Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1847-08-13
MANIFESTO
or The Presbyterian Church Of .7meric,
CONTINUED

/. Duly TO ourselves required IL. The first
and highest duty of every individual, is to
free his own soul from guilt. lisa. l: To-
"Wash you, make you %clean," &c. Gal. 6:
5. "For every man shall bear his own bur-
den." See also 3 Cor. 6: 7. Rev. 1s: 4
5. l Cor. 5: IL.
There is no duty more clearly e%njoined in
the Word of God, than that of Withdrawing
from a corrupt ecclesiastical organization.-
Rev. lS; A, 5; | Cor. 5: IL. 2Thes. 3: G.
These commands are as plain and unequivo-
cal as, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved" The only ques-
ton that will bear debate, with the Bible in
hand, is, at ,rhat point of corruption a seces-
sion is justidable. To say that it is schism
TO leave a corrupt body until you are thrust
out, appears to us supremely ridiculous, be-
cause opposed to the plainest acquisitions Of
the Bible, and to the p~lainest dictates of COM
mon sense. We are aware that constant,
and las some Think triumphant appeal is
made to the example of Christ and Luther,
10 prove that we ought to remain with a cor
rupt church until thrust out. But to such
appeals we deem it sufficient to reply, that
so far as the example of Christ is concerned,
for very obvious reasons, it can never be
made a justification for others. With regard
to Luther, the argument assumes that whatev-
er Luther did, tcdS right. The argument To-
gically arranged, (f we can give logical ar
rangement to a thing so illogical,) is this
whatever Luther did was right; Luther re-
manned in the Roman Catholic church till he
was accommodated, and thrust out; There
fore, II is wrong to leave a corrupt church till
you are thrust out! Now who does not see
that this whole argument drawn from the ex-
ample OF Luther, rests upon the false as
sumption Of the major proposition, viz: that
"Whatever Luther did was right" And yet
facts, spread out on the face of history, show
that Luther did Uery many things that were
exceedingly wrong. But admitting, as we
must, that Luther sometimes did wrong, the
argument falls to the ground, unless it can be
shown that remaining in the church till he
was thrust out, ara rot one If his tcrOng acts,
like that of permitting the images to remain
in the churches, and teaching the doctrine of
consubstantiatiou But if L.uther remained
in a corrupt church till he was thrust out,
Melancthon, Zwingle, Knox, and others who
wore nearer right in many things than Luz
Their, did not wait to be accommodated.
The question, then, which presents itself
to us is, sat what point of corruption is Sc
cession justifable 7" We answer, whenev-
CT a body becomes so corrupt that the hcs
" " t"pc| uffCcso ouIClStuCu Wy III
laws and regulations of men. The church
of Christ is a community under the goveru-
ment of Chrtst'S idios, and no other commu-
nifty, can, in any proper sense, claim to he
Christs Church. See Con. Faith, Oh. XIV.
Form of Gov. Oh. ], Sec. 7. Book of Dis.
Oh. |, Sec. |. Also, Eph. 2: 10, 90. To
tell US, that we are to stay in such a body so
long as we are tolerated in speaking our sem
timents, is to meet us with a mere assump-
ton, when we are inquiring for truth. That
tho laws of Christ are entirely imperative,
so far as slavery is concerned, in both the
great Presbyterian organizations, as bodies,
is too notorious to need proof. We could
not therefore longer continue in such a con-
nection without bringing guilt upon our own
souls.
There is another considerat alto bearing up
on this point, worthy of notice. 1t is the
temptation to which we expose our own souls
by remaining in such a connection. The
Lord Jesus has taught US 10 pray lead us
not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"
He who prays this prayer, and yet voluntari-
ly puts himself in The Day Of Temptation, is
guilty of hooking God. We are continual
iy liable to become asslmilated in character
to those with whom we associate.
'Nice is a monster of such hideous mien,
That to be hated, needs but to be seen
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then PITY, then EN-
BRACEr
The truth Of this sentiment has been stri-
kingly exemplifed in the case of some of our
brethren, who once were jealous in the cause
of the slave, but who, owing TO their %ecclesi-
cal connections, are now either silent, or the
open a~pologizers for slavery. We dare not
continue to expose our souls TO a like tempta-
ton. ale that trusteth his own heart is a
fool" 1t was for this reason that the Apos-
tie Paul said to the Corinthians, q Cor. 6;
~ Wherefore, come out from among them,
and be We separate, saith the Lord, and touch
not the unclean thing; and | will receive
you.i'
?. Our duty 10 The Church Of Christ demand
ed il. Three things are necessary to the pros
perity Of the church-purity of doctrine-pu-
Tity of practice-and a judicious, vigilant APP
p%lication of discipline. Without these, you
may, it is true, build up a large organisation
Of professors, but when the work is finished,
it is nothing but a colossal body of corrup-
tion and abominable putrefaction, the smell
Of which is offensive TO the nostriIs of infinite
holiness. Such organizations are worth moth
ing in the great work of a worlds renovation.
Nay, they are worse than useess-they are
huge masses OF rubbish in the highway Of no.
illness! The rubbish must be removed be.
fore the car of Christ's salvation can roll on to
its gaol. These three great requisites of a
prosperous church We could not obtain by re-
naming in the existing organization, and
therefore we felt compelled TO form one in
which these things could be secured.
But further; a candid, impartial observer
of things, must be satisfied that the pro-sla-
very churches of America are the great pro-
pagandists of infdelity in our day. Men Of
The world are accustomed to Judge Of the meI-