American union. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1859, 1856-02-16

r y
born Of the same divine inspirations as
the originals in Scripture and though
the hymn-book is not a sun, it is its
4 satellite, and takes its light, to reflect
3. it upon our eyes, in rays which are
more tolerable because diminished in
\ power, being tempered to the weakness
I of our eyes, which cannot always look
the sun full in the face. s o. 600
4 But leaving out these poetical rea-
sonings, experience has shown that the
>. Church has derived large and various
instruction from the lymn-bool; But
I its uses have not yet been fully cxplo-
red. Its service is scarcely begun. 8
\ In the sanctuary the Bible must
(. speak, for the most part, through the
voice of the pastor and teacher. The
1 congregation may murmur responses Of
! Scripture, but cannot read IL with-thosc
clear utterances which are required for
Z understanding and edifcation. The
true voice of the congregation must be
" heard through the hymn-bodk. q el'a7
I 2 In our Christian congregations, for
the most part, the people are only re-
/ cipients thoylare not paTtcipators nor
. actors intpublic worship. The minister
prays to, them, the choir sings to them,
! and the minister again breaches 10 or
! al. them. Their duty seems comprised
in u respectful sympathy and patient
reception of the vicamousl woY8hip.-
Z, ThiS.ought not to be. 1t cannot long
continue in any congregation without
! drying up the springs Of feeling, and
leaving public worship arid as desert,
or with only an occasional spot Of
greonness, And that grievous evil has
turned the .longings Of some wise and
! good men to liturgical forms. That
| the congregation may be enabled to
speak, and to utter it's own feeling, it
| has been proposed that every Church
4 should make selections of Scripture to
z bereeited, and rcsponscs,to be uttered,
and articles of faith to be repeated 1oy-
4 cry Sabbath, until around these great
q ssewsptufca.tintks shoaiaaclasser shoh
hallowed associations as should make
thom powerful for onc's whole life.o "
I But powerful associations will not
form upon literary $ameness. Verbal
/ rcpetitons stale upon the car, and at
length, heap it up with mere words
! a recitns OF tho very same things, in
+. the same places, over and over again,
7 will not add, but take away, sacred IN
flucnce. Gods word is to be alight to
Four feet and a lamp to our path but
it is not to be laid down as stepping
;. stones i'll our path, to be worn With
perpetual treadings and rc-calcitra-
tions. ,.rt 2. ...-a.g a.. IF nan
| 1t is not familiarity that breeds con-
tempt, but San'eneSS, and this is the
marrow Of that proyerb. And thus it
came to pass, when God would teach
the world--hot forgetting what he had
done in the outward world, where seeds
: and plants are true to their species,
but never identical, varying with anna
zing versatility, through leaf, flower,
. fruit and seed, SO that individuality is
clothed with diversity, and external
! differences hide internal samcncss and
identity-by this same rule he created
the sacred Scriptures, whose truths arc
one and the same IN the long rcvcla-
ton of four thousand years, but never
alike in expression. One substance
Z ond}cssly varied in expression is Gods
delight in and out Of the Bible. The
language Of the race, and all the sym
bols of nature, and the fertility and
/ fulhcss Of the human heart were en-
nployed that the divine truth, like a
mighty sap in the Tree of Life, should
burst forth in new leaves and flowers
Of expression, new clusters and fruits,
all the way down to the Apocalyptic
close. . @t y, #fH..m .."rs' 1n
! And then, lest the book should by d
+ literal using grow stale, and pail upon
thc accustomed car, God appointed
men ill every age to dissolve the Bible
:. into thor own hearts again, and give
it forth from Sabbath to Sabbath in
the fresh and rev form Of life belong.
ing to each age, each country, and cY-
Tory congregation. E''. '.a .H.f "a.
+ Identity of substance and truth, but
profusc and endless variations of form,
this is the genus Of the natural aud the
Spiritual revelations Of God. }.
/ Instead, then, Of vcneWine upon a
course thatis at variance with analogy,
mot consonant with human want, and
not justified by any success Of expert
mcnt hitherto, it Is botterto seek some
method Which shall give tho most va
rlous utterancc in the congregation to.
the same Substantial truths, SO tbat tie
word of God shall always be the life
end power, and mems language the
leaves and blossoms, that in autumn &
spring play death and resurrection in
| glorious rounds, forever changing. bnt