Christian Churches and Churches of Christ; Lutz, Henry Frey, 1868-1926 -- Biography; Restoration movement (Christianity)
In the search for truth, as in almost everything else, there are two
extremes, both of which should be avoided. On the one hand are those
who are too ready to accept new ideas without proper examination. They
are "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine."
At the other extreme stand the narrow, self-righteous bigots who
absolutely refuse to even examine the claim of any truth they do not
already possess. They know it all without finding it out. It matters
not whether you speak of politics, religion or anything else, they know
all about it without investigation. They never read any but their own
party papers and books and never hear any but their own speakers and
preachers.
It is said that a father and son got into a religious discussion. The
father was an infidel and the son tried to convert him to Christianity.
They argued and argued until midnight. Finally the father said, "Son,
there is no use talking, you can't convert me if you argue all night; I
am established." The next morning they went for a load of wood, and as
they left the woods the horse got balky and wouldn't move an inch.
"What is the matter with this horse, anyway?" asked the father. "Why,"
replied the son, "he is established." The Bible says, "Be ye not as the
horse or as the mule, which have no understanding." It is bad enough
for a mule to get balky, but what a pity that man, created in the image
of God, should become balky and refuse to learn the truths that make
for his peace and progress and for the enlargement of the kingdom of
heaven.
An Arabic proverb says: "Mankind are four. He who knows not and knows
not he knows not; he is a fool, shun him. He who knows not and knows
that he knows not; he is simple, teach him. He who knows and knows not
that he knows; he is asleep, wake him. And he who knows and knows that
he knows; he is wise, follow him." The trouble is to know who "knows
not and knows not that he knows not," and who "knows and knows that he
knows." For they both speak with absolute assurance that they are right.
Illustrations of how blissfully ignorant of truth we can be are found
in the facts that Capt. John Smith sailed up the James River to reach
India and that the Indians planted gunpowder.
It is said that on Lookout Mountain there is a building with windows so
constructed that if you look out through the one you see a snowstorm;
through another, you see it raining; while through a third, the sun is
shining. Thus it is that we look at truth through the colored glasses
of prejudice and selfish interests, and see what is not.
Probably you have heard about the two Irishmen who get into a
fist-fight over a soap sign. One insisted that it read "Ivory Soap,"
and the other, "It Floats." They saw it from a different angle, and
that often accounts for differences of opinion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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