“THE air is full of objections to religion, and every objection should be met on the spot and refuted. If any one denies, in your hearing, the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, the divinity of Christ, the inspiration of Scripture, or any other truth of religion, it is your duty to affirm these fundamental truths at once, and it is a great honor to do so. If you say you have no learning, I answer, that the highest learning is not so good a quality as sincere conviction; and I answer again that those who assail the truth in common conversation are generally the reverse of learned. The enemies of religion are, for the most part, as ignorant as they are bold. Learning is good, but it is not learning we need most. We need to have sincere convictions, and we need to have the courage of them. ‘I believed,’ says the Psalmist, ‘and therefore did I speak.’ Truth sounds so well that its bare mention is a powerful argument. Furthermore, the honest Christian who defends his religion will not be without the divine assistance to do it well.

“But we should not only defend the truth; we should attack error. If you have friends who are in error, you can do them no better service than to set them right. This must be done with discretion, to be sure. But do not be too anxious about discretion. When you see error attack it; in such cases kindliness is the chief rule for securing a hearing. It is amazing that men and women can piously love the truths and practices of religion, and live along from day to day without vigorously attacking the error and vice everywhere about them. What coward is so mean as the pious coward?”

— “Showing Forth Our Faith,” 1893

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