Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1856-07-26
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5E REV. INFIDEES PARKER

We Gull from the investigator tie following
extracts from. the sermons of Parker andtae pa
pe4s Of BeeehefF
p II do not believe there WAS m1racte=a Of ever
win be- every Whe-e find laW-zthe constant
mode II the ,opefation Of the infinite Cod Lido
mt believe in the miracles of the Old Testament
or the New Testament Edo not belieye that
the Old Testament was Gods first word nor the
New Testament his last The scriptures are no
tfnality to me Inspiration is a peTpetual
PROPHETS and APOSTLES did not lnouopOiise the
Father. He inspires men to-day as much as
heretofore. In mature also God speaks toEaIeE
Are not these flowers new works Of Cod Are
not the fossils underneath our feet hundreds OF
miles thick. old words 0l God spoken millions
of years before Moses liYedE Edo not beliTe the
miraculous origin Of the Hebrew church. or the
Buddhist church, or the Christian church, or the
miraculous character of Jesus | take not the
Bible for my master, nor yet the Church, nor
Jesus Of Nazareth for my master feel not at
all bound to believe wltVt the church says IS true
nor what any writer in the Old or New Testa-
meIit declared true
Speaking of Christ, he goes on to say: HE
Is NV best historic ideal Of human greatness not
without errors, not without the stains OF his
time and, IpreSume, of course, not " thout SINS.
The Investigator Is delighted with this, and says:
Considered as preaching, it is about the most
liberal, Independent and humane in sentiment
of any thing that comes WITHIN our knowledge
ofpulpit productions
The extract from BeecheTs paper Is of apiece
with his preference of Sharpes Rifles TO the BIZ
bic. His heart is with his theme, he gloats O.
yer the picture Of uprislng ihfdelity which he
paints; '.tis wish is father to his thought; y
''We believe that great change is preparing IN
religious opinion, of which many OfOur best
men know almost nothing. To those wholRrc
thrown into the current sof life evident that
mems minds are in unusual working, and that
the ycry foundations Uf religious belief are rot
ten and shaking. Among all the earnest minded
Young men who are ut this moment leading IN
thought and in america, we venture to say that
four-tfths are skeptical even of the great histori-
cal facts of Christianity What is told as Christ
ian doctrine by the Churches is not even consid-
cred by them.
And, Furthermore, thereis among them a gen
era ill-conccaled distrust Of the clerical body as
class, and an utter disgust with the very aspect
Of modern Christianity and of Church worship.
This skepticism is not fippant little is said about
it. Ii is not popularity alone of the radicals
and fanatics; many Of them are men of calm and
even balance of minds, and belong to no class Of
ultraists. Il is not worldly and selfish. The
oubters lead in the bravcst and seif-denying en-
terprises of the dny. It is not an unbelief to be
laughed or hooted at or limited down. IL is
calm, abiding, earnest, sorrowtul. Not much OF
1t IS known alone, but 1t underlleS now al the
strongest external movements. There are hui
name glimpses of it. You see it in the daily
diminishing influence Of the pulpit, and the in
creasing influence of the press; in the lessening
number of strong and original minds who take
hold Of theology, and the tone of the men who
arc leading American thought. 1t speaks in
those strange loneings for new revelations. and
in the occasional denunciation Of the old. -
Beccher keeps bad company. He draws, we
know, a true picture of his party and compan.
iens-but not of the whole North.