{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_28601/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_28601","id":"gutenberg_28601","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28601","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Religion and science -- Periodicals","The Christian Foundation"],"text":"The Christian Foundation,\n\n                                   Or,\n\n                     Scientific and Religious Journal\n\n                              Vol. 1. No 6.\n\n                               June, 1880.\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nThe Work of the Holy Spirit. What Is It? What Are Its Relations And Uses?\nCredibility Of The Evidence Of The Resurrection Of Christ.\n\u201cBroad-Gauge Religion.\u201d\u2014Shall The Conflict Cease?\nPapal Authority In The Bygone.\u2014The Infidel\u2019s Amusing Attitude.\n\u201cEven Now Are There Many Anti-Christs.\u201d\nWhat Is To Be The Religion Of The Future.\nBill Of Indictments Against Protestants.\nA Summary Of Truth.\nEthan Allen, The Infidel, And His Daughter.\nTruth Is Immortal.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. WHAT IS IT? WHAT ARE ITS RELATIONS AND USES?\n\n\nI know of no religious people who intentionally deny his agency in\ncreation, providence or redemption. But men differ widely in their\nopinions concerning it and its relations and uses. Many honest-hearted\npersons have been educated in the theory of an immediate and direct\noperation of the Spirit upon the hearts of sinners in order to their\nconversion, which they often call the baptism of the Holy Spirit. On this\naccount thousands of prayers are offered up continually to induce the Lord\nto pour the Spirit upon sinners and convert and save them. And happy\nmeetings are attributed to wonderful outpourings of the Spirit. What is\nhis work? It is said that he moved upon the face of the great deep, and\nthat God said, Let there be light, and there was light. This operation\nupon physical nature gave to our planet cosmic light, and the darkness,\nwhich had shut out the light of the heavenly bodies through the long lapse\nof time extending back from Moses\u2019 first day to the beginning in which\ncreation took place, was removed. Activity having begun in matter, periods\nof light and darkness alternate until the conditions of our planet are so\nchanged that the light of the heavenly bodies becomes the light of this\nworld; and the great work of the Spirit having accomplished its purposes,\nis classified with the extraordinary efforts of God in bringing into\nexistence this beautiful planetary system of ours. It is, consequently, a\nwork of the past. But the work of the Spirit is not over.\n\nThere must be a moral and spiritual system, as well as a physical. As the\nmaterial system would be unworthy of its creator, were it not for the fact\nthat it is governed by law, which is equivalent to saying, it is a system,\nso the moral and spiritual must be under law, in order to the\naccomplishment of the ends of its creation, which is equal to saying, it\nis God\u2019s moral government. But how is this system to be brought into\nexistence? And how is it to be perpetuated? In answering these questions\nlet us remember the law of analogy, based upon the simple axiom that God\nis a God of order. In the use of the analogy about to be instituted we\nsimply pass through the outer court of the temple of God in order to\nbehold the beauties of the inner. Then, as the world of matter existed as\nan inactive, confused mass, surrounded by an envelope of darkness which\nshut out the light of the heavens, so the human family, without the\nknowledge of God, without the light of knowledge, left to its own mental\nand moral wanderings, without law or system or order, would present all\nthe horrors of pagan darkness and woe. Then the Spirit of God must move\nagain in obedience to the mandate of the Most High. And as the object to\nbe accomplished is now connected with mind, the Spirit now moves upon the\nface of the great deep of the human heart or mind. But shall he move upon\nall hearts throughout all time in order to dispel moral darkness, and so\nthe extraordinary become the ordinary? Or shall he move in an\nextraordinary manner and cause the light of revelation to flash across the\nworld and dispel the darkness consequent upon the mental and moral\ncondition of the children of men, and give us a glorious lamp of light,\nalong with law, order and system? And has the extraordinary given place to\nthe ordinary? And what is the use of the ordinary if we have the\nextraordinary, or the use of the extraordinary if we have the ordinary?\n\nAs the operation of the Spirit upon the face of the great deep was to\ndispel the surrounding darkness and reveal the sun in the heavens, with\nall the lesser light bearers, which are dependent upon the sun for the\nlight they give to our planet, so the extraordinary movement of the Spirit\nupon the world of mind was to give us light in the place of darkness and\nreveal the Son of God, who is the \u201cSun of Righteousness,\u201d who rose \u201cwith\nhealing in his beams.\u201d This work of the Spirit upon the world of mind is\ndoubted by no Christian, for \u201choly men of old spake as they were moved\nupon by the Holy Spirit.\u201d The knowledge thus communicated was given to the\nprophets of old, without action upon their part\u2014that is to say, they did\nnot attain unto it by taking thought what they should speak or say, for in\nthe proper hour, when it was needful, it was given to them. This grand\nprocedure was kept up until the \u201cMystery of Christ\u201d was revealed, or until\nthe light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus\nChrist, burst upon the vision of the world. Now, he being the brightness\nof the Father\u2019s glory and the express image of his person, and it having\npleased the Father that in him all fullness should dwell, he is the \u201cLight\nof the World\u201d\u2014God\u2019s great light bearer. Along with the revelation of\nChrist comes a revelation of all the lesser lights that shine out in the\nmental and moral heavens, who have been, and are, dependent upon him for\ntheir knowledge, or light. In order to give the world this revelation of\nChrist, Jehovah selected his own men, and confirmed their mission, and the\nSpirit moved upon their hearts to give light until the Christ, himself,\nwith all his satellites, should shine forth in the light of life. These\nmen were the ancient prophets of the \u201cHigh and Holy One.\u201d They were\nteachers sent from God. Their mission was confirmed by the wondrous works\nwhich they were enabled to perform. Nicodemus understood this matter when\nhe said, \u201cRabbi, we know thou art a teacher sent from God, for no man can\ndo these works which thou dost except God be with him.\u201d\n\nThe little Jewish maiden who waited on Naaman\u2019s wife understood it, for\nshe said to her, \u201cWould to God my Lord were with the prophet in Samaria!\nfor he would cure him of his leprosy.\u201d It is said of the disciples of\nChrist that they \u201cwent everywhere preaching the word, the Lord working\nwith them and confirming the word with signs following.\u201d And also, that\nthe great salvation, \u201cwhich at the first began to be spoken unto us by the\nLord, was confirmed unto us by those who heard him, God also bearing them\nwitness both with signs and wonders, and divers miracles and gifts of the\nHoly Spirit.\u201d And that the apostles preached the gospel with the Holy\nSpirit sent down from heaven.\n\nIt was communicated to the prophets and apostles by the Savior, and to the\nworld at large through them. As proof of this proposition Peter says, \u201cThe\nprophets searched diligently with reference to the time which the Spirit\nof Christ, that was in them, did signify when it testified beforehand of\nthe sufferings of Christ and of the glory which should follow.\u201d It was an\nimportant work for Christ to teach his apostles, and when they had heard\nhim through all his toils they were not suffered to go forth, or shine as\nstars in the church\u2019s crown, until they were moved upon by the Spirit of\nGod to bring to their remembrance those things which Jesus had taught\nthem. But one other course could have been pursued, and there were\ninsurmountable difficulties in the way of its adoption, and that was to\nmake the extraordinary ordinary by causing the Holy Spirit to move upon\nall hearts throughout all time, and give to each member of the race,\nregardless of his character and the manner in which he might abuse it, the\nentire revelation. The first difficulty is in the fact that wicked men who\nwilfully deceive would have confronted the best men upon the earth, and\nconfusion without remedy would have been the result of leaving our world\nwithout a common and infallible test.\n\nAnother difficulty appears, in the fact that it would have compromised the\npurity of God through the presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all\nthe vile and abominable sinners of earth. There was one way to avoid these\nresults, and that was to irresistibly destroy all disposition in human\nhearts to have their own way, and so remain unworthy of the presence of\nthe Divine Spirit; but this would have been a complete destruction of\nmoral freedom along with all the principles of accountability, and\nconsequently a destruction of God\u2019s moral government. Moral freedom was so\nsacred with God that \u201cthe spirit of the prophets was subject to the\nprophet.\u201d Hence, the importance of the searcher of hearts choosing his own\nprophets out from among men. \u201cGod, who in ancient times and diverse\nmanners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath, in\nthese last days, spoken unto us by his son.\u201d The Lord of Hosts guarded\nthis great work with reference to the deliverance of man by the most\nsevere penalty. The law governing the prophets was in these words: \u201cAnd\nthat prophet which shall speak a word in my name which I commanded him\nnot, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet\nshall die.\u201d He guarded his own infinite and spotless purity. While he was\n\u201cin the generation of the righteous, he was far from the wicked.\u201d So there\nwas always, from the time of Adam\u2019s offense till the present such a thing\nas being \u201cwithout God.\u201d\n\nWhen the Jewish people became apostate in the times of Malachi, who was\nthe last Old Testament prophet, the Holy Spirit left the world. The proof\nis in the Savior\u2019s words to his disciples: \u201cIf I go not away, the\nComforter will not come unto you.\u201d And one of the witnesses said, \u201cThe\nHoly Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.\u201d During\nthe long night of apostacy between Malachi and Zechariah, there was a time\nwhen \u201call were gone out of the way;\u201d \u201cwhen there were none that did good,\nno, not one;\u201d \u201cwhen darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the\npeople;\u201d when they had not so much as \u201cthe dayspring from on high, to give\nknowledge of salvation by the remission of sins.\u201d \u201cThe temple of God was a\nden of thieves.\u201d The commandments of God were made void through the\ntraditions of men, and there was not a people upon the earth prepared for\nthe Lord, worthy of his introduction among them AS THE SON OF GOD. The\ndignity of his person, consequent upon his being the Son of God, along\nwith his purity, rendered it improper for him to be manifested, in his\nintroduction as the Son of God, to a den of thieves. So a people must be\nprepared for the occasion. Hence John the Baptist was sent from God to\nprepare or make ready a people for the Lord. He was the \u201cdayspring from on\nhigh,\u201d sent to give knowledge of salvation unto the people by the\nremission of their sins, but the ultimate of his work is expressed in\nthese words: \u201cBut that he, Christ, might be made manifest unto Israel,\ntherefore came I baptizing with water.\u201d Which was as much as to say, He\nwill not be made manifest to Israel unless a people in Israel is made\nready for him. Therefore John was his forerunner, to prepare the way\nbefore him.\n\nIn doing this work he proclaimed the kingdom of God is at hand, and\n\u201cpreached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.\u201d And many\npeople were prepared for the Lord, and finally he is acknowledged, from\nthe eternal world, as the Son of God, while he is yet in the presence of\nall those who were present at his baptism and heard John say, \u201cBehold the\nLamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.\u201d The Savior now calls\nabout him twelve disciples, and they make and baptize many more disciples.\nJohn the Baptist and Jesus Christ, as prophets, were under the influence\nof the Holy Spirit, and were engaged in the grandest work ever known among\nmen. But, so far as a wicked world was concerned, it must be redeemed from\nmoral pollution first, and then await the day of Pentecost for the gift of\nthe Holy Spirit. Thus keeping before our minds his relations to men, we\nask what was his work and relations from Pentecost and onward? On that day\nhe came upon the disciples, who were already converted and pardoned; so it\nwas not for _those purposes_ that they were baptized in the Holy Spirit.\nJesus had said to them, long before this, \u201cNow ye are clean through the\nwords which I have spoken unto you.\u201d And the wicked Jews had \u201cclosed their\neyes and stopped their ears, lest they should see with their eyes and hear\nwith their ears and understand with their hearts and be converted and\nhealed.\u201d And Satan himself took the word out of the hearts of some \u201clest\nthey should believe and be saved.\u201d\n\nAnd all this took place before the Holy Spirit was given to any, whether\ngood or bad. So we must look outside of sinners for the presence and\nwonderful work of the Spirit of God, and also outside of their conversion\nfor its immediate and direct agency. Jesus said to his disciples, \u201cIf I go\naway I will send you ANOTHER comforter, even the Spirit of Truth, _whom\nthe world can not receive_.\u201d And again, he said, \u201cHowbeit, when he, the\nSpirit of Truth, is come, he shall guide you into all truth.\u201d \u201cHe will\nshow you things to come.\u201d \u201cHe shall take of the things of mine and shall\nshow them unto you.\u201d \u201cHe shall testify of me.\u201d Does this look like\nextraordinary work? Was it to be continued? Did it not belong to a\ncreative period, that was to be followed by the existence of a system, or\ngovernment, in which law and order would take the place of the\nextraordinary operations of the Spirit of God?\n\nI wish to present the promise of God which relates to the baptism of the\ndisciples in the Holy Spirit upon Pentecost, that we may discover, upon an\nanalysis of its terms, its nature and place in the reign of favor. It is\nin these words: \u201cAnd it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I\nwill pour out of my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your\ndaughters shall prophecy, and your young men shall see visions, and your\nold men shall dream dreams; and on my servants and on my handmaidens I\nwill pour out in those days of my spirit; and they shall prophesy.\u201d Jesus\ngave his disciples the great commission to go into all the world and\npreach the Gospel to every creature, but said, \u201cTarry ye in Jerusalem\nuntil ye be endued with power from on high.\u201d After the Savior ascended it\nis said that he received the promise of the Father and shed forth that\nwhich was seen and heard on the day of Pentecost. What was the result?\nThey spake with tongues. They prophesied. They healed the sick. They\nraised the dead. They bestowed spiritual gifts. They were guided into all\ntruth. They \u201cpreached the gospel with the Holy Spirit sent down from\nheaven;\u201d and in this fact we have the beautiful figure of rivers of living\nwater flowing out of their hearts, for Jesus said, \u201cHe that believeth on\nme, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly (From the Heart, inward\npart) shall flow rivers of living water.\u201d This, the historian says, \u201cHe\nspake of the spirit which they that believed on him were to receive,\nbecause the Holy Spirit was not yet given, for Jesus was not yet\nglorified.\u201d Hence, we are authorized to look for its fulfillment at\nPentecost, and also in the preaching of the gospel of Christ. Paul says,\n\u201cMy speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man\u2019s wisdom,\nbut in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should\nnot stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.\u201d Here is the\nbasis of our faith.\n\nAll those who believe on Christ through the words of the apostles have a\nfaith that stands in the power of God. The apostle further adds, \u201cNow we\nhave not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God;\nthat we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which\nthings also we speak, not in the words which man\u2019s wisdom teacheth, but\nwhich the Holy Spirit teacheth, comparing spiritual things with\nspiritual.\u201d Before the Savior left the world he breathed upon his apostles\nand said, \u201cReceive ye the Holy Spirit,\u201d adding, \u201cWhosesoever sins ye remit\nthey are remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain they are\nretained.\u201d So it pleased the Father to \u201csave men through the foolishness\nof preaching.\u201d And Paul said, \u201cWe preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus\nthe Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus\u2019s sake. For God, who\ncommanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts,\nto give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of\nJesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the\nexcellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.\u201d\n\nThe mystery of Christ was revealed to all nations for the obedience of\nfaith. Paul says, the mystery of God\u2019s will was made known according to\nhis good pleasure which he purposed in himself, and that he was \u201cmade a\nminister according to the dispensation of God which was given to him for\nus, to fulfill the word of God, even the mystery which had been hid from\nages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints. To whom\nGod would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among\nthe Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach,\nwarning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may\npresent every man perfect in Christ Jesus.\u201d \u201cWhereunto,\u201d he says, \u201cI also\nlabor, striving according to _his working_, which _worketh in me\nmightily_.\u201d From all that we have before us it appears that all things in\nthe gospel of Jesus Christ constitute, simply, \u201cthe ministration of the\nSpirit written upon the hearts of New Testament apostles and prophets, or\nteachers, by the Spirit of the living God, and that we have in their\npreaching and teaching the rivers of living water, flowing out from the\nthrone of God to slake the thirst of a famishing world, and that all this\nis attributable to the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them.\u201d Such being\nthe case, \u201cthe gospel is the power of God unto salvation unto every one\nthat believes.\u201d And in it Jesus Christ, the Sun and Lord, in the moral and\nspiritual universe, shines forth with all his satellites as the light of\nthe world. The creative period is now past. The extraordinary efforts of\nthe divine Spirit are past. \u201cThe darkness is past and the true light now\nshineth.\u201d The ordinary has taken the place of the extraordinary. What good\nwould it do to have a repetition of the extraordinary? Would it give us\nanother gospel, and confirm it by signs and wonders and divers miracles?\nWould it give us another Christ? Would it give us other rivers of living\nwater? or another word of reconciliation? What good would be accomplished\nby a repetition of the energies of the Divine Spirit, as they are known in\nthe history of the new creation? Do we need these to dispel the darkness?\n\u201cThe darkness is past.\u201d Do we need them to give us light? \u201cThe true light\nnow shineth.\u201d Do we need them to give us more truth? Jesus said of the\nSpirit: \u201cHe shall guide you into all truth.\u201d The Roman Catholic priest, in\nhis discussion with Mr. Chillingworth, planted himself upon this promise,\nmade by the Savior to his apostles, as the proof of the claim of Romanists\nto the attribute of infallibility. Said he: \u201cIf the attribute of\ninfallibility is not in the possession of the church, the promise of the\nSavior has failed.\u201d To this Mr. Chillingworth replied: \u201cIt would be well\nfor us to determine who is meant by the pronoun \u2018_you_,\u2019 found in the\nlanguage, before we put up the high claim to infallibility.\u201d The promise\nwas fulfilled to a jot, and we have the \u201call truth\u201d in the teachings of\nthe apostles. Let those who extend that promise to themselves meet the\nCatholics\u2019 argument upon it and save themselves if they can. We now enjoy\nthe Spirit of God through faith along with all the beneficial, practical\nand comforting and redeeming results of the baptism of the apostles and\nfirst Christians in the Holy Spirit. What more do we need? Faith lays hold\nupon Christ; upon the Holy Spirit; and upon God. The just live by faith,\nand drink of the rivers that flow from the great fountain of the Holy\nSpirit, which was created in the hearts of the apostles and New Testament\nteachers. The effects of their baptism in the Spirit are ours through\nfaith. And all the world may have them through faith. They are free to\nall. The government of God is now set up. Order and law reigns throughout.\nJesus said, \u201cSo is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into\nthe ground, and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should\nspring and grow up, he knoweth not how, for the earth bringeth forth fruit\nof herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the\near.\u201d The kingdom of God now bringeth forth fruit of herself, the good\nseed, the word of God, having been cast into it. Its glorious blessings\nare open to all men. The prophet says: \u201cHo, every one that thirsteth, come\nye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come, ye, buy, and eat; yea,\ncome, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye\nspend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which\nsatisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good,\nand let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come\nunto me; hear, and your soul shall live.... Let the wicked forsake his\nway, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the\nLord and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will\nabundantly pardon.\u201d \u201cThe Spirit and the bride say come, and let him that\nis athirst come, and whosoever will let him take of the waters of life\nfreely.\u201d Yes, _freely_. There is no obstruction. All are without excuse.\n\n\n\n\n\nCREDIBILITY OF THE EVIDENCE OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.\n\n\nOur senses are the means by which we were made competent witnesses. They\nare the bed-rock of evidence. We know facts and truths, both\ncomprehensible and incomprehensible, by the same means. We are as\ncompetent to testify of that which we do not comprehend as we are to\ntestify of the most ordinary fact. As competent to bear testimony to the\nfact of a sweeping tornado as to the fact of a gentle breeze. As competent\nto bear testimony to the fact that water freezes and becomes hard as to\ntestify to the truth of its being a fluid. As competent to testify to a\nfact that we never before experienced as to one that we have. Without this\ncompetency no man could be justly held responsible for slander or perjury.\n\nWe gain knowledge by means of our senses, and all lying and perjury is\noutside of our senses, having no connection with them. We can, in truth,\ntestify to that which we have seen, heard, tasted, smelt or felt, and to\nsuch only. That which somebody else thus witnessed may be testified by\nhim, but not by me, unless I, too, was connected with it by means of my\nsenses. Wise men may be deceived in some things, but fools can not be\ndeceived in others. Things addressing themselves to our senses are things\nabout which we can not be so deceived as to truthfully deny that they ever\noccurred. I know a live man when I see him by the same means I know a dead\nman.\n\nBeing competent to bear witness to a new fact, to one heretofore\nunexperienced, I would have been competent to bear witness to the death,\nburial and resurrection of the Christ, in case I had lived in his day, and\nhad been as familiar with him as his witnesses. By which I mean to say,\nthey were competent witnesses; every way qualified to know assuredly\nwhether the Savior rose from the dead. _They could not be deceived_ about\nthe matter. They were not. If they were honest men they told the truth,\nfor they say, We saw, and heard, and our hands have handled. Then the\nentire Christian religion, with its immortal blessings, stands or falls\nupon the honesty of the Savior\u2019s witnesses. Martyrdom has been universally\nconceded to be an evidence of sincerity; there may be a few exceptions to\nthis general rule, but even they are not parallel cases. There is a story\nof a man who endured with great fortitude all the tortures of the rack,\ndenying the fact with which he was charged. When he was asked afterwards\nhow he could hold out against all the tortures, he said: I painted a\ngallows on the toe of my shoe, and when the rack stretched me, I looked on\nthe gallows, and bore the pain to save my life. This man denied a plain\nfact under torture, but he did it to save his life.\n\nWhen criminals persist in denying their crimes they do it with the hope of\nsaving their lives. Such cases are not parallel. Who ever heard of persons\ndying _willingly_ in attestation of a false fact? Can we be made to\nbelieve that any set of rational men could be found who would _willingly\ndie_ in attestation of the false fact that the President of the United\nStates is now on the throne of England? The witnesses of Christ died in\nattestation of those facts which they say they saw, and heard, and knew,\namong which was the great fact of the resurrection of Christ. It was their\nprivilege to quit their evidence, at any instant, and save their lives,\nbut they did not do it. Who can account for this strange course of conduct\nupon the ground of dishonesty?\n\nIf a man reports an uncommon fact that is a plain object of sense, and we\ndo not believe him, it is because we suspect his honesty and not his\nsenses. If we are satisfied that the reporter is sincere, of course we\nbelieve. So our case is now in this shape: First, the great facts of the\ngospel of Christ addressed themselves, as simple facts, to the senses of\nmen; second, no witness could affirm those facts honestly unless they took\nplace; third, the witnesses to those facts gave all the evidences of\nsincerity and honesty that are possible. Reputation for truthfulness and\nhonesty has never rested upon any evidence that is not found in great\nabundance in the lives of the witnesses of Christ. It is said that men die\nfor false opinions: very true, but their sufferings and death,\nnevertheless, prove that they were sincere. True philosophy does not\ncharge men who die for their opinions with dishonesty. Men may be mistaken\nin some things, but mistaken men are _not cheats_; are not insincere or\ndishonest. But the witnesses of Christ could not, in the nature of the\ncase, belong to this class; they could not be mistaken about any such\nfacts as those of the gospel. The only fort to be held in order to hold\nthe gospel of Christ is the sincerity of his witnesses. When a man gets\nrid of the evidence upon which the reputation of those witnesses for\nhonesty rests, he has removed the only evidence upon which it is possible\nfor him to build a reputation for truth and honesty. So, if a man succeeds\nin sinking the gospel of Christ, he succeeds, at the same time and by the\nsame means, in sinking himself. This is the philosophic and logical\nconclusion, from which there is no escape.\n\nLet us look around one of the Savior\u2019s witnesses and see what we can\ndiscover. First, we find Saul, a bold and fearless Jew, a Roman citizen by\nbirth, and a pharisee in the Jews religion; a legalist by profession;\nlaboring under all the prejudices of the straitest sect of the pharisees;\npersecuting the Savior\u2019s disciples to the death. He was a man of no mean\nattainments. His worldly prospects were greater than those of any other\nman known to be converted from among the Jews. The testimony which he\nsubmits for our consideration is like the evidence of all the others. It\nconsists in simple facts about which there was no possibility of being\nmistaken, for the facts were seen and heard. Allowing that Saul did\nneither see nor hear the Savior, he was insincere. And if he was, then we\nshall always be at a loss to know what constitutes the basis of an honest\nreputation. Did he give his evidence, knowing that it was false, with the\nintention of deceiving? If so, what were his motives? He could have had no\nreasonable inducements. Christianity could not furnish him with temporal\npower, credit, or interest during all his lifetime. So far as credit was\nconcerned, in the affair of his conversion, he knew that the world had\nnone to give. He knew that preaching Christ crucified was \u201cto the Jews a\nstumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness.\u201d He knew that the Christ\nhimself had been crucified. Credit or reputation was lying upon the\nanti-christian side of the gospel. He was already in high esteem among the\nJews; a \u201c_ring-leader_,\u201d pursuing the course of action calculated in the\nvery nature of things to advance him higher in their estimation. His\nentire life demonstrated the fact that he expected nothing of the Jews,\nfor it was spent, with trifling exceptions, among the Gentiles. His\nenterprise was with them, for he was sent to them.\n\nThe difficulties lying in the way of any worldly emoluments were many and\ngreat. He had to contend with the authority and policy of the rulers; with\nthe interest, credit and clique of the priests; with the prejudices and\npassions of the people; with the shrewdness and pride of the philosophers.\nEvery man acquainted with ancient history knows that the established\nreligion with which he would necessarily come in conflict, was interwoven\nwith their civil institution, and supported by the rulers as _an\nessential_ part of their government. The Romans allowed a great many\nreligious systems to exist, but they allowed no such thing as a religion\ndestructive of the genius of paganism. The existing religions were many,\nand embraced the system of many gods ruling under one \u201cMaster God,\u201d as\n\u201chis members,\u201d or representatives. The antagonism between Paganism and\nChristianity may be seen at once, in the fact that the Gospel of Christ\nwas death to all the lower gods. On this account the first Christians\nbecame at once the object of national hatred and scorn. This accounts for\nthe fact that bloody Rome baptized herself in Christian blood in spite of\nall her tolerance of religion.\n\nThe apostle met with sufferings on all sides; and having perfect liberty\nof recantation at any moment, how did it come to pass, if he was\ninsincere, that he did not recant? Was he rational? Let his writing\nanswer! They are admired by the best minds of earth. If he was irrational,\nlet us have many more insane writers! Was he honest? If not, who is\nhonest? Could he be deceived about the facts which he saw and heard? No!\nIf he was, who can\u2019t be? He could not be mistaken, for he _saw_, and\n_heard_, and _felt_\u2014even to _blindness_, and, also, to the receiving of\nhis sight. He was sincere. He suffered long as a bold defender of the\nChristian religion, and died a martyr\u2019s death at last. Let us work on,\nsuffer on, hope on, \u201chope in death,\u201d and live forever! So mote it be.\n\n\n\n\n\n\u201cBROAD-GAUGE RELIGION.\u201d\u2014SHALL THE CONFLICT CEASE?\n\n\nFirst. \u201cA portion of the Church of England, comprising those who claim to\nhold a position, in respect to doctrine and fellowship, intermediate\nbetween the old High Church party and the modern Low Church, or\nevangelical party, a term of recent origin,\u201d having originated in the last\nhalf century, \u201cwhich has been loosely applied to other bodies of men\nholding liberal or comprehensive views of Christian doctrine and\nfellowship.\u201d\u2014_Webster._\n\nSide by side with these various shades of High and Low Church, another\nparty of a different character has always existed in the Church of\nEngland. It is called by different names: Moderate, Catholic, or _Broad\nChurch_, by its friends: Latitudinarian or Indifferent, by its enemies.\nIts distinctive character is the desire of comprehension. Its watchwords\nare _charity_ and _toleration_.\u2014_Conybeare._\n\n_Broadgauge._ This word is connected, in its origin, with railroads. Its\nradical idea is that of distance. It is credited by Webster to Simmonds in\nthese words, \u201cA wide distance (usually six or seven feet) between the\nrails on a railway, in contradistinction from the narrow gauge of four\nfeet eight inches and a half.\u201d The watch-word, \u201ccharity,\u201d is a term that\nhas been much abused. \u201cCharity is a grace of heavenly mien.\u201d It is the\n\u201cend of the commandment.\u201d \u201cThe law was not made for a righteous man, but\nfor the lawless, and the disobedient, etc.\u201d It is love, in the New\nTestament sense of the term, as modified by all the essential elements of\nthe Christian religion, so it is \u201cthe fulfilling of the law.\u201d It is not\npassion, _but affection_. To my sensuous life all my passions belong. The\nbrute has also a sensuous life. But man has, in addition to this, an\nintellectual life. Passion always passes away with its object, but\naffection remains to soften the heart years after its object is gone.\n\nMy intellectual nature is the field of all legitimate gospel operations\nwith reference to the production of a Christian life and character. As a\ndivine affection, charity or love springs out of union with God, or being\nmade a \u201cpartaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that\nis in the world through lusts.\u201d Such being the height of its bed-rock, it\nis said, \u201cEvery one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.\u201d And it is\nalso said, \u201cHe that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a\nliar.\u201d This strong language correlates with the fact that charity\nexpresses the idea of love as an attribute of divine life, known as the\nlife of God. It is an attribute belonging to those who have made the high\nattainment of a spiritual or mental condition which places them beyond the\nneed of penal laws to restrain them from crime. Its _measure_ is the _love\nof God_. Its full import may be expressed in these words, _loving as God\nloves_.\n\nAfter enumerating many of the Christian graces an apostle said, Above all\nthese things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. So charity,\nor rather its possessor, is no willful truth \u201cbutcherer,\u201d for charity\nbelieveth all things (_or all truth_); hopeth all things (_promised_);\nrejoiceth, not in iniquity, but in the truth. It has no \u201cstock\u201d in known\nerror, for it \u201cabounds in all knowledge and judgment,\u201d and \u201capproves\nthings that are excellent.\u201d It is noble and right to let \u201clove,\u201d or\n\u201ccharity have her perfect work,\u201d to be, or rather try to be, as charitable\nas God himself; but it is absurd and preposterous to go beyond or try to\nbe more charitable. \u201cIt is enough that the disciple be _as his master_.\u201d\n\nMen are guilty of this presumption when they, in feigned charity, go\nbeyond the word of the Lord, or beyond the truth in their expressions of\nkindness.\n\nThere is a great deal of love in this world that lacks the elements of\n_perfectness_. It is not the \u201clove of God,\u201d or loving as God loves. It is\nnot the attribute of a divine life. There is no charity in influencing a\nperson, willfully, to stop short or go beyond the truth in Christian faith\nor obedience. There is no charity in giving a man money knowingly to\npurchase whisky to get drunk upon. Charity never conflicts with truth or\nright. On the contrary, it endeavors to bring all men to the standard of\ntruth and rectitude.\n\nThe phrase \u201cBroad-gauge\u201d seems to have been gotten up to express the idea\nof an intelligent relaxation from \u201chuman creeds\u201d as bonds of union and\nfellowship. In this sense we all ought to be the advocates of \u201cBroad-gauge\nreligion.\u201d We should cultivate the spirit of gospel liberality until we\nutterly disregard and put away all human creeds.\n\nIt is a trite saying, that one extreme begets another; against this error\nwe should guard with great caution. To succeed in religion, we must\nremember, always, that we have in the word of God a standard of truth and\nright that will always govern us according to heaven\u2019s will. Many persons,\nforgetting this truth, have been led to conclude that departures from the\nword of truth, as a matter of \u201cliberality,\u201d or \u201cbroad-gauge religion,\u201d are\njustifiable. And, as \u201cliberalists,\u201d or \u201cbroad-gauge Christians,\u201d they are\ndisposed to recognize all the existing divisions in faith and practice\nthat are known in Christendom. They even go further and allow that somehow\nall are right, and will stand upon an equality in the righteous judgement\nof God. This is not perfect love. Charity, over and above a kindly feeling\ntowards those who are in error, is unfaithfulness to the truth, to God,\nand to the very best interests of our humanity. It is, in all such cases,\n_love run mad_! A man should never get so broad in his religion as to be\nunfaithful to truth.\n\nThe phraseology has also been appropriated by skeptics and semi-infidels\nto popularize their own semi-infidel philosophy, which they love to\ndenominate \u201cfree thought.\u201d Deists, Pantheists and Atheists have seized\nupon the phrase and appropriated it to their ungodly speculations. It is\ntrue that others, in getting away from their old creeds, have run past the\nstandard of truth and right. All this wildness in the _standardless_ field\nof thought, where Hobbes and other infidels reveled, without any guide\nsave the civil law, has been denominated \u201cBroad-gauge religion,\u201d and\n\u201cLiberalism.\u201d\n\nWe should always remember that going beyond the truth and the eternal laws\nof right is _libertinism_ or _lawlessness_.\n\n\u201cCharity,\u201d extending, or reaching out thus, is no longer \u201ccharity,\u201d or\n\u201cperfect love.\u201d Such expressions of love are misdirected, and, if\nknowingly done, are blameworthy. Charity is governed by the perfect law of\ntruth; when it is not destitute of its own divine nature it conducts us in\nthe \u201c_straight and narrow way_.\u201d\n\n\n    \u201cLong as of life the joyous hours remain,\n    Let on this head unfading flowers reside,\n    There bloom the vernal rose\u2019s earliest pride;\n    And when, our flames commissioned to destroy,\n    Age step \u2019twixt Love and me, and intercept the joy;\n    When my changed these locks no more shall know,\n    And all its petty honors turn to snow;\n    Then let me rightly spell of Nature\u2019s ways;\n    To Providence, to him my thoughts I\u2019d raise,\n    And love as he throughout remaining days.\u201d\n\n    \u2014_Gray._\n\n\nWe should cherish a kind feeling for all our fellows, and in doing this we\nshould not forget our duty to point them to truth in word and example, to\nbe ever faithful to truth.\n\nThere are two great fields of thought for the exercise of the Christian\nintellect of the present times. One is the corruptions of Roman Catholic\nreligion, and the other is the corruptions of Protestant religions.\n\nThat both are great feeder-dams to infidelity and skepticism is\ndemonstrated by the infidel productions of the day. The dogma of\necclesiastic authority set up in opposition to reason and scientific\ndiscovery is the _infidel\u2019s devil_, and a very poor devil at that. For,\nwhen the Pope has interfered to settle a question it has often happened\nthat his decisions were wrong.\n\nOn March 5, 1616, the congregation of the Index published a decree\ncondemning as \u201cfalse, unscriptural and destructive of Catholic truth,\u201d the\nopinion that the earth moves round the sun. It is denied by Roman\ntheologians that Paul IV., who set the Index at work and agreed with its\ndecisions, was responsible for this decree, but the preponderance of\nevidence is against them. It is known that this Pope presided in a\ncongregation of the Inquisition on February 25, 1616, in which, after this\nsame opinion, that the sun is the center of our universe, had been\ndescribed as \u201cabsurd, philosophically false and formally heretical,\nbecause expressly contrary to holy scripture;\u201d and the opinion that the\nearth is not the center of the universe, but moves, and that daily,\n\u201cabsurd, philosophically false, and, theologically considered, at least\nerroneous in faith;\u201d Cardinal Bellamine was appointed to visit Galileo,\nthe astronomer, and order him to give up these false opinions under pain\nof imprisonment for refusal. It was thus that the congregation of the\nIndex took action and published its decree a week later.\n\nIn 1633 Galileo, having continued to propagate his views, was called on by\nthe Inquisition to retract and abjure, and the formal notice to him to do\nso states expressly that the declaration of 1616 was made by the Pope\nhimself, and that resistance to it was, therefore, heresy, contrary to the\ndoctrine of the Catholic and Apostolic Church. On being brought to trial,\nGalileo made a formal abjuration, and on June 30th Pope Urban VIII.\nordered the publication of the sentence, thereby, according to Roman\necclesiastical law, making Galileo\u2019s compulsory denial of the earth\u2019s\nmotion binding on all Christians as a theological doctrine. Infidels have\na vast deal to say about such an abominable manifestation of ecclesiastic\ntyranny and unscientific and unscriptural nonsense. All intelligent Roman\nCatholics of to-day reject the judgment of Popes Paul IV. and Urban VIII.\nas absurd, and scientifically and scripturally false. There is not so much\nas a hint at papal authority found in the three old creeds known as the\nApostles\u2019, the Nicene and the Athanasian, nor in any ancient gloss upon\nthem. Neither can we find in them any of the distinguishing special\ndoctrines of the Church of Rome.\n\nChristianity came from the hands of Christ and his apostles in all its\nperfections, and as long as infidels stop short of the New Testament\nitself, and short of Christ and his apostles, in their warfare, we may\nwell believe that all their efforts to blot out Christianity will be vain.\nProtestants themselves have demurred as much as infidels against the\nerrors of the Roman Catholic Church, and fully as much against the errors\nof each other as denominations. \u201cTruth stands true to her God, man alone\ndeviates.\u201d\n\nThe greatest difficulty that Christianity ever encountered is the\nignorance and imperfections of its own friends. Protestant errors are many\nand serious. But why should the genuine be discarded on account of the\nexistence of the counterfeit? And why should we shut our eyes to the\nimportance of the great work of establishing truth, to the destruction of\nall Catholic and Protestant errors of faith and practice by becoming the\nadvocates of false charity through the adoption of \u201cbroad-gauge religion,\u201d\nin a \u201cbroad-gauge church?\u201d Infidels who, like Col. Ingersoll, assert that\n\u201cno man can control his belief,\u201d had better look in a glass and see\nthemselves as others see them, before they _strive to_ conquer a victory\nfor the _black __ demon_ of despair, by fastening the absurd philosophy of\n_fatalism_ upon all the world. If men can not help their belief, who is to\nblame? Surely, neither Roman Catholics, nor Protestants, nor those who\nmanaged \u201cthumbscrews\u201d and \u201chot irons,\u201d and other condemned instruments of\nthe dark ages, nor yet those who now live to be the \u201cbutt\u201d of Colonel\nIngersoll\u2019s satire and ridicule. A kind feeling for all, and\nunfaithfulness to the truth\u2014never!\n\n\n\n\n\nPAPAL AUTHORITY IN THE BYGONE.\u2014THE INFIDEL\u2019S AMUSING ATTITUDE.\n\n\nThe doctrine of papal infallibility amounts to this: that the decisions of\nthe Pope on faith and morals, being divinely inspired and infallible, are,\nwhen placed upon record, so much more holy Scripture. This infallibility\ndogma has been a great source of mischief and of unbelief. It has\naccomplished no good, but a great deal of harm. Some Roman theologians\nclaim that the Popes have _only once_, up to the present time, spoken with\nthe formalities necessary to make their utterances \u201c_ex cathedra_\u201d and\ninfallibly binding, and that was when Pius the Ninth, on December 8, 1854,\ndecreed the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary; which, if true,\nbelongs to the realm of unpractical speculation. It was denied as heresy\nby orthodox Catholics, including _fourteen Popes_, for a thousand years,\nand is contrary to the well-nigh \u201cunanimous consent of the fathers.\u201d _See\nDr. Pusey, Letter 1, to Newman, pp. 72-286._ To use such an engine but\nonce in all the centuries, and then to accomplish so little, aside from\nfurnishing infidels with something to say, is much like constructing a\nvessel of twenty thousand tons capacity to carry one man across the\nAtlantic. There is such a thing as Parthenogenesis known in nature. The\nVatican decrees declare that the Christian religion came perfect from\nGod\u2019s hands; that it is not like a human science, such as medicine or\nmechanics, which can be improved or altered by the skill of man. In view\nof this conceded fact we have no kind of use for the decree of Pius the\nNinth upon the \u201cmiraculous conception\u201d\u2014\u201cPope Pius decreed it.\u201d Well, well,\nif Christianity really stood in need of such a decree it would not have\nbeen left off until December 8, 1854. It has been a bone for infidels to\ncontend over from that time to the present. The New Testament is not\nresponsible for it.\n\nMen of sense, who are not already traditionized nor Christianized, find\nfacts enough in the line of papal bulls and decrees to disgust them so\nthoroughly as to drive them at once to reject religion entirely. Sixtus\nthe V., in 1590, declared, by a perpetual decree, an edition of the\nVulgate, just then out, the sole authentic and standard text, to be\nreceived as such under pain of excommunication. He also decreed that\nfuture editions not conformed to it should have no credit nor authority.\nBut its errors were so numerous that it was immediately called in, and a\nnew Vulgate was published by Clement VIII., in 1592, differing, in several\nthousand places, from the one of 1590. This last publication was also\nissued under penalty of excommunication for any departure from it. So\nRoman Catholic faith rests very largely upon the assumed authority of the\nPope, and this authority has often been exercised in the wrong, they\nthemselves being witnesses. This authority, opposed to human progress, has\nbeen and is one of the greatest feeders to Atheism and infidelity. Mr.\nDraper, in his work entitled \u201cConflict between Religion and Science,\u201d\nwishes his readers to understand that he uses the term Christianity in the\nsense of Roman Catholicism. The entire work is one grand scientific effort\nagainst popecraft and priestcraft. His work is well worth a reading; but\nit is to be remembered by all who would do Mr. Draper justice that his\ngreat antagonist is the Roman Catholic Church. Will she defend herself\nagainst the charge of being in conflict with science? Is she in the way of\nhuman progress? How does she compare with Protestants in morality and\nvirtue?\n\nLet us give you a few figures, by the way of negative evidence, upon the\nquestion of comparative morality, remembering that it is a sad necessity\nof our nature to have to determine which of us has the least of moral\nmiseries in order that we may know which has the most of virtue. Let this\nbe as it may, these moral miseries show themselves under two principal\nphases, acts of profligacy and acts of violence; corrupt manners and\nassassinations. Here is what we read in Jonnes:\n\nAssassinations And Attempts To Assassinate In Europe.\n\nProtestant\u2014Scotland, 1835,        1 for 270,000\nProtestant\u2014England,               1 for 178,000\nProtestant\u2014Low Countries, 1824,   1 for 163,000\nProtestant\u2014Prussia, 1824,         1 for 100,000\nCatholic States\u2014Austria, 1809,    1 for 57,000\nCatholic\u2014Spain, 1826,             1 for 4,113\nCatholic\u2014Naples,                  1 for 2,750\nCatholic\u2014Roman States,            1 for 750\n\n_Jonnes, vol. 2, p. 257._\n\nNow, if we take the average, we have one assassination, or one attempt to\nassassinate, for 180,222 inhabitants in the aggregate of the four\nProtestant nations; and one assassination, or one attempt to assassinate,\nfor 16,153 inhabitants in the four Catholic nations; in other words,\neleven times more of these crimes among the Roman Catholic nations. The\ncontrast between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries in Spain is so\nvery striking, and is painted by a writer in such lively colors that one\nis tempted to believe that the picture was intended to serve as a\ndemonstration.\n\n\u201cSpain is a dispossessed queen. For two hundred years and more diamonds\nhave been falling from her glittering crown. The source of her wealth,\nwell or ill-gotten, is exhausted forever. Her treasures are lost, her\ncolonies are gone; she is deprived of the prestige of that external\nopulence which veiled, or, at least dissembled her real and utter poverty.\nThe nation is exhausted to such a degree, and has been so long unhappy,\nthat each individual feels but his own misery. His country has ceased to\nexist for him. Even those time are gone when the guerillas called the\ncitizens to arms for the sole and generous purpose of vindicating the\nnational honor. The despondency and apathy of the nation are visible even\nin the battles fought by the Spaniards among themselves in their civil\ndissensions. They fight from habit, and discharge their muskets at their\ncountrymen because they can do nothing else, and because every shot from\ntheir guns may bring them a piece of bread. A nation reduced to such a\nstate is low indeed; the chilliness of death is very near seizing upon its\nextremities. What a length of time it will require to heal the wounds of\nthese populations, so brave and so devoted! How much gold, how much blood\nhave been lavished during the last seven years without an object, without\nany conceived plan!\n\n\u201cWhat would Charles the Fifth say, if, rising from his grave he saw his\ngreat and glorious Spain struggling thus miserably in dread uncertainty of\nher future destinies? \u2018Where are my colonies? Where are my Batavian\nprovinces? Where is my gigantic power, and the glory of Spain, which\nresounded from one hemisphere to the other? What have you done with my\ninheritance, ye cowardly and unskillful men? Where are my treasures; where\nthe victorious fleets that crossed the ocean to bring back in profusion to\nmy empire the gold and gems of the New World?\u2019 The question naturally\narises, what can be the cause of so many evils? of such utter misery, such\nextreme ignorance, such disgusting sloth?\n\n\u201c_Tyranny_, says the politician.\n\n\u201c_Catholicism_, says the Protestant.\n\n\u201c_The Inquisition_, adds the historian.\n\n\u201cBut these three replies form but one; they are the three sides of a\nprism, which, united, give the entire ray of truth. In truth, Catholicism\nis the father, the Inquisition and tyranny the daughters. We are not the\nfirst to pen these words; we only repeat what we have read in the lines we\nare now going to submit to the perusal of our readers. It is sufficient\nfor us to have pointed out the connection of the different causes which\nwill be assigned by our authorities.\n\n\u201cThat Catholicism produced the Inquisition, a tribunal of priests, judging\nheretics, it is unnecessary to demonstrate, for the very nature of the\ninstitution renders it evident. The ruling idea of Catholicism, the\nprinciple of authority, was the germ of the Inquisition. It was impossible\nthat the Romish Church should not extend its principle to its penal code;\nit does not doubt in matters of faith, neither does it doubt in criminal\nmatters. This is the reason why, in the church, the accused and the guilty\nhave but one and the same appellation. Whoever is arraigned at her\ntribunal has heaven and earth against him; the interrogatory is already a\nspecies of torture. When the church accuses, she seems already convinced;\nall her efforts tend to extort the confession of the crime, which, in\nvirtue of her infallibility, she discovers in darkness; from this\nanticipated conviction of the guilt of the accused are produced all those\nambushes and snares laid for the purpose of obtaining, by surprise, the\nconfession of the accused. The names of the witnesses are concealed or\nfalsified. Everywhere, in the most trifling details, it is strikingly\nevident that, truth is on one side, and the demon on the other.\u201d [See\nTardiff, pp. 139, 140.]\n\nIn the second place, that Catholicism has produced the Spanish absolutism\nof the Catholic kings is sufficiently shown by the very name given to\nthese kings.\n\n\u201cAnother no less deplorable consequence of the position of the clergy in\nSpain and Portugal is, that they have no sooner confounded the cause of\nreligion with that of despotism, than this error, producing its\nconsequences, leads to a monstrous abuse of the word of God. Political\nfury has invaded the pulpit and stained it with abject and sacrilegious\nadulation.... The lips, whose mission is to speak peace, charity and\nmutual love, have spoken the language of hatred and vengeance; horrible\nvows, abominable threats in the presence of the tabernacles in which\nabides the Son of Man, who sacrificed his life for the salvation of his\nbrethren.\u201d [Affairs de Rome, pp. 250 to 254.]\n\n\u201cSpain, since Phillip II., has remained closed and uninfluenced by the\nordinary progress of the human mind elsewhere. The monkish and despotic\nspirit has long preserved itself in the midst of ignorance, without,\nindeed, acquiring strength from abroad, but at the same time without\npermitting the intelligence of the nation to borrow foreign arms against\nit.\u201d [Idem, p. 53.]\n\nWe shall now see this Spanish Catholicism at work; for three centuries,\nassisted by its worthy offspring, absolutism and the Inquisition, and at\nevery ruin, at every crime you meet with, if you ask who has done this,\nthe reply will assuredly be: the church of the Pope, the tyranny of the\nCatholic kings, the Inquisition of the priests. To convince yourselves of\nthe fact, you need only put your questions and listen to the records of\nhistory, written not by us, but by men of talent and skill, who have long\nenjoyed unquestionable authority.\n\nThe expulsion of the Jews and the Moors was the first fruit of the\nCatholic Inquisition. \u201cSpain,\u201d says M. Roseew Saint Hilaire, \u201cexterminated\nthem forever as poisonous plants from its soil, mortal to heresy. The Jews\nand the Moors left it in turn, carrying with them, the former trade, the\nlatter agriculture, from this disinherited land, to which the New World,\nto repair so many losses, vainly bequeathed her sterile treasures. And let\nit not be said that Spain, in thus depriving herself of her most active\ncitizens, was not aware of the extent of her loss. All her historians\nconcur in the statement that in acting thus she sacrificed her temporal\ninterests to her religious convictions, and all are at a loss for words to\nextol such a glorious sacrifice.\n\n\u201cIn banishing the Jews from her territory, Spain, then acted consistently;\nher conduct was logically just, but according to that pitiless logic which\nruins States in order to save a principle. From that period, therefore, a\nnew era begins for Castile. Until then she had been divided from the rest\nof Europe only by her position; foreign, without being hostile, to the\nideas of the continent, she had not begun to wage war with those ideas;\nbut the establishment of the Inquisition is the first step in the career\nin which she can never stop.\u201d [Saint Hilaire, vol. 6, p. 52.]\n\n\u201cIt required,\u201d says M. Sismondi, \u201cabout one generation to accustom the\nSpaniards to the sanguinary proceedings of the Inquisition, and to\nfanaticise the people. This work, dictated by an infernal policy, was\nscarcely accomplished, when Charles the Fifth began his reign. It was\nprobably the fatal spectacle of the auto-d\u00e4-fe that imparted to the\nSpanish soldiers their ferocity, so remarkable during the whole of that\nperiod, which before that time was so foreign to the national character.\u201d\n[Sismondi, vol. 3, p. 265.] Who, employing these instruments, depopulated\nSpain? THE INQUISITION. \u201cTo calculate,\u201d says Liorente, secretary to the\nHoly office, \u201cthe number of victims of the Inquisition were to give\npalpable proof of the most powerful and active causes of the depopulation\nof Spain; for, if to several millions of inhabitants of which the\nInquisitorial system has deprived this kingdom by the total expulsion of\nthe Jews, the conquered Moors and the baptized Moorish, we add about\n500,000 families entirely destroyed by the executions of the Holy (?)\noffice, it will be proved beyond a doubt that had it not been for this\ntribunal, and the influence of its maxims, Spain would possess 12,000,000\nsouls above her present population, supposed to amount to 11,000,000.\u201d\n[Liorente, vol. 4, p. 242.]\n\n\u201cThe Inquisition ruined and branded with infamy more than 340,000 persons,\nwhose disgrace was reflected on their families, and who bequeathed only\nopprobrium and misery to their children. Add to these more than 100,000\nfamilies who emigrated in order to escape from the blood-thirsty tribunal,\nand it will be seen that the Inquisition has been the most active\ninstrument of the ruin of Spain. But the most disastrous of all the acts\nwhich it occasioned was the expulsion of the Moors. If we add to those who\nwere banished from Spain the countless numbers who perished in the\ninsurrection of the sixteenth century, and the 800,000 Jews who left the\nkingdom, it will be seen that the country lost in the course of a hundred\nand twenty years about three millions of its most industrious\ninhabitants.\u201d [Weiss, vol. 2, pp. 60, 61.]\n\n\u201cThe advisors of Phillip III. said to him with affright: The houses are\nfalling in ruins, and none rebuild them; the inhabitants flee from the\ncountry; villages are abandoned, fields left uncultivated, and churches\ndeserted. The Cortes in their turn said to him: if the evil is not\nremedied, there will soon be no peasants left to till the ground, no\npilots to steer the ships; none will marry. The kingdom can not subsist\nanother century if a wholesome remedy be not found.\u201d\n\nWhat was the cause of the ignorance so general and so profound in Spain?\nThe Catholic Inquisition. \u201cThe commissaries of the Holy office received\norders to oppose the introduction of books written by the partisans of\nmodern philosophy, as reprobated by Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and\nordered information to be given against persons known to be attached to\nthe principles of the insurrection.\u201d [Liorente, vol. 4, p. 99.]\n\u201cTheological censures attacked even works on politics, and on natural,\ncivil and international law. The consequence is, that those appointed to\nexamine publications condemn and proscribe all works necessary for the\ndiffusion of knowledge among the Spaniards. The books that have been\npublished on mathematics, astronomy, natural philosophy and several other\nbranches of science connected with those, are not treated with more\nfavor.\u201d [Liorente, vol. 4, p. 420.] \u201cThe Inquisition is, perhaps, the most\nactive cause of that intellectual death that visited Spain at the close of\nthe seventeenth century.... It encouraged ignorance, and instituted a\ncensorship even for works on jurisprudence, philosophy, and politics, and\nfor novels that reflected on the avarice and rapacity of the priests,\ntheir dissolute conduct, and their hypocricy.\u201d [Weiss, vol. 2, pp. 319 to\n321.] \u201cLastly, if it be asked what has corrupted the morals both of the\nclergy and the laity of the former times and of the present day, the\nanswer is still, Catholic superstition!\u201d [Napoleon Roussell.]\n\nInfidels, who are noted leaders in \u201cFree Thought,\u201d as it is termed, are\ninvariably men whose religious education was in the religious literature\nof the old creeds of centuries gone by, or otherwise in the religious\nliterature of Roman Catholicism. They live in thought upon religious\nmatters centuries behind the times, but, in scientific thought, are too\nwell informed to adhere to their religious training. Such is the\nphilosophy of infidel making. Let a man be trained in the obsolete\nreligions of an hundred years or more ago, and otherwise well educated,\nand he is, at once, an infidel. No man is to blame for setting his face\nlike a flint against old-fashioned Roman Catholicism, and high-toned\nCalvinism, nor for repudiating Papal and clerical authority known in the\nSpanish Inquisition with all its horrible, unscriptural and ungodly\nbarbarities. But why it is that the infidel\u2019s religious foot should set\naway back yonder in the smoke of the dark ages, and his scientific foot\naway down here with the railroad and telegraph, is rather difficult of\nsolution. It is rather amusing, since all well-educated American Catholics\ncondemn the Inquisition along with all the abominable cruelties of the\ndark ages. And, as for Calvinism, there is not enough left for seed if it\nwas properly distributed\u2014_it is old and thin._\n\n\n\n\n\n\u201cEVEN NOW ARE THERE MANY ANTI-CHRISTS.\u201d\n\n\nCol. Ingersoll says: \u201cHe (Paine) knew that every abuse had been embalmed\nin scripture, that every outrage was in partnership with some holy text.\u201d\nIf such was really true every rascal, scoundrel and villain should carry a\ncopy of the Bible. Do they? Are they in affinity with the Bible? Are they\neven friendly to it? Things that are in affinity with each other are drawn\ntogether. \u201cA fellow feeling makes us very kind.\u201d \u201cBy their fruits ye shall\nknow them.\u201d \u201cBirds of a feather flock together.\u201d\n\nBefore the Bible went to the Sandwich Islands Col. Ingersoll would have\nbeen hailed as a very proper object for a sumptuous feast. He would have\nacted wisely in making his last will before starting, but now, since that\nbook has gone there which embalms every crime (?) he would find an asylum\nof safety in which to repose his weary limbs. _How is this?_ Is every\noutrage in partnership with some holy text? If so, the Bible would be just\none more reason for the continuance of cannibalism. The secret of Mr.\nIngersoll\u2019s tirade upon the Bible may be accounted for when we measure the\nmagnitude of his infidelity. It is no shallow sort of unbelief, but, on\nthe contrary, it is deep seated, and one with the infidelity of his\nexcelling predecessors. Ingersoll intends to have no superior in\nunbelief\u2014you know he is ambitious. Let us give you a little speech that\nwas made, by one of his particular friends and co-laborers in this unholy\ncrusade, at Geneva, in 1868. Here it is:\n\n\u201cBrethren, I am come to announce unto you a new gospel, which must\npenetrate to the very ends of the world. This gospel admits of no half\nmeasures and hesitations. The old world must be destroyed and replaced by\na new one. The Lie must be stamped out and give way to truth.\n\n\u201cIt is our mission to destroy the _Lie_; and to effect this, we must begin\nat the very commencement. Now the beginning of all those lies which have\nground down this poor world in slavery is God. For many hundred years\nmonarchs and priests have inoculated the hearts and minds of mankind with\nthis notion of a God ruling over the world. They have also invented for\nthe people the notion of another world, in which their God is to punish\nwith eternal torture (not a Bible term) those who have refused to obey\ntheir degrading laws here on earth. This God is nothing but the\npersonification of absolute tyranny, and has been invented with a view of\neither frightening or alluring nine-tenths of the human race into\nsubmission to the remaining tenth. If there were really a God, surely he\nwould use that lightning which he holds in his hand to destroy those\nthrones, to the steps of which mankind is chained. He would assuredly use\nit to overthrow those altars where the truth is hidden by clouds of lying\nincense. Tear out of your hearts the belief in the existence of God; for\nas long as an atom of that silly superstition remains in your minds you\nwill never know what freedom is.\u201d\n\nThis has the genuine _Ingersoll ring_ upon the subject of \u201c_Liberty of\nMan, Woman and Child._\u201d \u201cWhen you have got rid of this belief in this\npriest-begotten God, and when, moreover, you are convinced that your\nexistence, and that of the surrounding world, is due to the\n_conglomeration of atoms_, in accordance with the law of gravity and\nattraction, then, and then only, you will have accomplished the first\nsteps toward liberty, and will experience less difficulty in ridding your\nminds of that second lie which tyranny has invented.\n\n\u201cThe first lie is _God_. The second lie is _Right_. Might invented the\nfiction of Right in order to insure and strengthen her reign; that Right\nwhich she herself does not heed, and which only serves as a barrier\nagainst any attacks which may be made by the trembling and stupid masses\nof mankind.\n\n\u201c_Might_, my friends, forms the sole ground-work of society. Might makes\nand unmakes laws, and that might should be in the hands of the majority.\nIt should be in the possession of those nine-tenths of the human race\nwhose immense power has been rendered subservient to the remaining tenth\nby means of that lying fiction of _Right_, before which you are accustomed\nto bow your heads and to drop your arms. Once penetrated with a clear\nconviction of _your own might_, you will be able to destroy this _mere\nnotion of right_.\n\n\u201cAnd when you have freed your minds from the fear of a God, and from that\nchildish respect for _the fiction of Right_, then all the remaining chains\nwhich bind you, and which are called _science, civilization, property,\nmarriage, morality and justice, will snap asunder like threads_.\n\n\u201cLet your own happiness be your only law. But in order to get this law\nrecognized, and to bring about the proper relations which should exist\nbetween the majority and minority of mankind, you must destroy everything\nwhich exists in the shape of state or social organization. So educate\nyourselves and your children that, when the great moment for constituting\nthe new world arrives, your eyes may not be blinded and deceived by the\nfalsehoods of the tyrants of throne and altar.\n\n\u201cOur first work must be destruction and annihilation of everything as it\nnow exists. You must accustom yourselves to destroy everything, the good\nwith the bad; for if but an atom of this world remains the new will never\nbe created.\n\n\u201cAccording to the priests\u2019 fables, in days of old, a deluge destroyed all\nmankind, but their God especially saved Noah in order that the seeds of\ntyranny and falsehoods might be perpetuated in the new world. When you\nonce begin your work of destruction, and when the floods of enslaved\nmasses of the people rise and engulph temples and palaces, then take heed\nthat no ark be allowed to rescue any atom of this old world which we\nconsecrate to destruction.\u201d\n\n_A representative of the kingdom of darkness._\n\n\u201cDestruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they know\nnot.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n\nWHAT IS TO BE THE RELIGION OF THE FUTURE.\n\n\n\u201cBrahmanism has avoided the fatal mistake of Catholic and Protestant\nphilosophy by assuming an impersonal deity in three modes of\nmanifestation, while Christian thinkers have played around the logical\ncontradiction of one personality in three equal persons for fifteen\nhundred years. We must utterly break with the idea of a personal God, and\naccept that of one impersonal essence behind all phenomena.\u201d [Hartmann\u2019s\nfuture religion.]\n\nMust we do this? Is there any necessity for it? What have we to do with\n\u201cthe fatal mistake of Catholic and Protestant philosophy?\u201d It was a\n_mistake_, that\u2019s all! \u201cChristian thinkers have played around the logical\ncontradiction of one personality in three equal persons for fifteen\nhundred years.\u201d _Have they? \u2019Tis well!_ Christianity requires no man to\nstep into logical contradiction and stand there. They have done this \u201cfor\nfifteen hundred years.\u201d Well, it has been about that long since men, in\nthe prelude of the dark ages, began to speculate foolishly about the\nsubject of the Divine existence. There was a purer atmosphere in the first\ncenturies of the Christian era, in which primitive Christians enjoyed\nbetter conceptions of the Divine Being, to which it is the privilege of\nChristians to return. Is it the _only alternative_ \u201cto break with the idea\nof a personal God, and accept that of one impersonal essence behind all\nphenomena?\u201d _No!_ We Christians affirm nothing that can necessarily be\nconstrued with the Catholic and Protestant \u201cmistake\u201d concerning the\n_Trinity_, nor anything that can be construed with ultra Unitarianism,\nwhich treats of our Lord and Savior simply as an extraordinarily inspired\nman. Neither are we under any logical necessity to \u201cbreak with the idea of\na personal God,\u201d and form an alliance with Atheistic philosophy through\nthe adoption of the idea of a Pantheistic \u201cessence behind all phenomena.\u201d\nSuch speculative _nonsense_ may be the best that a mind can do while it is\nin its own ignorance upon the subject of what it takes to constitute\npersonality, and while it is also surrounded with nothing but the darkness\nof the dark ages, which has been the legitimate accompaniment of \u201cthe\nCatholic and Protestant _fatal mistake_,\u201d but it is not the best that an\nintelligent mind, clothed with the sunlight of the gospel of Christ, and\nintelligently educated upon the subject of _personality_ can do. _No!_ The\nintelligently informed mind can stand upon the everlasting bed-rock of\ntruth, which has been raised to the highest mountain top of Christian\nthought by the pure, unadulterated teachings of the Savior of men, which\nlie behind the fifteen hundred years of jargon upon the questions of\nTrinitarian and Unitarian \u201c_isms_.\u201d\n\n\u201cGod is a spirit.\u201d That settles the question of \u201cperson\u201d with every well\ninstructed Christian mind. \u201cWhat man knoweth the things of a man save the\nspirit of man which is in him; even so the things of God knoweth no man\nbut the Spirit of God.\u201d The Spirit of God is the _Supreme intelligence_.\nAnd, being such, he is the _Supreme person_, for where there is\n_intelligence_ there is person. The attributes of personality belong to\nintelligence, and they belong to nothing else. If you have an\n_intelligent_ essence, it is, of a logical and scientific necessity, a\nperson. Let some Pantheistic \u201cwiseacre\u201d grapple with this thought.\n\nThe fatal mistakes are not all confined to Catholics and Protestants;\nPantheists and Scientists have made full as many mistakes. The great\nmistake upon the subject of the Divine existence, which Scientists and\nPantheists have made, is the conclusion that person is simply and\nnecessarily _material_, or animal existence. So they say, if God is a\nperson he must be a great big _almighty_ man, having great arms and legs,\netc. I have the first Atheist or Pantheist to meet in conversation that\nunderstands the truth of science in reference to this question of\n_person_.\n\nIt is claimed that a Monotheistic Pantheism, that is, the idea of _one\nessence_, not person, but _essence_, is to _unite_, or make one, the whole\nhuman family upon the scientific (sciolistic) base that man himself is one\ngrand part of the grand all-pervading, impersonal essence.\n\nReligions have their practical results, and, consequently, bearings upon\nhuman society. The Monotheistic idea, which, it is claimed, is to equalize\nall beings and things throughout this vast universe, in the conception\nthat all are parts of the same grand all-pervading essence, can have only\nthe following results: First, to wipe out all ideas of a future\nretribution, for want of judge, for want of governor; second, to destroy\nall distinctions consequent upon the ideas of a divine moral kingdom, or\nKingdom of God among men; third, to loosen up the religious and moral\nrestraints by removing the religious sanctions, or promises and threats,\nwhich relate to the future retribution.\n\nThe advocates of this universal religion of the future, which is simply\nuniversal non-religion, say \u201cProtestantism is the grave digger of\nChristianity.\u201d \u201cBut Christianity stoutly refuses to be buried alive,\u201d and\nthe multitude of facts that are continually transpiring demonstrate a\nliving, active existence; \u201cits blood circulates; its pulse is certainly\nbeating;\u201d its force is not spent in the least; it is always giving but is\nnever growing lean; \u201cit has a long lease of life.\u201d All the trees of the\nforest stand together in one grand old struggle for life. It may be that\nChristianity will be under the necessity of struggling, for many years to\ncome, with the Godless forms of _Pantheism_ and _Atheism_, which are\nsimply two different phases of the same Godless philosophy; but the seeds\nof the great Christian tree, in these United States, are being shaken down\ninto the tender and warm soil of millions of hearts in all our\nSunday-schools, and it will be many a year before Christianity dies.\n\n\n\n\n\nBILL OF INDICTMENTS AGAINST PROTESTANTS.\n\n\n_First._ The idea of total hereditary depravity which never can be\ncorrelated with accountability.\n\n_Second._ The idea of those who were never converted being rewarded\naccording to their own deeds, when they were never upon trial; for a man\nmust have ability to try before he can be tried, and that ability must\nextend to the accomplishment of that to which the trial relates. Wesley\u2019s\nDiscipline says, The condition of man since the fall of Adam is such that\nhe can not, by his own natural strength, turn and prepare himself to faith\nand calling upon God, without the grace of God by Christ going before to\ngive him good will, and working with him when he has that good will.\n\nIf it is improper to say that a man can by his own natural strength turn\nand prepare himself to faith and calling upon God, it is, also, improper\nto say he is naturally accountable, for where ability ceases,\naccountability also terminates. But a prop is found in \u201cthe grace of God\nby Christ going before to give a good will, and to work with that good\nwill.\u201d So the grace of God by Christ must go before to displace a bad will\nby giving \u201ca good one.\u201d But this fails to relieve the doctrine from\nembarrassment; for if the sinner is unwilling, has a bad will, it is\nclaimed that the Spirit goes away and leaves him to die in his\nhelplessness. Does the Omnipotent Spirit go to a man to give him a good\nwill, and then refuse to give it because the poor man has it not already?\nDo you say he resisted? Well, well; suppose he did? _What_, is that in the\nway of an Omnipotent Spirit? Who can explain such nonsense?\n\nIf I had a son laboring under the conviction that the Bible is the source\nof such teachings, and he was to become disgusted and fall out with it on\nthat account, I should be proud of his common-sense. Is the poor man\nmocked in that manner? If he dies in his sins, on account of his not being\nin possession of a good will, can his future reward be according to the\ndeeds done by himself? No! He was never on trial\u2014he had no ability to try.\nThere is just as much sense in the idea that an ape is on trial. Adam, the\nfirst, ruined him; and Adam, the second, did not help him. Can a man be\njustly condemned because he was not what he never had the power to be?\n\n_Third._ The idea that the Lord would command men to _convert themselves_,\nknowing, at the same time, that they could not do it. He commands men to\nconvert. He \u201ccommands all men everywhere to repent.\u201d He knows, also, that\nthey can do it; so Protestantism, to the contrary, is an everlasting\ndisgrace to our religion. The original term translated by the word convert\nis in the _imperative active_ in many places. Our translators put it in\nthe passive in the third chapter of Acts, where it is imperative active in\nthe original. Why they did this no scholar can tell, unless it was to\nfavor their Calvinistic ideas upon conversion. The term occurs forty-seven\ntimes in the New Testament, and it is translated thirty-eight times by the\nwords _turn_ and _return_.\n\nPaul says he \u201cshowed to the people that THEY SHOULD TURN TO GOD, and do\nworks meet for repentance.\u201d\n\nThis great thought harmonizes with all that is taught upon the subject of\nfuture rewards. A man _can turn_, and he is therefore accountable. To make\nman responsible, it must be shown that he is capable, or able. This is the\none great fact that lies at the foundation of future rewards and\npunishment. Take this fact away and the justice of God is imperiled by the\nteachings of the Bible upon the subject of the future retribution. I know\nthat men who are under the influence of the traditions of their fathers\nand mothers turn from the truth upon this question and say hard things\nagainst it; but I know, also, that those same men speak the same sentiment\nwhen they talk about the future judgment.\n\n_Fourth._ The idea that the Divine Spirit must convert the man, and that\nit passes the unwilling soul without giving him ability that he may be\ntried, for a man must be able to attain the desired object, otherwise\ntrial is mere mockery. So, according to this kind of teaching, justice is\nmocked, and the sinner is sent to perdition without anything more than a\nmock trial; _i.e._, without being tried. If this be not true, the theory\nof helplessness growing out of Adam\u2019s sin is utterly false, and man\u2019s\nsalvation, under all dispensations, is presented to us as a matter that\nwas, and is, disposed of by himself, he being able, in his own natural\nstrength, to turn and prepare himself to faith and calling upon God.\nAgain, all men pray. It is instinctive to pray. It is an instinct that\ndefies reason and philosophy. If men have not \u201cnatural strength to turn\nand prepare themselves to faith and calling upon God,\u201d then they are not\n_naturally_ responsible _nor_ accountable.\n\n_Fifth._ The idea that the Spirit goes to the unwilling sinner to give him\na good will, and then, because the man is not willing already, departs\nfrom him, leaving him in his sins to continue in his helpless, wicked\ncondition until, having passed a mock judgment, he is banished to outer\ndarkness, for if the man was never able to do otherwise on account of his\nhelplessness, why should he be condemned? Tell him it is for his own deeds\nand you mock his good sense.\n\n_Sixth._ The idea that Christ died for an elect few, and damns all the\nbalance because they don\u2019t believe he died for them, _when he did not_.\n\n_Seventh._ The idea that Christ died for a few, and commissioned his\ndisciples to preach the fact to all nations\u2014to every creature, as \u201cglad\ntidings of great joy,\u201d which was \u201cto be unto all people,\u201d when it is,\naccording to the doctrine that he did not die for all, positively no good\nnews to any soul that was passed by.\n\n_Eighth._ The idea that all who are finally lost, will be in that sad\ncondition because of unbelief, when, if they had believed that Christ died\nfor them they would have believed a falsehood, because Calvinists say no\nsoul for whom Jesus died will be lost.\n\n\n\n\n\nA SUMMARY OF TRUTH.\n\n\n_First._ By the transgression man\u2019s eyes were opened, and he became as\nGod, to know good and evil.\n\n_Second._ He has always had intellectual and moral ability to turn and\nserve God, and so enjoy his divine favor.\n\n_Third._ He has been required in every dispensation to do this.\n\n_Fourth._ Christ died for all men.\n\n_Fifth._ All men may turn and be saved.\n\n_Sixth._ God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that\nfeareth him and worketh righteousness shall be accepted with him.\n\nProtestants, do you believe the Bible? Then throw away your errors. LET\nTHE LOWER LIGHTS BE BURNING!\n\nTHE UNREASONABLE CONDUCT OF A POPE.\u2014\u201cPope Sixtus V. expended in three\nyears (from 1586 to 1589) 5,339 scudi, (about $83,500) in destroying a\nportion of the Baths of Diocletian; and 2,560,000 cubic feet of masonry\nwere broken up. These facts are recorded in a book of accounts found in\nthe Vatican library, at Rome.\u201d\u2014_The Toujee Tourist, of April, 1880._\n\n\n\n\n\nETHAN ALLEN, THE INFIDEL, AND HIS DAUGHTER.\n\n\n    \u201cThe damps of death are coming fast,\n      My father, o\u2019er my brow;\n    The past, with all its scenes, are fled,\n      And I must turn me now\n    To that dim future which, in vain,\n      My feeble eyes descry.\n    Tell me, my father, in this hour,\n      In whose stern faith to die.\n\n    \u201cIn thine? I\u2019ve watched the scornful smile\n      And heard thy withering tone\n    Whene\u2019er the Christian\u2019s humble hope\n      Was placed above thine own.\n    I\u2019ve heard thee speak of coming death\n      Without a shade of gloom,\n    And laugh at all the childish fears\n      That cluster round the tomb.\n\n    \u201cOr, is it my mother\u2019s faith?\n      How fondly do I trace,\n    Through many a weary year long past,\n      That calm and saintly face!\n    How often do I call to mind,\n      Now she is \u2019neath the sod,\n    The place, the hour, in which she drew\n      My early thoughts to God.\n\n    \u201c\u2019Twas then she took this sacred book,\n      And from its burning page\n    Read how its truths support the soul\n      In youth and failing age;\n    And bade me in its precepts live,\n      And by its precepts die,\n    That I might share a home of love\n      In worlds beyond the sky.\n\n    \u201cMy father, shall I look above,\n      Amid the gathering gloom,\n    To him whose promises of love\n      Extend beyond the tomb\n    Or curse the being who hath blessed\n      This chequered path of mine,\n    And promises eternal rest,\n      And die, my sire, in thine?\n\n    \u201cThe frown upon that warrior brow\n      Passed, like a cloud, away,\n    And tears coursed down the rugged cheek\n      That flowed not till that day.\n    \u201c_Not\u2014not in mine_,\u201d with choking voice,\n    The skeptic made reply;\n    \u201c_But in thy mother\u2019s holy faith,_\n    _My daughter, mayst thou die._\u201d\n\n    \u2014_Virginia Missionary._\n\n\n\n\n\nTRUTH IS IMMORTAL.\n\n\nPhilosophy has sometimes forgotten God, as great people never did. The\nskepticism of the last century could not uproot Christianity because it\nlived in the hearts of the millions. Do you think that infidelity is\nspreading? Christianity never lived in the hearts of so many millions as\nat this moment. Many forms under which it is professed may decay, for\nthey, like all that is the work of man\u2019s hands, are subject to the changes\nand chances of mortal beings, but the spirit of truth is incorruptible; it\nmay be developed, illustrated and applied; it can never die; it never can\ndecline. No truth can perish. No truth can pass away. The flame is\nundying, though generations disappear. Wherever immortal truth has started\ninto being, humanity claims and guards the bequest. Each generation\ngathers together the imperishable children of the past and increases them\nby the new sons of the light, alike radiant with immortality.\u2014_Bancroft._","title":"The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, June, 1880","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":14257}