Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1851-11-17
WHOLE NUMBER SO S;3z


the form Of religious worship, has abandon.
ed mahy expensive and unnecessary ce.e<s
monies, aud encouraged individual educa. q
'ion and private Judgement. in scripturaf ts
reading &c -. Z 3. .zs 'as1 ~;
Hut mankind are now more civilized and y
advancee III arts and sciences than in any
ior'ner era. Men understand each Other F
better, und the great laws of nature are =
more easily and generally comprehended =
ne shackles Of bigotry and intolerance
drop Oft as the cause Of freedum advances: -
and all members of humanity Chris,en.;
dom' especislly-are becoming more
'hroughly reasonable and baptized In lha
pure waters Of wisdom. SssF
Aow here is the point-men are becon.
ing more reasonable. The fate of Chris. =
lenoon depends wholly upon this onesfnct
that men are realizing their manhood Z
and becoming intelligent and strong. @sss
Among other revolutions which await
The higher portions of mankind, is a RELi.
.eI"rs one, which will be more powerful
tnan my known in history. And II will
pr nclpaliy all be effected by reason. One s,.li
party will reason philosophoaly, the otheE
theologleally;e both willireuson correctly
IRON the premises. You may be assured d,
Ut the truth OF this startling event. sayesa
startling, because it will be accompanied .sE
with war; for poiincs are inseparably con- -s,ii
uecled, all over The world, with religious 81
systems. Religion will develop reasonsAg
but politics will impel the masses to- ut-s,.:s
sheath the sword and TO stain the bosom ot'
nature with blood! Friends Of progress!a
be not discouraged; for the final crisis :
must come! - -. =,
Concerning so, called revealed religion. .s,.,
the mrJpriy OF The people will reason thus: Z.
We believe Christianity 10 be n supernaiu, ).
rol developement OF truth. There are =
truths our feeble reason could never have "a
discovered-such as The character of Gcd, "a a.
The doctrine of immortality, &c. Hence, !.
tney say, n supernatural revelation is
essential TO our safety and enlightenment
(Re'nen.her, friends, that thousands Of Prot &.
esln'a will and do reason this way.) And sF-s
looking nb"ut on eithe, SIDE, they will say =
but "hat1menns all these sects, Is this -H'
the result of religious liberty? Nay, il ia ,.
religious anarchy Ard wherefore2 Be.
cause ali Protestnniism I'm is in error. We ,lu
have n supernatural reIg gioR bu, We have
been STRIVING 10 comprehend superr aiu.' !.
rat irwin oui common nafurai Judge.
menls! /. his is unreasonable! say--t4
This is unreasonable; and il is all chargea- a,
bic upon Proestnnts. 1hey have been Il,
very lnc' nsislent.> They believe that Chris. .
lianity is u supernatural revelation Of su. 81
pernalual truth; MD yet they have thassli
Presun ption to think, tho, every man .ho,d Al
read lh's supernatural reyala,ion TO plesse
himself. Now am impressed with the =
conviction, that no natura Judgement is sd- ]
eauale to the just understanding Of super. .qTt.i
natural things. If Christianity is n system 'l,
OF Supernatural truth, then it requires a is.
suPerna !urally Illuminated mind to compre.
bend It's import and arcanicdl bearing. In 5ss
thus matter. lhe Roman Catholic religion a
IS ailngelher more consistent Than the Prot.
esnnt religion. e-o .,.-,f ,.y.r g,
But il may be said thai Christianity is y
only na,ural truth, superna,urally revealed. .
No" by taking this position, you Clearly, -.
admit that the entire sy stem would e,eR,u.
ally have been unIolded ty The general
progression of of'humnnily. lfChrislianity
is system of natural truth, then il would n I
have naturally come forth like the sciences e nj
of Astronomy, Geology, &C., in the com "'a
mon course of=tliinss re -'s - o.
But if it came through miraculous 'p
channel, or was diyulged through the agen.
cy oi supernatural means, then it evidently
requires the same means 10 ehlven il and 4,
spreod it triumphantly over the earth.-
Friends, do you apprehend the full bearing
OF this reasoning2 ~ ...... ......s
Let US take an example. Suppose you 2
construct an engine; you adjust The parts,
Introduce she vapor, and the wheels turn.
Now what would you think ofihe mechan-
ic who insisted upon making a steam engine
go by wnter power. You toulj doubtless
consider him ignorant or insane. Now,
apply The same reasoning to Proteslanism.
Prolesants believe that Christianity was
introduced and set in motion by superna,u.
raj and miraculous mems; nnd yet they
reject the means by which The whole sys.
tenn was originally moved, and try 10 keep .ss
il in action by natural and common causes. s
In this matter of theoretical consistency, s.,i
| nffirm, Catholicism has always been and a.
is now far in advance Of Protestanism.
For, if we have supernaturally revealed
religion, we should have q class of men
endowed or ordained to un.
dersinLd il, apd to inpart its wonderful T'
uulhs TO mankind While Protestunsm 'r'
is divided and subdivded into many conflict,
ing sec,s, The One, Holy, Catholic, Apos-
lolic Church stands perfectly unmoved and
unchanged. Now why is this? The re.
ply is plain, simply because that church is,
and always has been perfectly consistent
With iss3 assumed premises. Ii stands, like
Protestanism, upon a supernatural .founda.
uon. It's doctrines are derived from the
Bible which is claimed TO be supernatu.
rally derived book; hence it requires
class of regularly inspired men TO divulge
its great teachings TO men This clnss Of
men should take charge of our souls; and
we should not interfere with religious doc.
trines, only so far ns the supernaturally in:
spred men shall desire and command -
NJ H. L.