To Infidelity and Back

To Infidelity and Back

The Project Gutenberg EBook of To Infidelity and Back, by Henry F.
Lutz Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check
the copyright laws for your country before downloading or
redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: To Infidelity and Back
Author: Henry F. Lutz
Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7495] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on May 11,
2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TO
INFIDELITY AND BACK ***

Produced by Charles Franks

TO INFIDELITY AND BACK
To Infidelity and Back
A Truth-seeker's Religious Autobiography
How I Found Christ and His Church By
EVANGELIST HENRY F. LUTZ
_Author of "Economic Redemption; or, Hard Times: the Cause and
Cure" etc._
"I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in
paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them,
and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them and not
forsake them"--Isa. 42:16.
"Slight tastes of philosophy may perchance move one to atheism, but
fuller draughts lead back to religion"--Lord Bacon
CINCINNATI, OHIO
1911

DEDICATION
To the sacred memory of the pioneers of the great Restoration
Movement of the nineteenth century, who forsook the religious
associations of a lifetime and cheerfully endured poverty, persecution
and every hardship in their endeavor to restore Christian union on the
primitive gospel, and who held forth a beacon-light that helped me to

find the truth in its simplicity as it is in Christ Jesus.

My Soul Struggle in Symbolism
Upon the fly-leaf of my Bible I find the following, which was written
shortly after I emerged from the stormy sea of heartrending agony
through which I passed in my conflict with sectarianism, rationalism,
infidelity and doubt. It was not written for the public, but was simply
an effort of my soul to express in a measure, through human symbols,
the painful experiences through which it passed. It will seem
extravagant language to those who have never had their souls lacerated
by doubt and despair. But the sensitive souls who have endured similar
experiences will understand, and it is with the hope of reaching and
helping them that it is given to the public.
"A TEN YEARS' JOURNEY
From the childhood land of ignorant innocence to the kingdom of
Christ: by way of deserts of negation; mountains of assumption; rivers
of irony, sarcasm and conceit; bays of contention; gulfs of liberalism;
and oceans of infidelity, doubt and confusion--swept by undercurrents
of selfish passion, tempests of blind sentiment, maelstroms of fear and
despair; covered with black clouds of prejudice and preconceived ideas,
dense fogs of theological speculation, gigantic icebergs of indifference,
monstrous sharks of procrastination, and ruinous rocks of materialism;
through the strait of darkness and absurdity, over the sea of twilight and
joy, into the haven of rest.
"In the ship, religion; pole-star, faith in God; rudder, free will; compass,
conscience; sextant, rationalism and experience; anchor, hope; guiding
chart, creeds and opinions of men vs. the Word of God; pilot, Jesus
Christ.
"Motto: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
"Prayer: O God! thou knowest the secret desire of my heart. Thou
knowest how earnestly I have sought the truth. God forbid that my life
should be a barren waste; that I should so use the powers that thou hast
given me that the world shall not be better for my having lived in it.
Lord, grant I may ever find the work that thou wouldst have me do.
'Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts,
and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting. Amen."

This, in substance, was my daily prayer for ten long, dreary years; for,
while my intellect was in doubt and confusion, my heart continued to
cling to God.

INTRODUCTION
One of the clearest expounders of the Scriptures in my acquaintance is
the