THEISM, ATHEISM,
AND
THE POPULAR THEOLOGY.
I.
OF SPECULATIVE ATHEISM REGARDED AS A THEORY OF THE UNIVERSE.
THE FOOL HATH SAID IN HIS HEART, THERE IS NO GOD.—PSALM XIV. 1.
On this and several following Sundays I propose to speak of Atheism, of the Popular Theology, and of pure Theism: of each first as a Theory of the Universe, and then as a Principle of Practical Life; first as speculative Philosophy, then as practical Ethics.
The idea which a man forms of God is always the most important element in his speculative theory of the universe, and in his particular, practical plan of action for the church, the state, the community, the family, and his own individual life. You see to-day the vast influence of the popular idea of God. All the great historical civilizations of the race have grown out of the national idea which was formed of God, or have been intimately connected with it. The popular theology, which at first is only an abstract idea in the heads of the philosophers, by and by shows itself in the laws, the navies, the forts, and the jails; in the churches, the ceremonies, and the sacraments, the weddings, the baptisms, and the funerals; in the hospitals, the colleges, the schools, in all the social charities; in the relation of a husband and wife, parent and child; in the daily work and the daily prayer of each
