The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1855-09-29


But learn, for the sake of your minds repose,
That weaiths hubble that comes-and goes
And that all proud flesh, wherever 1t growA
Is subject to imitation.
The Church; what she does, and what
she Omits to do.
No one denies to the scct8 which assume
to be the christian church, the possession of
zeal in the PRONUNCIATION Of thoir doctrinal
views, or the practice fproselytsm, in order
to rival their fellow sectarians in point of
numbers; and looking at christendom, one
would suppose that when churches increased
the number of their members and grounded
those members in their respective doctrnal
tents, they had accomplished all which they
were bound to do But to our minds this is
a very circumscribed view ofwhat the found
cr of the church came to establish. Theo
logical formu'es and prOsclytism, about
the church seems wholly cngrosscd, were
but small portion of the life which charac.
terlzed the Saviour Of mankind. He came
to relieve the suffering, TO heal the broken
hearted, to save from sin, to purify the heart
and to attract people to goodness for its own
sake Does the church emulate this exam
plc' Does she even understand it, Just
| glance at our congregations and see Among
| protesting christians you will find the love
Of this world and its yantics quite as strong,
/ ly developed as among sinners II is. of
! course, suppressed and glidcd over; but the
| life, the vitality, Of the great majority of the
christian world are absorbed by considera.
| tons utterly unworthy true recognition of
the gospel. In trade, there is as much chic
ancry, in policy as much tortuo,ity, within
as without the church. This is made cvi.
dent by the daily intercourse in business
which the community have " III each other
| In answer to this, the church will tell us
that those we thus designate are false pro.
icssOrs, and that from them the whole church
should not be judged. We are willing to
admit the plea, but we respond that such
Christians as we have described compose
majority Of the church, and in the world we
always judge Of a body by the majority
thereof What then is the difficulty with
the church, Firt she does not comprc.
hcnd the ethical principl which constituted
the charm Of our Savior Not one In ten Of
our church members believes in the posi-
hi,ity Of loving ones neighbor as himself
and not one in n hundred can conceive Of
the sublime philosophy of the direction
love your enemies.
In the next place, the church pays too
much attention to those who are sccptical
upon the subject Of religion. We mean in a
bitter, controversial way. Sccptics are sci.
dom or never convinced or converted by de.
nuncation. They require arguments for
their understanding, but their hearts are
much sooner reached by the silent influence
Of vital practical picty than by Theoretical
exposition from the pulpit
IL -. 10. Ia e. IL. l. -
about the progress Of iniidclity. While
practical iniidclity exists within the church,
speculative nidelity VII exist outside Of it.
The farmer, IN great measure, is the gen.
orator Of the latter. True, vital, pia ,tical
ricty always commands attention, and sci.
dom fails to command respect Controycr.
Sal wars with niidelity almost always re-
suit to the advantage Of tao latter The
gospel is peace The church militant is
paradox The religion Of Christ is not co.
crSivc nor combatvc. II is mild, pcrsua-
sivc, forbcaring, patient Those who buckle
on their armor to fight what they call the
Lords battles against unbclicvcrs are pretty
sure to find themselves discomittcd. for the /.
Lord has not called these comLatants into
the field, and does not seem disposed TO rcn.
der them much assistance.
The church, like her predecessor Of cd
pays too much attention to the mint, aniSc .
and cummin Of the present day, and omits .
the wcighticr matters which rest upon her .
shoulders. She is punctilious about her ten.
cts but does not 90 into the highways and .
hedges and bring into her pale those who are
starving both physically and Spiritually
She is sensitive about the appearance she .
makes in the world, but does little or moth.
ing to spread the principles of Jesus among
those whom poverty excludes from her pub.
lie minstrations. She forgctS that she
claims to be the exponent Of Him who had
not where to lay his head, and almost utter.
y ncglccts those who are in the same pccu.
mary condition as characterized her Lord
and Master.
Everybody Knows that these statements
are true, and yet everybody asks - why the
ncfliciency of the church? Have we no,
given the key to the paralyscd condition Of
the church? DO its members not perceive
that they must live out of themselves and
for others, and that in their efforts to do
good they must be no rcspcctors OF pcrsonSg
DO they not know that while controversial
wars on points Of faith may be wagcd with
alternate success to the respective opposing
sides, life which is the embodiment Of good.
ness for its own sake, which asks no reward
which knows no difference between friends
and enemies, which comforts the -otrowing
and relieves the distressed, which sacrifices
itself for the benefit Of others and considers
itself blessed that it can make such sacrifice
DO they not consider, We repeat, that such
life always gains the vttorr--iirst bv the
genial influence Nhch il cXtrlS ,pcr others