Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1857-05-23
CHRISTIAN MAELINEs5.
BY HENRY WARD BEECnER,

Many people think that their religion is a thing
which they to take OF instead OF Its taxing
care of them. They put on their Christian hope as
Don Quxote wore his pastcOoard helmet never to
meet blow with it. They think their only duty
of warfare is 10 keep their amor bright
Christian may keep his armor bright, butit should
be only for the purpose Of going down With 1T in
to the battle The Church is made an insurance
company, got up to insure religion against being
destroyed ont of the world, which is as II an insu'
rance company should be got up, to insure man
kind against the going out Of the light Of the sun
in heaven! What If man should consecrate him
self to see if the world turned around right every
day What if he should stand sentinel at the
north pole or south pOe,and at the cquatorto see to
it that the earth turned properly on ner axis every
day. This is like mans keeping ais religion, so
that nobody else shall hurt IT, lie enough OF
gardner to know that when dwaried plant Is
likely to be eaten up by red spiders, 1t can be
cured, not by washing nor By fumigatlon, but only
hy qrOciRg; and SO the best safeguard ol the
church is life and growth Life is never half so
dangerous as death. He was mortified at The tim
dty Of ministers 10 reference to the great questions
and movements of the day. Want and intemper
ance and Slavery salked along the streets, passing
the church door crying out for relief. The euthu-
siastic and gonerous-hcartcd would go out to meet
them almost frantic with sympathy; but the older
and wiser heads, the minister, he deacons and the
elders all say; "Wait, stops it viii create stir in
}
/ be disturbed" And so Christ, crying out through
the voices Of these witnesses is suffered to pass by
and to be crucifed afresh. We live under the new
dispensation, not under the old Moses fought be-
hind the constitutions; Christ throws down consti
tutions, or goes forth from behind them. Moses
yho was the Priest of a peculiar people, said to
them, "Ahide at home; Christ, who is the Savior
of the world says, 60 preach the Gospel to every
creature" The church is too greatly under the in
Auence of Mammor; it seeks too much the favor Of
men It'll therefore tmd and not bold. When in
the Young Mems Christian Association it was at
tempted to introduce as n subject Of discussion the
application of Christianity to Il new topic, all tht
civ was made to ring with tho mprOpriety of it,
When by discussion some heat was raised, every
paper almost in the city quoted the heat that wa
4 excited and said, "Did we not tell you ?" Thei
idea was that when a man became converted ht
was to lie still in n coffin, and the moment ther
was rattling of the bones and sign of life. theI
there was danger and an alarm to be raised
5 Where did they get their idea Of religion? Wha
= churches have they been attending? What Gospe
have they heard preached? This is not the idea q
Paul This is not the Gospel of Christ. This ide
of conservatism the Bible blows with scOrn as mot
c contemplate. lie would not have the young me
of his congregation suppose that he advocated an
Q wild. mad-cap enthusiasm. When their dang
G should come to be that side he would meet the
:, on that side, A true manhood does not lose