Philosophy, is
doubtless some disturbing force that
is fermenting in the minds of the
student body in the United States at
the present time and occasioning so
many tragical suicides. Often in my
pulpit experience did I watch with
anxiety the effect upon Students, re-
turned from college for their Holi-
days, when seated in the family pew
they listened with polite attention to
the preacher as he set forth the an-
cient dogmas with which they vain-
ly tried to reconcile the staple college
instruction in the natural Sciences.
Later warned by the wreck of many
a youth’s inherited beliefs, I address-
ed myself to the limit of my humble
powers and the perturbation of some
of my parishioners to the task of
working out a possible approach-
ment that might tide them as well as
myself over this Critical impasse.
But while it is easy to destroy men’s
beliefs it is an almost superhuman
task to reconstruct equally satisfying
religious views. The best that I could
do was to acquiesce for the time be-
ing in the truce which my generation
declared between Religion and Sci-
ence. From that day to this it must
be confessed that no rational recon-
ciliation has been effected between
the two views by either the cham-
pions of religion or science. There is
not a shadow of doubt that a pre-es-
tablished harmony will be discovered
between the present irreconcilables in
God’s good time. The Authorof Sci-
ence and Revelation is the same God
and cannot be at war with himself.
But this seeming gulf will only be
bridged when Man’s knowledge of the
true interpretation of Scripture and
of the revelation of Science is vastly
increased and clarified. In the mean-
time it behooves all to maintain their
souls with peace and patience, pray- |.
ing for nothing so much as light,
more light! But so far had this ir-
reconcilable situation at that time
affected my mind that I could not
continue in the pulpit preaching a
form of Religion with which I was
no longer in rational accord and I
determined to resign and ascertain
my theological bearings.
Wool Growers Make Plans for Mark-
eting Clip.
The Centre county Sheep and Wool
Grower’s Association are making
plans to market their wool co-opera-
tively again this year. This plan of
selling wool has proven very satis-
factory. More growers are taking
advantage of the association each
year and the amount of rejections
have been decreased until last year
there was only approximately 5% of
inferior grade.
A supply of wool twine has been
purchased by the association and can
be obtained at the Agricultural Exten-
sion office in Bellefonte, and also from
the members of the board of directors
in the various communities. Shear-
ing is underway in the county and
special care should be taken by the
growers not to get their clip dirty or
wet. It should be tied in good shape
with paper twine, as there-is usual
ly a difference of from five to seven
cents a pound between rejections and
No. 1 wool.
Proud Woman
Once upon a time there was in Sa-
lem a storekeeper who did not like
proud people, not even if they were
among his customers. He had one
patron who was extra proud. She
sent her. servants to do her shopping.
That was when a “hired girl” got $3
a week pay, and a wealthy family kent
*wo or three maids.
So proud was this woman that she
would not even let her servant carry
bundles. She insisted that the store-
keeper send them. One morning she
ordered a spool of cotton. The store-
keeper called his errand boy, told him
to get a wheelbarrow. He put the
spool of cotton on the wheelbarrow
and ordered the boy to deliver it. Did
it have an effect? It did not.—Salem
News.
Lot Like Him
Two public men In Washington
were one day talking of the traits of
a certain member of congress, who
has a way of permitting himself to
get “all het up” over trifies and who
generally makes a great to-do with’
respect to
small things.
“Yes, sir,” observed one of the men
first mentioned, “that chap invariably
hitches a Corliss engine to a gimlet.”
the accomplishment of
If you want a nice Porch Rocker, FREE, The Watchman will help
you get it. Come in and find out how it can be done.
Oh, Yes! Call Bellefonte 432
W.R. Shope Lumber Co.
Lumber, Sash, Doors, Millwork and Roofing
LUMBER?
T1-16-t£
coms
IC
Shoes Na
Smart, indeed, are the Arch Shoes we
are syowing for ladies of middle age. They have style,
plenty of it, but comfort as well. Sizes run from As to
triple Es and we have them in patent kid, tan kid satin and
black kid. Note the construction of the sole in the illustra-
tion below. It is designed for shoe comfort and costs only
tol fof
.
or
=
==
S03
a
it
"yy
wen
apres
*¥ou want the installer to do his work . . . without
making a mess of things”
the time.
ROMPT AND RELIABLE telephone service is
what you most want.
That's where you put the emphasis most of
And that’s where we put it!
But service means more than that to you; as it does to us.
You want close, helpful attention to your personal needs
when you call or visit ‘the Business Office.
: You want your bills to show clearly what your usage
RS has been. nat ad
You want the installer or repair man who visits your
premises to do his work quickly, and without making a
mess of things.
These and other details you want well handled
And on these, we, too, put emphasis.
What we are trying to do is to bring the best efforts of
a capable workman to bear on every feature of your service
—to put ourselves at your personal disposal in your every
contact with this company.
“...attention to your personal needs
when you visit the Business Office”
mw frickin makes a
ate” for printing your
tele phone bill
Each telephone must be connected ir of wines
ie by a pur of
THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY +}
OF PENNSYLVANIA By
“AN ORGANIZATION DEVOTED
TO PERSONAL SERVICE*®