Calvinism a life-system - pagina 55

CALVINISM AND RELIGION. real object of adoration is

and remains a

;

—

in all these different

religion fostered for

And

triumph over death.

at his

kind has developed

of this

god whom in

and partly

order

and

tranquillity

also

monotheism, the

worships, remains invariably a god

it

it

even when a religion

itself into

order to help man,

exists

forms

I

man's sake, aiming

his safety, his liberty, his elevation,

at

5

who

order to secure good

in

the State, to furnish assist-

for

ance and deliverance in time of need, or to strengthen

and higher impulse of the human heart

the nobler

ceaseless

its

struggle with

The consequence

sin.

time

thrives

in

among

t.he

days of prosperity, it

is

and

that

feeble; but it

fails

to

such religion

all

pestilence,

poor and oppressed, and

humble and the

the

degrading influences of

the

of this

of famine

it

it

pines

attract

flourishes

it

expands among

away

the

as the

more

civilized classes

in the

well-to-do,

abandoned by those who are more highly

is

As soon

in

cultured.

enjoy tranquillity

and comfort, and by the progress of science

feel

more

and more delivered from the pressure of the cosmos, throw away the crutches of

they

gion as

;

—

This

egoistic

interests

course

of religion

earlier

times,

itself

in

is

stumbUng forward on

their reli-

becomes superfluous and disappears as soon

it

the

legs.

and with a

the fatal end of egoistic

sneer at everything holy, go

own poor

religion,

our

of the higher,

among

are satisfied. all

This was the

non-Christian nations, in

and the same phenomenon

own

century,

is

among nominal

repeating Christians

more properous and more cultured

classes

of society.

Now

the position of Calvinism

is

diametrically opposed

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen