New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-07-23

eatS His lCept beings WIN
traTy 10 His own Were His nature malignant 80 Soad
he be;r Bu we them 70 be on the side OF justice
ard goodness, and 20 therefore IS lie.
Now. If bun nature, wherever I'VE voice can De
h.sd br.,,b the imIneasurable wrongs and outrsges
bcb ave everywhere hesped upon If, and are every
wbeye Al work TO suppress tina, voice, does still, in
nte az tho.e wrongs and outrsge witness for trutn
and Justice ard love and mercy, then surely these
opaiiti.s must all he found in the Author OF human
nature. Moreover they must be perfect IN Hin, IN
oroer to correspond with the perfect wisdom, skil end
cor,rvsnce manifested in His Sorks. The attributes
OfDeiy if bad unst be entirely Dad; IL good, enureiy
When then we are told that God could not forgive
Elm until His angry spirit had been appeased and Ills
laws satisfied by the suerngs OF an innocent person.
we reply that this view Of HIM aud Of His spirit and
laws forbidden not only by what we learn of Him
and them directly from His ontxard aud visible crea-
t,or g. but aso from those clearly warrantable infer
81 ces Of His moral nature which draw from that OF
man. His character, as viewed from these indubi'ab
sources assures that lie is ever ready 20 forgv
every Iepenat offender. Jesus assured Of 1t els
Re would have taught in The parable Of the prod
iga sop But j., sus goes much further. His words on
the cross imply his belief that his Father s ready to
forgive the impeDent also, providing that ignorance
be coupled with their impenitence But even men are
good enough to do all this. Much more then is God
II ye then, being evil know how to give good gis
chow much more your Father
But il is said that nature and the history OF man
abound in abaogies TO the Agreement. cannot admli
tb at any such eDaloges are TO be found IN either Il
now of necessity and Of choice. But in no case IL
there iransfeence Of character from one to the other
The guilty party remains less guilty, and the guilt
less parry contracts guilt literal or constructive.
Remember too that the human sense Of justice revos
at visiting upon the good man the penalty due to the
bad man-a strong argument, by the way, that the
Divine sense does also.
Wbep too We are told that God has prepared an
eternal hella place Of endless and iuconcevaby ex-
qusie tortures-fOr large share Of his children, We
that this shocking picture finds no counterpart
and no warrant il creation ard Providence These ell
US Of fat her and not Of iend of love, and not OF
hatred Of forgiveness and not Of revenge These tell
M that in all ages God has made his sun TO rlse on
the evil and on the good" and has sent his rain
son Il Just and the unjust and these bid US hope
that In other worlds well as in this, lie will still be
the father and the friend Of men. Again. II men are
miserable here it s not of His nfction but because
they make themselves go; yes, and make themselves
80 in the midst of the numberless and sufficient
meals He has provided for making themselves happy.
IT. in this world, men persevere in running themselves
il il in the face Of His perseverance to cave them
And why should it be otherwise in other worlds From
nothing we see Of God is He chaDgeable. We are
bound 10 believe tina. He is as ready Ia afford His
children opportunities in stage OF being AZ well a.
in another for the Improvement OF their character;
and that He is intent much 20 10 one world as
in another to do them good and not evil. And why
should doubt that God is a. forgvng 10 another lie
as in this Woud Jesus have told us TO set no limits
10 the times Of orgivng our brother had he believed
that the exercise of Gods fOrglving spnt is confined
10 this first brief stage Of human existence Would he
have told us TO be SO much better than he believed
God to be :
Eternal hen Then must Sin b. an eternally disturb
ing force in the universe. For manleetly when sin
II all have ceased, punishment will also.
Eternal hell Yes, and it is to be suffered by men
of the loveet character provided they were not able
10 subscribe in this life to certain ecclesasct inter-
pretations of a book.
Putting people into eternal hell, Why, the
worst of men would not thus serve their worst enc
mies. How mnch less would God Orthodoxy makes
God infinitely more malignant and cruel than are the
most malignant and cruel men.
Eternal he'll No man does and no man can believe
it, II is untrue if only because human nature 10 nehpa.
be Of believing il. Moreover such belief pos
sibe il would be fatal. Let the American people wake
up with it tomorrow, and none of them would go TO
their fields and none to their shops, and none would
their homes. All interest in the things OF earta
would he dead. The wtole nation would be struck
with paralysis and frozen with honor. Even the be-
ernngs Of such belief too much for the safety OF
tie brain; and every step that direction is step 10
ward the madhoutc. The orthodox preacher OF an
eternal he'll would himself go crazy did he believe his
own preaching. Did he see his wife, or chldren or
friends neghbors, in danger of falling into 1t, he
would be overpowered by the sight: lie saves hls
sanity only through his iLsincerIy. 10 be sincere IN
his preaching he must first be insane
The little in fuence of their religion il, professors
is often wondered at. But why should II BET They
do not believe their religion, and they cannot so long
as an eternal he'll il part of II. Since their belief OF
this part is at the most but dreamy and fsncied one
there ear hardly be real earnest and eepy.intuen-
al belief OF any psTt. Their conscious or unconscious
dsuust of the truth of this part necessarily begets
similar dietrus of the truth of every part. The enor-
nous draught a. this point upon their staggering faith
cannot fail to cast in their view al air OF unreaty over
the whole of their rels ion Herein 10 the explanation
of the fact that he an ignorant church Is little better
| than mass of superstition, more enlightened one Is
little better than a of inhdely and hypocrisy.
The members of the latter required TO believe IN more
than ther creduy can swallow do truly and deeply be-
heve IN nothing and thus are they lntdes. Moreover,
they NpOgTltes, the stOuily
Tess 10 believe II all Doubtless, Of their motives
for this boundess profession of faith "a 10 supply their
conscious lack of il. They something Ike Mrs..
| Stoves CanoaCe, who 10 atone for her past lack Of
! faith in the celebrated Bible apple ready to
eat apple tree and al.
| We are wont TO lament the prevailing want of re-
| lgnu. earnesIe.s. But should We not rather rejoice
| in il, seeing how mOnstrous the religions. With
what good stomach we should hate, and crush, and
Kill one another II We really believed that We are snch
! deys a. religions picture To be Once per-
'uade me tba. God is waiting 10 roast my neigh6or,
and the way is made ensier for peIsuading me that
shal do God service by hurIying that neishbor with
| dagger or bullet into the pre- pared fire.
But IL is held that these things which are so 81
with Nature and Providence, affirmed by the Bible.
DO no. admit that they are. Certainly they are not
| by the Bible as whole But even if they were thu,
woulo not prove them TO b. true. II would only prove
that, 80 far, the Bible is false Whether these hipgs
are true or false Is question Ia be referred not 10 the
unprsge Of book, but 10 the infinitely higher Of
| Nature and Providence.
| But is not the Bible the word Of God II il no
further 'uch than il corresponds with the manifesto
tlors Of God. II is TO be judged by Nature and Pro 81
| denCe Formerly men in their folly made the Bible
paramount 10 Nature and Providence.
now does the splendid Baptist writer OF New-York
who calls geology aud astronomy inferior truth"
They went 10 il 10 study the motions Of the heavenly
bodies But wise men went TO astronomy. Even IN our
own day there are persons WHO 60 to the Boe for
understanding Of earthly creations and even dear Hugh
! Miller himsei thought Il very important To save Il
from the repfoach OF ignorance in this respect. Wise
1i,Fs